My Blog Will Be About Whatever I Want!

Recently, I read an article at InsideHigherEd about whether academic blogs should be serious/scholarly all of the time or whether academics should (be allowed to) play a little in their blogs. The author, Jeff Rice, argued that academics can and should have fun with their blogs; he was really talking about using a malleable and emerging medium like the blog to stretch genre. One guy named Larry responded several times to the article, insisting that academics should be serious in their blogs and that when he sees a law professor with a movie review on his/her blog, the professor loses credibility in Larry's eyes.

Hey Larry! "Bah!"

I am going to have fun in my blog by posting my Oscar picks. Not only do I have credibility as an academic, but I also have credibility as a normal human being who enjoys movies and the spectacle of the Academy Awards.

So, drum roll please, here are Cathy's fun Oscar predictions! Feel free to leave yours as a comment!

from: www.canmag.com/images/ front/lap/oscar.jpg

Best Picture:
The nominees are:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Okay, so I did not see all of these, but I just got finished with a "seriousness isn't everything" jag, so I am going to go ahead and have my fun and make my pick anyway. I know it seems like the obvious pick, but I am going to go with Brokeback Mountain. Crash was also quite provocative -- but the quiet intensity wins out over the quick-cut ensemble effort.



from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795

Best Actor: I'm going with Philip Seymour Hoffman

Best Actress: I'd say it's a close race between Felicity and Reese. I'm going to have to go with the edgier Huffman.

Best Supporting Actor: I think it is lame that Jake Gyllenhaal got nominated in this category because he and Heath Ledger were really equal co-stars (they were the two romantic leads). So with him out (in my mind), I'll go with Matt Dillon for Crash.

Best Supporting Actress: I'm picking Frances McDormand because I think she is good and because she and I share the same undergrad alma mater.

Best Director: Usually the director of the Best Picture wins, right? Well, I like to mix things up a bit, so I'll go with Paul Haggis for Crash.

Best Screenplay: I'm going with Brokeback Mountain and Crash. At the end of the Crash DVD, the writers talk about how they'd come up with an idea and look at each other and wonder if they should dare put it in the movie. They just kept saying, "yes," and ended up with a script the pushes an envelope that desperately needs pushing.

As for the rest of the categories, I really don't know. I mean scant knowledge (of the above categories) is fine for making public judgments, but no knowledge at all--that is where I draw the line!