Oscars Post-Mortem
Wayne posted his thoughts on the Oscars and since I wasn’t live blogging or Twittering it like some, I thought I’d still throw in my two cents post-mortem. I didn’t do my obligatory Oscar predictions here on the blog but on my Twitter page. I got most of them right (I think!) except for best supporting actress and best actor. Here we go:
- Was it just me or did the sets look reeeeeeeeeeeeeally cheap this year? I understand WHY they presented it that way but it took a lot of the glamour out of the event. Call me old fashioned. Many people praised the look though.
- Look Hugh Jackman was neither here nor there for me. I freakin HATE musicals so that probably had something to do with it. He was respectful, calm and collected but totally uninteresting too.
- Didn’t Brad and Angelina look like they were above it all? (but in a graceful way?)
- Kate Winslet NEARLY went into cringe worthy territory for her acceptance speech but is too classy to really get there. Penelope Cruz got there though.
- Tina Fey continues to rock.
- Seth Rogen and James Franco’s segment. Pretty funny.
- Most awkward moment: Jennifer Aniston presenting in front of Brangelina. Ouch!
- Heather Ledger’s family accepting his award. All class.
- Didn’t know Queen Latifah had a decent voice.
- Beyonce always looks good even if the performance isn’t.
- Danny Boyle jumping around and accepting his award for his kids. Great moment
- Sean Penn giving a fantastic speech
- I said to my wife “Sophia Loren still looks great!”. But then I double-taked when she presented. Whoooahh!
- Seeing the cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire being so happy on stage.
- Jury’s still out on Anne Hathaway. She’s great in Rachel Getting Married (review coming soon) but could end up with an Oscar one day and a tragic acceptance speech to follow
- Even Jack (Nicholson) didn’t show up this year! He’s ALWAYS there! (unless I didn’t see him).
- The 10 second preview of 2009 movies at the end of the ceremony was ultimately a zzzzzzzzzz although Public Enemies is shaping up to be all kinds of awesome.
- Jackman sitting on Frank Langella’s lap and laying one on him seemed rather uncomfortable for all.
- Wall-E was a shoe-in for Best Animated Film but it is easily one of the best FILMS of 2008.
- Overall, I think they should get rid of a host for the Oscar’s entirely OR get Letterman back (j/king). They’re not needed really, especially after the whole thing looks cheaper than ever.
3 Responses to “Oscars Post-Mortem”
I think Hugh Jackman did a good job, but the musical numbers just have to go.
Bring back Steve Martin as host!
Well I think they should have found a b-grade Austrailan actor to host, as a sort of revenge for that time whatshisface from Friends hosted the Logies. What was up with that?
Like the Miss Universe pageant, the Academy Awards are becoming less and less relevant. That’s my impression. Awards ceremonies in general seem to be a throw-back to times when people had fewer distractions, and the arts were the province of movie stars and famous authors like Ernest Hemingway.
Today, anyone can reach a wide audience by writing (or twittering) a popular weblog or showing up on YouTube giving free hugs to strangers.
Add to that the dire state of major studio movies, and you have an institution that’s outstayed it welcome. They should pull the plug before the ‘ageing disgracefully’ syndrome kicks in. The host performing painful musically numbers should definitely go.