LOL Obama, Daily 07 March 2010

The President and the First Lady will be watching tonight's award show, will you?

"Hey, when I walk, do my genitals wink at you?"

Always a question to ask before you go out, rather than after. A lesson from the Fug Girls for Diablo Cody.

(Unless she plans on reviving her previous career as an ecdysiast, in which case, using her Oscar as a prop might earn her top dollar on the touring circuit)

Doing the (Acting) Jobs Americans Aren't Willing to (Act) Do

It was a sweep by European born actors during this year's Academy Awards. Almost inevitable that foreign actors were going to do well, given that out of the nine actresses nominated, only Laura Linney, Ruby Dee, and Amy Ryan were born in the United States (and two of them were born in NYC, so that hardly counts as the USA). It was a little trickier for the men, the only non-Americans nominated were the two winners, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Javier Bardem, along with English born (though frequently cast as a patrician New Englander type) Tom Wilkinson.

Perusing the list, there would seem to be a pretty consistent trend of more foreign born women being nominated most years compared to the men.

Let's breakdown the past ten ceremonies to see if there's a trend or not:

For Best Actor/Actress (foreign/total ratio, and yes for our purposes, Canada counts as foreign, but Puerto Rico counts as American) roles:

2007: (M)1/5 (F)4/5
2006: (M)1/5 (F)4/5
2005: (M)1/5 (F)3/5
2004: (M)0/5 (F)3/5
2003: (M)2/5 (F)4/5
2002: (M)2/5 (F)2/5
2001: (M)2/5 (F)2/5
2000: (M)3/5 (F)1/5
1999: (M)1/5 (F)1/5
1998: (M)1/5 (F)3/5

There's only one year where the number of foreign born men exceeded the number of foreign born women, and the cumulative total is (M)14 versus (F)27.

What about supporting actor/actress?

2007: (M)2/5 (F)3/5
2006: (M)1/5 (F)3/5
2005: (M)0/5 (F)1/5
2004: (M)1/5 (F)2/5
2003: (M)2/5 (F)1/5
2002: (M)0/5 (F)1/5
2001: (M)3/5 (F)3/5
2000: (M)1/5 (F)1/5
1999: (M)2/5 (F)1/5
1998: (M)1/5 (F)4/5

The trend continues on to supporting actors/actresses, only two years where the foreign born women exceed the foreign born men, and the cumulative totals are (M)13 (F)20.

The only conclusion one can draw, is that American actresses aren't very good.

(OK, maybe that's not the only conclusion . . ., also, women in period pieces tend to get honored more often than men in period pieces, and period piece=British actress getting the job usually, period costumes raise the appreciation of a woman's performance several notches for some reason)

Film Geek Showdown

Inspired somewhat by Prof. Althouse posting on the subject, decided to cross reference Academy Awards with the latest AFI list. The results are interesting (in my opinion).

1. Citizen Kane, nominated, How Green Was My Valley (off list)
2. The Godfather, won
3. Casablanca, won
4. Raging Bull, nominated, ORDINARY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (way, way off the list)
5. Singin' in the Rain, not even nominated for Best Picture, From Here to Eternity (off list)
6. Gone With the Wind, won
7. Lawrence of Arabia, won
8. Schindler's List, won
9. Vertigo, not nominated, Gigi (off list)
10. The Wizard of Oz, nominated, Gone With the Wind (#6)
11. City Lights, not nominated, Grand Hotel (off list)
12. The Searchers, not nominated, Around the World in Eighty Days (off list)
13. Star Wars, nominated, Annie Hall (#35)
14. Psycho, not nominated, The Apartment (#80)
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey, not nominated, Oliver! (off list)
16. Sunset Blvd., nominated, All About Eve (#28)
17. The Graduate, nominated, In the Heat of the Night (#75)
18. The General, not nominated, Sunrise (#82*see entry for special note)
19. On the Waterfront, won
20. It's a Wonderful Life, nominated, The Best Years of Our Lives (#37)
21. Chinatown, nominated, The Godfather Part II (#32)
22. Some Like It Hot, not nominated, Ben Hur (#100)
23. The Grapes of Wrath, nominated, Rebecca (off list)
24. E.T., nominated, Gandhi (off list)
25. To Kill a Mockingbird, nominated, Lawrence of Arabia (#7)
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, nominated, Gone With the Wind (#6)
27. High Noon, nominated, The Greatest Show on Earth (off list, but managed to come in last on this list)
28. All About Eve, won
29. Double Indemnity, nominated, Going My Way (off list)
30. Apocalypse Now, nominated, Kramer vs. Kramer (off list)
31. The Maltese Falcon, nominated, How Green Was My Valley (off list)
32. The Godfather Part II, won
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, won
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, not nominated, The Life of Emile Zola (off list)
35. Annie Hall, won
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai, won
37. The Best Years of Our Lives, won
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, nominated, Hamlet (off list)
39. Dr. Strangelove, nominated, My Fair Lady (off list)
40. The Sound of Music, won
41. King Kong, not nominated, Calvacade (off list)
42. Bonnie and Clyde, nominated, In the Heat of the Night (#75)
43. Midnight Cowboy, won
44. The Philadelphia Story, nominated, Rebecca (off list)
45. Shane, nominated, From Here to Eternity (off list)
46. It Happened One Night, won
47. A Streetcar Named Desire, nominated, An American in Paris (off list)
48. Rear Window, not nominated, On the Waterfront (off list)
49. Intolerance --- pre-Oscars
50. LOTR: Fellowship, nominated, A Beautiful Mind (off list)
51. West Side Story, won
52. Taxi Driver, nominated, Rocky (#57)
53. The Deer Hunter, won
54. M*A*S*H, nominated, Patton (off list)
55. North by Northwest, not nominated, Ben-Hur (#100)
56. Jaws, nominated, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (#33)
57. Rocky, won
58. The Gold Rush --- pre-Oscars
59. Nashville, nominated, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (#33)
60. Duck Soup, not nominated, Cavalcade (off list)
61. Sullivan's Travels, not nominated, How Green Was My Valley (off list)
62. American Graffiti, nominated, The Sting (off list)
63. Cabaret, nominated, The Godfather (#2)
64. Network, nominated, Rocky (#57)
65. The African Queen, not nominated, An American in Paris (off list)
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark, nominated, Chariots of Fire (off list)
67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, nominated, A Man for All Seasons (off list)
68. Unforgiven, won
69. Tootsie, nominated Gandhi (off list)
70. A Clockwork Orange, nominated, The French Connection (#93)
71. Saving Private Ryan, nominated, Shakespeare in Love (off list)
72. The Shawshank Redemption, nominated, Forrest Gump (#76, inexplicably)
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, nominated, Midnight Cowboy (off list)
74. The Silence of the Lambs, won
75. In the Heat of the Night, won
76. Forrest Gump, won (really, really, inexplicably)
77. All the President's Men, nominated, Rocky (#57)
78. Modern Times, not nominated, The Great Ziegfeld (off list)
79. The Wild Bunch, not nominated, Midnight Cowboy (off list)
80. The Apartment, won
81. Spartacus, not nominated, The Apartment (#80)
82. Sunrise, won (received "Best Picture" while Wings received "Best Production")
83. Titanic, won
84. Easy Rider, not nominated, Midnight Cowboy (off list)
85. A Night at the Opera, not nominated, Mutiny on the Bounty (off list)
86. Platoon, won
87. 12 Angry Men, nominated, The Bridge on the River Kwai (#36)
88. Bringing Up Baby, not nominated, You Can't Take It with You (off list)
89. The Sixth Sense, nominated, American Beauty (off list)
90 Swing Time, not nominated, The Great Ziegfeld (off list)
91. Sophie's Choice, not nominated, Gandhi (off list)
92. Goodfellas, nominated, Dances with Wolves (off list, and some kind of sick joke, right?)
93. The French Connection, won
94. Pulp Fiction, nominated, Forrest Gump (#76, no really, how did this picture win an Oscar or make this AFI list, what dope are those folks smoking?)
95. The Last Picture Show, nominated, The French Connection (#93)
96. Do the Right Thing, not nominated, Driving Miss Daisy (off list)
97. Blade Runner, not nominated, Gandhi (off list)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy, nominated, Mrs. Miniver (off list)
99. Toy Story, not nominated, Braveheart (off list)
100. Ben-Hur, won

