Best picture?!?!

Rating: 2/10 (11 March 2001)

I would never say that the Acadamy Awards mean anything, but still I must say that I take a perverse pleasure out of watching the whole affair. Ridley Scott's Gladiator will most definitely go down in history as one of the most gaudy, inept pieces of commercial pap to come down the tube in a long time. In terms of films that have been nominated for Best Picture, it will rank right up there with Cimarron (and that won!). Have a little perspective, people--there were some great films made this year, and this is an ugly little movie. With barely the inclination to turn its own lens on the idea of our modern audiencing of violence (a theme that would seem pretty obvious, and fairly easy to follow up on), Gladiator is another example of our movie going cultures' willingness to be spoon-fed every little detail, and unwillingness to be the least bit reflective. Did anyone see Hannibal (another Scott crap-sterpiece)? Is there anything left for the imagination these days?