Oscars the Grouch

The Oscars are stupid and I'm embarrassed that I watched some of the show yesterday. I had been planning on boycotting because of the sheer idiocy of not nominating Christopher Nolan as Best Director for Inception; whatever you thought of the movie, he should have won that award hands-down. To be totally fair, I haven't seen The King's Speech, so I just can't say if that deserved to beat out a pretty high-quality field. But I saw 8/10 of last year's nominees, and I thought that Hurt Locker was the second-worst of all those that I saw (better only than Up in the Air, which is just a crappy movie that sucks).

With some historical perspective, however, it is clear enough that the category has always had its problems. After all, Godfather III was nominated in 1990, Rocky beat out Taxi Driver in 1976, and Apocalypse Now somehow lost to Kramer vs. Kramer in 1979, the only explanation for which being that the voters were coked out of their skulls.

But enough of this talk about the moving pictures; what about the music? I would have liked to see a classical composer take home the Oscar for Best Original Score, if only because that's one of the rare venues that contemporary classical composers have for making a name for themselves (not to mention a few bucks). One might think that the Academy was swayed by Trent Reznor's personal celebrity in selecting The Social Network over great offerings from composing stalwarts Hans Zimmer and John Powell, but everybody knows that Oscar voters are immune to public pressure and hype, so that couldn't be the case.

Speaking of soundtracks, here's a piece from a Glaswegian band called Dam Mantle. I know nothing about them, but this track I first heard on Gorilla vs. Bear is nothing if not theatrical. Right around the 3:45 mark reminds me of that part in Homeward Bound when Shadow reunites with Peter after surviving his fall into the pit by the train tracks and everybody watching the movie has a good cry. But I digress. Anyway, enjoy the song.

Dam Mantle - Movement