Sunday, February 29, 2004

Happy Leap Day!

Who is probably the most famous person celebrating a once-in-four-years Leap Day birthday today? Well, here are but a few... Dennis Farina, Antonio Sabato Jr., Phyllis Frelich, Dinah Shore, dancer and soap star James "Palmer Cortlandt" Mitchell, motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, rapper Ja Rule, stripper Tempest Storm, bandleader Jimmy Dorsey, composer Giaocchino Rossini, and serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

Speaking of, ahead of tonight's Oscar ceremony, which I believe is the first-ever held on Leap Day, we observe the following. Why is it that the Motion Picture Academy only seems to take notice of women's acting performances when they get overemotional and screaming? Whatever happened to subtlety? Why must the women bring it up to an obnoxiously high decibel level, while the men can sail in with a low-key performance (witness Bill Murray, who my money is squarely on for an Oscar win tonight, and his terrific job in "Lost In Translation"). That probably helps explain why Scarlett Johansson didn't get nominated for her matching work in that film. Part of which explains why the Motion Picture Academy is so out of touch.

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