and award season is off

So tonight "officially" began award season and the "countdown to the Oscars" (as VH1's lack luster red carpet hosts reminded as every interviewee was subject to the same moronic statement). And I seriously hope that the Critic's Choice Awards were not an indication of how this season is going to turn out. Honestly, I've been reading, speculating, watching and blogging to try and find my picks of the year and predict the outcomes of the award shows to come, but I was not expecting the crap they threw at me tonight.

I should have known, as Quintin Tarantino's ugly face popped up on my TV screen, that it was going to be a rough night. Even the usually charming Kristin Chenoweth fell flat with poor puns and lack luster musical numbers. And then it started to hit me that Inglorious Basterds was going to be the fan favorite of the night. As the camera continued to cut back to the cast and egotistical Tarantino, I watched as the poor excuse for a good "movie" eat up the publicity, nominations and occasionally awards. Now, don't get me wrong, Christoph Waltz's performance was rightly rewarded tonight, but other than that, it deserved nothing. Not even a nomination. I mean really? Best Original Screenplay? REALLY? I would put the film at the top of my "needs editing" list of the year. Basterd's screamed of self-indulgent writing, basking in superfluous dialogue and a painful run time.

But other than the atrocious number of awards and attention that Basterds received tonight (don't even get me started on that Best Ensemble award) was the disgusting fact that they had broken down into genre categories. "Best Action Movie" and "Best Comedy" made me sick. I mean, what is this, the MTV Movie Awards? Might as well be with the choice of network to air on. I guess I'm just baffled by the voting pool from which these votes are drawn from. Yes, I can see such genre convention coming from MTV, the People's Choice, etc., but the critics? So much about award season is built on the commercial nature of Hollywood and the circular system to award specific films, but I'd at least have thought that the toughest critics could be a little more selective. I mean if the critics can't be then who can? For once a scrupulous audience has the chance to showcase talent, but has instead reinforced the ever-present dominance of Hollywood and genre convention. The Oscars may be picked by the Hollywood community, producers, actors and industry people alike, but the power of journalism suggest stepping beyond. And I would argue that the Critic's Choice has rather taken steps back from the Oscars and has moved into a realm of popular consumerism.