More telling than he knew in his Oscar bit

From Jon Stewart's monologue for last night's Academy Awards ceremony:

"Not all films did as well as Juno, obviously. The films that were made about the Iraq war, let’s face it, did not do as well. But I’m telling you, if we stay the course and keep these movies in the theatres, we can turn this around. I don’t care if it takes 100 years. Withdrawing the Iraq movies would only embolden the audience. We cannot let the audience win."

What's ironic is that Stewart was trying for a dig at George Bush and John McCain, but in so doing, he exposed the Hollywood mindset. As I suggested two months ago, most auteurs there make movies for each other, and do not particularly care about whether their art is embraced by the public at large. Studios worry more about that, but even they greenlight projects based on projections of revenue likely to be made in rental or foreign markets.

Debbie Schlussel was right to carp that Stewart's monologue was not funny, but I wouldn't go as far as she did in saying "where's Joe Pesci when we need him?" She misspelled Pesci's name. More to the point, jokes that die by themselves don't need a character actor known for his Brooklyn Bridge voiceover and roles as a bantamweight gangster to help them along.

I enjoyed the few minutes of the Oscar telecast that I saw, despite having watched only one of the movies nominated for anything (No way are we renting some French treacle about Edith Piaf, but Enchanted was, well, enchanting).

Kristen Chenoweth sang, and she's always a delight. Also, notwithstanding her shapeless dress and close-cropped hair, I think Tilda Swinton looked regal rather than mannish while pulling the noblesse oblige card in giving her Oscar to her agent, and I also like Swinton's dry sense of humor. Shlussel wasn't mollified by either of those things, but she's apparently immune to high cheekbones and intelligent eyes.

Beyond Chenoweth and Swinton, I missed some of the more overt politicking, and it was fun watching and listening to Helen Mirren roll through a catalog of vices while describing the character traits used as touchstones by actors nominated for their performances in a leading role. Mirren added a few virtues to the end of her list, but didn't enunciate "nobility" and "decency" with the same classical oomph she gave "venality," "ambition," and "deviousness." In that, of course, Mirren perfectly and prettily mirrored the industry congratulating itself last night.

Here's my $64.00 question: come next year's Academy Awards' acceptance speeches, will anyone credit Sylvester Stallone with working for social justice (and not just with his film projects)?

I think I'll have to see the new Rambo movie, and if it's anything like the 2003 Bruce Willis vehicle Tears of the Sun, I'll like it.