"Dope" Oscars

"Who died and made you breakfast?"-- Andrew Squiggmann

A couple of Oscar issues to vent about... I admire Sean Combs. I think he is an outstanding record producer. He has brought hip hop up to another level through nurturing rappers and singer. He has also been smart enough to expand his domain into the fashion arena. The Sean Jean line is hot right now and he is making hand over fist money. He soon will have more money than God.

My question is: What's gives him the gravitas to be a presenter at the Oscars? He has been in two movies, Made and Monster's Ball. Bit parts. He received awful reviews when he DARED to take on the Sidney Poitier roll in Raisin in the Sun on Broadway. Presenting at the Oscars is an honor in itself. Not one to be given out lightly. I have come to the conclusion that the Oscars played the prostitute to his Sean "John". I guess money will buy you anything and the Oscars are for sale. It is sickening.

The second issue I have is the need for acknowledging some people who were royally screwed last night:

Jorge Drexler Jorge was the writer of the Oscar winning song "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" and the singer on the soundtrack of The Motorcycle Diaries (Diaries de Motocicleta). Okay, he won, but as everyone who watched the ceremonies last night saw, his acceptance speech was basically singing part of the song. This tells me that ol' Jorge was some pissed being dissed for the performance. UPDATE Uruguayan Rebels Against Oscar Snub - Wall Street Journal - March 2, 2005 - Jorge Drexler won the Oscar for best song, but he wasn't invited to sing on the broadcast. The singer is now being praised in his native Uruguay for his act of rebellion, after he sang a couple of stanzas from his song while accepting the award. [See Paper Addition for Entire Article.] Bernal Skipped Oscars in Banderas Performance Protest - Internet Movie DataBase - March 4, 2005 - Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal refused to attend Sunday's 77th Academy Awards - because Antonio Banderas replaced singer Jorge Drexler to perform at the ceremony. The Motorcycle Diaries star was horrified when he learned that Uruguay's Drexler wouldn't be able to perform his own "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" on the show "for commercial reasons" and was replaced by Banderas and Carlos Santana. But Bernal was thrilled when Drexler scooped an Oscar for the song and made a point of singing some of the song instead of making a speech. He says, "At the time his song is being honored, all a sudden, that's the moment he does not exist? It was impossible for me to be there as part of the film. I didn't want to pretend the song was not part of it; that would have been like an act of murder in the family. And secondly, the film and the song are about respecting people's identity."

Minnie Driver Poor Minnie ... good enough to sing in the movie, Phantom of the Opera, but not the ceremonies. There are articles I found on-line that basically said she was invited to perform "Learn to Be Lonely" and then un-invited when the producers of the show decided she did not have enough appeal to draw in the viewers. What a bunch of pricks. If they REALLY cared about ratings and appeal, they should have had Jimmy Smits sing the song buck. He can move, has a nice voice, and I and millions of women would tune in to see his nakedosity. I think The Virginian Vixen would agree!

Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choristes These poor little Bastards weren't even considered for an invite. No nice trip to the U.S. to perform "Look to Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from The Chorus (Les Choristes). Yup, the ceremony producers even abandoned the little ones.

Am I the only one that is outraged? Even Josh Groban, who sang "Believe" for the Polar Express wasn't deemed worthy for a solo performance, but had to share the limelight with Beyoncé

I think Beyoncé is very talented and mega hot right now in the industry, but this is just not fair or right. I really resent it! Singing 3 out of the 5 nominated songs?! Don't we have anti-trust laws in this country?!

Where has all the integrity gone? It is really disturbing ... and who decided who was worthy enough for stage time rather than accepting their awards in the audience. Talking about a "cast"e system.

I think all the fabulous Hollywood legends that graced the screens long ago and were worthy of our worship are probably rolling in their graves today. There are no more legends. Just movie "star" posers.

Here is one disappointed movie lover. The Oscars suck.

Stay cool and safe!