Happy Monday everybody! I was going to try to live blog this year just for the heck of it but I’m just not a fast enough typer, ahah. So I’ll just do a sort of play-by-play like I did with the Golden Globes last year.
I was hoping the ceremony would already start by 6PM CST when I turn my TV on but looks like the red carpet is still on for another hour or so, heh. But that’s ok I suppose, I enjoyed seeing a few of them in their glamorous dresses, I think the all of the cast of The Help look stunning. I LOVE how the short crop of Viola Davis really shows off her lovely face and that shade of green of her dress looks spectacular on her killer figure. I think Jessica Chastain‘s Alexander Mcqueen strapless black gown with heavy gold beading all over is my Best Dress pick of the night.
Ok, that’s about the extent of my red carpet coverage, as I’m really just about the ceremony and see if my Oscar predictions make out. For one I’m quite excited to see Billy Crystal as host, his ninth time! He was already making jokes about his opening number via Twitter before the ceremony started:
The montage of the host in each of the movies nominated has been done before but Billy still made it work, even the Justin Bieber bit about helping him with the young demographic was quite a hoot. Practically everyone at the red carpet expected to see him perform his musical number, and he didn’t disappoint. I think it’s quite fun to watch, he’s still got it and the number’s got an Old Hollywood feel to it, and not only because of the fact that Billy is 63, ahah. I do like him as host, at least he wasn’t trying to hard or sleepwalk his way into the ceremony like last year’s duo.
Here are some of his best quotes:
“So tonight, enjoy yourselves, because nothing can take the sting out of the world’s economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues.”
“We’re here at the beautiful Chapter 11 theater.” Ahah, poor Kodak.
“Congratulations to Mr Plummer. The average age of Oscar winners has now jumped to 67.”
• Well I got two of my predictions right in the first 2 awards, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction goes to HUGO which I think is fitting, though I wouldn’t mind the cinematography nod going to Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life.
• I’m glad The Artist got the award for Best Costume Design as I LOVE all those 1920s costumes, George’s tux and Peppy’s gorgeous dresses all have to be so meticulously crafted with textures to pop in black and white. Check out costume designer Mark Bridges’ interview with CNN on getting the Hollywood Golden Age look right for the film.
• Christian Bale looking so dapper (glad he shaved that unsightly beard from last year!) and using his own delightful accent presenting Best Supporting Actress award for the one I’m rooting for: Octavia Spencer, yay! Even miss Spencer acknowledged Bale’s hotness in her acceptance speech, ahah. But in all seriousness, I’m glad to see another colored person won an acting award. As I mentioned in my prediction post, there’s only been five black actresses who have taken home the statuettes. Now if Viola Davis wins again, that’ll make her the second winner!
• Ben Stiller and Emma Stone presenting… I’ve always loved the effortlessly sweet Emma and she played up being the ‘new girl in town’ beautifully against the ‘jaded movie star’ Ben Stiller who looked like a dwarf next to her, ahah. I like her jab about him being a ridiculous presenter a few years ago dressed as an Avatar character.
• The inherently good-humored Sandra Bullock introduced the best foreign language film in German, after jokingly said that the academy asked her to present the award in Chinese but with a German accent, ahah. I’m not too crazy about her dress but I’ve always liked her.
• Hugo just kept on winning, 5 wins by 9:30 PM. I hope by the end The Artist will catch up with the big ones, especially Best Picture.
• WOW, those Cirque du Soleil dance sequence is incredible!! I LOVE the nod to classic films like North by Northwest, Casablanca, etc. with the guys wearing suits, absolutely fantastic. I wouldn’t mind seeing them perform at the Oscars every year!
• Robert Downey Jr. is always up for showing off his inherent swagger… “I’m filming a documentary called ‘The Presenter,'” It’s always fun to see RDJ being his mischievous self but I gotta admit the banter with Paltrow a la Tony Stark & Pepper Potts felt awkward at times.
