If nothing else, last night’s Academy Awards made a strong statement that traditional movie making is still preferable to the rise of technology…. in the eyes of the voters anyway. Avatar may have earned $567,890,123.45 (that figure may even be low) at the box office but I think it was ultimately the big loser this year at the awards. I really thing Dr. Doogie’s kick-off to the evening was the low point, Did anyone else see his song (?) and dance? If not… you will have to hunt yourself. Honestly, I thought he was supposed to be good? But I thought Mr. Baldwin and the ALWAYS hilarious Steve Martin were wonderful!
I knew that the time had come for the first female Best Director even more so than the first African-American (forgive me if that is un-PC). But I think the fact that Ms. Bigelow and The Hurt Locker swept the top two categories and was the biggest winner was a bit of a surprise. However, looking back there have been other examples of David-Goliath at the Oscars. Does anyone remember 1977 when a little movie called Star Wars was beaten by the less groundbreaking Woody Allen pic, Annie Hall? Or 1982 when a little guy trying to “Phone Home” lost to Gandhi? So how do we possibly explain the year of the water-logged boat sinking?! A fluke!
I was happy to see Star Trek win in one category. It tied with The Voyage Home (the one with the whales… very high on my list) for the most noms by a movie in the series. Even The Motion Picture (zzz) got three. Last night’s Make Up victory was the first win for the 44 year series.
So while I came in 4th in the pool, I did walk away with a nice gift. The ceramic teddy bear banks are adorable, thanks Carol! Always a ball worthy of the best Hollywood can throw!
I still had a difficult time voting for Sandra Bullock. Maybe it’s her low opinion of one of her first on screen performances. If you can’t be happy about playing the second Bionic Woman (and I’m not talking about the unremarkable series reboot of a few seasons ago) then… and what was with the lipstick… EGAD!
And what happened to the “No thanking” policy? Not to be outdone by the endless Best Actor/Actress presentations. So much for saving time. And apparently, “research” doesn’t always help, right C? 😉
I was disappointed to see Avatar lose all the big awards. It was the first time I actually enjoyed a film that was up for multiple Oscars and some big awards. Oh well, it became apparent by about halfway thru that Hurt Locker was going to sweep – too bad I couldn’t have changed my answers. But in the end, it didn’t matter because I got the prize I had been eye-ing all night – a Jim Henson dvd of The Tortoise and the Hare – I’m sure the kids will love it! Maybe it will even keep them quiet next time we go on a long car ride…
Doogie’s opening number was laughable, and in my opinion, ranked up there with Oscar’s “black eye” moment in 1989 when Rob Lowe managed to humiliate himself AND a faux Snow White: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJyzrA1aR3U
In case you’re wondering, the Walt Disney Co. DID demand a public apology for this debacle. If you click part one of the video, you can see the astonished look on the celebs faces when Snow White first makes her appearance – priceless.
I had never heard Doogie was supposed to be a good singer, but if someone said that, I’d have to disagree. I really liked the Martin/Baldwin hosting duo, although Baldwin’s left hand twitch was a bit distracting. I hope it was simply nerves and not something more serious.
I figured that the Hollywood community would be less than receptive to the new thanking policy – many of them feel they’re above rules, so why did we expect them to follow some new rules? As a result, there were NO limitations in place, and the awards seemed longer than ever – I’m exhausted today! And you know how it is, once the first person (and it was the FIRST person) starting thanking people, everyone else thought, well, that person did it, so why should I have to follow the new policy?
I liked Ms. Bullock’s acceptance speech; she was very funny and it’s always nice to see a winner acknowledge her fellow nominees. I still don’t think her acting was worty of an Oscar, but since I knew she would win and her win did help me get 2nd place… not too much to say. Won’t even acknowledge the year the boat sank, yuck.
Overall, I’m disappointed Avatar didn’t win more important awards – I really like that movie! But I’m not surprised, and there is never a year that the Academy does not pick something that makes me think they’ve got some bolts loose.
This year I was better prepared, and I’d have to say that researching worked for me! OF course Ebert said that this was the easiest year to pick winners in all of the years he’s been doing it…
It was a GREAT time!!!
I did forget the John Hughes (not Landis… director of MJ’s Thriller video and An American Werewolf in London… sorry, I know he has done other things but those were the ones that popped into my head) tribute. I thought that was one of the highlights. The Brat Pack and Mac on stage to see how much they had changed.
And what about Ben Stiller’s unforgettable appearance as an Avatar?!? Hilarious!! Gave me a good idea for Halloween…
THAT WAS GREAT! And what a cool way to present best makeup! 😉
And where were Bea Arthur and Farrah Fawcett during the ‘in memoriam’ segment?!? I was talking about how difficult it is for them to produce that segment since they can’t include everyone, but surely Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur should have been a part of it…
Oops… should have written my own Oscar post instead of writing a book of comments on yours… oh well.