THB #446: Oscargasm - Precursed

14 Weeks To Oscar

How do you say, “no” to an award?

You don’t… because it wouldn’t be gracious… and winning anything feels good. Someone is choosing you.

And even as someone who has very, very mixed feelings about most awards, my instinct to minimize is also pretty stupid on its face. Mean, even. If you step away and try to create perspective, it’s completely reasonable. But it feels a lot like taking candy away from a child who you don’t even know. Live and let live.

Problem is, there is now a whole small industry of people who write (“writers” is a reach in many cases) who have no perspective and insist in shoveling out headlines and nonsense columns because that is their role. Like the person who was born on third base and thinks they hit a triple, they think that having an opinion qualifies them as experts. (Yes, there are some who really have become experts and write with great aplomb.) Every award that pops its head is embraced like it’s manna from heaven.

So… congratulations to Independent Spirit Award winners (to be given out on February 25)…

BEST FEATURE - May December
BEST FIRST FEATURE - A Thousand and One
BEST DIRECTOR - Todd Haynes, May December
BEST SCREENPLAY - David Hemingson, The Holdovers
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY - May December
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE - Natalie Portman, May December
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE - Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE - Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers
BEST EDITING - Jon Philpot, Theater Camp
BEST DOCUMENTARY - Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM - Anatomy of a Fall