academy awards: big fat yawn

Did you watch the Academy Awards? Booooooring. The highlight of the evening was seeing Ruby Yang win for her short subject documentary, The Blood of Yingzhou District, about a community orphans in China who have lost their parents to AIDS. It's probably one of the most depressing films I've ever seen, but it's an amazing film and absolutely deserves the award. That said, I was suprised that it actually won. Other than that, it was another sorry night for Asians scraping at the Academy for some recognition. There was Rinko Kikuchi pretty much resigned to that fact that Jennifer Hudson owned the Best Supporting Actress trophy. You had Ken Watanabe presenting an award. You had some Asians dressed up in silly costumes for Curse of the Golden Flower. And there was Mako included in the annual tribute montage for those who passed. Oh, and on the red carpet, Al Gore joked to Ryan Seacrest that he'd like himself to be played by William Hung in the movie about his life. Ugh, the name that will not go away.

What probably sucked the most was how little recognition Infernal Affairs received for being the original source material for The Departed, which won several Oscars including Best Picture. Martin Scorsese, ever the director's director, did acknowledge Andrew Lau ("Andrew Law," I think he called him) in his acceptance speech for Best Director. But when it won for Best Adapted Screenplay, the announcer said The Departed was adapted from a Japanese film. Completely wrong. What a slap in the face. The guys who write the copy couldn't do even the basic freaking level of research? I guess all Asians really are alike to them. And when it won for Best Picture, producer Graham King made absolutely no mention of Infernal Affairs at all. You've got the top spot of the evening and you can't throw a bone to the movie that made your win possible? That's disrespect.