I was considering keeping a running blog of the proceedings, but to be honest, the past couple of years I’ve fallen asleep, so I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t finish.
I needn’t have worried. Granted, I haven’t seen a single one of the movies that are Oscar nominated (I’m sorry, I still can’t take “Brokeback Mountain” seriously ever since Eric Cartman dismissed all indy movies as being about “gay cowboys eating pudding”) but there was no way I was going to miss the ensembles (the women were VERY tastefully adorned for the most part, I thought), the odd moments (Jennifer Garner tripping, apparently thrown off balance by her brand new enlarged lactating breasts; Tom Hanks coming out and sure looking pìššëd øff about SOMEthing) and to see just how many categories Ariel got right in her guesses (impressively Ariel–who likewise hadn’t seen any of the films–nailed every single winner with the exception of best picture, which pretty much surprised everyone with the possible exception of Eric Cartman).
And then there was Jon Stewart. I can’t remember any time in the past where I’ve been actively pulling for an Oscar host to do well (as opposed to just hoping they won’t bore the crap out of me.) I was not disappointed. The Oscarcast has not had a host this urbane since Johnny Carson. Less smug than Steve Martin, less aggressively vaudeville than Billy Crystal, less dead than Bob Hope, Stewart became visibly more confident as the evening progressed. Best line was his comment to Steven Spielberg, director of “Schindler’s List” and “Munich”: “Speaking on behalf of Jews everywhere, I can’t WAIT to see what happens to us next.” Close second was his comment after yet another assortment of clips illustrating yet another arbitrarily selected theme: “Coming up next: Hollywood’s salute to montages.” Third was his wry observation: “For those of you at home keeping score, that’s Martin Scorsese, Zero Oscars; Three-6 Mafia, One.”
Also got a huge kick out of the Daily Show-esque attack-ad commercials that turned Academy Award lobbying into adverts evocative of such notorious election-smearing endeavors as the Swift Boat Veterans (improbably named British women claiming that Judy Dench was no Dame, with the commercial paid for by “The Committee of People who aren’t at all connected with Felicity Huffman.”)
I hate to admit I also miss the former Academy head, Jack Valenti, if for no other reason than that Robin Williams dubbed him Jack “Boom Boom” Valenti and the nickname actually stuck. You could hear the new guy sucking the energy out of the room.
Oh, and Jamie Foxx stated in the pre-show that he needs to get his bowling game in order. Jamie, if you’re reading this, both Ariel and I would be more than happy to give you pointers. Just drop me a line.
11:30. Jeez.
PAD
• 
I thought John Stewart bombed in his opening monologue (he looked really uncomfortable, and most of his jokes fell flat) but I have to admit he got better, and funnier, as the night wore on. I still think there’s nobody better than Billy Crystal, though.
The editor of Roger Ebert’s web site suggested George Clooney as an Oscar host, and I think that’s a great idea. I used to hate him, but my respect for him has grown tremendously this past year, and tonight he gave the best Oscar speech I’ve ever heard. No maudlin excess or self-indulgent “thank yous,” just a humble, intelligent, concise, and sincere acknowledgment.
PAD posted:
(I’m sorry, I still can’t take “Brokeback Mountain” seriously ever since Eric Cartman dismissed all indy movies as being about “gay cowboys eating pudding”)
PAD, take it from me: There’s not a single incident of any “eating pudding” in Brokeback.
I’m also incredibly disheartened by your inability to take something seriously because of Eric Cartman. In your own way (with regards to Brokeback, you’re as bad as Dubya.
Watch the movie before you write it off so flippantly.
It has been a while but as I seem to recall, when people discussed not picking up “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” because of the asinine crossover “event”, you seemed quite adamant that people actually pick up the book and read it before writing it off. Nice to know you let a fictional character decide what films are worthy of seeing.
Just for the record, not all indie films have anything to do with 1)gays, 2)cowboys, or 3)eating pudding. Eric Cartman wouldn’t know that, but I thought that YOU would.
(Sorry for the somewhat meanspiritedness of the post, but I’ve seen Brokeback nine times so far with each viewing being as emotionally affecting as the first was, and your comment just struck me as incredibly insensitive.)
