I watched the Oscars again the day after (I had work last night, so I DVR'ed it even though I had it on at the bar last night, albeit on silent) and I must say I am pleasantly surprised! I am not one of those award show haters who criticizes the show based on who wins and who loses. That is just stupid. The show itself and the winners/losers are two separate entities, and should be viewed as such. The host, the songs, performances, and the presenters make up one aspect of the show, and then the awards themselves make up part number 2. The actual awards part will always be debated after the fact and snubs will cause people to be mad at the results but, that can't be avoided when there is always only one winner. The first part, however, the REST of the show... that can be awesome and save the day all together for anyone mad about their favorites not winning. When Seth McFarlane was picked to host the show, I immediately began looking forward to it. How would he execute the hosting duties? Would he be as raunchy as we expect from his work? Would he use Ted & Stewie in the fucking Oscar broadcast?! Would he bash the celebs unmercifully the way Ricky Gervais did a few years back on the Golden Globes... or would he go even further? All of these things had me excited for the show for the first time in years, and sort of gave me hope after last years straight-forward Billy Crystal mop-up job of the previous year's Anne Hathaway/James Franco shit-show. So how did I think it went? Check after the jump....
So there were lots of things I liked, some unreal stuff that I LOVED, and a few moments I kinda hated. I'm not going to comment on the awards themselves too much. More about the production of the award show, itself, and added bonuses. Lets get to it, shall we...
The Bad:There wasn't much I disliked about the show, not much at all. As a matter a fact, this must have been the FIRST Oscars that I have watched since I was 15 or so (when I started paying attention to things like production value and historical significance of events) that I had very little to complain about. So I'll start with the bad since there wasn't much....
- I didn't really like the Musical singing number. I get it, Les Mis was a big deal this year. But why trot out Catherine Zeta Jones to rehash a boring 'Chicago' number and get another Jennifer Hudson performance of her 'Dreamgirls' hit all alone on stage, and then completely fast forward to the awesome performance of Les Mis's full cast? The two old performances were boring, pedestrian, and weak in effect ...and then they get blasted off the stage by a killer ensemble piece like the Les Mis cast performance. The Les Mis piece disparages the shit out of the first two glimpses back into Oscar history, and serves as a kind of gloating moment as to what a real musical could be.
- Why the fuck did every male celebrity (well not all, but at least 90% of them) have some crazy-ass beards? I rock a beard, and I love me some facial hair... but when this many usually clean shaven celebs are rocking something, then you know it is not by choice and because they were told to do so. I fucking hate when something I do, regularly, all of the sudden becomes a big trend. then people start looking at me like I'm the one who is trying to fit in when, all the while, I have had a beard for the last 10 years!!!! GRRRRR....
- How about putting a banister on one side of the steps leading up to the stage? Would a fucking handrail really kill the aesthetics of the stage that much? I was so happy for Jennifer Lawrence when she won Best Actress. A moment that may prove to be the only one in her career in which she wins such a prestigious award in her field (I think she will win plenty more, but nothings a lock). So imagine how embarrassed and mad I was for her when she fell UP THE FUCKING STAIRS while going to accept her statuette. WTF set decorators!? Do you SEE some of dresses these chicks are wearing? Make a handrail happen you pricks....
- Seth McFarlane... why didn't we get more of you? I wanted to see him dropping more one-liners, abusing celebs, and doing things I never knew the talented guy could do (this dudes singing voice is epic!)... and I guess that is selfish of me. I know he got the gig, but ABC was probably treading on the side of caution with such a wildcard as McFarlane. I hope he becomes the next decades Billy Crystal or Whoppi Goldberg, hosting the show multiple times to give us much more of what was a great thing!
And now for the things I loved. There were a lot of loves in this 4 hour telecast, but I will try to narrow it down to my favorite moments:
- Seth Mcfarlane's opening was fantastic! Time travel, William Shatner, the three song and dance numbers from the future featuring real celebs (Charlize Theron killed that dance... she looked so gorgeous). Plus he absconded with the 'Flying Nun' in the 'Smokey and the Bandit' car!!! He was so awesome, and I thought it was a pretty solid opening. I thought he was good throughout the show, but the 20 minute opening was, by far, McFarlane's shining moment... and one that will go down in history as one of the funniest I can remember!
- The Bond tribute was fantastic. 50 years of Bond, summed up through a crazy montage from all the films and the rendition of 'Goldfinger' by Shirley Bassey. Than Adele wins for best song and absolutely kills the live performance. Great tribute from one of my favorite film franchises ever.
- The 'In Memoriam' tribute was amazing this year, especially since it included people like Ralph McQuarrie, Adam Yauch, and Herbert Lom... people who may not have been the biggest starts to die this year but were very important to me in my life as a film fan. especially Lom, who starred opposite Peter Sellers in my favorite films ever, the 'Pink Panther' movies. I am forever grateful to those who pass on, and the tribute is always a highlight for me. And to then bring out Babs for a little sing-a-long... yeah that was cool.
- I really liked the laid back atmosphere of the awards this year. Previous years were a bit stuffy, but this year everyone involved seemed laid back, no one looked angry (even Tommy Lee Jones smiled!!!!), and they looked like they were having fun... and that has to have started with my main man Seth leading the charge. It made for good TV....
- I also liked Seth McFarlane's intro of all the presenters. His comment that he was bringing out the cast of 'Chicago' as presenters because he felt the show wasn't "gay" enough yet, brought out Daniel Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart as a "boy wizard" and a "girl vampire" and said that they are "everything the Christian Right hates about Hollywood", or quipping that his next presenter (Sandra Bullock) "starred as a raging alcoholic in 28 Days... a role that (he) would be executing in an hour and a half"!!! Wow, all of them were pretty funny and well aimed barbs, but none really crossed the line.... well, maybe a little bit!
- The Les Mis performance was amazing. I haven't seen the film yet, but the performance of that cast and knowing that they all sang their own parts in the movie makes me want to see it even more. Great live rendition, with the killer surprise performance of the night having to have come from Russell Crowe. This guy can sing, huh? Wow....
- Quentin Tarantino's acceptance speech for Best original screenplay for 'Django Unchained'. No real reason for this making my favorite moments list other than the fact that I am glad he won and anytime I can hear the off-the-cuff comments of QT at such a prestigious event, it reminds me just how far he has come from the anti-establishment director he was known for to being accepted into the inner circle of filmmakers ...even though he didn't change at all. It is nice to see Old Hollywood accepting the inevitable. Plus he ended it with "Peace Out".. so great!!!!
- The gorgeous women of the Oscars. The ladies looked great last night, with my top picks going to Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, Kerry Washington, Salma Hayek, Sandra Bullock, Stacy Keibler, and Halle Berry. Adele looked great too! Charlize Theron was, by far, the most stunning of the night to me. Good lawd she looked great!!!! She is just getting hotter and hotter the older she gets... and her and Hathaway pulled off the bob perfectly, joining perennial short hair wearer Halle Berry as a trio of gorgeous women without an updoo.
- Quenzhane Wallis. Wow. 9 years old, probably 7 when she filmed the movie. She is a tour de force. Can't wait to see what she does in the future. She killed in 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'. I loved whenever the camera showed her, and she flexed her muscles and smiled. great to see that kid enjoying herself.
- It was really good to see Michael Douglas looking healthy. He is one of my all time faves, and he was looking very close to death a few years ago, thanks to cancer. He looked fantastic last night, and I hope he churns out many more movies for me and others to enjoy!!!!
So that's it. I hope you enjoy my critiques and criticisms. Looking forward to next year with baited breath... now lock McFarlane up as host ASAP!!!!
