Okay…were they TRYING to kill viewership?
The first half hour of an endeavor such as this is crucial, and it was as if the producers were doing everything they could to make sure that, when 9 o’clock struck, people would be off trying to find just about anything else.
The opening documentary-style launch wasn’t a bad idea, but poorly executed. I had no idea who the majority of people were, it went on for way too long, and most of them didn’t have anything all that interesting to say. (Eddie Murphy, Peter O’Toole, Clint Eastwood were among the few bright spots.) Ellen I thought did great, but there’s plenty of people who simply don’t like her style (above and beyond the jerks who tuned out because “it’s that lesbo comic.”) And then the first, what, ninety minutes of awards were for, my God, sound editing and such? Yes, yes, I know that’s crucial, and yes, I know it’s important to the people nominated, but they used to be smart enough to have the “Best supporting actor” categories early on to grab the viewers’ interest. What the hëll–?
The fact that Eddie Murphy’s brilliant turn was shunned over Alan Arkin’s sentimental but less compelling portrayal for best was second to me in annoying only to “Pan’s Labyrinth” not winning for best Foreign film, although admittedly I hadn’t seen the one that won so I can’t say which was better. But Murphy should have had it.
Plenty of good moments, yes, but that’s all they were: Moments. The people behind the white scrim were an interesting diversion every now and then, and Al Gore was bloody brilliant, and Jack Nicholson’s head warred with Will Ferrell’s for the most WTF follicle moment of the evening. But with ratings continuing to drop, Johnny Carson long gone, and nomination tastes continuing toward less and less populist fare (I think it telling that the last really big ratings night was when “Titanic” was up, no pun intended), I think it’s time to admit that the Oscars should be two hours max, focus on the main awards, perform the nominated songs, and call it an evening.
At least “Happy Feet” won for Best Animated.
PAD
• 
I completely forgot that the Oscars were on last night.
Ellen’s comedy is based on a kind of awkwardness, as in: I feel so awkward in my skin it’s funny. I can’t say I like her style on ordinary days. sometimes I do like it. But in the Oscars it really felt wrong. The whole event felt awkward.
Thanks, Chadwick. It is nice to know that I was not the only one who was oblivious. 🙂
I watched the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday night, and more than once I couldn’t help thinking, ‘Why couldn’t the Oscars be more like this?’ Funny, fast-moving and much more relaxed than the Academy Awards, it was a lot more fun to watch, particularly the song parodies they did for each of the best picture nominees. Even better, because everybody shows up in casual wear, it eliminates most of the interminable ‘Who are you wearing?’ red carpet nonsense. And while I’m not the biggest Sarah Silverman fan in the world, at least she managed to shake things up a little bit, as opposed to Ellen who played it so safe that her MC bits could have been recycled from a mid-seventies broadcast (who was the genius that thought the vacuuming gag was going to be funny?).
As for the Oscars, I was delighted that Happy Feet won best animated film and my friends David and Montse won the makeup Oscar for Pan’s Labyrinth, so as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the night was gravy, although I would have liked to see Guillermo del Toro pick up either the best original screenplay or best foreign film award. And it was nice to see Scorsese’s face off-stage after we won best director only to be informed that The Departed had picked up best picture as well.
The thing that really struck me about this year’s crop of best picture nominees was that there was really no stand-out film that was an obvious choice. I liked Babel, but I thought it would have played much better if half an hour had been shaved off, particularly with the wedding scene? Last King of Scotland? I thought Forest Whitaker did a great job, but the film itself was hardly a classic. The Departed? Some good performances and I don’t think Scorsese could do a bad job if he tried, but certainly it wasn’t his best effort. The Queen? I wish somebody could explain the fascination with this film, because it felt to me like one of those well-done HBO projects, a la The Gathering Storm. But having said that, I think Helen Mirren’s win was well-deserved; like Whitaker, she managed to capture a real-life historical figure beautifully without distraction.
