Film: Oscar snubs and flubs

Like most of the people who vote on the Oscars and choose the nominees, I have only seen a fraction of the movies nominated. But that's fine, because the Oscars have never been about the best movies, but about the politics and aesthetics of Hollywood. And that, like any cinemophile, I feel comfortable on which to comment:

Eternal Sunshine snubs: As expected (even the Golden Globes snubbed Jim Carrey and Charlie Kaufman this time around), ES wasn't nominated for best picture (can't possibly have any sort of experimental film in best picture, and certainly can't nominate more than one movie that looks like a dark comedy). Jim Carrey gets no nod for best actor to make room for Hollywood's favorite overexposed Republican, Clint Eastwood. Bullshit. Anything Charlie Kaufman touches becomes my new hope for the future of cinema. Kate Winslet did receive a nomination for best actress, deservedly. Charlie Kaufman received a nomination for best screenplay, but at this point, best screenplay is rather minor league for a man whose work kicks that much ass.

Paul Giamatti: No best actor nomination, though Thomas Haden Church is up for best supporting actor and Sideways is up for best picture. Once again, Giamatti is obviously too "artsy" for the Oscars. Once again, Clint Eastwood anger. Grrrr!!!

Jamie Foxx overexposure: I haven't seen Ray, but did Jamie Foxx really need a nomination for best supporting actor for Collateral? Collateral was a good movie. Not a great movie. None of its characters were written well enough that any sort of Oscar winning performance could possibly be given by anybody.

Fahrenheit 9/11 Shut Out: This might be a good thing, since Michael Moore certainly didn't need any further feeding of his ego, and had he submitted F911 in the Documentary category, the selection would have a controversy unto itself, since at this point, Moore's politics, and not his film making, would be on trial. And the only nominee I've seen, Super Size Me, was a superior and more honest film. Though I have to root for the Tupac doc just a little bit, if only for Mike Hong.

And would someone explain to me why the best director and best picture categories aren't the same category? Or at least have all the same nominees?

Lastly, at least the nomination leader, The Aviator, represents something of a symbolic peak for Martin Scorsese, who joins Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock as other directors who rocked the shit out of everybody and never got an Oscar nod. I can't stand Leonardo DiCaprio, but I can't really knock his performance for Scorsese, who can take Hollywood's favorite castrati and turn him into something I can actually stand to watch for three hours. Scorsese deserves the Oscar, if only for that.

I REALLY need to see Sideways.