Oscar Reflections

[Bob Juch]

Has Jerry Lewis had a stroke recently? He looked good, but sounded terrible.

No, but some people on the JL message board I frequent noticed that too. One of the news pieces I saw from the AP had this quip: A relaxed Jerry Lewis joked with photographers backstage before accepting Oscar's annual Jean Hersholt award for his humanitarian work. But Lewis' presenter, fellow comedian Eddie Murphy, was silent, apparently concentrating on what he would say about the man he called one of his inspirations. Afterward both men were all smiles. As Murphy chatted with singer John Legend, Lewis climbed into a waiting wheelchair. "It's so good to get old," the 82-year-old comic joked.

I don't think he's had a stroke; it looks more like ALS or M.S.

[tanstaafl2]

I enjoyed the opening number and the tribute to musicals (the two things I watched in entirety as I skimmed through the show on the Tivo) but Beyoncé is either a pretty studly singer/dancer or she was lip syncing in that number (which is my guess) while Jackman appeared to be doing it live (which makes sense given his stage background in "The Boy from Oz". Now that is a real trick for a performer given the complexity of the dancing AND the singing.

Jackman would occasionally sound like he was breathing hard, understandable under the circumstances, while Beyoncé never sounded like she was the least bit out of breath.

[reeg2223]

I think the 5 actor thing worked--it covered up Bardem and Day Lewis not
being there--for all the categories but supporting actor. They needed a
Sean Connery or Michael Caine instead of Joel Grey.
It was a short Oscars and very nicely produced. I would have put
Ledger in the memorial--but SSS explained that, so I'm cool. Jerry Lewis should have been longer--they only
touched on the movie career. He was unusually brief too. One thing I
liked was saluting this year's movies instead of always showing montages
of Gone with The Wind, etc.
Biggest change--usually one star(often Jack Nicholson) gets all the
reaction shots. This year, I'm guessing Dev Patel got the most face
time. Who knew?

I did see all the nominees for best picture and Best Animated
feature--all good films, but I still think WALL-E is the only
transcendent film of the lot. I'd even argue that DARK KNIGHT deserved
better as the best, most ambitious super hero film yet. The acting
awards went to the right folks--wish Michael Sheen of FROST/NIXON could
have been nominated.

[trevor_macfee]

Random observations:

1. Hugh Jackman was surprisingly good - the opening number was wonderful. I did miss the quips previous hosts would make as the show dragged on, though.

2. Tina Fey and Steve Martin! Who knew they would have such chemistry. They should make a movie together, or at the least co-host the next Oscars.

3. I didn't like how they interspersed clips from other movies into the excerpts from the Best Pictures. It was an idea that probably sounded good when they talked about it, but was just confusing in execution, especially for the films I hadn't seen.

4. TIVO is one of the greatest inventions of all time. We did other stuff until the show had been on about 45 minutes, then watched virtually commercial-free.

5. The music from Slumdog Millionaire reminded me that I need to buy/download the soundtrack.

6.What was the deal with the Seth Rogen/Franco comedy skit? I guess that's supposed to appeal to a younger demographic or something, but showing clips from movies that are dramas and then laughing at them wasn't funny the first time. Or the second. Having the cinematographer show up was ok, but the rest was a waste of time and oxygen. Of course Seth Rogen proved himself to be a dolt by snickering at the title of the winning movie he presented (live action short) because it was in German. It's what they speak in Germany, idiot.

7. It was fun watching Danny Boyle's obvious joy as other folks from Slumdog won Oscars.

8. I'd rather see clips of the Best Actor and Actresses then hear the pep-talks from old winners. But that's just me - my wife loved the new format.

9. I like Bill Maher. I really do. But plugging his movie and dissing all religions was just sad.

10. Ben Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix was the funniest part of the night.

[silverscreenselect]

I think it is high time the Academy faced facts- the only way they're going to get an audience for this show is by coming up with new categories. If they want to devote a few minutes to action movies and comedies, then make them categories, just like best animated film. And put the technical awards where they belong- in the technical awards event. Nobody cares about sound editing, sorry.

Ratings for this year's show were up about 10% over last year, so they do appear to be reversing the downward trend of recent years. More important, ratings were steady for the entire night, with the first half hour actually being the lowest rated of any 30-minute segment (which is how ratings are calculated). Of course, the other networks almost never schedule new programming opposite the Oscars.

People do care about the technical Oscars (visual effects, makeup, sound effects, etc.) in one key way. The films that are heaviest on those are the ones that clean up at the box office so the people who do that work well have a good bit of clout in Hollywood. You can expect to see their five minutes of fame continue in the forseeable future. By combining award presentations more than in the past, they managed to speed up the flow of the show and have a relatively small number of presenters which allowed them to include more people like Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Ben Stiller and Seth Rogen who can be entertaining and fewer mere pretty faces and Hollywood legends.

