The Oscar Carnivale

Academy Awards this evening, which have probably generated a record number of blog entries across the blogosphere. I'm all for a bit of fun watching famous people parade in designer clothes and pretend that movie-making is done by a bunch of great people who respect each other and who are more interested in art than commerce, but tonight we (Karen and I) preferred a late dinner and HBO's Carnivale.

I'm guessing most readers here have seen Carnivale -- a gothic show in the spirit of the old Twin Peaks series by David Lynch. Back in Minnesota in the early 90s a group of friends would gather for the weekly puzzle that was the plot line. Part of the fun was figuring out what was going on, and deciphering the meaning of cryptic images and phrases. Sort of like the Academy Awards, I guess. Or maybe an Inaugural Address.

Carnivale is a bit more grandiose than Twin Peaks. Let's hope it avoids the Lynchian fate of disintegrating into meaningless twists and incoherence. So far so good -- good, evil, rich, poor, politics, religion, birth, death. And all with a cool sepia-tinged art direction aesthetic. Dirt never looked so good. Except perhaps on a red carpet.