• Christopher Plummer (who shall always be Captain Von Trapp to me) won Best Supporting Actor for Beginners. I haven’t seen the film yet but no doubt his performance was great and his nomination/win was way overdue anyway. He’s the oldest winner at 82 but he still looks dashing! Best. Speech. Ever. LOVE his cceptance speech opening line…“You’re only 2 years older than me my darling, where have you been all my life?” Oh and that gracious thank you to his wife… “…thank you for rescuing me every day of my life.” Awwwwwwww…
• Ok normally I’m not so into Will Ferrell, let alone that Zack Gawhateveryournameis guy from the Hangover movies, but them presenting Best Song complete with cymbals did get a few laughs from me. And YES The Artist won for Best Original Score!
• Happy to see both of my Best Screenplay predictions are spot on… The Descendants won Best Adapted Screenplay and Midnight in Paris won for Best Original Screenplay. Congrats Alexander Payne and Woody Allen respectively. I think The Descendants is definitely got amazing dialog in it, mixing pathos and humor which is really quite a feat to pull off.
• Chris Rock presented the award for Best Animated Feature and seemed to be a bit nostalgic about his hosting gig. I thought his wisecrack about how making animated feature is the easiest job in the world. And of course you’d expect him to say some racial remark about Hollywood… “If you’re a fat woman, you can play a skinny princess. If you’re a white man, you can play an Arabian prince. And if you’re a black man, you can play a donkey or a zebra.” After the applause he added, “… he can’t play white, now, come on!” Anyway, Rango wins, and since that’s the only one I’ve seen from the noms, I guess I can’t comment if it deserved it or not. Now if The Adventures of Tintin had been nominated, I’d be rooting for that one.
• I haven’t seen Bridesmaids but I’m sure lots of people are happy to see the whole cast up there presenting. I actually thought they’d make it to Best Picture nomination, but clearly one can’t undermine the power of Mr. Spielberg and Stephen Daldry.
• Woo hoo! Happy to see Michel Hazanavicius took home Best Director award for The Artist… at least the Academy voters got it right in this category! Hopefully this will translate to Best Picture as I still have no clue how a movie could win Best Director and his/her movie isn’t regarded as Best Picture.
• Ok, time to grab the tissue… In Memoriam montage is being played, honoring all the greats who have passed this year… man we lost a lot of people who left way too soon. I teared up seeing Whitney up there… Nice to see Steve Jobs up there as he did give us Pixar and those amazing animated masterpieces. I LOVE Esperanza Spalding’s rendition of the beautiful What a Wonderful World… it’s sweet yet haunting. I’ll put up the clip as soon as I find it but here’s the video if you want to watch it, I can’t embed it in this post.
• Finally, more acting awards. The lovely and now svelte-again-after-just-having-a-baby Natalie Portman presented Best Actor in a Leading Role. Dujardin and his awesome eyebrows is just lovely to watch. Y’know, seeing Gary Oldman’s clip as George Smiley makes me root for him even though I had been pulling for The Artist‘s actor to win… and YES, Jean Dujardin won! Well-deserved I’d say, and hopefully we’ll see more of him and those animated eyebrows in future Hollywood films.
• Well the next award isn’t as thrilling for me as I was REALLY pulling for Viola Davis. Ok it isn’t fair for me to say as Meryl Streep‘s performance in The Iron Lady probably is very deserving, but ah well, I guess congratulations is in order for Miss Streep. No doubt she is an acting legend… I just want someone else to get a shot, like Michelle Williams perhaps? Besides, the chance for someone like Viola to get thisclose to having an Oscar-winning role like this again is obviously much smaller than her white peers. Ah well, seems like the Academy voters are not ready to give a Best Leading Role Oscar to a black actress for the second time around, maybe they figure hey, we already gave one to Octavia for the night, so we’ve met our ‘quota’ 😦
• Now last BIG award of the night… my fingers are crossed for The Artist! And…. they WON!! Woo hoo! Even Uggie got up on the stage with the cast and crew, ahah. I really do think a silent film in this day and age that’s so well-crafted by Michel Hazanavicius and well-acted all around deserved this honor. It’s stylish without being a style over substance which is quite a feat. As I said in my review, it’s an exquisite blend of artistic visual style and engaging storytelling, a truly a magical time at the movies!
