Oscars. What Oscars?

I am usually not into the Oscars, or other award shows. But this year I’m REALLY not into them. In fact, I had to look up exactly when they’re scheduled. Whaddayaknow – it’s Sunday! It has been a desultory year for film thanks to the pandemic. And of those nominated I can’t believe I’ve seen as many as three – Mank (David Fiuncher), Pieces of a Woman (Kornél Mundruczó) and Hillbilly Elegy (Ron Howard). But I found Hillbilly so sickeningly disagreeable, about rural lower class family dysfunction - and disagreement and violence in almost every scene - I clicked it off (Netflix) two-thirds of the way through. Pieces of a Woman was the best, with a searing performance by Vanessa Kirby (nominated best actress). But this is not a light movie and hardly appeals to a wider audience. Mank’s best points were its devotion to period accuracy and sepia toned cinematography (Erik Messerschmidt nominated). Gary Oldman (nominated best actor) was convincing. But it’s a film of interest only to cinephiles about famed screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Even at that it was too long and stilted. (The director nominated.) I had no desire to see Nomadland (Chloé Zhao nominated) starring Frances McDormand (photo) (best actress). Nomadland, awash in publicity and having such a big star, and its alienation theme so appropriate for a wasteland Covid year, will no doubt take best picture. New York Post columnist Cindy Adams’s comments (below) were so delicious I just could't not reprint.

Are the Oscars over yet?

TODAY’S Tuesday. Five days left to not care about Sunday’s Oscars. Up for awards are downers. Anthony Hopkins is always great but, in a pandemic with death all around, watching an aged man dying of dementia is no knee-slapper. And for an uplift, although Frances McDormand is also always A-1, her “Nomadland” is the darkest dreariest dimmest dismal-est dung ever made. Its high spot is starvation, degradation, poverty and homelessness. “Mank,” about someone mostly nobody knows, mostly nobody saw. Wrote one reviewer: “‘Mank’ stank.” The review was better than the film. Michelle Pfeiffer in “French Exit”? I mean, please. The exit should’ve been in the theater. Hot on the awards list is “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Under 50 percent saw the thing. Forget “How the West Was Won.” The Hollywood West has now lost it. Last year’s Best Picture “Parasite” wasn’t even in English. And the director — not Spielberg, not Scorsese not Soderbergh. The industry favorite whose name is on everyone’s lips — Bong Joon Ho. Also — the show’s length covers three hours. Lucky us get to see best makeup person, best tweezer, best hairpiece maker. Few bladders make it to the finale. We not only got that Godzilla thrilla, we also got SAG Awards, Golden Globes, Grammys, Emmys, Tonys, BAFTAs, Country Music Awards, offBroadway Awards, People’s Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard Awards — and almost everything’s been on TV. So who cares? Nobody asked me, but I think “The Trial of the Chicago 7” was the best. It maybe ran longer than the original trial, but it was great.