I thought it was pretty dull. No surprises, nothing even to get upset about. I almost wish the pro-terrorist best foreign nominee had won just so we could have had at least one Angry Oscar Moment.
Stewart, after a rather low key opening, got better. You can tell now that his strength is not in reading off written jokes but improv. I suspect there will be talk that he bombed–most of his cracks came at the expense of Hollywood and except for a Ðìçk Cheney joke so obvious my wife and I came up with it before the broadcast (which didn’t stop it from getting his biggest laugh) there was insufficient Republican bashing for the LA crowd.
(I get the feeling they told him “For the love of God, it’s bad enough we nominated movies nobody in Kansas has seen, don’t piss them off any more.”)
There was no flow to the show, no segues. And why was there music throughout the whole thing?
Ben Stiller’s bit made me laugh out loud.
Strangely, it didn’t seem as long as previous broadcasts.
I thought Stewart did fine, though not as well as I’d have liked. I agree that he improved as the night went on.
I wonder how the Stewart-related talk will vary between those who are Daily Show enthusiasts and those who aren’t. I thought the funniest stuff was what reminded me of TDS — the attack ads being high on the list, though comments like “imagine the difficulty of making Russell Crowe look like he was in a fight” were pretty good laugh lines as well. Sorry, Bill — Stiller’s bit didn’t grab me at all. (I chuckled for about the first second.)
The biggest award I actually cared about was the very first one — I’m sorry Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t win, but Clooney gave a fantastic speech. When the time comes, I agree — he’d probably make a perfectly decent Oscar host as well.
And Bill — what, no comment on his crack that for much of the audience, this was the first time they’d be voting for a winner? You’re slipping. 🙂
My biggest complaint — the end. So far as I can tell, they just got the best-picture acceptance speeches off mid-word. Rude, rude, rude … particularly since the winner WAS so unexpected, I suspect a lot of people watching were really curious as to what was going to be said.
TWL
For us at the Riggs Residence, the Oscars were surprisingly bland. That said, even though Stewart was less than impressive to us, I’d still like to see him back next year.
The Oscars are a Joke, and all the films that they nominated were among the worst Hollywood has turned out in decades.
Other notes:
What was up with Naomi Watts’ dress? Looked like Kong picked her up and shook her like a British Nanny.
Why did they have the Chicken Little guys come out? That joke is getting old (though if Harryhausen’s Cyclops and Gorgon presented I’d mark out like a madman.)
A tribute to biopics…?
Why wasn’t GRIZZLY MAN nominated for best doc?
Why wasn’t SITH nominated for SPFX?
Rachel Weisz = Hottest Pregnant Woman Ever
Lauren Bacall…if they are going to put an aging legend up there at least give them a teleprompter with extra big type. Give her a break.
Now a noir montage…oh well, great films. Ðámņ, Rita Hayworth was beautiful…
Zhang Ziyi…hootah…Oh I get it now. They are piling on the beautiful women to up the heterosexual viewership. Well, ok then…
A montage of Issue Movies…and they show The Day After Tomorrow??? At least they got in a FEMA joke, but really…Stewart’s line was a killer (“And none of those issues were ever problems again.”) but kind of cut the legs out from the whole montage.
I don’t think the crowd was digging Stewart but I was. Of course, I liked Letterman and Rock too.
What was with all the pleas to go to theaters? Yeah, stop showing commercials and allow me to kill people with cell phones and we’ll talk.
Itzak Perlman = Class
“Oscars’ salute to montages… we have no more clips.” HA!
Tomlin and Streep…funny bit for 15 seconds, seemed to last about 5 minutes.
It’s Hard Being A Pimp…man, this was a lean year for good songs. But it IS hard being a pimp, what with all them bìŧçhëš and they backtalk. If this one wins…
AND IT DOES! The Wife falls off the couch. I laugh and laugh…
I feel bad for the dead people who don’t get applause. Where was James Doohan?
That is all.
Why wasn’t SITH nominated for SPFX?
And why WAS it nominated for makeup? Okay, for some of the characters … but Palpatine, who was the example they used? His Emperorship looked like a Ðìçk Tracy villain, and not in a good way.
