Oscars in pieces

Film I've heard talk of how great Jerry Seineld was at the Oscars, upstaging Ellen Degeneres in much the same way that Ricky Gervais did at our Baftas, producing more comedy hold in five minutes than Jonathan Ross did all night. I can't really comment because I haven't seen it, but this letter to the academy from John Sinno producer of James Longley's Iraq In Fragments paints an unflattering picture:
"To have a presenter introduce a category with such disrespect for the nominees and their work is counter to the principles the Academy was founded upon. To be nominated for an Academy Award is one of the highest honors our peers can give us, and to have the films dismissed in such an offhand fashion was deeply insulting. The Academy owes all documentary filmmakers an apology."
It's a balance, I suppose, between offering entertainment and respecting the thing which you're actually handing out awards for.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jerry Seinfeld's appearance was boring - mining the kind of bitter sarcastic jokes that made his TV show funny ten years ago. Most of his intro had nothing to do with documentaries at all, but what he did say was disrespectful.

I really hope there's no ground swell of support for his hosting next year. The great thing about Ellen was A) funny and B) didn't get in the way of what the night was really about.