I’m glad this is the second year in a row that the movie I’m rooting for Best Picture actually won. Last year I gave this rationale for The King Speech for that honor. So in the end, though the Scorsese’s film seemed to have an early lead, Hugo and The Artist tie with five awards each, I guess it’s a safe move from the voters trying to please everybody.
So how did I do on my predictions? I got 11 right out of the 15 that I made in this post, not too shabby eh? 😀 Check out Never Too Early Movie Predictions post for the full list of winners.
Overall I think the ceremony turned out pretty well, not a whole lot of surprises but what do you expect based on the demographic of the academy, ahah. I did like the ‘Mom-ination‘ segment where they interviewed the mothers of the people nominated.
Favorite moments: The Cirque Du Soleil spectacle, Octavia Spencer & Christopher Plummer’s speeches, the In Memoriam segment and The Artist winning Best Picture.
Worst moments: J Lo & Cameron Diaz presenting (why them of all people??), Milla Jovovich’s weird flirtatious gesture as if she was trying to seduce the camera, and Angelina Jolie’s leg-revealing strut. Perhaps she’s trying to distract people from cringing at her scary super-skinny arms, they look like they’d snap like a twig if you pull her too hard. Someone tweeted that she looked like the corpse bride, ahah. So she’s naturally skinny whatever, but what turned me off is how she seemed to think she’s this incredibly sexy goddess that outshines everyone in the room. Gah, nothing is more repulsive than utter display of self-admiration.
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So did you watch the Oscars? What’s your pick of best and worst moments?
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I didn’t watch the awars, but i looked up Meryls speech on youtube…and to be honest it doesn’t seem like she expected or wanted to win.
Yeah even she said ‘come on!’ when she was on stage and had the good sense to acknowledge that a lot of people weren’t really rooting for her win.
thanks for this post Ruth! I didn’t have to watch this knowing your awesome highlight play-by-play. Well done!
Thanks for reading Vince. Btw, you should check out the In Memoriam segment, I’ll post it here when I find the clip. It’s really quite lovely.
Nice recap Ruth, as you know I don’t care for this award show but it’s nice to read what happened during the telecast. I finally saw the photos of Angie Jolie’s arms this morning, holy cow that lady needs to eat something with lots of calories. I’m one of the few guys who thinks she’s not that attractive, I mean she’s cute but not this goddess the media made her out to be.
I’m surprise the Razzies got moved to April, I was hoping to read about it last week. But I can’t wait to see if Adam Sandler will show up to accept his many nominations this year. He should be a good sport and shows up, a few big named stars did and they’re careers are going well. Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock showed up and they’re doing quite well.
Ahah yep, she definitely needs some burgers with all the trimmings PLUS a heap of fries! But really, what’s more of a turn-off is her pretentious attitude, it’s just repulsive!
Hey we should make a post on the Razzies. Those are fun for sure. You’re right that the actors generally don’t suffer from being nominated for a Razzie if they know how to take it in stride like Bullock did.
Wow, of all the show the Cirque was perhaps the most memorable for just the sheer spectacle. I’m not sure a lot of what they did was humanly possible but it was spellbinding! I’m surprised more people in the audience didn’t have their jaws on the floor when the camera panned over them. Pitt and Jonah Hill looks highly unamused.
Hi, Ruth and company:
Excellent review and some great photos!
11 of 15 predictions paid off? Outstanding!!!
Maybe hubby should take you to the track.
