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Mon, 22 Mar 1999 20:07:51 -0800 |
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I agree with Donald Satz. The Oscar for "best song" should have been
suspended pending something resembling a good song. Repetitive, bland,
imitative---all are adjectives worth applying. But I don't think this
year is particularly unique. If anyone has a clue about why Hollywood
can no longer produce a good song, I wish they'd share it.
I was taken aback at the selection of _Shakespeare in Love_---as compared
to, say, _Amadeus_. At least in _Amadeus_, Tom Hulce gave Mozart a kind
of quirky, unpredictable personality of the sort Mozart *might* have had.
The character of Shakespeare seemed merely like some cute Hollywood screen
writer (but then, Hollywood is full of this kind of self-importance). And
if we are to believe in the traditional view of *who* Shakespeare was (see
the April issue of Harper's) Hamlet had to have been written by the time
the author was 25---a rather unlikely scenario unless the author exhibits
something in the way of a serious personality. Without the credibility of
the main character, this didn't deserve best picture. . . .And the rampant
egocentrism and self-importance of Hollywood was also on parade with
inflated controversy---as if giving a film director an award for his
films is somehow of earth-shaking national significance.
Phil Haldeman
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