I’m glad Narnia picked up something — it was most deserving.
Lauren Bacall…if they are going to put an aging legend up there at least give them a teleprompter with extra big type. Give her a break.
Agreed. She handled it well, though.
Where was James Doohan?
Ooh, really good call (on your part — lousy call on theirs). I can excuse Andreas Katsulas, Don Knotts and Darren McGavin — maybe they were too recent to make the list — but Doohan?
And I thought Stewart riffed quite nicely after the Best Song award.
TWL
I’m thinking James Doohan wasn’t shown in the montage because he wasn’t considered a movie actor, but a television star. Of course that ignores all the Star Trek movies he appeared in.
Best song of the year hands-down was “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish” from Hitchhiker. I guess comedy doesn’t get respect in the song category either.
Stewart was OK at best. After Three-6 Mafia won the Oscar, the town of Hollywood called an emergency meeting for trash collectors due to the extra weight of all the Oscars being tossed out as worthless.
(I get the feeling they told him “For the love of God, it’s bad enough we nominated movies nobody in Kansas has seen, don’t piss them off any more.”)
That assumes that they care what people in Kansas think.
I didn’t watch the Oscars. And that’s pretty much all I have to say about it.
JosephW – calm down. Take a breath. I’m happy that your life has been so positively impacted by this movie, but when they announced Brokeback Mountain well after Eric Cartman made his “gay cowboys eating pudding” line, some of us just can’t look at the film without laughing. Deal with it, ok?
As for the show itself…
Frank Gorshin was also absent from the montage of the dead.
Speaking of the death montage, I notice that this time they didn’t ask for the audience to hold their applause until the end. They finally realized that it just isn’t going to happen.
What about that attack on the DVD market? A major case of biting the hand that feeds, as many films are released straight to DVD, and others find a new following upon home release that they never would have had in the theater. Overall, I think it was more of an attack on Mark Cuban’s idea to release a movie on DVD on the same day it’s released to the theater. While I believe that SFX-fests like Star Wars, Narnia, King Kong, etc., should really be experienced on the big screen, I also believe that tickets are too expensive, food is too expensive, and theater owners / employees are too scared to throw people out for disrupting the movie experience for the other patrons. So maybe the head of the Academy should have been up there telling theaters to get their crap in order instead of attacking the DVD market.
Lauren Bacall…if they are going to put an aging legend up there at least give them a teleprompter with extra big type. Give her a break.
I’m no doctor, but I think there might be more going on than just that she couldn’t read the teleprompter. He speech was halting, yeah, but her hands also seemed to be slightly but constantly twitching. Makes me wonder if she might be in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease or something…
I can excuse Andreas Katsulas, Don Knotts and Darren McGavin — maybe they were too recent to make the list — but Doohan?
For what it’s worth, I came across a poting on Mark Evanier’s blog at http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_03_06.html#011093 claiming that 1 February deadline for the “In Memoriam” piece. So that’d explain the absence of Knotts, Katsulas, Darrin McGavin, Jack Wild, and other such recent passings. (Doesn’t explain Gorshin or Doohan, of course…)
Hanks was feigning anger at Stewart, playing along with the earlier “Playing off the winner” bit where they smashed a viola over his head.
Stiller’s bit reminded me of something similar Steve Martin did back in the 70s when presenting the Visual Effects Oscar. Still, Stiller’s spin made it seem like a bit from his old Fox sketch series.
Re: Ben Stiller
I think it’s pretty simple, really: he’s just not that funny.
Re: In Memoriam
They should’ve included Doohan & Gorshin. There’s no excuse to exclude people just because they mostly did tv, especially when Doohan and Gorshin are so well known. Insulting.
Re: Best Song
Worst year for best song ever. They couldn’t have at least nominated 5 songs? Maybe it was just another ploy to shorten the telecast. Not to mention it comes off as a ploy to attract the MTV crowd.
Re: Cutting off the speeches at the end of the show
If people are still actually awake and watching for the Best Picture speeches, then, they’re the ones that don’t care if they go on a few extra minutes. That, and the constant jokes about how much time winners get to give their speeches are really making the Academy look bad.
