Last Thoughts on The Oscars and 2008

Well another year has come and gone and another Awards show is in the books. Unfortunately for me I was unable to view the whole Oscar ceremony due to work related circumstances. I did however catch the fantastic musical opening with Hugh Jackman, he knocked my socks off. On the whole I would say it was one of the better Oscar openings in recent history. While I loved the monologues performed by past hosts like Steve Martin and Jon Stewart, this year was a nice change of pace. The stage was classy and elegant, I don't know what to make of the way the awards were presented. The idea of having five past winners of the acting categories present their awards seemed like a nice idea but after watching it the first time it just seemed like too much back-patting not too mention a tad self-indulgent.

As for the winners which is all I can comment on since I didn't see the whole show, everything was pretty much as expected, there were no big surprises perhaps besides Best Foreign Film.

For me 2008 will stand as a somewhat underrated year in film. The best films in my mind were mostly the ones that didn't get much recognition. Thanks to some digging I was happy to find some hidden jewels at the video store such as "The Edge of Heaven" and "Shotgun Stories" both of which I wouldn't have seen had it not been for strong recommendations from different film critics.

The best film of the year in my mind was "In Bruges" hands down, which was an early release in 2008, and I only wonder if it did come out closer to Awards season, it might've been better known. The fact that it did receive a nomination for Best Original Screenplay is quite a miracle but a small testament to the fact that it was slightly remembered.

As for 2009, here's hoping for some more quality films with proper distribution so the public doesn't have to go searching in their movie store to find something worth while. Here's also hoping that the struggling Arthouse scene doesn't fade into obscurity as so many people are predicting. Film is an artform and like all artforms it needs support to survive, so I urge everyone find some time to skip the multiplexes and go to your nearby arthouse and perhaps you'll be surprised at what you see.