I gave the Awards show about fifteen minutes. Then followed it on Nikki Finke’s
live blogged snark-athon on ‘Dateline: Hollywood’.
I’m surprised that ‘The Artist’ won best picture. Kind of ashamed that Streep won best actress for ‘The Iron Lady’, but that’s liberal Hollywood’s PC politics for you. Very angry that “Tinker, Tailor,,,’ and Gary Oldman were basically snubbed.
Overall evaluation of the Oscar over at Nikki’s: An enormously boring snore fest. Though I did manage to enjoy two episodes of ‘Firefly’ that aired on the Science Channel.
…Wouldn’t it be more “liberal” to give it to the black actress rather than the already two time white oscar winner?
Hi, dirtywithclass:
That happened when the talentless Halle Barry won best actress in 2002 for ‘Monster’s Ball’ and Denzel Washington winning best actor for ‘Training Day’.
Both performances were lackluster at best. Especially when stacking Denzel’s Detective Harris against his earlier ‘Malcolm X’ back in 1992.
My guess is that Streep has huge name recognition. That she starred in a film that was a poorly executed attempt at revisionist history. Regarding a British Prime Minister that the left continues to loathe was icing on the cake for those who choose who wins what award.
I would have much preferred to have seen Dame Helen Mirren playing Ms. Thatcher. In a role she seemed tailor made for.
Yeah the problem with the Academy is that it often fires and misses in a given year (Denzel – Training Day versus Malcolm X). They play the game of make-up far too much and the result ends up being debatable selections.
The Halle Berry win will go down as a baffling win. Shame it is a historical feat for a dubious performance in a headache inducing movie.
They most assuredly watched the other awards shows and that had some influence. Add to that the fact that Streep has not won in 30 years and Viola probably has a few more solid Awards-worthy performances in store (probably more than Streep anyway who is just about coasting now) and there you go!
Oldman will probably get an honorary at some point.
@ Jack – “Both performances were lackluster at best. Especially when stacking Denzel’s Detective Harris against his earlier ‘Malcolm X’ back in 1992.” It sounds like a similar case w/ Russell Crowe whose astounding performance in ‘The Insider’ is far better than in Gladiator but he was passed over by Kevin Spacey in ‘American Beauty.’ But at least his Maximus is still very much Oscar-worthy to me.
No need to feel shame Jack. I agree with you about the PC thing. See Fassbender for Shame (OMG a penis on screen!!!) or famously Ordinary People and Dances With Wolves over Raging Bull andGoodfellas. Old, white males make up the academy so that’s what you’d about expect. I agree with dirtywithclass. Let me ask you this. Do you think it would be PC, liberal politicking to vote for John Williams who only been up for 47 awards unlike the paltry 17 Meryl’s been up for? The Hollywood “liberals” have recently picked an industrial goth rocker, Trent Reznor, Bollywood’s finest, A.R. Rahman and straight outta Compton’s, The Three 6 Mafia. Those are truly liberal picks. Am I wrong? Sorry but for better or worse Meryl is the establishment. So is Speilberg, Williams, Lucas and yes, even Scorsese now. “Liberal” is giving an Oscar to an Iranian film not to Meryl Streep.
By the way Jack, Firefly’s one of my favorite shows so “shiny” to your viewing choice!
Also to Ruth’s point… the thing about Meryl is she’s always knocking it out of the park and there will ALWAYS be someone new deserving a break but for gods sake Meryl hasn’t won since Reagan was in his first term… 30 years ago. It’s gotten to the point where she’s genuinely surprised when she wins nowadays and feels like she has to apologize when she wins. Actually DeNiro, Pacino and Nicholson should apologize for what they’ve been up to lately. Let’s make a sports analogy. Would you have denied Michael Jordan some of his MVP titles just because some white guys, ala Chris Mullen, might never get that close to winning the MVP award in basketball? Ring a bell? Say what you want about Woody Allen but I think he has a great attitude in not taking all of this too seriously. Beside the Oscars are just a slickly packaged self promotion vehicle disguised as entertainment and no one knows it better than Harvey Weinstein.