Re: Opening
I liked the opening skit, showing the other recent hosts refusing to do it and so forth before introducing Stewart.
Re: Jon Stewart
I thought he came out flat, and got a lot better as the show went on. On the whole, the political slant was pretty balanced; I think he actually had more jokes poking fun at liberals than The Other Side.
“Sorry for the somewhat meanspiritedness of the post, but I’ve seen Brokeback nine times so far with each viewing being as emotionally affecting as the first was, and your comment just struck me as incredibly insensitive.”
It was: That’s because it was a joke. Many jokes are incredibly insensitive. If you think it wasn’t funny, that’s fine, but a 150 word lecture on why you think it wasn’t funny doesn’t especially make me think anything other than that you took a joke waaaaay too seriously.
As for other comments: Need I remind you guys that Johnny Carson’s monologues–both on the Oscar and on the Tonight Show–were not his strong suit. In fact, he was usually at his best when he was bombing, which was typically about half the time.
Stewart’s strength is NOT reciting lines, as his lampooning of his own acting career indicates. Stewart’s strength is his reactions to other things, and his laser-fine timing in those reactions. Think about it: On “The Daily Show” the biggest laughs he gets are his mute responses to some insanely stupid news clip, so that when he finally makes a comment, it gets a much bigger reaction because the audience is so primed. To hold up another fine comic mind in comparison: What makes Jack Benny’s response of “I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” so hysterical in response to a robber’s ultimatum of “Your money or your life!” isn’t the line; it’s the build up of the interminable silence before the annoyed robber finally blurts out, “Well?!?”
If Stewart’s smart, next time he hosts, if the monologue is going slow, he has Bill Conti strike up “Tea for Two” and he starts doing a soft shoe. The audience will love him for it.
And Bill…honestly…your typical lack of comprehension of Liberal sensibilities is bad enough, but now you’re complaining that the audience is going to be upset because he didn’t make snarky comments aimed at the GOP? You really, really don’t get it. Any comic will tell you that you make fun of the elephant in the room; in this case, it’s the pretentously liberal bent of Hollywood, punctured with the brilliant “This is the first time many of you have ever voted for a winner.” These are showbusiness people. They’ll get that Stewart simply didn’t bother with the easy “make fun of the other guy” route because it would have been easy and irrelevant. They’ll understand…unlike, y’know…you.
PAD
“Third was his wry observation: “For those of you at home keeping score, that’s Martin Scorsese, Zero Oscars; Three-6 Mafia, One.””
That line made me laugh too. I think he did a fine job. (I also loved his comments towards Itzhak Pearlman, who btw, blew me away once again with his talent.
“The Three-6 Mafia might have to “get into it” with Itzhak Perlman’s “posse.”” ~Stewart
Too Funny!)
I too noticed the typical self-importantness of that set with the down with dvd’s thing and praising of how revelant the nominated movies were this year. I found myself rolling my eyes through most of it.
Actually…in all fairness, there were times when the crowd seemed unsure if they should laugh or be hurt. There are those in Hollywood that cannot seem to take jokes at their expense (Look at the mixed responses from the movie Team America… some, such as Clooney and Matt Damon got a laugh. Others, such as Sean Penn got sanctimonious and whined). And I saw faces in the crowds during the opening monologue with expressions that came off as fake smiles. Others seemed to genuinely be enjoying the show.
I thought Stewart did fine. I got the laughs I needed, and I was surprised, and kind of pleased that the Best Picture winner actually NOT the picture 99% of people were predicting.
I insist that the fact that I went 13-for-24 in my predictions doesn’t suggest that my logic or understanding is faulty: it was the voters who failed to get with the program. What a buncha ingrates.
My ongoing Oscar commentary is available through the same URL.
Jon Stewart gets a B or a B+. If just before the show he’d slugged back a few shots of whatever it is that boosts your confidence by 10%, he’d have raised his grade to a B+ or A-. As-is, this is sort of a point supporting the “The Oscars should be hosted by a movie guy” school of thought.
Regarding the length of the Oscarcast, IMHO the Super Bowl should last about 25 minutes and any pro bowling event should be compressed to a 30 second — not sixty, thirty — clip on “Sportscenter.” The point is that any complaint about the length of the Oscars is a statement that “I, personally, am not all that interested in the show” and not really a statement about the Oscars.
