This is metformin weight loss 1000 mg a big surprise. I don’t agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I’m prepared to make an exception for the ones I’m nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me.
This year might have been the most exciting telecast in Oscar history. Why? Precisely for the words above and who spoke them — BANKSY. Honestly I don’ t really metformin hcl 1000 mg side effects find any of the category races all that interesting. It’s probably the most content I’ve personally been with the nominees in years. The familiar travesty of Christopher Nolan’s exclusion from the Best Director race is no doubt unforgiveable. Seriously, find me another director who has the chops to pull off Inception. It’s the ultimate director’s film with a degree of difficulty in execution nearly unimaginable, and not matched by anything I can quickly recall in recent memory (though I’m game for hearing some rebuttals to that, there’s gotta be something. I’m struggling to stop from going into more on this topic. It deserves further discussion for sure).
Nolan’s snub aside, I think the Oscars got most of it right this year with the nominations. I would have liked to see some love for Lesley Manville’s work in Another Year (my personal Best Supporting Actress winner, an absolute soul crusher of a performance), or Kim Hye-Ja in Mother (my personal Best Actress Winner). I really loved Ben Mendelsohn as Pope Cody in Animal Kingdom, who deserves the superlatives given to John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone. Mendelsohn outdoes Hawkes in every way in a very similar character type (Man I hate Winter’s Bone). And I obviously don’t need to reiterate how much I love Never Let Me Go and every single performance or aspect involved in it’s creation. I think that all goes without saying. I’m tired of talking about NLMG*.
But as I said, I’m not all bent out of shape over any of these, I assumed they weren’t going to get much recognition this year. The aspect of the Oscars most important to me is the Exit Through The Gift Shop. And it’s not necessarily because of my love for the work of Banksy, though there’s certainly no shortage of that since I have driven around the greater Los Angeles area several times in the past two weeks to see his new work in person. It’s hardly about Banksy at all, in fact. It’s more about the ideal of what Banksy represents, or the message of Gift Shop.
The biggest debate about the Banksy’s documentary is the question of it’s veracity. Since it’s Sundance debut in 2010 the film has gone through the gamut of analysis, but no matter how much you look at it you’re never going to get a clear cut answer. You certainly won’t get much from Banksy, who only on rare occasion even addresses the media or anyone at all (producer Jaimie D’Cruz has never spoken directly to Banksy, through telephone or even email). Everyone wondered if Thierry Guetta (a.k.a. Mr. Brainwash) was a real person, or just another Banksy creation. Had we all been duped by the incredible manipulation of a man who has maintained the secrecy of his identity for over a decade?
Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I don’t think it matters one bit. Real or fake, it still asks questions about how we perceive art, what is art, and how can anyone really judge how good or bad art is. If you believe it is fake, then by creating Mr. Brainwash Banksy has played everyone for fools and proven that the public opinion of art is completely meaningless. If you believe it to be real, I think it says the same thing anyway.
What is most important, the reason why I care most about the idea of Banksy winning Best Documentary on Sunday’s Oscar broadcast, is that I think it’s the kind of film the Academy needs to recognize. How many documentaries have been made over the past several years about our economic climate and the stock market collapse? Fuck, even the absurdly hysterical Adam McKay comedy The Other Guys has a credit sequence that’s essentially a documentary about ponzi schemes and a blaring political message about what’s wrong with the American economy. Shouldn’t film be an escape from that?
I’m not saying I’m against these educational documentaries, and I’m not even directly addressing Inside Job (Gift Shop’s main competition, and the likely winner) because I haven’t seen it. I just look at a chance to award an incredible story about the perception of art and a commentary on how we can judge what art is on subjective and objective levels. After all, this is the exact question the Oscars should deal with every year. We constantly struggle and debate, often by way of heated arguments, defending our side and opinion on the true art we saw in the theatre (yes, you’re reading mine). Taking these factors into account, I feel like like Exit Through the Gift Shop is a completely timeless work of art. And this is coming from someone who didn’t even know what street art was past the term “graffiti,” which now practically seems like a derogatory term to me.
And how many times could you go back and watch a film about the American economy? Or about the people responsible for our economic downturn? How many people are even really interested in that to begin with? Obviously we should all be interested because it affects our country, and I’m all for furthering public awareness, but I’m talking purely from an entertainment standpoint. I showed Gift Shop to my mom and she loved it.
The Academy missed their chance to award the incredible King of Kong two years ago, or even give it a nomination at that, and while Kong didn’t make a statement on art of any kind, it told a story as relevant, old and as entertaining as any you’ll find. You don’t have to be a fan of classic arcade games or even video games to feel emotionally moved by Kong or it’s Rocky-esque underdog story. The Academy needs documentaries like these, and while I would hope they shouldn’t win because of that, if that’s why, then so be it. I’ll take what I can get for the betterment of public awareness when it comes to films like Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Over the past two weeks we’ve heard about Banksy’s people requesting that the Academy allow him to accept his award in disguise should he come out victorious. He was denied. Then he was sort of accepted, with the Academy saying they welcome his presence, but only in a way that’s befitting of the Oscar tradition of being socially out of touch (paraphrasing). The Academy is afraid of what shenanigans Banksy might pull off. Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis recently told Entertainment Weekly:
“The fun but disquieting scenario is that if the film wins and five guys in monkey masks come to the stage all saying, “I’m Banksy,” who the hell do we give it [award] to?”
Really? That’s what you’re worried about? God forbid we have a little excitement during the agonizing 3+ hours of drawn out, overly scripted and forced comedy. They’re on delay, so why can’t they just let things happen and go to black if something is too offensive to show on television? God forbid a crazy amount of publicity and attention gets added to the Oscars. God forbid they try to tap into the public consciousness of the younger generation (which for the Academy means under 50). God forbid they even let the artists nominated for Best Song perform their songs in full (another conversation entirely). Look at what Ricky Gervais did for the Globes, and after all that press and bullshit, they’ve invited him back to host again.
In the end I have no illusions that Banksy will actually show up because I think the secrecy of his identity is too important to who he is as an artist, and nothing is worth sacrificing that. I personally don’t want to know who he is. When I recently went and checked out the Charlie Brown Firestarter piece before it was cut off the wall, there were three people there taking pictures with it. After a minute I heard their British accents and said to myself, “Well, this could be Banksy right here, and no one would ever know it.” To me that’s awesome. Banksy can be anywhere and everywhere. He could be Tom Hanks. He could be Jaimie D’Cruz. He could be at the Oscars this year and no one would ever know the difference. It would be great on Monday if he posted pictures on his site from inside the Kodak Theatre proving he was there and no one had a clue.
(*not even remotely true)
