This Feature is very, very late and I apologise for that. I have been too busy to complete it on time, but I'm pretty sure things will get back to normal soon. I have also decided to do this as another 'compilation' Feature, and save the juicer topic I had in mind for next month. So here are a few more random musings.

Celebrity Activists

Scarlett Johansson has been in the news a lot recently, and surprisingly it has very little to do with her breasts or her private life. She has been trying to drum up support for tackling global poverty, particularly in Africa. I'm not trying to pick on her because she certainly isn't the only famous face attached to this latest round of celebrity activism. But I really am fed up with watching them do it, and I feel as such for three reasons. First of all, it has always bothered me when multimillionaire celebrities nag us to give our money away; not least because they could fund a small country between them. Secondly, the causes they attach themselves to are almost always very well-known ones, and have usually had people fighting for them for years. When celebrities get involved it's like they come late to a party and then tell everyone it was their idea to have it in the first place. And thirdly, they seem to have automatic access to the politicians and public figures who can actually make a difference. You could argue that this gets their causes some good publicity, but at the same time it perpetuates the idea that the celebrities are leading the charge for their respective campaigns and ignores the contributions made by the thousands of people who work behind the scenes.

Kirk Lazarus Wins Sixth Oscar?

Call me crazy, but I have a sneaking suspicion about something. Back in July I wrote about Heath Ledger's chances of getting an Oscar nomination for his performance in The Dark Knight. Having seen Tropic Thunder, I am starting to wonder whether Robert Downey Jr. might also be in with a shot. He has the usual things working against him; the performance was in a comedy, the film mocked the Hollywood system, and he was, of course, playing an actor who disguised himself as a black man. I, and the vast majority of normal people, didn't see this as an offensive in the slightest, but history has proven Academy voters to be anything but normal people. However, there seems to be a lot of talk about the actual quality of his performance rather than its more controversial aspects. And while Tropic Thunder made fun of Hollywood it wasn't overly scathing or vindictive, and the film has generally been warmly received. Who knows? But it would be a nomination I'd love to see.

The Problem With Lists

It's not a new topic for me, as I had previously written about the relative pointlessness of cumulative 'best film' lists. But with Empire magazine recently compiling a 'Top 500' list, all the familiar problems have come to light once again. I believe that an individual's list can be a useful thing, but combining the opinions of dozens, hundreds or thousands of people is less so. The consensus can be interesting in its own way, but the moment you expand the field beyond one person the list will become more about who got to contribute to it, rather than what insight the list offers. This latest list, for example, and which can be found here, canvassed 10,000 film fans, 150 film-makers and 50 critics. I'd certainly be interested to know how the opinions were weighted, if at all. The Godfather topped the list, and the majority of usual suspects are there. And, while I think The Dark Knight is an excellent film, it is sitting at the incredibly high position of No.15. I'm not criticising the film in the slightest, but can anyone honestly tell me that if this list was done in a year or two later they'd fully expect it to be in the same place again? The quality of the film wouldn't change, but enthusiasm would inevitably die down, and people would start looking at it more closely. At the moment, I believe it exists where it does because of cumulative hype.

So just a few more tidbits this month. I hope to have the next Feature online soon, and get the site back running as efficiently as it used to. I will aim to get the next Feature done as soon as possible, and so that I'm back to normal come the one for October.

© David Mercier
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