It's the Sign of the Times

In a way it is comforting to know that it isn't just Washington, D.C., that is in "la la land":

Only a minute earlier Faye Dunaway had said the words that Mr. Horowitz had longed to hear — “La La Land” — as she announced the winner for the 2017 Academy Award for best picture. Mr. Horowitz, a producer on the film, and colleagues and cast members raced to the stage. Mr. Horowitz spoke first — “Thank you to the academy,” he began — but his excitement quickly dissipated, as he recalled the shocking end to the night in an interview with The New York Times after the awards.

“I’m holding the envelope and the award, and I had just given my speech, and there are people on the stage with headsets, and I thought, ‘That doesn’t seem right,’” Mr. Horowitz said at the Governors Ball.

“They asked to see my envelope, which I haven’t opened. Clearly something was wrong. They open my envelope, and it says ‘Emma Stone, La La Land.’ So clearly something is not right. The guys in headsets were going around with urgency looking for the other envelope — it just kind of appeared,” he said. “One of the guys opens it, and it says ‘Moonlight,’ and I took it onstage and went to the microphone and said what I said.”

I completely missed that memorable moment. I didn't watch the Academy Awards last night at all. I didn't even watch the "In Memoriam" segment.


I had other things on my mind.

I hope nobody takes down this EPIC fail of last night:



Russell Rouse and Harlan Ellison couldn't have written this script.

So Bad It Will Probably Win

I am not referring to Donald Trump's campaign. I am referring to a film that has been nominated for the Academy Award "Best Picture" which could actually be almost as bad as last year's horrible Birdman, a film mentioned on this blog some months before.

The horrid film in question is called The Revenant.

It’s too bad it’s not: That would have made for a more interesting movie. The Revenant is better than morose Iñárritu dreck like 21 Grams and Biutiful, and it’s certainly better than last year’s Birdman, a preening, petulant mess about how difficult it is to make great art (as though Iñárritu’s own filmography wasn’t testament to this). Even the best thing about The Revenant is maddening: It is one of the most visually stunning studio films in recent memory, with long takes winding through dusk-dappled woods, seemingly impossible shots of men floating through whitewater rapids and horses falling off cliffs. (The extraordinary Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is poised to make history by winning his third straight Academy Award for this film, and the honor would be deserved.) All this useless beauty, in service of obscuring a lazy screenplay and aggressively dimensionless characters.

I am not sure I am going to rent it. I may decide to take a pass on this one.

That's Just the Way It Is

Very rarely do "Best Picture" Oscars consist of the best film of that year or the most popular one.

Oftentimes it is a film that makes one feel good or it is a biopic. Sometimes it is a critically acclaimed movie that simply needs more help at the box office, like Birdman.

What I would like to know is when the term "The Academy Awards" was jettisoned in favor of "The Oscars."


Well, I found the answer. The Academy "rebranded" it two years ago in order to attract a younger audience.

It wasn't necessary.

Etc.

Washington state teachers are about to get the shit kicked out of them, too.

Thank your "Democrats" in D.C. for this mess in public education.
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In case you care to know, here is the Academy Awards list of winners, nominees, and categories.

Some type of homage to an era gone by, silent pictures, won Best Picture.
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This is a clear-cut example of disability discrimination. According to one of the comments, this principal has a history of engineering terminations of people she doesn't like.

Why am I not surprised?



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Since teaching is a female-dominated profession, perhaps the reason teachers are kept out of the "reform" debate is due to sexism.

Teacher candidates are supposed to be from the bottom of the intellectual barrel, don't you know?
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Jury selection began today in the high-profile trial of Dana Chandler, accused of a double murder of her ex-husband and his fiancee back in 2002.

48 Hours profiled the case back in 2009.

News, Etc.

Here are the Oscar results, in case people care to look at who was the best key grip and so forth. Just kidding, of course.
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Just what is the significance of the Wisconsin protests? The significance goes beyond one state and one dictatorial governor:

The significance and implications of this conflict extend far beyond Wisconsin. The actions of the Walker administration, which have a distinctly dictatorial odor, are the spearhead of a ruthless nationwide assault on the working class. Three years after the onset of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s—brought on by the criminal financial speculations of the capitalist oligarchy that rules the United States—the attack on working people’s living standards and democratic rights is escalating. The corporate and financial interests that were the beneficiaries of the multitrillion-dollar bailout of 2008-2009 are demanding that the resulting bankruptcy of states and the country as a whole be paid for by the working class.

This is the political and social essence of the demands for wage freezes and actual cuts, the slashing of hard-won and vital benefits, the destruction of countless thousands of jobs, and the elimination of socially critical services. The cuts that are being planned, demanded and implemented threaten to set the working class back not only decades, but even generations.

News, Etc.

Detroit is a mess in general, but the school district in particular is in a particularly bad mess--on purpose, of course.
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Despite New Jersey being in bad fiscal shape, its moronic politicians insist on going through with vouchers.
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Expect Obama tonight to pander to Wall Street interests and talk about the need to bend over--er, "bipartisanship." I plan to miss the SOTU speech.
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Hell, even neoliberal goddess Ayn Rand took Social Security and Medicare.
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Not to make light of Jordan Brown's heinous offenses, but trying him as an adult would be a complete and total travesty.

This kid clearly has some serious mental problems. It didn't help he had easy access to weapons, either.
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Anti-public education propaganda film Waiting for Superman didn't make the cut for the Oscars, thank god. At least somebody has some sense.
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News

I was too busy watching 1966's The Oscar to care much about watching the official ceremony last night.

In case you missed the results, here they are. You can also read the acceptance speeches and watch them at this site, and therefore don't even have to panic about missing the show.

It's always interesting that the movies nobody sees or has heard of ends up being nominated and winning.
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Miscellaneous.

Since I don't have satellite or cable at the moment, I missed the Oscars last night.

Complete results are on the official page that I linked.
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