Also Jack, I didn’t think Gary Oldman got snubbed. He was nominated… which really is an honor. Or at least it should be. Overdue, sure. Unfortunately over the top actors like Pacino, O’Toole, Carrey and yes, Oldman (See Leon, The Fifth Element, Sid & Nancy, etc ) get overlooked for the big prize for some reason. I LOVE Gary Oldman all the way back to Prick Up Your Ears but it seems Hollywood likes but dosen’t love the bombastic, over the top actor… except maybe for Jack. What do you think?
Billy was great but the show did feel dated is some parts. The sound mixing was so bad I couldn’t make out the words to the opening song. Then there was the mike feedback… the sound crew will never work in that town again. lol.
Emma Stone and little Ben Stiller were great together. Also liked Will and Zach’s zanyness. Chris Rock was on point as always. Hey, that’s his comedic style to put a little jab in there to stir up the white folks. Christopher Plummer was as charismatic as ever. Someone get Angelina a sandwich… please.
I liked the reserved “In Memoriam” although they forgot Harry Morgan. Jeez I know people only think of him as the guy from M.A.S.H. and Dragnet but he has 100 movies to his credit including High Noon. Last time I checked Whitney only had 3 movies released to her credit. Just saying.
Cirque de Soleil never fails to impress. Would like to see them every year.
I wasn’t really dissappointed with the picks. All pretty much deserving. Nice job on the predictions Ruth. When The Return of the King won years ago I actually won my pool missing only 2 picks. Yea!
“Say what you want about Woody Allen but I think he has a great attitude in not taking all of this too seriously. Beside the Oscars are just a slickly packaged self promotion vehicle disguised as entertainment and no one knows it better than Harvey Weinstein.”
I agree 100% Dave, that’s why I don’t pay attention to the Oscars much anymore. I think the last time I watched the show was way back in 1998. It’s just funny to me that all these people at who are the ceremony act so serious when in reality they’re all entertainers and they’re supposed to entertain us the viewers.
Great quote!
Yeah but I get why they take it so seriously. Winning an Oscar is like being knighted over here. Academy Award winning actor…. follows your name forever just like Sir and Dame in the Britian. Besides they ARE our royalty here so it’s kind of fitting. Also it gives your career a huge boost not to mention your movie. Not only do you get money which I’m sure is nice but for true actors what they really want most is the freedom to choose their roles. Not that it lasts forever. Just ask Cuba Gooding Jr.
Forget the actors… what with all the potential money and prestige involved the studios treat it as a blood sport. (see Harvey Weinstein) So I kind of get the seriousness of it. Guy’s like Malick, Allen and back in the day Kubrick didn’t need Hollywood as much as it needed their singular talent. They avioded Hollywood like the plague and people came flocking to work for them for little more than scale and the honor of saying that they acted in one of their films.
Hey Dave, thanks for the awesomely long comment!
I’m with you about Oldman, at least he’s nominated this year. I do think if it weren’t for Dujardin he had a huge shot at winning. Who knows he might get nominated for The Dark Knight Rises?? I mean his role as Gordon is just as excellent as his other roles and it’s actually more understated.
Too bad they forgot to include Harry Morgan. I’m not familiar w/ him but he has 100 movies to his credit? WOW yeah he should’ve definitely been included!
Glad you enjoyed the Cirque de Soleil also, man they’re just incredible aren’t they? That was massively entertaining.
When I frist saw Cirque live in Pittsburgh (Quidam) I turned to my girlfriend after the show and said “If aliens ever land on this earth…. I think I’d show them this.” You know what I mean?
Hi Jack, yeah I guess Oscars is quite predictable this year apart from the Best Actress category which I think is down to between Viola and Meryl. I don’t know that her win is politically-inclined but then again me not being from the US just don’t get that kind of stuff.
