Check out the video for my favorite track "C'mon" to get a sense of what I'm talking about:

Verdict: Three and a half pushing four stars.

Key Tracks: "C'mon," "Answer to Yourself," and "Mexico

Looks like she spoke too soon.

Hat tip: Denise

Of course, this is all motivated by the fact that Meryl Streep didn't win last night.  I thought she would, in one of those "lifetime" Best Actor or Actress Awards that Hollywood frequently gives out to someone who gets nominated all the time, never wins, and then finally does (like Jack Lemmon and Paul Newman for Actor, and Martin Scorsese for Director).  In Streep's case, this motivation is complicated by the fact that she has won twice before, but that was way back in 1979 and 1982.  Since then, she's been so consistently good that her greatness gets taken for granted.  Being consistently stellar actually makes it harder to win Awards, since in a sense you're competing not only with your peers but also with yourself.  I bet there were a number of Academy members whose thought process on who to vote for for Best Actress went something like this: "yes Meryl Streep was great in "Julie and Julia" this year, but wasn't  she just as great in "Doubt" last year? She didn't win then, so why she should win this year? Plus, she'll be back, and I'll get another chance to vote for her - after all, it's Meryl!" (this is how I imagine Hollywood celebrities talk to each other).  Which means that when you become really, really good at what you do, if you want special recognition, you have to stand out not just from others, but from your own history.

I haven't seen "The Blind Side" yet, but when I do, I'll bet I won't think Sandra Bullock deserved the award over Streep.  Still, it probably worked out for the best, since she's likable enough and IMO gave one of the funniest acceptance speeches ever.  I'm sure Meryl will pick up a few more Oscars as she enters her golden years, and Hollywood realizes she won't be around forever - just like with Katherine Hepburn, when she won a couple in the late 60s (and then another one in 1981 for "On Golden Pond") after a thirty year drought. (H/T Kyle on the ESPN link)

Update:  I just saw Sandra Bullock's Razzie speech posted below - which makes two great acceptance speeches in the same year.  This beats the heck out of giving Awards to Sean Penn.

I'm still struggling to figure out how Scorsese could mess this up.  He is an awesome director.  The actors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, and Mark Ruffalo, who are also awesome.  The previews implied suspense, mystery, and a cool setting of an isolated mental hospital for violent criminals.  Throw that mix of things together and you should get something at least moderately entertaining.  At the end of the day I can only point blame at the script, because it was so ridiculous that it was beyond saving.

DiCaprio plays U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels who, along with new partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo), is assigned to investigate the escape of a violent patient at Shutter Island's Ashecliffe Hospital.  The head doctor (Kingsley) isn't very helpful and you get the feeling that some shady stuff might be happening at Shutter Island.  Daniels isn't getting anywhere with the investigation, but he can't leave the island because of a hurricane.  Daniels is trapped in crazy land and at this point things are starting to get really weird.  More prisoners escape.  Daniels keeps having weird dreams involving WWII and his dead wife.  Conspiracy theories involving medical experiments and communists abound.  And Daniels admits odd personal motives for taking the Shutter Island case. 

If that sounds at all suspenseful, I assure you that it was not.  It was a haphazard combination of clues that weren't adding up and, more importantly, weren't that interesting.  Just as I was begging for the movie to be over and kicking myself for not walking out an hour ago before things got to this level of stupidity, there was a huge twist that (and I didn't think it was possible until it happened) made the plot even more ridiculous and less entertaining.  In other words, Scorsese tried to pull off Fight Club and ended up with A Perfect Getaway instead.

Verdict: On a scale of one to bad, Shutter Island is very, very bad.  Barely two stars.

And that, to paraphrase Teachout's argument, is the problem.  His basic thesis is that jazz, which was a popular and mass art form from the 20s until the early 50s at least, has morphed into 'high art.'  It's fans are the same ones who go to opera, the symphony and non-musical plays.  They trend towards the upper income, college or better educated and - gasp - old.  Jazz is about as cool as polka to the average 20-something - not even something your parents like (that's probably classic rock).  Grandpa, maybe.

Which is too bad, because jazz, probably more than anything, invented the idea of cool.  In fact, Miles Davis announced it, with his first album in the 40s cleverly titled "The Birth of the Cool."  Jazz went on to fuel the Beat poetry of the 50s, Jack Kerouac's crazed travelogue, Lenny Bruce's manic standup routines, French New Wave cinema - it was the cutting edge, what all the cool and culturally aware kids were listening to in an era when artistic boundaries were exploding (which wasn't all for the good, of course).

I also think Miles Davis circa 1958 might have been the coolest cat ever.  Totally self-assured, pursuing his own musical muse and not taking BS from anyone.  Plus stylish, classy and a true visionary.  Miles' music between say 1957 and 1965 set the music world on its ear, just like his fusion stuff (with an entirely new band) a few years later. 

So what happened?  Did jazz get too self-consciously cool?  Too mannered, wrapped-up in an artistic bubble, esoteric?  If you've ever heard a group of jazz musicians wailing in an improv jam session - something I was lucky enough to experience almost every Thursday night back in the day - you'll know it doesn't have to be this way.  There's something about great jazz that literally seems to bounce off the walls, like the music has a life of its own.

OK, I'm babbling...but check out the Teachout thread.  It's a little jazzy and improvisational itself.  It doesn't have any easy answers, but I think it would be good if jazz somehow became cool again.  How about a 'great American songbook' night on American Idol?  Get the kids singing Cole Porter and Gershwin the way Ella and Louis and old blue eyes used to sing them - and make their even younger fans listen.  I probably sound like a geezer even making that suggestion, and I'm sure it's the type of thing that Lord Cowell would disdain.  But it could make for a great and surprising night.