Oscar talk

[ladynorbert]

I did watch the Oscars, and if my computer hadn't required restarting, I would have posted the commentary I was typing to destinedtofly as it happened. Let's see what I can remember.

Jon Stewart: I like the guy, very much, but some of this year's humor was just....blah. The quip about Hillary Clinton was good. (For those who missed it, he was talking about the movie Away From Her. "It's about a woman who forgets her husband. Hillary Clinton called it the feel-good film of the year.") The Academy's joke montages which had allegedly been constructed to fill time if the strike hadn't ended were vaguely amusing. All in all, though, I rather preferred Ellen's hosting last year, and much preferred Jon's first shot at it two years ago.

Oscar-nominated songs: Four out of five of the musical numbers were muted on my television. I'm sorry, Amy McAdams or whatever her name is -- her singing voice gives me cavities. And the others weren't much more enjoyable. I knew none of the songs from Enchanted would win because they all canceled each other out, but I wasn't about to sit through them either. I listened initially, then hit the mute when I realized brain cells were dying. The one from August Rush didn't offend my sensibilities, but I still didn't care for it. The only one I did listen to was "Falling Slowly," and I was happy that it won, because it was very pretty.

"Halle Berry and Dame Judi Dench": Did anybody else understand what the hell this was about or why it was funny? I don't even know who those two guys WERE, but they weren't funny at all. And it just kept going! They presented two awards with that unfunny schtick! I wanted someone to stand up and yell "Get on with it, you're wasting our time!"

Owen Wilson: Was it me, or did he look like he was irritated at having to be there? I never saw anyone at the Oscars be more obvious about the fact that they were reading off of a TelePrompter.

Miley Cyrus: Say what you will about Hannah Montana -- I think she's precious. I loved her pre-Oscar banter with Regis Philbin. I actually really dislike the pre-show business on the red carpet, but their bit was watchable.

The memorial montage: I always pay strict attention to this part, because it never fails to move me. I still remember getting tears in my eyes a few years ago when they ended the montage with a dual-frame shot of Richard Harris, with his Camelot role on the left and Professor Dumbledore on the right. I noticed that this year, they gave specific dates for the time frame of the memorials -- February 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008 -- and there at the end was Heath Ledger. I had to look this up, because I mistakenly believed he died this month and not last month, but he did die last month. So did Brad Renfro...who was not included in the montage. Wtf, Academy? I went to their website, actually, and sent them a message asking about the omission. I'm curious to see if I get a response. Not that I'm a big Brad Renfro fan or anything -- the only thing I ever saw of his was his debut performance, The Client -- but fair is fair.

The other montages: Loved them. I thought it was a wonderful way to celebrate 80 years of Oscar, showing us all those old clips from shows of the past. I especially liked that the first clip was one of my favorites -- Shirley Temple unveiling the seven mini-Oscars that were created for Walt Disney, to honor his achievement with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Best Actor: Nothing against Daniel Day-Lewis, but even though I haven't seen Sweeney Todd (and everyone keeps advising me against doing so), I was sort of hoping Johnny Depp would take it. Oh well, I have no doubt that DDL earned the honor.

Best Actress: Again, I was honestly pulling for Cate Blanchett, because she rocked my socks in E:TGA. But it's hard not to be happy for the little French actress who did win, she was so adorable and sweet and grateful.

Laura gets snarky about appearances: I think the world of Tilda Swinton, I really do...but what was she wearing?! It looked like she couldn't decide whether or not she wanted a dress with sleeves, so she got one that split the difference. As for Diablo Cody, who got a Best Screenplay award for Juno, I was really glad that her ugly dress allowed the world to see the huge honking tattoo of a woman in a bikini that she has on her right bicep. Way to be classy. Sorry, I have no problem with tattoos per se, but I don't think the ACADEMY AWARDS are the place to be showing them off.

By contrast, when Helen Mirren came out onstage in her beautiful red gown to present an award, my immediate thought was "She walks like a queen."

Comments

[scifispice80.livejournal.com]

I was just glad something that wasn't from Enchanted won, even though I will take some Kristin Chenoweth any time they want to throw some at me and was all XD the whole time she was on stage.

