Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
In this year’s Oscars preview, iPINIONS does more than pick winners. I also call out the political vanity, institutional cowardice, and tedious self-congratulation that now define awards season. From Conan O’Brien’s craven decision to avoid Trump jokes to the Academy’s chance to reward Sinners, Ryan Coogler, and Michael B. Jordan, this post argues that Oscar… Read more.
Michael B. Jordan’s SAG upset has blown the Oscar race wide open. iPINIONS argues that Ryan Coogler’s Sinners deserves to cash in by winning Best Picture and Best Actor, among others. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/why-sinners-and-michael-b-jordan Read more.
The Academy did not think it appropriate to feature Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking about Ukraine’s fight to defend democracy. Instead it featured a fight between Will Smith and Chris Rock to defend Smith’s “open” marriage. At Sunday night’s Oscar ceremony, Will Smith shocked the room by approaching the stage and slapping presenter Chris Rock… Read more.
I am an abiding, perhaps even a pioneering, critic of acting awards. Because it has always been self-evident to me that who wins has far more to do with public relations than acting talent. No less an actor than Meryl Streep threw this into disillusioning relief when she hailed PR guru Harvey Weinstein as God… Read more.
In my Sunday commentary on the Golden Globes, I noted that Oscar governors were praying to avoid nominations that would trigger another season of #OscarSoWhite memes. To be fair, though, they were not relying on prayer alone. Because Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy’s first black president, initiated A2020 in 2015 to diversify the entertainment industry… Read more.
I have been shunning the Academy Awards telecast for years. Here in part is why: I’m on record stating how much I dislike the annual Academy Awards show (the Oscars). Because I have little regard for preening, pampered poseurs showing off their borrowed frocks and bling-bling as a prelude to a [nearly four-hour] show —… Read more.
Actually, the controversy surrounding Ryan Seacrest nearly upstaged the show. Therefore, I would be remiss not to revisit it – even if only to share this update. In my original commentary, I urged him to do the sensible and honorable thing and bow out of conducting his annual red-carpet interviews. But I readily noted that… Read more.
With all due respect to critics and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy), how much a film makes, not whether it wins an Oscar, is the generally recognized measure of its success. Especially considering that winning an Oscar is more the result of crass political campaigning than any assessment of… Read more.
I’m on record stating rather emphatically how much I detest the Annual Academy Awards telecast. Because I have little regard for preening, pampered poseurs showing off their borrowed frocks and bling-bling as a prelude to a three-hour show – only six minutes of which anyone really cares about (i.e., the time it takes to present… Read more.
I say give the hosting gig back to Billy Crystal, permanently! (The Oscars, The iPINIONS Journal, March 6, 2006) As this opening quote indicates, I’ve been arguing for years that producers should give up trying to make the Oscars into a comedy/variety show. And last night’s cringe-worthy offering proved yet again why they should. But one would have thought that,… Read more.
