Lend Me Your Ears

A quick observation from last night's Cesars, the French version of the Oscars. Isn't it refreshing that in our pop culture world, currently dominated by the nominated (nice) Brokeback Mountain that France doesn't even recognise it? At least, not yet. You see, due to release dates, our French friends are typically perverse in being behind the times. And so Million Dollar Baby won Best Foreign Film and Hugh Grant of all people snagged an honorary Cesar for his body of work. Hugh Grant?!? Even he was shocked, admitting that he doesn't win much. I guess this means that Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill and, er, Two Weeks Notice must have had more impact than we'd all previously thought. It's a far cry from Sunset Boulevard (not the Billy Wilder version) and Divine Brown...

I'm sure that everyone enjoyed the evening but we shouldn't lose sight of this truly being a French event and that usually means a protest of some sort...and right on cue, a dozen activists lobbying for greater rights for temporary contract workers ran onto the stage, delaying the opening of the ceremony by 20 minutes. If every film awards show around the world had a prize for Best Protest then the French would walk away with it each year before sitting down in anger, opening a bottle of wine, breaking some bread and smoking copious amounts of cigarettes. Tomorrow in cliche corner: those Italians don't like waiting in line, do they?