I really hate that I missed Barbara Walter's pre Oscar stuff cause I really wanted to see her interview with Ellen Page. And I really have had enough of Hannah Montana already but I guess at least we can say if one of the tennyboppers HAS to be shoved on us every time we turn around, at least it's the one that doesn't have a drinking problem, isn't on drugs, pregnant or involved in enough scandals to last the rest of their life.

The only dresses I even noticed all night were Helen Mirren's (because omg AMAZING) and Diablo Cody's (because it was so different from everything else).....then I went back and looked at Tilda's. Dear GOD, please pay for a personal sytlyist, woman. Personally, I thought Diablo Cody's appearance was completely refreshing from the kind of boring, predictable night the rest of the show seemed to be. There's just something that makes the rebel in me fistpump and go "YEAH!" when I see someone who doesn't conform like that, not for just the stupid, shallow purpose of being nonconformative for the sake of it, but by just being who they are. However, um....someone needs to inform Diablo that even she is of the skinny, undergarments are awesome things that help keep those embarrassing crotch shots from happening. I almost feel like I know the woman a little to personally now.

And to go out on a tangent, I was also glad she was proudly displaying her ink. One of the problems I have with a lot of people who have/get tattoos is the whole concept of "I have to/should get this at a certain time period in life before I don't want it anymore." Or that it's something they should be embarrassed/ashamed about or feel the need to cover up. Because um....it's kind of permanent, and if you KNOW there's going to be some point where you may not want it or may not want to show it to others, then you don't really want it in the first place. Because to me, that's the ultimate definition of body art. Personally, none of the ink I have or plan to get is anything I would be embarrassed abut or feel the need to cover up for the sensibilities of someone else. Which is probably a lot less courteous than a lot of people would be but- that's just me. If there's some kind of event like that and you ensemble you want happens to show your body art.....oh well. It's body art, it's partially there for viewing of other people. I realize that a lot of people don't see it the same way but- yeah. No, they're not conventional or 'proper' but if neither are you, then I almost think it would be an injustice to yourself to go alone with everyone else just because. And I will totally back that it could have been something more tasteful than a Maxim girl in front of roses but who knows? There could be some complicated meaning or reason for her getting it. You never know. Sorry for the rant that…is kind of ot and possibly has nothing to do with you, but that's just one of my pet peeves. :-)

[scifispice80.livejournal.com]

And omg, that comment ended up way longer than I thought it would. >_>

[naiadea.livejournal.com]

I agree that Diablo Cody looked adorable and I was very happy to see some ink out 'n' proud. =)

[scifispice80.livejournal.com]

I'd wager at least half of the celebs that were onstage over the course of the night have ink of some kind but it was just out of sight. XD

[naiadea.livejournal.com]

The Halle/Judi thing was Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill from the movies Knocked Up and Superbad and various other Judd Apatow projects. Since Superbad was the cult hit of the year, I'm sure that's why they were there doin' their schtick.

also!

[naiadea.livejournal.com]

Regardless of her lack of fashion sense (she wore a HORRIBLE dress to the BAFTAs, too), i think Tilda Swinton is fantastic. For one thing, she played Orlando (awesome movie in which she was awesome) AND she took her 30 y/o boyfriend to the BAFTAs, leaving her husband at home with their kids. Both she and her husband have talked openly about their open relationship and how happy they are with it, proving, yet again, that she's a lady with balls who can very eloquently say 'screw you!' to the establishment.

[melydia.livejournal.com]

Brad Renfro died? Oh, that's so sad! He was on the Tom & Huck poster in my room years ago.

[ladynorbert.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was sad. He OD'ed on something about a week or so before Heath Ledger died.

[mrskummer.livejournal.com]

There's a lot I could say about this whole entry but I'll leave it at Diablo Cody was gorgeous ... and she's a writer, not an actress. And a brilliant one. Even if anyone still took the Oscars seriously, it's not like the usual beauty standards even apply to her.

[clez.livejournal.com]

Owen Wilson: Was it me, or did he look like he was irritated at having to be there? I never saw anyone at the Oscars be more obvious about the fact that they were reading off of a TelePrompter.

I'm guessing he didn't, since I heard he recently attempted to kill himself. He's better now, but he's probably not at all excited about award introductions when trying to get his life back together. Can't blame the guy.