My suggestions for next year? No montages, with the exception of the tribute to people who had passed away, but even there, replace the live track with some kind of instrumental piece, so we don’t have to hear the polite applause for most of the-no pun intended- departed. I wish the Academy would dispense with all of the song and dance numbers, although the shadow dancers this year did a pretty reasonable job. And finally, bring back Billy Crystal, who thus far seems to be one of the most facile hosts of the past several years
My local talk radio movie critic…a guy who a film can never be too snobby and artsy for, spent a good while the other week talking about the film that won for FL film. It sounded like a dreary depressing effort (which is what he liked about it) but the review could be summed up as “as incredible as Pan’s Labyrinth is, this is even better”.
I personally haven’t seen almost any of the films that were nominated. Cars (and maybe another of the animateds) was as close as I got. I wonder how much Happy Feet’s win was because of it’s own merits vs as a desire not to give another one to Pixar. (I haven’t seen Happy Feet so it could well be just brilliant. Personaly I thought Cars was one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time)
I didn’t watch Eddie Murphy’s movie, so I can’t comment on his performance.
I did see Little Miss Sunshine. I liked it a lot, it was a great movie. But… Arkin didn’t really do much. He was good, but it wasn’t really stretching for him and it wasn’t really impressive. I thought Steve Carell did a better supporting performance, so I was surprised that Arkin got nominated at all. Maybe voters really did hold Norbit against Eddie Murphy.
I’ve liked Ellen in the past but I prefer her as a comic rather than a host. Her jokes tend to take a while to tell and the oneliners required of Oscar show host don’t really fit her.
Johnny Carson? Oh come on, Billy Crystal has been the best host in recent history.
While I thought Happy Feet was OK (if a bit heavy handed with the environmental message and the mixed message that penguins are only worth saving because they can tap dance) I thought Cars was the better film (although a bit of a fall from grace for Pixar, but a mediocre film from Pixar trumps most best efforts from others).
Well, I seem to be the only one who actually liked the Oscars, but I have to admit, we turned the sound off for most of it – we didn’t have to listen to the inanities.
But, overall, I really enjoyed it – I loved Ellen, I loved the scrim dancers and, except for Eddie Murphy not winning (he *was* robbed), I didn’t mind the length.
I thought it was telling when my parents turned to me last night and said
1) why isn’t Jon Stewart hosting again? we can’t stand The Daily Show, but at least he’s funny
2) This is boring. Let’s turn to Grease: You’re the One that I Want
Leave it to me to forget about the Oscars and miss… nothing worth seeing. 🙂
Regarding Grease: You’re the One That I Want, normally I don’t give a rat’s ášš about such shows. But one of the contestants, Kevin Greene, is the son of my former high school band teacher. So I’m pulling for him all the way!
Aw crap! I missed “Grease” last night and someone at work just told me they eliminated Kevin.
BÃSTÃRÐS!!!!!!!
Ah, well, he’s a talented guy. I’m sure the exposure helped and he’ll find his big break one way or another.
One thing the Oscars did last night I really liked (not sure if they’ve done it before) is that they made an effort to illustrate what some of the awards meant.
Such as reading the screenplay over a scene from the film.
In a couple instances, the screenplay-film combinations also showed the importance of the director…since they didn’t always match up 100%. But even that’s educational.
I was going to be working until 9:30pm or so last night, and wouldn’t have gotten home until about 11:30pm, but ended up seeing it only because the last bus to leave where I was working was at 6:15. As I do with most of the stuff on TV (the exception is Lost), I was at my computer while it was on.
It was okay. I like Ellen’s comedy, and she did a good job as host. She was far funnier than Chris Rock or Steve Martin.
But the fact that I’ve missed most movies I’ve wanted to see over the past few months (and anything nominated for a major award) is probably the reason for my lack of an emotional stake in who won. The last remaining movie that was nominated that is still in theaters (albeit hard to find) is The Queen, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to catch it before it disappears completely.
I have seen The Lives of Others and I can say without hesitation that it IS a better film than Pan’s Labyrinth. It is a brilliant and moving film. It is not a “feel good” movie, but it does have a great ending.