It’s just once a year, after all…
Worst year for best song ever. They couldn’t have at least nominated 5 songs? Maybe it was just another ploy to shorten the telecast. Not to mention it comes off as a ploy to attract the MTV crowd.
Here’s the thing. Can you name any other original songs from 2005 movies that should’ve been nominated that weren’t?
I can’t (not that that means much) but it strikes me as very possible that there just weren’t 5 nomination-worthy original songs this year. And if that’s basically true, then I’d certainly rather have the Oscars only nominate what’s worth nominating rather than hold them to some sort of 5-nomination quota or something…
I go to the movies at least once a week, and I, too, haven’t seen any of the best picture candidates. During the past few weeks, I’ve seen:
16 Blocks
Freedomland
The Pink Panther
Firewall
Roving Mars (IMAX)
The Matador
I did almost see Munich, but my wife wasn’t interested.
Regarding Tom Hanks on the Oscars — He sure did seem distracted/miffed about something.
I missed the first 45 minutes or so of the Academy Awards, but of what I did see, Jon Stewart seemed to hold his own pretty well. But Clooney isn’t a bad choice as a host if Stewart isn’t interested next year.
And Bill…honestly…your typical lack of comprehension of Liberal sensibilities is bad enough, but now you’re complaining that the audience is going to be upset because he didn’t make snarky comments aimed at the GOP? You really, really don’t get it. Any comic will tell you that you make fun of the elephant in the room; in this case, it’s the pretentously liberal bent of Hollywood, punctured with the brilliant “This is the first time many of you have ever voted for a winner.” These are showbusiness people. They’ll get that Stewart simply didn’t bother with the easy “make fun of the other guy” route because it would have been easy and irrelevant. They’ll understand…unlike, y’know…you.
Wow. I must really have a knack for pìššìņg øff people unintentionally. First off, I would not equate “the LA crowd” (my words) with “Liberal sensibilities” (yours). I have more respect for Liberals than that, despite my comprehension deficiancies.
As for whether my speculation that some will say he bombed and critisize his lack of proper political snark–as has been common among previous hosts (“Lorena Bobbitt, *please* meet Bob Dole!” –Whoopi Goldberg), I don’t think it will be too hard to find something to back that up.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060306/tv_nm/oscars_reviews_dc_2
MSNBC contributor Andy Dehnart predicted that Stewart would end up ranked alongside last year’s host Chris Rock and 1995’s emcee David Letterman as a flop, based on what Dehnart perceived as a lukewarm reception from the audience of movie stars and studio executives in the Kodak Theater.
Dehnart wrote that Stewart “did an admirable job” but “the audience didn’t seem to like him.”
Hmm, close but he doesn’t say WHY he thinks that’s the case.
Tom Shales said that the ONLY funny joke Stewart said was the Ðìçk Cheney one. I’m getting closer.
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/
Even his sharp political humor, what little there was of it, was dull. He slammed the Democrats twice, and told only one Cheney joke. (That got his biggest laugh.) He didn’t lay a glove on Bush, and what’s up with that? Isn’t that why we tuned in, to see Mr. Liberal get himself in trouble with the Red State Right? Then he sets up what starts out like a winner, noting how “a lot of people say this town is too liberal…out of touch with Mainstream America…a moral black hole where innocence is obliterated in an orgy of sexual gratification and greed…” But then he ends with, “I don’t really have a joke here.”
Why not, for chrissakes? Didn’t this gig pay you to write punch lines?
This from a writer so far to the left he thinks that Brokeback Mountain losing is evidence of some grand Hollywood anti-gay conspiracy.
Now you can say he’s wrong and I’d agree. I liked Stewart. I thought his anti-piracy joke was hysterical but I don’t think it got a big laugh from the folks he he was mocking.
I hope enough people enjoyed him to ask him back. Contrary to what you want to believe, I really do get what makes him funny which is why I was laughing. More than the audience, I thought.
Some observations;
I loved that Stephen Colbert did the voice-overs for the attack ads.
