An underrated part of March rolling around is hearing about what people watched over the winter when there was nothing to do except sit at home and watch TV: at the recent wedding MJ and I went to we learned all about the recent season of "Love is Blind" and the fact there are versions of the reality TV show in Sweden, Brazil, and Japan.... it's an international sensation! I actually wish there was a "Love is Blind" version of online dating back when I was using.... I'm a very personable guy who is good in conversation and the "getting to know people" part of life, but definitely not the scrolling through pictures looking for the best-looking potential mates part of the equation; online dating was the opposite, and in many ways people were blind to the real people behind those online profiles. Sad.
The Oscars capped off the winter viewing season (I realized one reason they have the show around this time is because people just capped off their movie and TV watching for the year and finally got around to watching those obscure movies that were critically acclaimed but not big blockbuster hits like "Zone of Interest," "Anatomy of a Fall," "Poor Things," etc. Every year there are tons of movies that I learn about at the Oscars when they get multiple nominations. I did learn that Tastee from Orange is the New Black grew up and starred in a movie adaption of The Color Purple (a staple of literature trivia). But the 2 main attractions at the Oscars were the obvious big hits of 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer, together known as "Barbenheimer." Ah the good old days of summer 2023, gone like a flash but remembered for those 2 movies, neither of which I watched until they came out on streaming or on an airplane. I imagine I lost out on some of the experience of Imax or 3D when I watched Oppenheimer on the back of seat 13D on Delta flight 789 on our way to the wedding in Mexico, but I still enjoyed the movie immensely, not just for the historical significance of it but the cinematic experience.... everything about a Christopher Nolan movie feels dramatic, like there's a looming threat and drums are pounding all the time, except when he stopped the music for pure silence when the atomic bomb went off. That's pretty scary, but the further away we get from 1945 the more important it is to realize how long ago we already had weapons that could destroy the Earth within minutes (probably seconds now). At least the guy responsible for it back then, Oppenheimer, felt the moral weight of designing something like that and tried to restrain the power of the bomb.... who knows what future generation mad scientist will do. There usually is a big breakout winner at the Oscars for one movie (in 2020 it happened to be Parasite, a big win for Korea and Asian movies) and last night was Oppenheimer.... well deserved, but I couldn't help but wonder if the last portion of the movie with the (spoiler alert) betrayal of people declaring Oppenheimer to be a security threat to be misplaced; it suddenly felt more like a "internal investigations" movie like All the Presidents' Men instead of pondering the gravity of the atomic bomb; it gave way to very human quabbling about rivalry and power, when the whole point of the bomb was that it was an existential threat beyond human comprehension.
Barbie didn't get many wins, but it definitely got its fair share of attention and tribute with Ryan Gosling's performance in "I'm Just Ken." But the best part of the movie that will stay with me and the song that won Billie Eilish a Grammy for Song of the Year was the most spine-tingling and tear-inducing part: Barbie making it to the real world and pondering real world problems in "What Was I Made For?" Not just girls and fans of Barbie but EVERYONE has felt lost in the world at some point and what am I doing here? It's what elevated Barbie from just a walking advertisement movie to a thoughtful movie to me, just for those 7 minutes. Then at the end it all went back to pink and Dua Lipa songs, but for those 7 minutes the song and the questions of life and existence were present. If there was a movie moment of the year, that was it.
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