City of Compton

Finally got around to watching "Straight Outta Compton" this weekend and I have to say this is a film that was completely robbed of Academy Award consideration. Not only is it one of the best movies about music ever made, but beyond that, it's a statement movie that documents the history of police misconduct in L.A. during the '80s and the racial bias of America...something that's sadly still relevant today.

It's nearly impossible in today's world to think of music being controversial. Nothing is shocking anymore when it comes to music. Nothing has been shocking since Marylin Manson. But in the Reagan era, there was a still a war on popular music. There were constant attacks on expression, fearing the corruption of youth. We've come a long way since then, thanks in part to bands like N.W.A who refused to stay quiet about what was going on in their community. 

The film does a great job in portraying the struggle of expression. It also does a great job in portraying the dark side of the music business. The greed, the corruption, and the way greed corrupts those who originally only cared about the art and success. Any hip-hop fan knows the drama that played out between the three stars of N.W.A and most ended up taking sides, having favorites, and dismissing others. As fans, we got caught up in the feud. But fans only hear the traded insults without knowing the full story. This gives us the full story, and it goes a long way to repairing Eazy-E's image and illustrating how industry beef can't really conquer the brotherhood that once founded a group. 

Oscar Grouch Alert...

Tomorrow night, I won't be watching much of the Academy Awards. It's not out of any kind of protest or hatred. I actually believe in the credibility of winning an Oscar, but this year I haven't seen many of the movies nominated. But that's mostly because not many of them interest me, and that's kind of my problem with the Oscars the last few years.

More and more it feels like these Award movies are essentially churned out by the same machine recycling blockbuster movies. The feast is being prepared the same way, just using different ingredients. Action movies are like coffee from the corner deli and Award movies are something a little more gourmet--but in the end, it's still just burnt coffee that probably costs too much.

I did see The Descendants and I thought it was a pretty good movie. But was it a 'Best Picture'...I don't know, not in my opinion. That label needs to be saved for something special and none of the nominees feel that way to me. Sure, many of them look like good movies. And yes, I'm dying to see Hugo. But we know that isn't going to win, so what's there goes that reason to watch. As for The Artist, I honestly have zero interest. It just feels so prepackaged to me and kind of gimmicky. It's one of those movies that feels like I've seen enough of it in clips to know it's not for me.

Here's to hoping next year is different...and for the record, of the few movies I did see last year, my current 'Best Picture of 2011' title still firmly belongs to Super 8.