The fact that the audience didn’t laugh at some lines that were actually quite funny, only reemphasizes what Sean Penn taught us last year; Hollywood takes itself WAY too seriously. Whoever hosts next year (and I hope it is Jon Stewart) will have to keep that in mind, and steer away from jokes that poke fun at the audience themselves.
Jon Stewart’s ‘I don’t really have a joke here’ is something he does on occasion on The Daily Show. That IS the joke.
It seemed to me that the audience wasn’t on his side for a good part of the opening.
And if that’s basically true, then I’d certainly rather have the Oscars only nominate what’s worth nominating rather than hold them to some sort of 5-nomination quota or something…
Well, that’s why I said it was worst year ever, becuase I don’t think any of the songs that were nominated were deserving of a nomination. 🙂
And to follow up on what Bill said: the notion that the Oscars should insult the Right, just because Hollywood is liberal, is pretty dámņ stupid. I don’t see the Oscars hoping to see the liberal version of Ann Coulter hosting, and I don’t know why anyone else would either.
Keep in mind I don’t think the host SHOULD do political jokes. Supposedly the Awards show is a big international event; why would they care or even know about what’s happening here? One would hope that a Lorena Bobbit joke would sail over the heads of most of the world. But most hosts keep right on doing them.
The more I read the complaints against Stewart, the more I’m coming to like him. The rating were low but of course this is in no way his fault.
Matt, I think you’re on the right track with Hollywood taking itself way to seriously. If it’s one thing they hate, it’s when a comedian makes fun of them (See: Tom Cruise’s lawsuit against South Park).
But I’m just guessing since, as I said, I didn’t watch it.
As for whether Stewart should have been more political: I think the last Oscars telecast that I watched the whole way through was the one from about ten years or so ago when the show was blasted because just about every presenter and winner stumped for their favorite cause. The one that sticks out in my mind was when Richard Gere tried to use the audience to psychically channel a command to China’s leaders to get them to pull out of Tibet.
I really don’t care what the political opinions of actors and actresses are, because 90% of them are, quite frankly, stupid.
Stewart’s basic schtick on the Daily Show is to point to something said by a politician or a pundit and basically let the audience see for itself how absurd they they. That’s why his silent remarks work so well. Maybe transfering that kind of humor to Hollywood requires a level of self-deprecation that most of the galactic-sized egos in LaLaLand aren’t capable of appreciating.
Bill, if you really want to get Peter riled up– tell him “Tru Calling” sucked… But put some barbeque sauce on your ášš first… ‘Cause those FLAMES are hot!
Oh, Peter– You were right. I was wrong. Overnight Oscar ratings are DOWN 10% percent. Just as you predicted, much lower ratings… As low– if not lower– when “Chicago” won for Best Picture.
Hmm. I guess I’m one of the few in the ” Jon did OK” group. And I like the Daily Show, its just that I was actually expecting MORE from Jon. I think he could have been funnier. IMO, Chris Rock did a better job last year….and he wasn’t all that great either.
I did like: The new opening showing lots of movie stars/fictional characters. The thing with asking everybody and then finally getting to Jon. lol. Chicken Little & the Ugly Duckling showing up. Funny. Like when the Oscars do that kind of thing. And actually I thought Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep were prob the funniest.
Not sure what people are talking about as far as Tom Hanks. He didn’t seem upset to me…HMM.
AND I can not believe that that rap group won for best song. *SIGH* Personally I thought ‘In the Deep’ should of won. That was a good song. Heck, I’m not a Dolly Parton (sp?) fan but I’d have rather seen her win. Her song wasn’t bad. I had to turn the channel though when that rap group came on with their “song”. Just can’t stand that STUFF. Overall though, pretty bad year for Oscar songs. I mean, come on, THREE songs?! I’m sure they could have found a few more….(heck, Elizebethtown had a good song that should have been nominated).
You know, when Will Smith came up on stage, we thought that he should have hosted the Oscars. I think he would do a really good job of it.
I like Jon, but he’s really not an Oscar kind of guy, imo. Hopefully next year they’ll get someone like Will Smith or maybe Robin Williams. Heck, Robin would be great. He’d keep everybody laughing! 🙂
IMO, best moment of the night though: CRASH WON! Excellent. Its actually the only one of the movies that I’ve seen and imo, its a great movie. IF you haven’t seen it, I highly recommand it. VERY powerful film!
