So last night Jess, Sean and I ventured down the B-line to watch the Oscars at Michael’s apartment along with his roommates, Jen and Elissa. The atmosphere was charming, the company lovely and the food exquisite; however the Oscars themselves were a bit on the disappointing side. I would have to say that Jon Stewart was only sub-par as host, but this is most likely because I hold Stewart in such high esteem. Though I did appreciate his binocular/periscope montage followed by the quick, yet engaging bad dream montage, I did not find his antics to be as entertaining as those seen regularly on The Daily Show. I understand he was pressed for time and most likely was relying on a few one-liners and uncomfortable expressions to get the laughs, but I thought more could have been done with the delivery. The political humor, though somewhat evident, I found to be lacking in an award show hosted by such a politically aware comedian. I still think he was better than Chris Rock and a lot of other past hosts, but still Jon, you let me down.
The Oscar flashbacks and montages were a little excessive this year (and every year). I think I know as much as I care to know about past winners and acceptance speeches and I especially have no interest in seeing how the voting process is done. I felt like I was watching a segment from Mr. Roger’s or Reading Rainbow where they visit the box factory and show you how exciting the box making process is, only this was a lot less interesting.
There were no especially memorable dresses, speeches (except I thought Marion Cotillard’s was cute) or jokes. And come on, Heath? Only one brief clip during the In Memoriam montage and that’s it? I can’t believe not one person mentioned him in their speech. My theory is that everybody expected every one else to say something, so they decided against it. If Cate Blanchett had won (which she should have) you know there would have been a mention or dedication. At the Independent Spirit Awards when the cast and crew of “I’m Not There” won the Robert Altman Award, there was a rather tearful tribute to Heath which I found to be thoughtful and sincere, not too corny or over the top. I suppose at least Ledger actually made it into the In Memoriam montage, the same can not be said for our good friend Brad Renfro. I suppose starring in such classic films as “The Client”, “Sleepers” and my personal favorite “Tom and Huck” doesn’t make you Oscar-worthy, even in death. Let’s all have a moment of silence for Brad who was so carelessly disregarded last night…
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The above line represents my moment of silence.
What I can say for the Oscars and this is both a positive and negative observation, is that they were very unpredictable. I was pretty confident in my picks for Best Actress and Actor (Julie Christie and Daniel Day Lewis) as well as Best Supporting Actor and Actress (Javier Bardem and Cate Blanchett) however, as you well know, only half of my predictions were correct. Tilda Swinton came out of no where especially. I didn’t actually see Michael Clayton, but from what I hear she was barely even in the film, same goes for nominee Ruby Dee from “American Gangster,” but she’s elderly so I’ll excuse it.
Due to these unforeseen wins I sadly lost in the bet Sean and I had going. The one where we had to take an ugly girl and turn her into the prom queen. Oh wait, no I won that one, but I did lose in our Oscar competition. This is only because apparently the academy is full of a bunch of sick freaks who enjoy watching people get shot through the head with a device called a “captive bolt pistol” but I refer to as “the scariest weapon ever.” Anyway, since the academy is a bunch of masochistic fools, I’m out $10. Oh well, I suppose you live and learn. Next year I will be sure to vote for the most violent film nominated.