I thought pretty much the same thing about the Oscars this year- although I could have done with a more toned down Al Gore bûŧŧ-kìššìņg fest, of course. 🙂
I thought Ellen did a great job, and felt Jon Stewart’s turn last year was more awkward.
The little number in the beginning with Jack Black and Will Ferrell was histarical. “Hey Leo, you can’t date all the models AND get all the awards!”
Beyonce trying to show up best supporting actress winner Jennifer Hudson when the Dreamgirls sang had me chuckling too. It was so obvious Beyonce thought she should have been up for the award- and was setting out to prove it. Her antics during her chance to sing was so patheticcally spotlight grabbing it was laughable.
The rest of the show bored me tears.
At least you could listen it.
I live in Argentina and the show was instantly dubbed to “latin” (the neutral spanish used in these kind of situations)… Like the joke from Wayne’s Wolrd.
It was too painfull to resist…
Oh and Seinfeld! Ðámņ, he nailed it between the list of “depressing” noms and the theater-dissing! When they did a shot of him in the audience I got the eery feeling he might be making out the next time we see him, much like his character did during Shindler’s list!
Ellen’s humor was gentle and inoffensive. She will probably be asked back sooner than on Stewart will be, despite the fact that Stewart was way funnier. There just weren’t that many laughs. I like Ellen and thought she would make a good fit but unless they were deliberately trying to avoid drawing any blood, this was a weak effort.
SO bloated. Morris is talented but the opening was completely forgettable. The comedy song was a waste up until the joke about Helen Mirren at the end (and she was smoking hot. She will be smoking hot into her 90s. While aging starlets are carving their flesh into stretched out alien faces, she just grows older and, if possible, more beautiful. Class will tell.)
The bit with the sound effects chorus would have been good if they showed the film clips they were performing to instead of close-ups of people puffing out their cheeks. The shadow dancers were kind of cool and creepy all at once.
PAD’s criticism of the opening 90 minutes was spot on. Is it me or did it also seem kind of low budget this year? Bloated and cheap. Yikes.
I have a feeling that Seinfeld might be asked to host next time. Funny how it’s the TV guys that keep getting asked…then again, it IS a TV show…
Funniest moment–Meryl Streep, not smiling.
The underlying messages of Cars: it’s better to have friends than to win; the past is worth preserving.
The underlying messages of Happy Feet: it’s okay to be different; humanity is ruining the world.
Something tells me that the Academy is going to be more favorably inclined towards the latter set. At least Cars seems to have friends….
OK, I checked the Tivo, so this wasn’t just my imagination. Still, I seem to be the only person who noticed it.
Right at the beginning of the actual Oscar show, they had a shot of the programmable sign outside the theater. Which was displaying “The 79th Academy Awards”.
Underneath that primary display, there was a secondary one with various famous movie quotes appearing in various positions.
In the shot at the start of the show, in the lower left corner (but in large, readable letters) such that the rightmost few letters in the two rows weren’t visible, was the quote “Frankly, my dear / I don’t give a dámņ”.
Meaning the full screen said “The 79th Academy Awards Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a dámņ”.
Anybody catch that Jimmy Doohan was actually included in the In Memoriam this year?
For all the talk about the Oscars being too dámņ long, how could they make it any longer while not actually having any speeches? Because that seems to be the point any more.
Ellen was right early on: it certainly wasn’t about the winners.
“Johnny Carson? Oh come on, Billy Crystal has been the best host in recent history.”
No dispute on that score. It’s just that ratings were much higher in Carson’s day. Then again, admittedly there were fewer choices on TV. Still, the Oscars are still the central programming event whenever they’re on, and lately it’s becoming easier and easier for people to decide not to watch it. Carson was part of what made it must-see. Crystal…indeed, nobody…has that kind of pull.
And I agree with Bill…Seinfeld may be up next year.
PAD
I was also pretty upset that Pan’s Labyrinth didn’t win best foreign film.
