In Contention

By Josh Spiegel

February 1, 2011

I learned everything there is to know about cocksuckers from Al Swearengen.

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What a snoozefest the Oscars are going to be this year. Let’s figure out why. If you haven’t heard, the last week has been very important and momentous for The King’s Speech, the movie that is 99.9 percent certain to win Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. And Best Director, and Best Actor. Hell, throw in Best Original Screenplay while you’re at it. In the past few days, this film about British royalty and even a whiff of Nazis and World War II has won the top honors at the Producers Guild, the Directors Guild, and the Screen Actors Guild. “But, Josh, didn’t the film not even get nominated at the Writers Guild?” Good question, reader who I made up for rhetorical purposes. The answer is yes, with a but: yes, but the film wasn’t nominated because its writer isn’t a WGA member. So forget that.

Even if you are a fan of The King’s Speech - and believe me, I know many people are - what fun is there in watching an awards show where you can announce, in the comfort of your own home, the presumed winner before a presenter opens the envelope and repeats what you just said? Some people may be excited at the prospect of James Franco and Anne Hathaway being this year’s co-hosts, but as much as Daniel Desario hosting an awards show a decade after Freaks and Geeks seems appealing, I don’t know why I should assume they’ll be any better than Ellen DeGeneres a few years back. If you’re not into the host - and even if they’re a photogenic pair, who is genuinely excited to watch these two attempt to host? - and the awards are almost a guaranteed foregone conclusion, what fun is there?




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As always, there is the possibility that The King’s Speech, or Natalie Portman, or Aaron Sorkin (who may end up being the most prestigious award winner for The Social Network), or any of the other frequently feted winners won’t actually get an Oscar on February 27th. Nothing is a lock until it’s already happened. Still, with each passing day, the idea that The Social Network was ever going to dominate seems silly. Yes, it won all of the critics’ awards, but as I mentioned and as many other skeptics pointed out, the critics don’t vote for the Oscars. The fans don’t; if they did, who knows? Toy Story 3 or Inception might be winning on Oscar night. There’s no question that many people are enjoying The King’s Speech, but with the advent of the preferential ballot system, you have to wonder if a sheer lack of strong feelings is pushing The King’s Speech to the top.

Who hates The King’s Speech? Even I don’t; I thought it was pleasant and diverting and nice. Very few people would say they hated the movie. That is the key. Some people really didn’t like Black Swan. Some people really didn’t like Inception. Movies like The King’s Speech and True Grit, both entertaining and crowd-pleasing, will do well in the preferential ballot, simply by being placed higher overall as opposed to being number one on select top ten lists. Voters like safe material sometimes, and whatever else you can say about The King’s Speech, you can call it safe and unchallenging. It’s been said elsewhere online recently that The King’s Speech is a movie that could have been made and nominated for Oscars pretty much any time after the events of the film took place. We’ve seen this kind of material on HBO, and in plenty of Merchant-Ivory costume dramas. Why not another Oscar for royalty?


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