Stupid is as stupid does

The good vibes from Marion Cotillard's Oscar win just evapored for me and every person with at least two working brain cells. The Best Actress winner for "La Vie en Rose" believes the September 11th attacks were staged because the Twin Towers were out of date, and it was too expensive to renovate them.

Oh, and she also thinks man hasn't walked on the moon. Check out her intellectual range here (hat tip: Drudge Report and Libertas). Not much more to add, is there?

And the Oscar doesn't go to ...

This year's Oscar telecast turned out to be the lowest rated in its history -or, rather, recorded history. Ratings for the big show first started coming in in 1974. No big surprises there. Ratings have been decling for years, and the lack of blockbuster films in the nomination pool meant fewer people were invested in who won.
The Oscar producers did what they could to draw a crowd, trying to appease those darn flyover states to no avail. Check out my recap here at FrontPage Magazine.

Tanks a lot

It took a $100,000 movie to make my Oscar night.
The Irish charmer "Once" picked up its justly deserved Oscar for Best Original Song this evening. Singer/songwriter Glen Hansard and his "Once" co-star Marketa Irglova gave a lovely rendition of "Falling Slowly," one of the five nominees. And, of course, their acceptance speech was both gracious and heartfelt.

At least Hansard's speech was. Irglova got cut off as she approached the microphone, but the powers that be let her continue her speech after the commercial time-out.

Never saw an Oscar broadcast offer that kind of extension before, but Irglova responded with a sweet tribute to indie musicians everywhere. Class move, Oscar folks.

Update: Don't believe me about how great "Once" is? Take it from Kyle Smith, The New York Post's critic extraordinaire:

Now everyone: rent “Once.” It’s a thing of beauty. If it doesn’t make you cry, your tear ducts are not operational. (I initially gave it 3.5 stars ... because it’s such a little movie, but after seeing it three times, I am convinced that I significantly underrated it the first time around.)

(Photo: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova star in the indie film "Once.")

Newman, Gleason and Scott, oh my

I have an odd relationship with classic films.
Movie reviewers should love ’em unconditionally, right?
But some golden oldies strike me as hopelessly dated. I can’t always buy into the critical boilerplate.
Intellectually, I understand why “Some Like it Hot” is a classic. But did I roll on the floor with laughter? Hardly.
And as heretical as it is to say, I’d take the pithy, low-scale charms of Steve Martin’s “Father of the Bride” over the original with Spencer Tracy.
Sacrilegious? Yup. Can’t help it.
But some classic films retain their potency. And how.
Take “The Hustler,” the 1961 film which established Paul Newman as a superstar.
Flat-out great. It’s dramatic pull remains as strong today as I imagine it was during its initial release.
Newman, as impossibly handsome as any Hollywood icon, plays a pool hustler who makes small-time money drifting from town to town. But he can’t hold onto his cash. His pool tricks pale in comparison with his ability to self-deconstruct. He finds redemption in the love of a troubled woman (Piper Laurie), but he's overmatched when he forms an alliance with a local gambler (George C. Scott).
All this drama doesn't even touch on Newman's duels with Minnesota Fats (the incomparable Jackie Gleason).

"The Hustler" only received two Oscars (Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction) despite a gaggle of nominations for its cast. "West Side Story" stole "The Hustler's" thunder that year.

Today's the perfect day to rent "The Hustler." It's everything an Oscar-worthy film should be, even if the voting didn't quite go its way more than four decades ago.

Hear all about it

Got Oscar fever?
Check out Sirius Satellite Radio this week for a bevy of Academy Award-friendly broadcasts.
Among the highlights:

• Sirius' Variety Radio Academy Awards Coverage - Channel 150: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST today through Friday. The Variety team includes Peter Bart, Variety's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Gray, Variety's Editor and Todd McCarthy, Variety's Chief Film Critic.
• Come Oscar Sunday, all-day coverage via Variety Radio News. Hourly reports with instant winner updates.
• Post-Oscar hangover: Analysis of the show and its winners at Variety News Radio (150).

For more information on Sirius' Oscar coverage, visit www.sirius.com/oscars

The straight scoop

In case you missed this morning's Oscar announcement, here's Variety's wrap up.
This year's selections didn't rankle me as they have in the past. I still feel a twinge in my side whenever I remember "Million Dollar Baby" won Best Picture in 2004.

That said, the Oscars remain a far better barometer of excellence than their trophy cousins, the Emmys and the Grammys.
My anti-Grammy argument begins and ends here: total number of Grammys for The Who - Zero. Grammys for The Rolling Stones pre-1994 - Zero.
(Photo: Ellen Page, center, gets a tummy rub in the Oscar-nominated "Juno")

Oscars at first blush

Random thoughts after hearing the Oscar nominations:

• Boy, the decision to re-releases "Michael Clayton" this Friday really payed off, eh? Someone at Warner Bros. must have a crystal ball from Sharper Image ...
• I suppose they could have picked more obscure foreign films. Nah, I doubt it.
• "American Gangster" got lost in the shuffle, only earning a nod for Rudy Dee as Best Supporting Actress. Good.
• Josh Brolin's great year ended with zero Oscar nominations and a new role as George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's upcoming biopic. That's lose-lose, for those keeping score.

Confident Clooney and co.

The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday. Next Friday, George Clooney's legal drama "Michael Clayton" will be re-released in 1,000 theaters nationwide.

Coincidence? Nah, just smart marketing. The film did modest b.o. during its fall '07 release, and it's sure to grab at least a nomination or three next week.

Regardless of the Oscar count, check it out. Clooney's latest turns the traditional legal drama on its head. His Hunkiness plays a law firm's "fixer" who reconsiders his morality when a big case turns ugly.

It's gotta be better than "Rambo" (not screened for critics) or "Meet the Spartans" (rushed parody of "300") both of which also come out on the 25th.

(Photo: George Clooney for his own defense in "Michael Clayton")