Let me start off by saying this about the 2010 Oscar Awards:
...yawn....
I sat through all 3.5 hours of the event, and I honestly have to tell you, it was truly boring. There were some good parts and some bad parts, but overall...eh. Let me just hit the highlights for you.
Opening Number with Doogie
Was it me, or did no one in the audience seem to be laughing at any of the really bad lines in the song? I always thought opening numbers for the Oscars should just blow us away. That one really underwhelmed me. Thinking back though, it was better than last year's Hugh Jackman pronouncing "I AM WOLVERINE" number.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as Hosts
Not bad. Not great. They did have a few funny lines, and the Paranormal Activity bit was unexpected and somewhat amusing. Didn't really need to see them in Snuggies though. Couldn't really tell if they had great chemistry or not. I really miss Billy Crystal.
George Clooney is the New Jack Nicholson
I commented to my wife after the telethon known as the Oscars completed that we didn't get a single shot of Jack. But we got tons of George. Did his girlfriend just look bored and pissed off all night or what?
Crazy Lady in the Purple Dress
Sadly this moment will have the most buzz this morning as she pulled a Kanye and hijacked that guy's poor speech. He was so in shock it was funny and sad all at the same time. Next year the Oscars will have bouncers on stage like bands do on tour to keep random people from jumping up onto the stage. I can't believe Steve and/or Alec didn't give her a zinger or two.
John Hughes Tribute
I thought this was very, very well done. Kind of weird seeing the gang back together though. Macaluay looked really creepy to me. But that may just be me. Matthew and Molly did John well and this is the kind of tribute we need more of.
The Speeches
Mercifully short and sweet. Other than crazy lady (see above) really not much to talk about. The lady that won for best costume designed seemed really arrogant and condecending ("Gee, I already have two of these, and all you other loser nominees that did costumes for something other than a period piece can kiss my buttocks") but I really enjoyed Jeff's and Sandra's speeches. From the heart and totally in line of who they are as people. Tons of people You Tubing the kiss between Sandra and Meryl this morning.
Horror Movie Homage
Each year it seems the Oscars does a bizzare homage/tribute. This year was Horror, and all I got out of it was that the Horror genre was the ugly-stepchild of Hollywood. Lots of actors get their start in horror, but then move on to like...you know...real films. The clips were uninspiring and overall it really wasn't that great a segment. Why was this even here?
The Best Actor/Actress Awkward Lovefest
The Academy did this last year, and it was a train wreck last year. The "you are the best" personal speeches were at times moving (Michelle Pfeiffer nailed it) and at times completely random (Colin Farrel's was just wrong - "me and that guy worked together on SWAT. It was a horrible film but I could see that this guy who I will never see again had talent." Really?) I will say though I LOVED Tim Robbin's speech. He absolutely nailed what those speeches were all about. He is an old friend to Morgan Freeman and old friends give each other grief. "I will never forget what Morgan said to me on the last day of shooting (on the film Shawshank Redemption) - he said 'friends are ones that get coffee for their friends. Can you do that for me...Ted?'" The audience just bust out laughing and then Tim finished with "it is Ted...right?" That was pure gold there. Classic.
Sean Penn
Why does the Academy bring him out every year? All he does is bitch about the Academy.
Ben Stiller as a Tall Smurf
Looking back, he is really, really going to regret that.
Best Songs Not Sung
So I guess to "save time" the Best Songs were not actually performed, and that is a shame. Who can forget Robin Williams performing "Blame Canada"? Now THAT was the Oscars should be all about. However we were treated to the world's best dance troupe doing interpretive dance to the Best Scores. Um...what? I could not have been the only person going "I just don't get this...at all." Seriously. What was up with the dude in the tux doing the robot to the theme from "Up"? Academy you really blew it on this one.
Final Thoughts
- Tyler Perry looked very uncomfortable duing his presentation
- 10 films nominated? For real? Absolute overkill that was wasted.
- Never saw the Hurt Locker, but like scores of people will watch it now. Good for them. Still now sure how the biggest grossing film of ALL TIME doesn't get picture of the year. Don't worry though, Cameron will go back in time and kill all the voters who didn't vote for him. Let this be a lesson.
- Tom Hanks strides onto the stage, says a line, then says "Hurt Locker". How anti-climactic was that? Kinda funny though.
- I know all those "secondary" categories are relevent, but do we really need to see them? We got 5 minutes about the Govenors Awards and the Sci Tech Awards (which were 5 minutes too long for each). Can't we take these others and do something similar?
- I got the sense that Old Hollywood really not big fans of Young Hollywood. You get that sense too?
- What up with the lamp shades as a backdrop?
- No Farrah Fawcett in the memorium piece?
- I think my next list will be "the 10 ways to make Oscar Night much better"
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Very classy and touching tribute. Danke Schoen to you!
This lady is never being invited to another party. Ever.
Oh Ben. When are you stop going to be the Academy's punch line?
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