Google Video is hosting a recent episode of the Charlie Rose Show featuring David Denby of the “New Yorker” and A.O. Scott from the “New York Times” as they discuss the recent Oscar nominations and it already has folks such as Patrick Goldstein comparing this back-and-forth to “the hapless new ‘At the Movies’ team of Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz,” of course not in a favorable way.
Agree or disagree with what they are saying it is fun to listen to since most critics are always better when they put the pen down and have a less formal outlet for letting their opinions be heard. For example, I am not a huge fan of A.O. Scott, but in this roundtable he does a very good job of holding his own, especially when backing up The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Denby has pretty much turned his ear and is giving Scott nothing to work with.
Most interesting is Scott’s opinion on the Oscars altogether saying, “I think the Oscars are an odd phenomena because what they’re really about is not the best movies of a given year, but the American film industry’s image of itself.”
Both seem relatively dismissive of Slumdog Millionaire and see Milk as the real Best Picture front-runner, and for good reason, as well as believe Penn will likely win Best Actor. Scott begins chuckling when Angelina Jolie’s name is mentioned as a Best Actress nominee and it’s safe to say they don’t have much love for The Reader.
The banter begins at the 14 minute mark, grab the timeline scrubber and sit back and enjoy a good 26 minute chat.
