Award Shows: 84th Annual Academy Awards Roundup
image from wikipedia
She Said
I really enjoyed the show this year. It was exciting for me to actually have works that I felt passionately positive about. Billy Crystal was for the most part a good host except he really drove me crazy with how many times he called Christopher Plummer old! He’s not that old and he’s an amazing actor! And he won!
Which brings me to a sad item. I didn’t win the Oscar guess contest this year. I would have had the big 5 awards except that Meryl Streep won. I was really disappointed she won (although when I saw her wearing gold I thought “Great, she knows she is winning”) it was sad. I didn’t think her performance was that great at all; it wasn’t transcendent in any way. And Viola was amazing and… okay, I’ve got to move on and talk about the rest of the show.
Here are what I thought were some of the Best and Worst Moments of the night!
The acceptance speeches (the best and the worst) I loved how excited and moved Octavia Spencer was. Her joy was so touching. And Christopher Plummer was just so charming with his quips about how long he had been waiting for an Oscar. However, could Meryl have been a little more self indulgent with expressing that she wondered if people would think “her again” and then a who cares attitude. It’s just not gracious or humble and doesn’t make me reflect on her talent but her ego. I saw Mama Mia; even the great Meryl Streep has talent limitations (especially in the singing department.) Most of the speeches were lovely. Especially the father/daughter speech of Terry and Oorlagh George (for Live Action Short), it was so sweet to their love for each other and their craft.
Cirque de Soleil- (the worst) I really never like Cirque du Soleil but I couldn’t even figure out what the point was to the routine. I get the overall point but there were so many times I didn’t know why or what movements were supposed to be representing. I loved seeing the Muppets so it’s not that I don’t like spectacle. I just don’t like all that contortionist and foot juggling stuff.
The presenters (the best and worst) Chris Rock thank you for admitting that being a voice actor is easy. I hated Robert Downey Jr. “Tebowing”; I really think it’s rude. And I loved that Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez did the dramatic makeup commercial over the shoulder turn for Best Makeup announcement. I thought it was funn!
The Christopher Guest Short (THE BEST!!) I loved this movie! It was so great seeing his take on how the audiences who screened movies for Louis B. Mayer might have acted. It’s always a treat seeing his gang (Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, etc.) performing together.
The host (the best and some of the worst) The opening film wasn’t very good especially the section with The Help. And of course his musical medley of the nominees was good (except for the Tree of Life section). He had the really difficult job of trying to sing a funny song about a September 11th movie and he handled it so gently with so much grace (“Hanks is a memory”) it was classic Billy Crystal and wonderful. He made a few too many jokes about the bankruptcy of Kodak and Christopher Plummer but overall did a good job.
I won 12 categories and RJ won 13. I won 4 out of 5 big categories so that ties me with RJ’s score. Thanks a lot Meryl. There’s always next year and who knows what wonderful movies we will discover this season!
He Said Oscars Roundup
Another year, another Oscars. I really enjoyed watching this year, but it wasn’t without it’s bumps. I did very well in correctly predicting 4 out of the 5 awards that we shared with you. I don’t think I did as well as it looks though. 3 of the 4 categories that I guessed correctly I really took two guesses on. I got wrong Best Supporting Actress. I was totally off base. I don’t know why I thought that the Academy was going to be so racist and completely snub The Help. I knew I was voting for an underdog in Melissa McCarthy, but thought that the numbers looked right for that to be her night. I couldn’t be happier to be wrong, as I loved Octavia Spencer’s performance in The Help, and really think she deserved the award.
Billy Crystal did a good job as host. For anyone who doesn’t know, Billy had to come off the bench for the Academy when Eddie Murphy backed out. He didn’t have as long to prepare, but brought what has made him such a good host in previous years. He had a few moments of bad taste, but overall did an entertaining job. My favorite moment of his was during his opening collage of movies. I was sad to see it end. I loved the clip from Moneyball. It took one of the best scenes in that movie, and made it much funnier than I ever would have thought it could be.
I loved the video with the Christopher Guest mockumentary troupe being a focus group for The Wizard of Oz. When it was introduced, I thought we were about to see an unknown piece of cinema history and was starting to geek out about that. When it immediately became clear this was a skit, I was even more pleased. As with all Christopher Guest productions, it was a little unusual, and the laughs didn’t come nonstop, but it did make you think. On a night that’s all about Hollywood patting itself on the back about how great it is, they managed to slip in a great piece of cultural commentary. Yes, this is show business, but it should also be about the art of movie making, and ultimately storytelling.
On to a couple of my gripes about last night. I really didn’t like the video with the kid seeing all the Best picture nominees with his mother back to back. I found it uncomfortable that the child was watching profanity in the clip focusing on The Help. I understand the use of profanity in this movie, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s appropriate for children. And I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to laugh at how kids handle watching profanity in movies.
I was completely bored by Cirque De Soleil. We’ve seen all of their tricks at this point. It would have been much more enjoyable, if they’d used music from actual movies, instead of the generic music that they used. They were trying to show us the experience of seeing a movie, and used real movie clips at times, why no real music?
The biggest problem for me was the spoilers they gave when talking about The Artist. If you have recorded the Oscars and plan on seeing The Artist, don’t watch the presentation of Best Actor. I’m not going to summarize here so I don’t ruin it for you, but they give away some pretty important points, that really spoil the ending.
Outside of that though, the show really was entertaining. I don’t agree with people who say the show was stuck in the past, and not relevant anymore. Last night’s show even included Justin Beiber!
What did you think of the Oscars last night? Were the winners predictable? Was there a moment that made you laugh out loud? Let us know!
I enjoyed the Cirque de Soliel bit. They are tremendous athletes that add physicality to a production that is otherwise about people talking or sitting (not to under-appreciate walking up a short flight of steps in a restrictive dress).
She said: Well, I wouldn’t demand they cut it or anything and I certainly admire their athletic abilities. They just aren’t my taste.
And I think you’ve hit on why it’s such a big night for designers. If you can make something beautiful that someone can actually move in then isn’t that the real achievement in special effects? 🙂