Hollywood may be going strong, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at 77, has begun to drag.
While much of the energy and innovation of today's films are to be found in animated features, smaller-budget productions and quirky writer-driven films, the academy's annual Oscars show continues to lavish honours on safe bets. This year's top awards went quite predictably to Million Dollar Baby, a picture about an underdog, which the academy loves. It also swept previous awards shows in a year when there was no standout commercial or critical success.
The glamour and suspense have been somewhat blunted by the proliferation of similar awards ceremonies. The audience pretty much knew from these previous events that Clint Eastwood's film would do well and Martin Scorsese would be snubbed once again for best director.
After decades in the business, the man behind Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and this year's The Aviator is still apparently too much of a Hollywood outsider. At the Oscars, risk-taking films are often ignored or given minor recognition, such as this year's best screenplay adaption award for Sideways.
The ceremony itself is in serious need of an update, and this year's innovations did not quite do the trick. The event was briefer, but still overly long at more than three hours. Chris Rock, one of America's most irreverent comedians, was brought in, only to be constrained by the show's stifling formality and self-importance.
Rock did not make this point, but fellow comedian Robin Williams did, ripping a piece of tape from his mouth before beginning his routine. Williams had been forced to drop a sketch lampooning conservatives who attacked certain cartoon characters for being too gay-friendly. Apparently the academy is not as ready for radical change as the hiring of Rock was meant to indicate.