Battleangel

Kind of sneaks up on you every year. Probably because you don’t give a damn. Mostly so because you have a gut feeling the whole thing is rigged in various ways. No one really believes that this “competition” reflects the actual quality of anything really – other than box office figures and who has actually been the better ass kisser during the past year. Yet, there are always a few interesting nominations to speculate about.

Two categories are of interest this year. One is DOCUMENTARY FEATURE where BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE seems like the only possible choice. Or is it? Some powerful people (including Charlton Heston and Dick Clark for sure) probably want to cripple this feature because of the implications that it made. If it doesn’t win we will know for sure that the system is rotten.
The second category to look out for is ANIMATED FEATURE FILM where SPIRITED AWAY competes with blockbusters like ICE AGE, LILO & STITCH, SPIRIT and TREASURE PLANET. It’s like having SJUNDE INSEGLET (Bergman) or SHICHININ NO SAMURAI (Kurosawa) competing with MEN IN BLACK or DIE HARD. I.e. not even in the same league.
I’d be very disappointed if greed, nepotism and box office stats get in the way of common sense. Oh, well, it wouldn’t be the first time.