But I did think that the first half of the awards was hilarious. I really liked the opening about nominees, though Ellen was hilarious, and loved the Jack Black/Will Ferrel musical number.
I was amused by the Reilly/Black/Ferrell bit
John C can sing, Jack black emoda-lates and Will can barely carry. all in all funny tho.
Yes Helen Mirren is still hot…where’s that chainmail from Excalibur?
After the first hour I started to channel surf. Ellen was just completely the wrong person to play host. When I flipped back and she was running the sweeper I realized what was wrong. She belongs more with a foxworthy or rosanne comedy tour, not the glitz and glam of the Oscars. I would have been happy with Letterman or Whoopie and really missed John from last year. God it was just boring, boring, boring. A few highlights the Ferrel/Black number had me rolling. I loved the Prada girls ripping on their “boss”.The Al Gore moment was freaking hillarious, “get off the stage”… And Martin finally getting the Oscar. But otherwise, I was channel surfing waiting for something, anything interesting to happy.
Real downer, that just plain awful Ethridge song winning the Oscar. I know it had a message, but the woman hasn’t put out a good song since “come to my window”. One of the songs from Dreamgirls should have won.
While I gave up on the Oscars when STAR WARS lost out to ANNIE *yawn* HALL, I did read a couple of bits about it this morning, and have no problem with the excellent Arkin winning out over Murphy. I don’t think the latter was so much robbed, as punished for having the bad idea of being in the NORBIT abomination. Maybe it’ll make him [and others] think twice about being in such [pointlessly being the key word here] offensive fare in the future. If only It could have happened to Halle Berry first (ie CATWOMAN being soon enough after MONSTER’S to kill her chances) perhaps NORBIT would never have left the concept stage. Ah well, one can but hope.
As for the length of the ceremony, it’s nothing new. Anyone else remember the hilarious SPITTING IMAGE parody “The 1987 Movie Awards”? M.C. David Frost (the only human among the puppets) said it best: “Here we are, only moments away from the start of the ceremonies, and a mere 37 hours away from the end…”
The bit with the typewriter music that showed the writers felt very familiar to me. Did they do a similar thing before?
Perhaps the show would actually be better if they DID allow for longer speeches. Eliminate some of the fluff and get to the awards.Do the show in exactly 2 hours, 30 minutes. Spread out the top 6 awards. There would still be time enough for the songs and the tribute.
The Starwolf posted:
“While I gave up on the Oscars when STAR WARS lost out to ANNIE *yawn* HALL…”
—–
Dude, I have much love for the Star Wars movie and franchise, but Star Wars isn’t that good a movie. It’s fun. It’s exciting. But it is not Oscar worthy, except for makeup and effects.
Overall, this show was the Most. Boring. Ever.
I know there have been people saying half in jest (and sometimes quite seriously that Murphy’s performance in Norbit may have hurt his chance for Oacar, but can I just point out that the nominations were already announced several weeks before Norbit was actually released? That said, I can certainly imagine a couple of Oscar voters what happened to the very talented Eddie Murphy that they had recently chosen, when they saw him waddling out in yet another prosthetic fat suit.
“Plenty of good moments, yes, but that’s all they were: Moments.”
That’s the best description. Funny moments but a kind of sleepy feeling to the whole show. It seems that there was a creative decision to go mellow, be nice, it’s not about the winners but the nominees, not too flashy, humble even.
About seinfeld, I’ve been wondering for few years now how would a Seinfeld take on hosting the Oscars be, and will it work? His bit this year was good but not so great that it is obvious to me that he’d do a good job hosting the whole event. But on the other hand, it would sure be interesting to see how he would adapt his style of humor to the Oscars. Chris Rock and John Stewart made fun of the pompousness of Hollywood. Ellen focused the fun on her reaction to being in the awards, which really worked for me some of the time. What would Seinfeld do? (WWSD). What would other first rate comedians do? I’m surprised they never had Leno. You’d think he’s the most qualified for the job. Anyway, I’d like to see Seinfeld. and I’d like to see Chris Rock and Jon Stewart do it again.