Action and comedy "categories" would completely dilute the purpose of the Oscars and lead to something more akin to the MTV movie awards (Best Screen Kiss?). There is absolutely no reason that Space Chimps, The Love Guru, or Speed Racer should have been allotted one second of screen time last night.

Clips from old acceptance speeches were fun to watch the first time but not the fourth time around. Showing the clips for the actual presenters is one thing but hauling out everyone from the last fifty years (George Kennedy) is another. The time spent on that could have been used to show a bit of each nominated person's performance.

[trevor_macfee]

I'm going out today to get the filmed last performance of Rent on Broadway, and already own the movie version.

It's awesome - I bought it the day it came out and watched it right away. I've seen the show four times (I think, maybe five) and the movie was a disappointment. The film of the last performance, on the other hand, captures the energy of the stage.

[franktangredi]

And put the technical awards where they belong- in the technical awards event. Nobody cares about sound editing, sorry.

No, no, no, no, no.

First of all, the technical awards event is for scientific innovation, not for creative use of these techniques to make specific movies.

Second, some of us do care about those awards. (I myself care more about who wins the sound editing award than, say, the opening number or what Angelina Jolie is wearing.) And sometimes, their excited acceptances are extremely amusing or moving.

Third -- and most important -- these people are creative moviemakers and the movies wouldn't exist without them. They deserve their moment in the spotlight.

Fourth, I would hate to have the task of producing an awards show if I pissed off the technical artists.

Interestingly, at the Oscar party I attended last night, I commented to the person sitting next to me that there were always people who suggest that these awards not be given on the air. She was shocked that anyone would even suggest such a thing. So much for the generalization about "nobody."

(I feel very strongly about this, as you may have noticed....)

[clem21]

a) Where do you get that Phillip Seymour Hoffman is in any ways sexy? I hope that was a joke.

Ledger's family had every reason to be serious. What did you expect, jokes?

Oh dear lord. Some people just don't get it.

[silverscreenselect]

6.What was the deal with the Seth Rogan/Franco comedy skit? I guess that's supposed to appeal to a younger demographic or something, but showing clips from movies that are dramas and then laughing at them wasn't funny the first time. Or the second. Having the cinematographer show up was ok, but the rest was a waste of time and oxygen. Of course Seth Rogan proved himself to be a dolt by snickering at the title of the winning movie he presented (live action short) because it was in German. It's what they speak in Germany, idiot.

The entire purpose of that entire skit was to allow James Franco to poke fun at himself kissing Sean Penn in Milk.

I also got the distinct feeling that the previous winners were assigned the person they praised. It would have been much better if people got to choose who to introduce. I realize that people like Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon and Melissa Leo don't have as big a reputation in Hollywood, but there's still people who have seen their work and could at least appear sincere about what they were saying (Adrien Brody was the worst offender here... my career's in the toilet so I need this gig and I'll even plug the dumpy character actor no one's ever heard of).

[Thousandaire]

Sophia Loren looks amazing for a woman of her age. An improvement over recent years but there's still a ways to go.

I agree. She just gets better.

I gotta disagree on this one. Until her stroke, I would have agreed that she was totally hot, for a septuagenarian. But she was scary looking to me last night.

Silly me, I wasn't looking at her face.

[Thousandaire]

I haven't seen anyone comment about acceptance speeches not being cut off. Best decision of the show.

[silvercamaro]

For those who were discussing Angelina Jolie's earrings in chat last night, they indeed were emeralds from jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz. Another site said they were from Fred Leighton (or possibly loaned by his company), but agreed with their authenticity.

I Googled.

[christie1111]

For those who were discussing Angelina Jolie's earrings in chat last night, they indeed were emeralds from jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz. Another site said they were from Fred Leighton (or possibly loaned by his company), but agreed with their authenticity.

I Googled.

They were huge!

Thanks for clearing that up for me!

[ghostjmf]

Sisyperson says:

However, I really liked the song over the top of it. For several reasons: That is one of my all time favourite makes me tear up songs (especially the Jimmy Durante version) and Queen Latifah has the most beautiful voice around. It's been a while sincen I've heard her do a sort of slow torch song and I'd kind of forgotten just how great she is in that genre. Can somebody tell me why Queen Latifah doesn't rule the world and Beyonce is just some vague C-list singer somewhere? I would have 58540433 times rather seen her in that medley with Hugh the Magnificent. And I bet that, given her druthers, Etta James would rather hear At Last done by the Queen.