As for Tinker, Tailor, I’m not as upset that the film wasn’t nominated as I’m not as impressed w/ it as I had thought. I am torn however between Oldman and Dujardin, I hope that Oldman will get his dues soon enough as he’s done several Oscar-worthy performances in the past.
Oldman should have won just on principle. What a disappointment. Gary gets no love!
I have to admit it was bittersweet for me when Dujardin won as I was really torn between him and Oldman. I think Oldman will end up winning an Oscar for a ‘less-deserving’ role down the line just like Russell Crowe winning for Gladiator when he should’ve won for The Insider.
I was disappointed on the lack of love for ‘The Descendants’ (I was pulling for Clooney for Best Actor, though I can happily live with Dujardin’s selection). Overall, the show was okay, Crystal’s stint was a lift (though my wife’s thoughts about his age weren’t helped by his appearance on high definition television). The usual mix of good and ‘eh’ moments. During the memorial segment I kept wondering who they were going to forget or not do a fair acknowledgment. Is it just me or does Tom Cruise always seem to get the Best Picture presenter slot (speaking of him, did you see that big splashy Scientology commercial during the broadcast?). Perhaps, I’m tiring of the accent schtick of Meryl Streep performances of late — and yeah, I think last night’s Best Actress award was a make-up call for the years she’s come up empty (‘The Iron Lady’, a so-so biopic, seemed to be an obvious vehicle for this). I was pulling for Viola (so both my acting picks, which were the same as Leonard Martin’s, lost).
As the Mexican-American in the audience, I can answer that one: Spanish surnames. 😉
Fine re-cap, Ruth. Thanks.
Ahah, I think Crystal was perhaps on Botox?? His face seemed too smooth for a 63-year-old. Speaking of Botox, Cruise must be on some kind of age-defying routine as he doesn’t seem to age one bit. No I didn’t notice the Scientology commercial, it’s a good thing I did.
I’m also pulling for Viola… ah well, hopefully she gets another good role in the future that’d utilize her talents.
Ah so they’re just filling out a ‘quota’ for the Hispanic audience by having those two as presenters?? I’d think there are much better Latina actresses out there like Salma Hayek or even the new ‘it’ girl Zoe Saldana.
Well you know my general feelings about awards shows but I peeked at a bit of this. Following on twitter was fun 🙂
Good synopsis on your part.
Meryl was quite magnanimous in her receipt of the award. Well done her. I think she was a bit gutted that Viola did not win. Don’t worry it will be Viola’s ‘turn’ soon.
Loved the Bridesmaids and Jean Dujardin is a peach!
Oh yeah and happy about Midnight in Paris as well.
“Don’t worry it will be Viola’s ‘turn’ soon.” I sure hope so, Iba. I just think roles for 40-something non-white women just aren’t as plentiful (I’m putting it mildly) but hopefully there’ll be a good role for her in the future so she has a chance at perhaps becoming the 2nd black woman to win a Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar!
Yeah, glad for Midnight in Paris too. Now, I wonder if Allen and Malick were hanging out together last night? 😀
I totally forgot that Malick seems to hate these kind of awards show too, it’s one of the reasons why I love his work. 🙂
My top mark is to Viggo, who thanks to Ruth, I found out turned down the invite to be a voting member of the Academy on the principle of judging art.
Ruth – I am just trying to be Pollyanna about it and am hoping that the goodwill folks have for her will translate into a role just for her to rake in the awards 🙂 we can hope!
We sure hope so. But, tell that to Julianne Moore, Glen Close, and Michelle Pfeiffer, let alone Deborah Kerr, Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Carole Lombard, and Marlene Dietrich (to name a few).
Sadly Iba, I’m not so sure it’s going to be Viola’s ‘turn’ soon. Meryl Streep gets these kinds Oscar-bait role thrown at her every year. When will Viola Davis get another leading role in a major studio film like The Help again? I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was never again.
