Theres always a reckoning.
There has to be.
Good movies that people did not watch because they were drawn to the noise.
Clockwise from Left: Brendan Fraser (second from R), winner of the Best Actor in a Leading Role award for “The Whale,” and (L-R) Ke Huy Quan, winner of the Best Actor In A Supporting Role award, Michelle Yeoh, winner of the Best Actress in a Leading Role award and Jamie Lee Curtis, winner of the Best Supporting Actress award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Ed Berger and Paul Mescal.Getty/Baz Bamigboye/Deadline
And the noise won.
It did not warm me to the marrow of my being.
I do not feel thatEverything Everywhere All at Onceis an Oscar-winning film for the ages.
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ wins Best PictureBaz Bamigboye/Deadline
The win at the Dolby was the result of a brilliantly, surgically executed campaign by A24.
I can stand back and admire that.
Go shut up and stop bellyaching.
I wanted a big popular movie to win.
I wanted a gigantic motion picture that people sitting at home on their couches had seen to win.
As I write, Im controlling myself not to write aboutThe Whale.
Ive got those yellow Post-it notes on my hotel desk saying: Dont mentionTheWhale.
It wont be pretty.
So I wont mentionThe Whalebecause why spoil someones day.
I wantedTop Gun: Maverickto win.
Okay, Ive said it.
I lovedAvatar: The Way of Watertoo.
What is this guy smoking?
I hear you mutter.
I have this soft spot for it.
kindly know that Im a fan of the other nominated pictures but I enjoyed and lovedTop Gun: Maverickmore.
I saw it on a mammoth Imax screen in London not once or twice but a bunch of times.
It entertained the bejesus out of me.
I saw it at Cannes as well.
Heaven knows, Mr. Tom Cruise might have gotten a Best Actor nod for himself!
you’re able to go nuts on all this: what if stuff.
But think about it.
Just think about the roar out there in the real world ifTop Gun: Maverickhad taken home Best Picture.
People who pay to go to the movies would have taken notice.
The message from the Academy would have been: Yes, we have been listening.
He didnt take much notice because what I was saying was noise to him.
Though I did like that he chatted with Michelle Yeoh and congratulated her on her Oscar.
Sara Hull of Walt Disney Studios was named Publicist of the Year.
I had to scratch around and see the odd clip here and there on a film show.
Id watch all these big names, giants really.
Note I have not written in their Christian names.
You know exactly who I mean.
Id read about them in movie magazines and newspapers.
News about them back then was as rare as hens teeth.
They werent as readily accessible as they are now what with Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and so on.
No, you dont need it.
Ask yourself why you need it, she argued.
I was slightly peeved but Larson was right.
Theres no mystique left.
I know what stars have for breakfast.
I know when they burp because they tell us.
Not all of them, but enough of them.
By the way, c’mon dont assume that I only love big studio movies.
I love all kinds of movies fromAvatartoWomen Talking.
My only requirement is that I connect.
That I feel them in my bones.
That I can love them.
I got through this without writing aboutThe Whale.
The most popular was one ofAftersunsPaul Mescal as he arrived at the Dolby.
He was resplendent in a double-breasted white tux with a black bow tie and red rose in his lapel.
A fan commented that he looked like Sean Connery in a Bond film.
Well thats a shame when I was trying to be Humphrey Bogart, he laughed.
