Airing of Grievances '08

In the spirit of Festivus, I feel its appropriate to list the top five things that disappointed me with this year's Oscar race. If you are not familiar with "Festivus", please refer to season 9 (eps 166) of Seinfeld. Here's the Oscar edition of my "Airing of Grievances":

5. The Political Relevance of 'Milk'

Simply stated; rights should be distributed equally. No person should be discriminated against because of race, religion, sexuality, etc. The fact that we are currently debating the issues that Harvey Milk fought over baffles me. If this is the land of freedom, then Gays should have the right to marry, period. 'Milk' shouldn't be a politically relevant film because these issues aren't supposed to be politically relevant.

4. The Dark Knight is better than Jesus?

I, like many others, anticipated the Dark Knight since the closing credits of Batman Begins. Needless to say, my expectations were as high as Josh Howard on a Saturday night. However, the fan boys (and gals) we're an inch away from ruining the film for me. I know that the opinions of others shouldn't influence me, but their fanatacism was taken to another level. Sometimes I felt threaten for my life when I argued that the Dark Knight was less than a 10 (out of 10). The fact that it's no. 4 all time on IMDB is evidence to the point that fanboys/girls really really really truly honestly love the Dark Knight. It's a great movie, but I don't think it's the best thing since slice bread, duct tape, Jesus Christ, or the Beatles.

3. No 'Road' in site

I geared up for "The Road" after watching Cormac McCarthy adapted book "No Country for Old Men". McCarthy knows how to tell a story, and after reading The Road, I was confident that McCarthy had produced another gem for all of us. I wrote about it a few times throughout the year, and placed it among my most anticipated. However, the powers that be felt it wasn't the right time to release the movie. I was saddened deeply. I even thought about throwing toilet paper all over the buildings of Dimension, but figured criminal charges wouldn't sit well with the NYC bar.

2. Death of Heath Ledger

I always thought he was a really talented actor. He was dedicated to his craft, and in his short time, gave us much to enjoy on screen. His turn as the "Joker" was brilliant and depressing to watch. He left with a bang, but we'll never be able to see him act again. I suppose we just have to take the good with the bad.

1. Laying the Smackdown on 'the Wrestler'

The Wrestler is the best movie of the year. It deserves to be mentioned alongside Slumdog and Milk, but the critics aren't given it must praise. At this point, its looking to get very limited love from the Academy. Of course, winning awards don't mean everything. But, we all want our favorite films to get some love. Rourke is getting well deserved love, but the film is equally great.

[By praise, I mean precursor wins]

Other than that, 2008 was great for film. Here's to 2009!