The Starwolf posted:
“While I gave up on the Oscars when STAR WARS lost out to ANNIE *yawn* HALL…”
Then Alan Coil stated:
“Dude, I have much love for the Star Wars movie and franchise, but Star Wars isn’t that good a movie. It’s fun. It’s exciting. But it is not Oscar worthy, except for makeup and effects.”
I am not a big fan of Star Wars. I think it’s science fiction for people who don’t like science. But thirty years later there is no denying which movie has had more of an impact on American movie culture. Acting? crappy. Characters? Wooden. Dialog? Not exactly snappy.
But the plot and the effects and the ability to transport the viewer far far away makes Star Wars a far better film than Annie Hall. For good or ill, Star Wars changed the way we look at movies and resurrected Sci-Fi as a serious movie genre. It deserved better than it got from the critics and the Academy.
Annie Hall was another Woody Allen vehicle.
Ironically it seems the Oscars are trying to make up for not picking Star Wars by picking other epics like Gladiator– though I’m not sure that’s a good idea.
Captain Naraht
(Ray from NH)
Joe Nazarro posted:
I know there have been people saying half in jest (and sometimes quite seriously that Murphy’s performance in Norbit may have hurt his chance for Oacar, but can I just point out that the nominations were already announced several weeks before Norbit was actually released? That said, I can certainly imagine a couple of Oscar voters what happened to the very talented Eddie Murphy that they had recently chosen, when they saw him waddling out in yet another prosthetic fat suit.
I’m not quite sure I get your point. Yes, the Oscar *nominations* were announced prior to Norbit‘s release, but the *voting* was still in progress after the release. According to http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/news/reuters/20070220/1167.html, ballots had to be at Pricewaterhouse Coopers no later than 5pm PST, Tuesday, February 20, more than a week and a half AFTER Murphy tarnished the good will he got from Dreamgirls.
Of course, there’s also the fact that the film was *advertised* for several weeks prior to its release, and I’m pretty certain a fair number of voters were exposed to enough of that to think, “Eddie, what were you thinking when you signed on for that?” and adjust their voting. (I understand that the votes are supposed to be SOLELY based on the nominated performance, but even academy voters are only human.)
Joseph, I was bringing up the fact that there have already been three previous posters talking about Murphy’s work in Norbit. The fact that as you quite rightly pointed out, the voting was still open at the time that Norbit was released, actually supports what I was saying, although I’d like to think Oscar voters didn’t take such things into consideration.
>I’d like to think Oscar voters didn’t take such things into consideration.
Perhaps they ought to? I recall being initially surprised when the authors of the GOLDEN TURKEY books voted Richard Burton as the Worst Actor of all time years back. But their logic did make sense. He was indeed a superb actor, which made the awful roles/performances he’s turned in at times all the more unforgivable. A bad show by a mediocre/poor actor is expected, but by a world-class thespian? No excuse. Ditto Murphy and Berry who probably didn’t need the money, yet still followed apparently Oscar-worthy performances with reasons to hang their heads in shame.
I punched out at 10 to watch the new Battlestar Galactica. Glad I did. Even though it was a filler episode, it was one of the best directed fillers I’ve ever seen. Very subtle acting, dialog and set direction. The kind were a gesture and a look speak a thousand words.
Forget the Oscars. I want this episode to get an Emmy!!!
I punched out at 10 to watch the new Battlestar Galactica. Glad I did. Even though it was a filler episode, it was one of the best directed fillers I’ve ever seen. Very subtle acting, dialog and set direction. The kind were a gesture and a look speak a thousand words.
Forget the Oscars. I want this episode to get an Emmy!!!
Interesting. Three of the acting oscars went to actors portraying real people. Has that ever happened before?
Funniest moment–Meryl Streep, not smiling.
I agree. That was laugh-out-loud funny, and I was glad Streep was quick enough to drop into character for that, and that the show director held the moment.
