RT @Bio #OnThisDay 85 yrs ago, @MGM_Studios chief Louis B. Mayer founds @TheAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. t.co/mSO9SPVV

With the 84th Annual Academy Awards in the can, I think the Academy has demonstrated--even more than last year--just how conservative it is. I don't necessarily mean socially, but I encourage someone... more

With the 84th Annual Academy Awards in the can, I think the Academy has demonstrated--even more than last year--just how conservative it is. I don't necessarily mean socially, but I encourage someone to explain to me how Octavia Spencer's roll was materially different from Hattie McDaniel's in '39. I mean the Academy is enamored of old Hollywood & the way movies have historically been made. We saw it last year when THE KING'S SPEECH beat THE SOCIAL NETWORK, & we saw it this year when THE ARTIST beat everything--even HUGO, which arguably straddles the line between old & new film-making. The Academy is willing to reward innovation in technical areas (witness HUGO), but when it comes to recognizing films whose totality is informed to a significant degree by innovations in film-making (like HUGO), the Academy defers to a (perfectly wonderful) film that could not have been more old-school Hollywood, THE ARTIST, which could have been made ady any time in the last hundred years.

the people who are going to give me my oscar one day =)