I’m headed to Los Angeles this weekend — for work, of course. But my hotel is located right next door to the Grammy Awards venue.
I know, right?
Another red carpet, another round of celebrity self-congratulations. And as the Academy Awards draw ever nearer, I have to say — this year’s awards season seems even more shallow than usual. The nominees, the producers, the directors, and even the Oscar voters, I dare say, have abandoned even the appearance of giving out the statutes based on quality.
You just gotta be popular.
Producers always run elaborate pre-Oscar marketing campaigns for movies and their stars, but this year, even the actors are purchasing full-page ads in industry publications ‘for your consideration.’
Case in point: Melissa Leo, Best Supporting Actress nominee for her gritty performance in “The Fighter,” (which has already garnered her three other trophies).
Chillax, Melissa. You’ve been considered. And shee-shee pics like these may swing opinion in the other direction.
The popularity of the leading actors in The King’s Speech is also one of the main reasons it has of late pulled ahead of The Social Network in the awards race — not because Speech is a better film. (It’s not.) This became especially clear during the SAG Awards telecast.
When the casts of both movies appeared on stage during the show, the good feelings that washed over the cast of The King’s Speech were palpable…. whereas the young entourage from The Social Network was prickly, awkward and off-putting.
Heck, I wanted TSN to win, and I didn’t like their attitude that night much either. But I would hope — if I had the opportunity to vote for any of the awards — that I could separate my personal feelings about any of the nominees from their work in the films.
If the Oscars are going to mean anything now and in the future, the voting community has to man up, act like adults and vote based on the quality of the filmmaking…not just ‘who’s their buddy.’
But then again, maybe none of them are that good of actors.
Overbooked
I was very excited to attend today BookCon at Javits Center, the publishing conference for us non-industry folk.
The organizers had put together a great schedule of panel discussions, author appearances and book signings, and had even created a designated BookCon show floor separate from the BEA Expo, the industry event that has been going on all week.
But then they oversold it. A lot, a lot.
There were so many people trying to get into the show that security had to limit the people who could enter each half hour. People (like me) missed events because they weren’t allowed in due to traffic congestion.
The feed on the BookCon app was filled with derogatory comments from disappointed fans, many of whom had traveled hours to attend. I realized fairly quickly that we had all been ‘conned’ and left.
Manhattan was right outside, and can be fairly entertaining.
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Posted in Books, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Travel
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