Posted by Alan Coil
Annie Hall doesn’t even have noticeable makeup or effects.
All it has is Diane Keeton playing the most annoying high-maintenance shiksa in movies till G-Girl came along.
The single worst Woddy Allen film i almost saw.
(The Marshall McLuhan bit was almost as good as the Marshall McLuhan joke in Zachariah, though…)
Has that ever happened before?
Three? Mirren as Elizabeth II, Whitaker as Idi Amin, and ?
Either way, it does seem to be a little easier these days to get a nomination for a biopic, doesn’t it?
But then, there have been a number of excellent biopics in recent years, such as Ray, Walk the Line, and Hotel Rwanda.
You lucky civilians COULD tune out. My TV station was running it, and they were not only torturing me, but two other engineers, one of my bosses, and the entire news department.
If the ceremony had ended at the expected time (11:30 PM Eastern) we could have still done the news, with the Oscar audience still watching, and gotten good ratings. But because it ran too long, it was “out of the book” and our news ratings didn’t count. Not that anyone wanted to stay tuned during that awful cast.
My beef is that AMPAS believes they have to show what a grand and glorious history film has, and how much wonderful work they do. So they run the same classic clips every year, as if we were all junior high kids just being taught that cinema could be art, and here’s some examples, kids. Not that those clips have anything to do with the Hollowwood of today or the films they churn out. I believe that, rather than the lackluster entertainment, is what really bores the audience and makes it run over.
To impress us, they had a massive video screen that took 15 seconds to raise and 15 to lower each time. That must have bored everyone. And the imitation Cirque de Soleil silhouette people, I just wanted to machine-gun by the midnight point.
I understand that MSGOP ran the “Razzie” awards on their internet channel. They should have broadcast THAT instead, including all the awards for that Sharon Stone movie that they re-named “Basically It Stinks Too.”
Tom, regarding your comment Three of the acting oscars went to actors portraying real people. Has that ever happened before?, it didn’t happen last night. Jennifer Hudson was NOT portraying a “real” person; her character, Effie White, was “inspired” by a real person (the Supremes’ Florence Ballard), but the character was NOT a real person. (It’s the same situation when Bette Midler won for The Rose; the character was based on Janis Joplin, but the role wasn’t truly biographical. On the other hand, while speaking of the Supremes, Diana Ross also won the Oscar for HER debut performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues.)
As for the 3 “actors playing real people” bit, the only time I can see any time when more than 2 actors won for biographical roles was in 1980 (well, actually in 1981 when the awards were presented). Best Actor went to Robert DeNiro (as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull), Best Actress to Sissy Spacek (as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter, and Best Supporting Actress went to Mary Steenburgen (as Lynda Dummar in Melvin and Howard–Lynda was the wife of Melvin Dummar).
Craig, it’s always been pretty easy to win–even easier to be nominated–for biographical roles (or, at least, playing the roles of real/historical figures).
1929-30: Best Actor, George Arliss (Disraeli)
1932-33: Best Actor, Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry VIII)
1936: Best Actor, Paul Muni (The Story of Louis Pasteur); Best Actress, Luise Rainer (as Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld)
1937: Best Supp Actor, Joseph Schildkraut (as Alfred Dreyfus in The Life of Emile Zola)
1938: Best Actor, Spencer Tracy (as Father Flanagan in Boys Town)
Those were winners playing real people in just the Oscars’ first 11 years.
The 1990s and 2000s have had plenty as well. Jeremy Irons (as Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune), Martin Landau (as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood), Susan Sarandon (as Sr Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking), Geoffrey Rush (as David Helfgott in Shine), Judi Dench (as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love), Hilary Swank (as Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry), Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), Marcia Gay Harden (as Lee Krasner in Pollock), Jim Broadbent (as John Bayley in Iris), Jennifer Connelly (as Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind), Adrien Brody (as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist) and Charlize Theron (as Aileen Wuornos in Monster). Also, the year that Jamie Foxx won for Ray, Cate Blanchett took home Best Supp Actress for playing Katherine Hepburn (in The Aviator) and you also neglected Capote among the recent biopics. (Also worth mentioning, Nicole Kidman won Best Actress in The Hours, playing Virginia Woolf though the story itself wasn’t so much about her life.)
