Hollywood… La La Land

I gave up on prestige awards such as the Oscars and the Nobel a long time ago.   They have become ridiculous.

This morning I awoke to news and video from the Oscars, the Academy Awards, of the wrong movie being announced: La La Land.

The irony is delicious:  Hollywood really is La La Land, and La La Land is wrong.

UPDATE:

Making this more fun still… Eye Of The Tiber:

Papal Conclave Error: Burke Wins Papacy After Conclave Mix-Up

In an epic mistake that drew gasps from Catholics and non-Catholics around the world yesterday, Cardinal Protodeacon Jean-Louis Tauran recently announced that he mistakenly named Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope at the 2013 Papal Conclave, when in reality it was Cardinal Raymond Burke that won the top prize.
The newly-elected Pope Francis was saying some random thing that would have made many Catholics scratching their heads when the interjection came that Burke had in fact been elected pope.
“I want to tell you what happened,” Tauran told press gathered at the Vatican yesterday. “I opened the envelope, and it said ‘Jorge Mario Bergoglio, La La Church.’”
“Burke,” the story of a white, Catholic, conservative man had already won best supporting cardinal for Making Things Look A Little Less Out Of Control.
“Very clearly, even in my prayers this could not be true,” Burke told those gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “But to hell with it, I’m done with it, because this is true. Oh my goodness.”
It was not immediately clear how the mistake was made, though EOTT tweeted out a photo that showed that the envelope in Tauran’s hand reading “Best Bishop Of A Diocese That Is Not The Diocese of Rome.”

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10 Comments

  1. Ivan says:

    Holly-wood is antagonism of Holy-life
    as it is
    Halloween totally opposed to Holywin.

  2. Grumpy Beggar says:

    Arguably a slip of Freudian proportions.

    Even the world’s greatest squinter would have trouble seeing anything holy or good coming out of, or being done with Hollywood in this day and age. Although . . . Once Upon a Time . . .

    One sobering thing I do find in the vision of Hollywood, is how much all the hoopla can (uncomfortably) resemble our own personal meanderings where it concerns sin : We too, at times, seem to be willing to go to the most elaborate lengths in order to perpetuate the illusion of sin being something good.

    Thank God for the sacrament of Confession.

  3. WVC says:

    My dream would be that the American bishops, in a rare fit of risky forward thinking, set up a cultural center to counter Hollywood. The Secular Mecca has never been weaker and more vulnerable to a cultural counter-attack. Given the advancements in technology, quality video/audio production is more affordable than ever before. Given the numerous distribution arms now in play (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon . . .etc.), the odds of launching a successful studio has never been more favorable. The only catch is that the studio can’t be the absurd Protestant vision of Christian = Bible Stories nonsense. Nor can we stomach another poor quality (i.e. poor writing, poor acting, poor directing, poor soundtrack . . .etc.) saints movie just because it’s a saints movie. We have to move far, far away from the idea that Christian stories = Sentimental Kitsch.

    It would involve risk, but the studio should solicit and support any stories willing to tell the unvarnished truth about God, Man, and all of the bits in between. John Ford, Frank Capra, and Alfred Hitchcock made some fine movies that teach profound truths, and hardly any of them revolve around saints stories or priests. Heck, I’d take most of Pixar’s movies over any of the low-budget saints movies promoted by Ignatius Press. This studio should be a place for MacBeths and Hamlets to sit next to the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields so long as everyone is communicating that which is true (which is what Art is ultimately about, anyway). And trust me, watching the Marx Brothers “Duck Soup” tells you more about modern politics than anything else I can think of except maybe the original “House of Cards” BBC series.

    If the bishops leaned forward and supported an independent studio that produced movies and shows that told the truth, without pulling punches (and not just Pro-Life movies or Catholic History vignettes) and adhered to rigid and unyielding quality standards, you could have another Pixar on your hands in no time. People are desperate for good movies, and Hollywood can no longer make good movies. They’re stuck in super-expensive comic book hell. However, if you know how to actually write stories with actual characters, you can make good movies for less than 1/100 of the cost of the next Disney “blockbuster.”

    If we want to actually fight back in the Culture War, this IS a major front, and the time is ripe for an offensive campaign.

    I nominate Bishop Robert Barron to head the project. I’m sure myself and hundreds of other folks would be happy to provide all sorts of support. Come one, bishops, go out and lead the fight! Stop sitting on the sidelines clucking your tongues.

    The other place they could really come out swinging is in hospice care. But that’s another topic for another thread.

  4. Giuseppe says:

    La La Land is a fun movie – a throwback to old-fashioned movie musicals. Beautiful choreography and lush orchestrations (the planetarium scene is exquisite.)

    Fences is also worth seeing for two powerhouse performances (Denzel Washington and Viola Davis) – they co-starred on Broadway for a few months, and they inhabit these characters in 1950s Pittsburgh. Unexpected death is the main character’s nemesis, and instead of frequent confession, he tries to build a fence around his yard, so that Death comes through the front door. Much of it reminds me of Death of a Salesman. It works beautifully on stage (I only wish I saw James Earl Jones in it) and it easily translates to the big screen. Some beautiful moments.

  5. Raymond says:

    For the vast majority of people who live outside of the US, Hollywood–for better and for worse– is the prism through which they view the United States. That’s why no matter how we conservatives criticize their politics and the values that they promote, the movie/TV/music industry is still very important in the global culture wars.

  6. hwriggles4 says:

    Was I the only one who noticed that a Patriotic film was passed over?

    Hacksaw Ridge was the only film that I went to see with my Catholic Brothers (including some veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan) the first weekend it was released. (I was invited by my Catholic Brothers to a special screening in August, but had to miss due to being out of town).

    While it was an intense film (my opinion was the blood and gore was needed to properly tell the story – war is not glamorous, and language was kept to a minimum), I thought Andrew Garfield was deserving of Best Actor. That was a difficult role for a 30 year old actor to play.

    I recommend that any Catholic man see Hacksaw Ridge to see the courage of Desmond Doss on the big screen. He prevailed through the persecution and won something much more important than medals – respect.

  7. Dr. Edward Peters says:

    “I gave up on prestige awards such as the Oscars and the Nobel a long time ago. They have become ridiculous.”

    Amen, and Amen. And I say again, Amen.

  8. SKAY says:

    They also made another awful mistake.

    “Australian film producer Jan Chapman has said she is “devastated” after her photo was mistakenly used in the Oscars’ In Memoriam montage, which celebrates film industry luminaries who have died in the past year.

    Chapman’s photo was used to accompany the name and dates of her friend, Janet Patterson, a four-time Oscar nominee for costume design, who died in October 2016.”

  9. Alanmac says:

    It wasn’t really a flub. Like all things Hollywood, it was rehearsed and choreographed, but most believed it.

  10. spock says:

    It would’ve been a good one for April Fool’s Day.

    Kind of like this one: ( I actually got a few people on it :) )

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2220257/posts

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