Sean Penn > Mickey Rourke!

As I wrote earlier, I didn't watch most of the Oscars telecast last night, but Nikki Finke's blow-by-blow is hilarious.  But I don't get the fanatical devotion that many people had--including Finke--to seeing Mickey Rourke win for Best Actor. It's obvious that he was the "populist" choice to many, to the point that there were some saying that Rourke should prevail while acknowledging that Sean Penn gave a better performance. (????!!!!!) Others are saying Penn's win was "a make-up Oscar for Brokeback Mountain" or a nod to anti-Prop 8 sentiment.

If conspiracy theories make hardcore "Wrestler" fans feel better, fine, it's a free country. But it's pretty simple and obvious why Mickey Rourke, who is a wonderful actor, lost. He was outshined by his longtime friend.

Sean Penn will go down in history as one of the best film actors of all time--maybe even THE best. His performance in Milk is sublime, the literal meaning of a tour de force. He was better than Mickey Rourke, and his colleagues rewarded the best performance in that category. The BEST ACTOR won the Best Actor Oscar last night.

(The 20 minutes I actually saw of) The Oscars

AWESOME: Sean Penn won! Artistry wins over backstory (and yes, Mickey Rourke is an artist too...but c'mon!!)!

AWESOME AND SAD: Heath Ledger wins, and his family graciously accepts the award that they're holding "for the beautiful Matilda." *me wiping away tears*

BORING: Pretty much everything else.  Slumdog. Best Pic? Really?!!! Yeah, whatever...

Tragedy in Buffalo

My prayers for the families of the 49 people that have apparently died in the plane crash that occurred in Buffalo, NY a couple of hours ago.

The next to last awards show

Today is the deadline to vote for the Spirit Awards, "indie" film's version of the Oscars. Unlike the Oscars, I'm actually going to watch the Spirit Awards on the 21st, in part because I voted, so I feel like I have a vested interest. Many worthy films and performances were nominated, but there were also some odd omissions. No Milk or The Visitor for Best Feature, no Gus Van Sant for Best Director. Waltz with Bashir is MIA for Best Foreign Film as well as Trouble the Water for Best Documentary. I guess they figured--correctly, except for The Visitor-- that these films would be recognized by AMPAS in their respective categories, but it would have been nice to have had them in the mix. 

I am glad that Slumdog Millionaire was left out; that film needs no more attention at this point!

My fingers are crossed for Melissa Leo, up for Best Female Lead for Frozen River, and Rachel Getting Married's Rosemarie DeWitt, who was wrongly snubbed by Oscar, but is nominated for Best Supporting Female. And I hope Milk wins everything it's nominated for, and I think it will.

Single mom + 14 kids + no job = ???????!!!!!!

Like many, people, I have issues and questions about Nadya Suleman fitness to take care of her now very large brood? First of all, how could she afford the IVF treatments in the first place? Did she use some of her student loan $$$? Did the IVF doctor know she already had six kids, and try to advise her to carry fewer embryos? And do IVF doctors require some type of psychological evaluation before having such a procedure? Because it seems apparent to me that this woman has a screw loose and should not be taking care of 14 kids (even her grandmother said so, but in a nicer way).

But at this point, what's done is done. I'd rather have public money spent to help the kids instead of them starving...

THE OBENSON REPORT: POLL - Rating Black Film Festivals; Your Participation Encouraged!

This is an interesting discussion about the need (or lack thereof?) of Black film festivals. I think it depends on the festival...

THE OBENSON REPORT: POLL - Rating Black Film Festivals; Your Participation Encouraged!