So Liz won our prediction off and I'm not bitter...mainly because the 3+hour Oscars broadcast was actually pretty damn enjoyable. Here's why:
The Opening Number - Hugh Jackman was hilarious, paying tribute to the best picture nominees (and those snubbed, like The Dark Knight) with a "rescission inspired" musical number which he "crafted" in his garage. Highlights include the "Craigslist dancers" and Anne Hathaway. Awesome.
Musicals Are Back! by Baz Luhrman - This was a bit of a mess, but, add Original Screenplay/Best Actor wins for Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn for Milk and I think we can all agree this was, as I predicted it would be, the Gayest Oscars Ever!
I also liked the "let's present the awards in the order of production" gimmick...and Danny Boyle's complete joy throughout...and the Judd Apatow Comedy montage...and Queen Latifah singing for the In Memoriam montage...but mostly, I enjoyed the Oscars embracing who they truly are: a show for film nerds, women and gays.
How about you? What did you think? And am I the only person who's ovaries crumble at the sight of this commercial? (which was the only commercial (besides Tom Colicchio for Diet Coke) I actually stopped fast-forwarding to watch):
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Best. Oscars Broadcast. Ever.
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11 comments:
I thought it was a middling Oscar show. Hugh Jackman was good, but Steve Martin is still the gold standard for me. And Hugh exacerbates what I dislike the most about the Oscars, which is the zealous insistence of the producers to pad the show with song and dance numbers. It would be so easy to make the show two hours, and yet they refuse. It's the Oscars, not the Tonys.
My favorite part was the Seth Rogen/James Franco/Janusz Kaminski bit. My least favorite was the new way the acting awards were presented. Cause, you know, the show just wasn't long enough before and actors don't jerk each other off enough.
Big ups to the Academy though, for at least attempting to silence the clapping popularity contest during the dead people montage with a performance by Queen Latifah. I imagine they thought the audience would not be classless enough to clap while someone was singing. Sadly for everyone, they were wrong.
Red, I'm with you on the opening number. Bloody brilliant, especially Anne Hathaway's "Frank Lagella is sitting next to me" line.
Wasn't as keen on the big Baz musical number, but then I hate musicals with a firey passion.
Surprised you didn't mention Tina Fey and Steve Martin, who were ace together; that was the funniest thing Martin has done in years. Ben Stiller's Phoenix piss-take had me laughing too.
My picks were all shite, though. I got a total of 7 correct, which means I'm picking up a big bag of jube-jubes for the Future Mrs later today.
I loved the James Franco/Seth Rogen/Pineapple Express bit and Queen Latifah was excellent and gorgeous to boot and it was sort of sad seeing Paul Newman up there during it. I hated Ben Stiller though. I hate him with a fiery passion anyway but I thought he was an ass. I applaud Natalie Portman for not decking him with her handbag. I'd have bludgeoned him to death with the mike stand. I also got pissed off when Sean Penn won because I would have taken any of the other three first. I wanted Mickey Rourke to get it. Mainly I just detest Sean Penn even though he did an adequate job of appearing likable for the first time EVER. I'm glad the movie's getting the recognition it deserves though.
Danny Boyle was like a little beaming kid. Who looked like the bastard child of Rudy Guiliani and Morrissey.
I hated the actor/actress presentation with multiple presentees. It just seemed four times as fake as usual.
Is it just me or does anyone else think Jennifer Aniston looks like she eats people for breakfast?
You guys were eerily effing accurate. Wow.
I, for one, liked the way they presented the acting awards. I thought it was cool and different and allowed each one of the nominees a moment of recognition, regardless of whether they won.
I didn't love all the singing and dancing, and although I thought Jackman did a fine job, I could have done without all of that. I thought the funniest bit was the Rogen/Franco/Kaminski Pineapple Express spoof. Loved it.
Finally, I was sad to see Penn win. I saw Milk yesterday, and though it was good I don't think he deserved the nod over my other two favorites, Richard Jenkins and Mickey Rourke. Oh well.
Slumdog is the little movie that could. Good for them.
Overall it was pretty good, I didn't feel like there was too much filler that I hated.
If not for Hugh (ha ha), that show would've just been mediocre. I still can't believe he stayed fully clothed for the entire evening.
I hated the new format with the Best Actors/Supporting Actors awards...a circle of 5 former winners stroking the nominees. That sucked up so much time and was just more "let's pat ourselves on the back because we're actors" nonsense.
Because my comment was not long enough, I wanted to say I forgot about Tina Fey and Steve Martin. I agree with everything The Imaginary Reviewer said about that.
I liked the Actor presentations when they were genuine...like Shirley Maclane talking about Anne Hathaway, but the "let's have Sophia Loren read some crap we wrote about Meryl being amazing" was pretty lame.
I can't believe I forgot to mention Tina and Steve Martin, too. They were hilarious.
And I am so glad Sean Penn won. I thought he was better than Mickey Rourke and Richard Jenkins wasn't going to win anyway.
I thought last night's telecast was one of the best Oscar shows in awhile. I didn't think there were any cringe inducing moments (unlike this year's Grammys). One of the highlights for me was Ben Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix parody. Also, Hugh Jackman was an excellent choice to host the show.
I won the pics? Wow, go me :)
I thought the show, like most Oscar ceremonies, was hit and miss. Hugh Jackman was OK (I prefer comedians too). The whole thing with the actors presenting the acting awards grew on me - at first I thought they were going to do that for every award, like editing and cinematography and sound, and I was like "Oh for the love of God!" but then it was just the actors and it was OK.
My biggest issue with the awards was the redundancy. Like when they'd announce costumes for example; they'd say, "These designers took us to the '50s, the gay rights movement, through the twentieth century, etc. etc. etc." THEN they would say, "And the nominees are..." and go through them all again. Its like, Dude, you just told us who the nominees are. That's the isht they can totally tighten up.
However, overall, they did a better job announcing the tech awards, in those bundles.
That little girl was SOOO cute! I wonder where I can get one just like that...
So bummed, I only watched the first twenty minutes or so...until Best Supporting Actress. What happened next? Can you do a Second Half post?
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