No no no no no no no no no no no no! I hope that this actually gets Babel out of Hollywood’s system, but I fear the opposite. Crash didn’t even receive a Golden Globe Best Picture nomination last year before going on to win the Oscar and officially become the most overrated film of 2005. Last night, Babel leaped ahead of Little Children and Little Miss Sunshine to become the clear favorite in this year’s race for the overrated title. I’m a fan of Alejandro González Iñárritu — I loved both Amores Perros and 21 Grams — but Babel is at best an admirable failure and at worst a nonsensical and fragmented bore. How exactly do you give your director’s awatrd to The Departed, your screenwriting award to The Queen, and call Babel the Best Picture? By any reasonable judgment, if Babel is actually that great, Iñárritu should have received a director’s award for being able to coherently tell and integrate these four stories and themes.
I also just saw Letters From Iwo Jima yesterday, and really enjoyed it. I think it’s a far superior film to Flags of Our Fathers, and Warner Bros. is ridiculous for not marketing it better. But giving the Best Foreign-Language Feature award to Eastwood is a joke with Pan’s Labyrinth there as competition. Dreamgirls winning was kind of expected, but I’m guessing it’s as much because of the HFPA’s love of musicals as not wanting to award Borat with too much.
Speaking of Borat — words can’t express the genius of Sacha Baron Cohen. I don’t know about you out there in interweb land, but to me, his very ability to give that speech without cracking much more than the slightest grin is a greater test of endurance than any trick I’ve seen David Blaine perform.
And looking at the television side of things, Ugly Betty? Really? It’s a fun show, that’s aired the rough equivalent of a full season on a cable network, but … really? Compared to The Office? And yes, I know everyone loves Grey’s Anatomy, but come on! That category was so flawed anyway … in fact, why bother with it?
Anyway, the Globes weren’t as infuriating to me as they usually are, until that Best Picture announcement by the governator. In fact, the only thing I found totally absurd about the show was … exactly how much money did Nancy O’Dell and Maria Menounos receive to be insipid, barely used eye candy? And who was producing their on cameras? Whoever fed Menounos the question to ask America Ferrara about being cast in Ugly Betty after great resistance from the powers that be should be blackballed from ever working in celebrity or entertainment journalism again.
Out of Focus 