Overall though, the Oscars just were not that good this year…
DF2506
” I was also happy to see Reese win too. She was pretty happy too. lol. I haven’t seen Walk the Line, but it looks like a really good movie! Suprised it didn’t get nominated for best movie…”
Just a couple of thoughts:
Shame Carson is no longer with us. I would have loved his cameo in the intro clip.
I wonder how many people fully appreciate the joke of Bjork being shot by Cheney (namely, that when Bjork came to the Oscars, she came essentially wearing a swan).
I’m assuming they did the entire play music over the speech thing so that when they started blasting people off the stage with it, it wouldn’t seem too blatant.
George Clooney is an amazingly good sport.
The M. Night Shamylan AMEX commercial was spooky cool. Why wasn’t that shown during the SuperBowl?
The M. Night Shamylan AMEX commercial was spooky cool. Why wasn’t that shown during the SuperBowl?
Until they pointed out who it was, I had no idea what was going on and I’m a movie guy…and you think it would have gone over with a football crowd?
The M. Night Shamylan AMEX commercial was spooky cool. Why wasn’t that shown during the SuperBowl?
Until they pointed out who it was, I had no idea what was going on and I’m a movie guy…and you think it would have gone over with a football crowd?
Sure it would have, because it was cool.
“Tom Hanks coming out and sure looking pìššëd øff about SOMEthing” Peter David (from the first post)
I think he was reacting to Jon’s comment about Hanks letting them hit him over the head. I think he was making threats to Stewart as he walked to the podium.
He was ACTING!
BRILLIANT!
THANK YOU!
(the preceding was a ode to John Lovits, America’s greatest ACTOR and Critic ;))
“Re: Ben Stiller
I think it’s pretty simple, really: he’s just not that funny.”
I think it’s a little more complicated than that: he’s actually the least funny person in the world (with the possible exception of Will Ferrell), and he’s an incredibly blah performer, but he desperately tries to be funny, which just makes him annoying and pathetic. Kind of like those people who audition for American Idol who can’t sing but think they can.
My respect for Clooney grows every time he participates in things like this; besides being a good sport, he’s got something of that old school charm to him.
I think you don’t see actors (or actresses) being tapped for hosting because it doesn’t seem quite to impartial that way, and also because they’re known for reading lines, not for coming up with jokes on the spot. And you could definitely tell (well, okay, I could definitely tell) what was scripted and what was Stewart adlibbing (hint: he was always funnier when he was off the cue cards). The Oscars needs someone that can react to the winners and work it into the rest of the monologue during the show – I’m not certain an actor could do that. (Then again, if I were to nominate anyone I thought could, both Will Smith and Clooney would be at the top of thte list.)
For those of ya bìŧçhìņ about the lack of political jokes, Stewart’s been fielding comments to that since it was announced he’d be hosting. He said it wasn’t The Daily Show, and it wasn’t about politics. It was about making sure things ran smoothly and entertaining people without alienating anyone, including the large majority of overseas viewers.
I think he hit his stride with Three-6 Mafia’s win, just for the absurdity of it all. 😉 And that’s where he does best – playing straight man to absurd situations.
It’s sad, tho, when the best speech is given by the foreign film win. Says something about our own overly scripted celebrities.
I would’ve added “Willy Wonka’s Theme” (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) to the Original Song list, seeing as they were apparently hurting for nominees and all.
Although I don’t buy that, since I only saw two films last year and was still able to come up with something.
-Dave O’Connell
I would’ve added “Willy Wonka’s Theme” (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) to the Original Song list, seeing as they were apparently hurting for nominees and all.
Although I don’t buy that, since I only saw two films last year and was still able to come up with something.
-Dave O’Connell
I would’ve added “Willy Wonka’s Theme” (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) to the Original Song list, seeing as they were apparently hurting for nominees and all.
Although I don’t buy that, since I only saw two films last year and was still able to come up with something.
-Dave O’Connell
It occurs to me: Didn’t Stephen Colbert sweep the board with his predictions via The DaColbert Code?