Exactly my point, Castor! I don’t doubt that Meryl merited her Oscar but for someone like Viola who’s already 46 years old, juicy roles like in The Help is surely hard to come by. Well, let’s hope that she could reverse the trend Castor. I really like her attitude and she seemed genuinely happy for Meryl which makes me like her more.
On a related note: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/shortcuts/2012/feb/27/few-black-actresses-win-oscars
Not a bad telecast, certainly a huge improvement over last year’s (not saying much I know). I was actually debating whether to see this and only tuned in with about 90 minutes left.
I liked many of the montages and thought the bits about the actors’ speaking about what makes a great film was nice.
I wanted Viola Davis to win but damn Meryl Streep knows how to say the right things at the podium.
Can’t believe where Jessica Chastain has come from in a year. No one even knew what she looked like a year ago!
Well at least from the hosting standpoint, it’s a HUGE improvement. Yeah, the montages and actors interviews are nice additions I think.
I know Cas, I think Meryl is a pro for acknowledging people’s sentiment about her win, but it still doesn’t make it less disappointing for me.
Yeah, props for miss Chastain. She’s done a lot of great work in such a short amount of time. Plus she knows how to pick even the right dress that looks spectacular without looking like she’s trying too hard *cough, cough J Lo*
Good job on your predictions, Ruth! I caught the second half of the show and wasn’t really impressed. It was nice to see The Artist and Hugo do so well, but the show itself should really be condensed down to two, maybe 2 1/2 hours tops. There were just too many unnecessary segments, in my opinion.
Oh yeah I think they could cut down on the red carpet stuff too! I know I’m in the minority as a girl not liking that stuff but I just want to get on w/ the ceremony.
Thanks for a great post. Well done. A fine mix of personal reactions along with the recap. I was planning to do a similar piece – but after doing a play by play with snark on the Red Carpet Live Show, I was too tired. As for the Red Carpet Show – If I call it lightweight, I’m really giving it more weight and substance than it actually has.
Must admit to being surprised that Meryl took the gold over Viola. Repeat – that’s surprised but not shocked.
Didja notice the horrible audio that came and went throughout the show? That’s another one of the reasons I bailed on doing a play-by-play for the Awards. Couldn’t understand some of Crystal’s remarks at times.
Loved the montages. People complain and say the show is/was boring. Isn’t that par for an awards show. I guess you have to love the mc’s style or else the show is boring. Except for the montages. To me they are the highlights of the evening.
Also – I noticed that until you see the actors in an award show or in a presentation posture – you really have no idea about their size. It seemed almost uniformly true that the tall women were ALWAYS paired with a shorter guy. I wonder why that’s true.
I think you got it exactly right about how the Academy plays it’s hand in either a catchup mode for people and a split the awards for the films. When Hugo was picking up gold for the technical awards you just knew it was likely because they weren’t going to win the bigger awards. As for Streep, even if it was a ‘lifetime’ achievement kind of thing – she’s deserving. If The Iron Lady was a flawed film, it certainly wasn’t Streep’s doing.
jmm
Glad you found so much to enjoy about the telecast, Ruth. (Well aside from Angelina’s arms but I’m with you on that one. They ARE freaky.) There is always so much hostility towards the Oscars the day after so it’s nice to see the other perspective. And Emma Stone was, like, classically hilarious, wasn’t she?
I think Meryl got that award for ‘Lifetime Achievement’ as much as she did for her 2011 performance. And I think this attention for Viola will FINALLY start sending more leading roles her way. Or maybe I’m just over-estimating Hollywood’s intelligence.
I think you did much better on your ballot than I did on mine! I predicted basically the opposite of what happened, though I did pick The Artist to win Best Picture, I had it getting all the technical awards and Hugo got all those. So I didn’t really think The Artist was going to win Best Picture until Dujardin won Best Actor.
