The last of the awards events is the Oscars, so, I decided to respond to the 84th Annual Academy Awards on the day of leap year because the oddity of both seemed so simpatico…
My overall impression of this year’s Oscars is formality. It just seemed to come off as a formality… No surprises, no deviations, nothing particularly interesting – including Billy Crystal as the host.
Billy Crystal is now funny in that old dude kind of way. Like Jackie Gleason and Jack Benny and Milton Berle and Bob Hope were when I was a kid. That’s Billy Crystal now. He really did just re-introduce the same schtick he’d always done on the Oscars.
His singing montages were always funny and his PUT THE CAMERA ON A RANDOM AUDIENCE MEMBER bit is too. But, we’ve seen it – the Oscars needs to continue moving forward in entertainment. James Franco and Anne Hathaway weren’t the right choice, but, Hugh Jackman was.
Hugh Jackman stands as my favorite Oscar host of all time. He was the perfect blend of comedian, singer, actor, host. Most of the other hosts managed to accomplish one or two of those elements, but, fell short somewhere. Not sure what the deal is with getting Hugh back, but, keep at it; You’ll get there…
As for the awards, the bulk of my hypotheses were spot-on;
Best Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer forThe Help
Best Actor – Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Best Original Screenplay – Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Descendants
Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Spot on.
One award I called as, could go either way, was Best Actress and it did go the other way. Meryl Streep won. I can’t argue with the award because her performance was that good in a movie that was overall bad. But, she was also that good as Julia Child in Julie and Julia and didn’t win. I don’t think the Academy needs to justify this win. Whether it was a reward her for past oversights or because she really did squeak by Viola Davis. Either way, I know it was close. Now they owe Viola. It’s just a vicious cycle…
And the only award for which I am affronted is Best Supporting Actor. Nick Nolte should have won for Warrior. Christopher Plummer won for Beginners. If you’ve seen Beginners, It’s likely you agree with me. He just didn’t say much – it was just that the character made the statement about who he really was and that was the performance. I thought his acceptance speech was better than his performance in Beginners. I’m gonna leave this at that; Christopher Plummer won an Oscar for his acceptance speech and to set the record for being the oldest Oscar winner EVER. Congratulations Christopher Plummer.
So now we move into a bit of a lull in the movie world. It won’t be until the Summer that we start seeing some really good movies hitting theaters. Time to get cozy with Netflix or Blockbuster or Red Box to catch up on the movies we missed. And it gives the people who produce these awards shows time to plan better shows, find better hosts and deviate from mediocrity. No more recycling previous ideas.
I’m praying for a reinvigoration of creativity in the movie industry. We need it…