Queen L had some problems with the high come-in part, every time it came around. She got it, but didn't sail right in on the note. I still like her singing more than Beyonce's, because it has more personality, warmth, etc. But this song was a little out of her range at the highest part. In Latifah's defense, having to cycle the song around & around, live, while they finally got the video display synched up to it, could not have been easy, & she handled that "where are the images already" aspect with much grace in just keeping on singing.

And Etta James would rather hear Etta James sing Etta James. As I think she made clear in her dis of Beyonce.

[gsabc]

Random observations:

6.What was the deal with the Seth Rogen/Franco comedy skit? I guess that's supposed to appeal to a younger demographic or something, but showing clips from movies that are dramas and then laughing at them wasn't funny the first time. Or the second. Having the cinematographer show up was ok, but the rest was a waste of time and oxygen. Of course Seth Rogen proved himself to be a dolt by snickering at the title of the winning movie he presented (live action short) because it was in German. It's what they speak in Germany, idiot.

I absolutely agree. The bit was unfunny, tacky and boring. And if you are a presenter, rule #1 is LEARN HOW TO PRONOUNCE ALL THE NAMES!!! You've had rehearsal time, you jerk! This is very possibly the only time the nominees will hear their names at the Oscar ceremonies. They've put in a lot of work and dedication to get to that point. You owe them the respect to learn how to pronounce their names and the titles of their work correctly. If you can't make that minimal amount of effort, stay home and watch it on TV with the rest of us.

[gsabc]

I'm going out today to get the filmed last performance of Rent on Broadway, and already own the movie version.

It's awesome - I bought it the day it came out and watched it right away. I've seen the show four times (I think, maybe five) and the movie was a disappointment. The film of the last performance, on the other hand, captures the energy of the stage.

Exactly why I want it. I'm almost always a bit disappointed with movie versions of musicals, mostly because of songs that are cut for time concerns. The one exception I can come up with quickly is "1776", the uncut version with "Cool Cool Considerate Men" put back in.

[gsabc]

a) Where do you get that Phillip Seymour Hoffman is in any ways sexy? I hope that was a joke.

Ledger's family had every reason to be serious. What did you expect, jokes?

Oh dear lord. Some people just don't get it.

To paraphrase one of my favorite lines from the TV "M*A*S*H" - "Clem go for laugh. No get."

[silverscreenselect]

Exactly why I want it. I'm almost always a bit disappointed with movie versions of musicals, mostly because of songs that are cut for time concerns. The one exception I can come up with quickly is "1776", the uncut version with "Cool Cool Considerate Men" put back in.

I love 1776 too, but it's Cool, Cool Conservative Men, something in short supply in Washington these days.

[franktangredi]

Exactly why I want it. I'm almost always a bit disappointed with movie versions of musicals, mostly because of songs that are cut for time concerns. The one exception I can come up with quickly is "1776", the uncut version with "Cool Cool Considerate Men" put back in.

I love 1776 too, but it's Cool, Cool Conservative Men, something in short supply in Washington these days.

No, the song title is Cool Considerate Men. I was in the number once.

[silverscreenselect]

Exactly why I want it. I'm almost always a bit disappointed with movie versions of musicals, mostly because of songs that are cut for time concerns. The one exception I can come up with quickly is "1776", the uncut version with "Cool Cool Considerate Men" put back in.

I love 1776 too, but it's Cool, Cool Conservative Men, something in short supply in Washington these days.

No, the song title is Cool Considerate Men. I was in the number once.

Well I just looked it up and you're right. I've been calling this song by the wrong title for almost forty years now (I actually had the LP in college). You live and learn.

[Weyoun]

For some reason, i'm quite angry Rourke didn't win. I thought his performance was just terrific, the best anyway, and I don't see him getting another chance.

[Jeemie]

For some reason, i'm quite angry Rourke didn't win. I thought his performance was just terrific, the best anyway, and I don't see him getting another chance.

Sean Penn is a Hollywood favorite- his win was pretty much in the bag.

[Bob Juch]

For some reason, i'm quite angry Rourke didn't win. I thought his performance was just terrific, the best anyway, and I don't see him getting another chance.

Sean Penn is a Hollywood favorite- his win was pretty much in the bag.

No, he isn't. Maybe among some other actors, but not with everyone else. That's why in his speech he said he'd made it pretty tough to like him.

[mcd1400de]

To paraphrase one of my favorite lines from the TV "M*A*S*H" - "Clem go for laugh. No get."

Good one. But my all-time favorite line from the TV "M*A*S*H": "Oh, go practice your putts!"

[Jeemie]

No, he isn't. Maybe among some other actors, but not with everyone else. That's why in his speech he said he'd made it pretty tough to like him.

I ain't buyin' that line.