theoldwolf

Wow. I have to say I'm surprised. Not that I'm a legitimate judge, because I haven't seen most of the movies that were in the running. It's just that I was so taken with Avatar that I couldn't imagine anything else grabbing Best Picture.

So it took three Oscars. That's no small achievement. And has, to date, grossed $2.5 x 10⁹ dollars worldwide, making it the biggest moneymaker of all time (and don't toss that "adjusted for inflation" hqiz at me - dollars are dollars) - far surpassing Titanic, which peaked at $1.8 billion. Not a bad return on the investment, whatever it was, even at a a potential ceiling of $600 million. So I suspect Mr. Cameron is weeping all the way to the bank.

Despite the moral bankruptcy of the Academy - they awarded Best Picture to "Silence of the Lambs" instead of "Beauty and the Beast", which frosted my fuzzy chops no end - I'm sure "Hurt Locker" is a worthy film. I might see it at some point, and I might even like it. But nothing else from 2009 could possibly surmount Avatar in my mind for the most phenomenal cinematic experience I have ever had.

That said, props to Ms. Bigelow for breaking another glass ceiling, and the rest of those involved for walking away with so many awards.

On other fronts, I'm very pleased for Sandra Bullock. She's a hot lady with huge Acting-Fu, and she deserves this award bigtime. I liked "Coraline" a lot, but "Up" moved me more - for the love of Mogg, it made me cry within the first 10 minutes. Jeff Bridges has always been one of my favorite actors, and I was happy to see him win the award.

I guess I have another list of movies that I'll have to see now.

It appears that the world premiere of "Avatar" in London has been a smashing success. Naturally we won't know how this plays in Peoria until next week, but it bodes well that the noise from the UK has been so favorable.

Drooling on my keyboard as I type this...