About those Oscar nominations-

While pleased that "Return of the King" got 11 nominations, I'm still a little surprised it got only 11. Shouldn't it get, like, more nominations than any other movie in the history of mankind? As Tim Goodman wrote in an excellent piece in the Chron today about how the political coverage and the Oscar nomination coverage is starting to bleed into one- "…you could make an argument that 11 nominations for "Lord" weren't enough. There are gigantic trees playing integral parts in that movie -- but no, nary a mention of their fine work." "Gladiator" got twelve nominations and while "Gladiator" was kind of fun, did it feature Orcs, four tusked oliphants, and giant eagles that swooped down to pick up two Hobbits stranded on a rock in the middle of a riverbed of lava? I think not. Hell, I think the movie should be nominated in every category, even the one's it shouldn't really be (like Best Supporting Actress) just because (on the other hand, why was Russell Crowe's acting in "Gladiator" best-actor worthy yet Viggo wasn't?

It's funny when you read the reviews of "Return of the King" what people say. Oh, it's gotten great reviews. I've never read more glowing reviews of a movie, in fact, but most of them are qualified. You get a lot of "well, it's a great epic, but not as good as a Kurosawa or Eisenstein " epic. Roger Ebert gave it a mainly positive review but then went on to bemoan the fact that all that energy went to making some CGI fantasy flick instead of "Apocalypse Now." It's like critics realize that it's a one-of-a-kind movie, but can't call it what it is- the epic flick of our time and the cinematic achievement of our time- because it's, you know, not foreign, not old, and is about halfling creatures with small, furry feet. So they have to give it a back-handed comment to maintain their cred. Cause, you know, how could we say "The Lord of the Rings" is the be-all-and-end-all of modern filmmaking when it doesn't feature bleak plots, crying actresses who put on a prosethetic nose to show their dedication to the craft, and deep meditations on the nature of humanity.

Whatever.