And if so, how long will it be before he stops crowing about it? 🙂
“Jon Stewart’s ‘I don’t really have a joke here’ is something he does on occasion on The Daily Show. That IS the joke.”
But… it wasn’t funny. People keep talking about this Daily Show thing. I’ve never seen it, probaby never will, but evidently it’s where Stewart belongs, and not at the Oscars.
“I had to turn the channel though when that rap group came on with their “song”.”
I hate rap, too, and I’d probably be agreeing with you if I hadn’t see Hustle & Flow, but I have to admit that the song (in the movie, not the Oscar performance) is really pretty catchy and works really well in the context of the film, and I think it deserved to win, if for no other reason than that everyone who sees the movie will remember the song (which can’t be said for the other two nominees).
Bill, if you really want to get Peter riled up– tell him “Tru Calling” sucked… But put some barbeque sauce on your ášš first… ‘Cause those FLAMES are hot!
You know, I’ve never actually seen an episode of Tru Calling…still waiting for the Trade.
“But… it wasn’t funny.”
Uh, yeah…it *was* funny. “No joke there…just thought you should know what people are saying…”
PAD,
For the record, the line Jack Benny said to the robber in the March 28, 1948 episode of his radio program was, “I’m thinking it over!”
The conversation goes as follows: after initially asking Jack for a light, the robber proceeds to tell him it’s a stick up.
“Your money or your life.”
loooooong pause.
“Look bud, I said your money or your life.”
“I’m thinking it over!”
According to reports, writer John Tackaberry uttered the line, “I’m thinking it over” in response to writer Milt Josefberg’s persistent calls for a good punchline for that scene. As soon as he said it, both realized they’d found the perfect response.
Rick
Not to detour this on a political stripe, but a few questions:
First off, I would not equate “the LA crowd” (my words) with “Liberal sensibilities” (yours).
Could you explain the difference in your mind between the two then? Given that you say that said LA crowd would be upset by insufficient Bush-bashing, it sure reads like you’re at least somewhat equating the two. (I’m not pìššëd øff here — but since you said you think you’re annoying people unintentionally, I figured I’d point out how it tends to happen.)
This from a writer so far to the left he thinks that Brokeback Mountain losing is evidence of some grand Hollywood anti-gay conspiracy.
Oh, there’s no doubt that you can find SOMEONE who’ll say he bombed due to insufficient political snarkage. (I’m not one of them, though.) I thought the original question was whether the in-house audience was going to feel that way, and so far as I can tell that’s not really been verified one way or the other yet.
I think he could’ve been stronger than he was, but I’d also say he did a pretty good job for a first-timer. (I also think that you could tell VERY easily which bits were written by the usual Oscar team and which bits were written by Stewart’s own people; I much preferred the latter.) I hope he’s invited back, too.
TWL
On my blog I went 17 or 18 for 24 almost winning the Oscar Smackdown 2006 until I encountered the wrath of Ariel ^_^
I’m someone who actually HAS seen all of the Best Picture nominees (though I’d only seen CAPOTE and GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK before the nominees were announced and saw the rest BECAUSE they were announced) and was pleased that CRASH took the Best Picture award. I thought it was extremely well done and do recommend renting the DVD. I think I was rooting for it because, unlike BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, I found myself actually entertained by CRASH. BROKEBACK was trying to hard to impress with its subject matter AND give the impression it was an epic (sweeping shots of the mountains, etc). The main thing I’m afraid I remember about BROKEBACK was that I got to see Anne Hathaway (the Princess in both PRINCESS DIARIES, Ella in ELLA ENCHANTED, and the voice of Red in HOODWINKED) topless.
“The main thing I’m afraid I remember about BROKEBACK was that I got to see Anne Hathaway (the Princess in both PRINCESS DIARIES, Ella in ELLA ENCHANTED, and the voice of Red in HOODWINKED) topless.”
What’s weird is that that isn’t even in the film. What Kim isn’t mentioning is that he was in the theater and suddenly Anne Hathaway showed up, took off her shirt, waved her breasts at him while saying, “Get a load of THESE golden globes!” and then walked out.
I heard she does that a lot.
PAD