Putting on an event like this isn’t easy. The sound stank but I thought the broadcast overall was much improved over last year’s, at least I didn’t get that queasy feeling during it.
Nice overview Ruth. I watched the show at work, so my mind wasn’t really focused on them. Hoped the national TV would on air the show. But I was pretty happy when Plummer and The Artist won. You have to watch Beginners! Billy Christal was hilarious. I didn’t get why Jolie have to ‘open’ her legs like that. Great show.
Nice play-by-play, Ruth. I did my own on my facebook feed (and got a few comments about how i seemed to be clogging up the news feed among my friends – LOL) and loved it. My own favourite bits were Emma Stone/Ben Stiller, RDJ (who, in my book, should host next year!) and Paltrow – Paltrow looked like she was trying too hard – and finally a decent In Memoriam segment… Oh, and the Wizard Of Oz focus group bit was funny, even if not entirely relevant.
Even though it gets tiresome at times and some people might not think it is the best place to do it, I am one who thinks that all of the foreign people that got up there and paid tribute to the vicissitudes taking place in their own lands are commendable and worth of praise, especially the lady that won for short documentary film who thanked the incredible ladies that inspired her work.
Similarly, I would like to add my favorite line from a speech for the night, which might as well be the funniest of the night too: “I want to thank everyone who is here tonight, and everybody who isn’t, and everybody who has ever been born, or may be born or be born again or reborn, if I’ve forgotten anybody then you probably know who you are” – Philip Stockton accepting his Sound Editing Award for Hugo.
The best speech overall was Merryl Streep for me, closely followed by the eternally charming Christopher Plummer. This is saying a lot for me since I was also pushing for Viola to get the award.
Great post Ruth! Very enjoyable read.
Niels
Wow great breakdown, I really wished I stayed up for it now. Don’t usually care what they are all wearing but Jessica Chastain and Viola Davis do look gobsmackingly stunning. Those are some amazing dresses!
I’m still slowly making my way through it as it was on in the middle of the night here in the UK. I managed to watch the opening and the first couple of awards last night and enjoyed the film montage and the fact the actors from those films were game to take part in the film. I agree with you about that joke about millionaires presenting awards to each other – it was a funny intro and a nice way to start the night.
Thanks for this great overview Ruth. Much appreciated.
Excellent write up matey.
I haven’t seen the whole ceremony, I have caught little bits, my favourite was definitely Emma Stone, she is so cool, sexy and funny. I love her a little more now!!
I wish they would do a mid afternoon award ceremony so we on this side of the pond could join in the fun without having to stay up ALL night!!
Thanks matey
I thought the Emma Stone and Ben Stiller moment was a dig at last year’s two Oscar host… overly excited female and uninterested male…
I enjoyed it this year. Was glad for so many of the winners.
Surprised at how fit Viola Davis is! did you see her arms? wow.
Never gets old seeing Octavia Spencer freak out and still be so humble with her winnings.
Billy Crystal is the man.
I wanted to order a cheeseburger for Angelina Jolie myself!
The Memorial piece forgot Etta James who acted and performed for a few soundtracks.
Christopher Plummer was classy as always.
Oh, and I was disappointed with ‘the dictator’s’ behavior on the Red Carpet. Glad we didn’t have to see him in the ceremony.
Jessica Chastain looked absolutely stunning! That dress and her make up were beautiful.
Awards wise I was fairly happy, especially with the Screenplay winners, though I was disappointed that Hugo took home the Best Visual Effects award. Rise of the Planet of the Apes should have won that, in my opinion.
Nice recap, I agree with you on most points. Maybe I am biased, but I like Angelina Jolie and I think she is gorgeous, although I did find the leg thing hilarious! The girl obviously rehearsed her posture, but I think she did it because she thought the dress was not impressive enough! Anyway, overall, great show, I liked it!