Wednesday, March 10, 2010

“The Cove” – A Stream of Consciousness



Sunday’s Oscar ceremony saw “The Cove” deservedly winning Best Documentary Feature. If you’ve seen this movie, you know just how eye opening and emotional it is. The film examines the dolphin trade/slaughter in Japan from various angles. However, the most powerful aspect of the film is the guilt that activist Ric O’Barry feels over the current plight of these animals. O’Barry is basically the man responsible for the hit TV series Flipper, which he believes spawned the current trade in show dolphins.


Sure everyone loves to go see the whales and dolphins at the zoo and we are led to believe that these sea creatures are extremely happy living in captivity. But what you don’t see are the skids of Maalox kept in storage facilities because many of the dolphins have developed ulcers due to stress. Even more disturbing – O’Barry recites his experience of having Cathy, the lead dolphin in Flipper, commit suicide in his arms.

So when O’Barry, Fisher Stevens (yes that Fisher Stevens) and Louie Psihoyos took to the stage on Sunday to receive their Oscar, Psihoyos was cut off well before the forty-five second cap because Ric O’Barry held up a sign that said “Text dolphin to 44144.” Most believe that ABC got a little antsy and cued the orchestra in advance due to the sign. But it doesn’t really matter as Animal Planet has just green-lighted a series titled “Dolphin Warriors” which will star Ric O’Barry and document the dolphin trade in Japan.

The Oscars – Some Random Thoughts

While we’re on the subject, here are some random thoughts regarding Sunday’s Oscar ceremony

- What was with having all the best actor/actress nominees awkwardly stand on stage to open the show?

- Hey Adam Shankman, I get that you’re all about “the dance,” but was it really necessary to include, amongst others, an interpretive number set to “The Hurt Locker?”

- Yes, that was “I Am Woman (Hear Me Roar)” playing as Kathryn Bigelow exited the stage after accepting her award – What better way to show how behind the times you are than playing a song from 1972 as an anthem for a milestone achieved in 2010?

- Why did no one laugh at director Juan Jose Campanella’s joke about Na’vi not being considered a foreign language?

- Why did everyone laugh at Ben Stiller’s ridiculous “I want to plug my braid into your dragon tale” Na’vi joke?

- Why am I using the word “Na’vi” like it’s a real thing?

- I thought I was the only one who remembered Jeremy Renner in “S.W.A.T.” I bet Colin Farrell’s shout out to his “lost weekend” in Mexico with the Oscar nominee spikes DVD rentals

- Kudos to “The New Tenants” and “Logorama” for picking up the awards for Best Short

- I lost all three Oscar pools after changing my ballots after doing online research! Curse you bloggers who give their Oscar predictions…

1 comment:

  1. campanella's joke was, indeed, gold. i laughed!

    thanks for visiting my blog!

    ReplyDelete