That was more work than it was worth. Gandhi shows up a lot, 1982 was a good year for pictures and a bad year for the Academy. The Academy made a run of really lousy decisions from 1979 through 1985. Seems the Academy loves the biopic a lot more than the AFI. And Forrest Gump, winning an Oscar and making this list ?!?

Also, back in the late 30s through 1943 a lot more films were nominated, so that skews some of those years. If there's any mistakes you catch, let me know, I was getting a bit cross-eyed bouncing back and forth between the AFI list, a list of Academy winners, and typing up this list, so I wouldn't be surprised if error crept in along the way.

In conclusion, both the AFI and the Academy aren't all that good at picking really good films. I agree with some, disagree with others, and awhile ago posted my own idiosyncratic list of films I like (not exactly a best list, just films that mean something). I didn't limit my list to American films, but I'd still re-watch the 54 films on my list before trying to tackle all the Academy Award Best Pictures or the 100 films on the AFI list.

A Fearless Weather Prediction

February 25th is still 11 days away, but I think I can readily make a prediction for the local temperature that day.

It's going to be cold, historically, cold.

World Savior Al "Manbearpig" Gore will be in town to pick up his Oscar (nearly a foregone conclusion), and as the Gore effect on local temperatures seems to be a true and predictable phenomenon, I'm going to say right now that the all time lowest maximum temperature will be tested for that day.

According to this chart, the coldest high temperature for Feb 25th was recorded in 1937 and was 51 degrees. As far as the lowest minimum temp, you have to go all the way back to 1890 and 35 degrees.

Will both be broken that same day?

My money's on a daytime high of 43 degrees (cause you know, he should have been the 43rd President), and a night time low of 36 degrees, just missing the record.

So let this be a warning to actresses, do not look at that slinky, silky, sheer number, you'll be sorry if you chose something like that for the big day.

And if you do brave the frigid air, at least make sure you have your 'headlight' situation firmly in control.

(unless you want your 'pokies' to stand out, you'll certainly get plenty of coverage should that be the case)

As Al Gore would say, EXCELSIOR!

Suggestion for Tim Blair (or Glenn Reynolds, or Classical Values, or any other site that's made fun of this who get real traffic), a betting pool (for entertainment purposes, naturally) on how cold it will be here in Los Angeles for Oscar night.


UPDATE: 15 FEB 07, 8:43am

Hello Tim Blair readers! Just checked the 10 day forecast for the 90028 zipcode, where the Kodak Theater is located, and the prospects for Gore Related Coldening look grim.

The forecast only goes to Feb 24th, but for that day it's predicted to be 66/46 and sunny.

I still hold out hope for daytime high temps in the 40s, and if there's a 20 degree drop in temps just as Mr. Freeze comes to town, then we'll know his mojo is for real.

(I know our Governor played Mr. Freeze in a really, really awful movie, but for now former Vice President Al Gore is the *real* Mr. Freeze)