Blackwolf the Dragonmaster's Diary of Magecraft

Being a Chronicle of the Inner Secrets of, and Spells of Magick as Wielded by, the Philosopher of the Internet and Unofficial Sorcerer-in-Residence of the City of New York

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Location: New York, New York, United States

As New York's Unofficial Wizard, my mission is to encourage the Mortals of Manhattan to imagine responsibly!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Blackwolf @ the Oscars 2008: Counting Down and All That Whatnot!

And so, we have reached the ultimate moment: 72 hours to Oscar Night. And as far as your Dragonmaster is concerned, the evening in question will be irrational, exhilarating, controversial, maniacal, and a thousand other words I can think of but don't necessarily have a lot of time to do so.

So what, ultimately, did New York's Unofficial Wizard see in the Academy Awards, anyway, I sense you asking. Nothing less than the casual reminder that people, honest, hard-working people, make movies. They have families like everyone else. They deserved to be recognized, even if the live telecast does not always properly do so. For this reason, then, I set out two years ago to give them that opportunity by presenting their names and achievements here in the Diary of Magecraft.

A blog such as this can often be a godsend in that, from time to time, it honors those who ask for nothing more than the chance to be noticed. Filmmaking might at times be like that, too, although I seriously doubt that there are enough people who, over the aeons, have honestly committed to taking on that challenge. There's too much bathroom humor, too much special effects, too much violence, too much this, too much that --- it seems to me that, even after over 100 years, Hollywood is little more than a realm of complainers. One should learn that the challenge of filmmaking sometimes means that you have to just shut the hell up and get on with the damn movie. Have we learned nothing from The Onion's epic countdown, "My Year of Flops," by Nathan Rabin?

Well, in all honesty, the only reason I've linked there is to see Nathan's assessment on the 1978 Sgt. Pepper movie with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. OK, so it didn't exactly triumph --- but that's the whole bloomin' point: Movies is magic! Even if some films stink. Just ask my good friend, Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red.

A new documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted + Desired, sheds new light on the tragic sexual abuse case of some three decades ago, which forced an already despondent Polanski to flee from the U.S., unaware that the chain of events that subsequently followed would later give birth to your humble Dragonmaster's parent company, Electric Pirates Entertainment. I advise you folks to take a good, long look at it. The Weinstein Company is releasing it theatrically later this year; it will air on HBO next year.

But for right now, enough of my crapola. Oscar Night is upon us. Enjoy the madness. I shall resume my sanity with Episode One of Blackwolf @ the Oscars 2008 starting Monday. Be ye thither. Aloha!

Master Blackwolf