From 1940 to 1990, there were even more nominees and winners for portraying real figures (trivia: the only tie for Best Actress in Oscar history came when both winners played real figures–Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter and Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl).
I miss Chris Rock and Jon Stewart because their styles kind of fit (Okay, Rock was a wideeee left, but I liked the anarchy of his hosting). Ellen is a tad too folsky for the event. I mean, taking a picture for myspace? Vacuming the aisles? Come on!
For my money, the best comedic moment was the comedian at the academy awards song. Jack Black threatened to bash in Peter O’Toole’s head with his Nickelodeon award. That’s genius!
I really, really, really liked Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls”, but I’m not complaining that Alan Arkin won. I mean, its a heroin snorting grandpa (“you do heroin?” “I’m old!!”), and the movie was directed by the duo who made the video for “Tonight Tonight”. Supporting actor was a hard category, anyway. Djimon Hounsou was great in Blood Diamond, at times tragic, ticked off and just a complete force of nature. (though, if you actually watch the movie, its really about his character and not DiCaprio’s. Yet the nominations went Supporting for Housou and Lead Actor for DiCaprio. Odd, that). I really dug Wahlberg in Departed, but didn’t think it was all that standout, he really just yelled a hellova lot. (but that can win awards, see Sutherland for “24”)
I think the REAL travesty was freakin Jennifer Hudson getting best supporting actress (her wailing in “I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” is painful to witness. I wanted an ACME anvil to drop on her.) over Rinko Kikuchi for Babel. I wasn’t a big fan of Babel, but I thought Kikuchi was absolutely heartwrenching, and her plotline was the best handled of them all. Huge props to her, and a curse upon Jennifer Hudson. Here’s hoping she goes and bombs out rather quickly after an award. Because she stinks.
Glad Cars didn’t win. Disliked that flick, it was out of the cookie-cutter Pixar mold and it had Larry the Cable Guy in it.
Also Glad Departed won, badass flick and I got 20 bucks out of the deal. Everybody wins, and finally Marty Scorcese gets a piece of the action.
the movie was directed by the duo who made the video for “Tonight Tonight”
I did not know that, sir. Very interesting (it’s mt all time favorite video).
“I am not a big fan of Star Wars. I think it’s science fiction for people who don’t like science.”
Isn’t it like saying that Lord of the Rings is history for people who don’t like history?
Not all sci-fi is actually scientific. And star wars is not sci-fi as much as fantasy in space. as a story it should be compared to stories like Lord of the Rings more than say, Gatica (spl?)
“Acting? crappy. Characters? Wooden. Dialog? Not exactly snappy. “
Also, it’s true that Star Wars did not have to most sophisticated story or characters, and the acting was not great, but you shouldn’t get overboard. One of the reason the movie worked was because of charismatic characters like Darth Vader and Han Solo who were performed by actors and had memorable lines. Also, I think the thing with Star Wars was that it was somehow greater than the sum of its parts. The story or acting were not great, but somehow the total experience — story, plot, characters, dialogue, music, effects, direction — clicked really well together to leave a lasting impression. It was not just a cool effects movie. Finally, although I’d not nominate Star Wars for an academy award, some other big budget movies that were not much better won awards, like Dancing With Wolves, Braveheart, Gladiator and Lord of the Rings.
THE LIVES OF OTHERS has been described to me at length, and does sound brilliant. It is on my list to see, but has not shown around here yet. EVERYBODY I HAVE SPOKEN TO who has seen this and PAN’S LABYRINTH says that THE LIVES OF OTHERS is the far superior film. One person said that if PAN’S LABYRINTH is an instant classic, then the movie that beat it also needed to be a classic — and that it absolutely was.