It's about that time of the year where poor homeless people are kicked out of their make-shift shelters while insufferable celebrities roll in on the red carpet and give themselves a corporate reacharound. It's The Oscars, folks; the annual reminder that the Romans had it right with the treatment of their luvvies back then. The audacity of championing whatever cause is currently in vogue, while dressed to the nines in their obscenely expensive threads, is completely lost on these overpaid adult pretenders, but hey, I'm not here to talk about any of that malarkey; I'm here to share one great memory I have of the Academy Awards.
It's 1988 and The Oscars are an important time for this humble blogger since 1987 had a bumper crop of classic movies all deserving of an award by the industry: Predator, Evil Dead II, Hellraiser, Wall Street, Lost Boys, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Hidden, Opera, Stagefright, The Running Man, Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop II, Prince of Darkness, Bad Taste and Adventures in Baby Sitting. Unfortunately, none of those titles meant anything to poncey film snobs. One particular film, however, which undoubtedly left a cultural impact was Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi actioner, Robocop - part man, part machine, all classic. Lo and behold Pee-wee presenting an award for the best short film (live action) category and ED-209 gatecrashing the event. What ensues is a remarkably surreal scenario with Pee-wee flying off above the audience and Robocop firing laser bolts at his robotic foe. It was and still is a glorious moment from the Academy Awards. Perhaps the only positive memory when I'm reminded of this ridiculous shindig.
A pity Robocop, or any of the other movies I listed didn't win Best Picture, instead it was Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor; a film only remembered these days for being parodied that time on The Simpsons, when Homer was the prophecised chosen one by The Stonecutters. "Who rigs every Oscars night?" They do. They do.
Add Spaceballs and Planes, Trains and Automobiles to the list of '87 classics.
ReplyDeleteCrazy to think that the Oscars and the Grammys have both existed for decades and have seldom ever got anything right.
Robocop did win an Oscar for Best Sound Editing. That might as well be a participation award, in my book.
ReplyDeleteMovie equivalent of a paralympian award innit.
ReplyDeleteIt's like the McDonald's 'I Got it Wrong' badge they handed out in the 80s for not saying the Big Mac recipe within two seconds.
ReplyDeleteI mean, The Searchers didn't even get a single nomination and studios still ruled with an iron grip back then.
SMH.
ReplyDeleteLMFAO @ The Last Emperor winning the 1987 Best Movie award. Did that shit inspire a top 5 Brit-Rap song of all time? Did it fuck!
Had to make sure I copped that Silver Bullet album when it got re-issued again. Regretted not grabbing it before.
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