In case you’re wondering, yes, as in previous years, I will be live-blogging the Oscars. This is an unusual year for us in that Kath and I have seen ALL of the nominated films, plus many of the acting performances, so we’ll actually have strong preferences this year. Swing on by and join us at 8:30 (no, I’m not planning to comment on the red carpet arrivals.)
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Sure, various sites are blogging, but really, who cares about the others? This is where the action is.
8:30–Some where Dougray Scott is sitting at home watching Hugh Jackman and thinking, “That could have been my career.”
8:31–So although the smart money is on “Slumdog,” I’m thinking that “Milk” could provide an upset. Voters could see it as a chance to take a stand against Prop 8.
8:32–So is Jackman going to sing and dance? Waste if he doesn’t.
8:32–Yup, here we go. It’ll be tough to top Billy Crystal’s, though. Maybe Billy will join in.
8:34–The Craig’s List dancers?
8:35: Wow. Ann Hathway has nice pipes. I’m surprised it’s not a breakaway dress.
8:38: Well, it’s not quite as funny as Billy Crystal, but it beats the hëll out of a tap dance interpretation of “Saving Private Ryan.”
8:40: Meryl Streep flexed her muscle and Caroline promptly said, “Football!” Kathleen has trained her well.
8:41: And the award for first montage goes to: Thank you! Where’s Sally Field?
8:43: Somewhere there’s a picture of Goldie Hawn that’s incredibly old.
8:44: Best supporting actress. Will probably be: Penelope Cruz. Should be: Viola Davis. Would love it to be: Amy Adams. But Kath is pulling for Henson.
8:47: One for one in “will probably be”
8:49: At this rate the Oscar cast is going to run past midnight.
8:50: Ahhhhh…typically they award “Best supporting actor” close to “Best supporting actress.” But this year obviously they’re going to delay that because of all the drama attached to Heath Ledger.
8:53: Tina Fey and Steve Martin. Talk about your power couples.
8:54: Tina Fey serving as Steve Martin’s straight woman. Perfect.
8:55: Will probably win: Milk. Should win: WALL-E. Only two films I saw: Milk and WALL-E. What a lousy year for there not to be a film called “Cookies.”
8:56: Two for two in “will probably be”
8:58: Yes, but with all respect, if Harvey hadn’t been taken from us 30 years ago, you wouldn’t be up there, so…
8:59: Adapted screenplay. Will probably be: Slumdog. Should be: Button. Would love it to be: Frost/Nixon.
9:01: Three for three in “will probably be”
9:02: As Alan Dean Foster pointed out, it’s interesting that if you write a great novelizaton of a screenplay, you’re critically dismissed, but if you write a great screenplay version of a book, you can get an Oscar.
9:03: Oooooooooo…
9:04: It still annoys the crap out of me that two of the best movies of 2008 aren’t up for best picture: One because it was just ignored, and the other because it’s ina ghetto with other animation.
9:05 On the one hand this is taking up an insane amount of unnecessary time; on the other hand, it’s certainly entertaining to watch.
9:06: Will probably win: Wall-E. Should win: Wall-E.
9:07: And Jack Black makes a bunch of money betting on Pixar. This should take some of the sting out of Pixar’s losing that other animation award to KFP
9:08: Will probably win: Presto. Should win: I dunno. Only saw that and the one with the Octopi.
9:09: Seriously? Fracking animation short ruined my perfect record. The fact that it’s classic animation may be a commentary on all the computer animation.
9:12: This looks to be a long night. Kath is making me some nachos. World’s greatest wife.
9:15: Art direction. Will probably win: Button. Should win: Dark Knight. Would like to see win: Changeling.
9:17: At least it wasn’t Revolutionary Road. I swear, I don’t understand the attraction of that film. Two gorgeous people with a nice house, healthy kids, a good income…and they’re miserable and tear into each other. All I could think was, Geez, appreciate what you have and stop bìŧçhìņg.
9:19: So I’m five for six.
9:20: Costume design. Will probably win: Milk. Should win: Button.
9:20: No kidding. Those big costume dramas are attractive because voters readily understand them as costumes. Kathleen had that one right. So I’m five for seven.
9:22: “Very quickly…” Too late.
9:23: Makeup. Will win: Button. Should win: Hellboy.
9:24: Six for eight.
9:25: Ariel is squealing in delight because the vampire guy is up there.
9:25: Does he act better than he talks right now?
9:28: Paradoxically, a montage about romance that I’m not in love with.
9:29: You know what’s weird? We’re an hour into this and I don’t recall seeing any commercials for movies.
9:30: I wonder if they’re going to bother with productions of the nominated songs.
9:31: What the hëll is stiller doing?
9:32: Okay, anyway: Cinematographer: Will probably win: Slumdog. Should win: Dark Knight. Would like to see win: Reader.
9:33: Okay, I get it. He’s riffing Joaquin Phoenix. Long way to go for that joke.
9:34: Bingo. Seven for nine.
9:37: Now I want to see the movie about the dog tracking down his family.
9:38: At first I was surprised that Jessica Beil apparently couldn’t get a date. Now why is she wearing decorative white trash bags?
9:40: Ah. A commercial for a movie. The only one thus far; appropriately it’s “The Soloist”
9:45: It took a lot of work for Judd Apatow to make a short film about comedies that was only sporadically funny.
9:46: Best short film. No clue. On the line
9:47: Kath said that Toyland had the most buzz. So I’m seven for ten, although for the most part the ones I missed were the ones I didn’t see.
9:51: Commercial for “Castle.” I’ll be watching that for the three or so episodes that get aired.
9:52: Will someone please tell Hugh Jackman that this isn’t the Tony awards?
9:53: What. The hëll? Is this DOING here?
9:54: I mean, I know he’s a song and dance man. But this is ridiculous. “One night only.” That’s how long we have for the Oscars. You can’t stop the beat, but you can bring the show to a halt.
9:56: Uhm…guys? Mama Mia isn’t up. For anything.
9:57: Well, that’s five minutes of my life I won’t be getting back. “The musical is back?” Yeah: “Chicago” proved that years ago. What’s your point?
9:58: Baz Luhrrman put that together? Okay, if they’d had Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, it would have caught my interest.
10:00: I mean, honest to God. In what universe is the musical back? There was exactly one musical this past year, it was critically slammed, it wasn’t especially good, Pierce Brosnan embarrassed himself in it. I mean, yeah, it made a buttload of money, but go argue with Abba fans.
10:02: So I assume we’ll have five guys to give best supporting actor.
10:03: Best supporting actor. Will probably win: Heath Ledger. Should win: Heath Ledger. Could signal a major upset: Josh Brolin. Would be a hoot if he won: Robert Downey.
10:05: Downey would be great in “Shaft”
10:07: I wonder who would accept for Ledger. His ex-wife? Christopher Nolan?
10:08: Wow. His family. Okay. Eight for eleven, but I think we all saw that coming. I don’t consider this a sympathy vote; I think he would have won even if he hadn’t passed away.
10:11: Documentary. No clue. Let’s see from the clips.
10:12: Okay, pure guess based on visuals: Trouble the Water.
10:13: Boy, did his joke about gods go over like a lead balloon.
10:15: Should’ve gone with my first instinct. Saw the guy on the wire, though “Cool,” but then went with the Katrina one. Yeah, time is short: Thanks a lot, big pointless production number.
10:17: Short subject. No clue. Based on the visuals: Smile Pinky.
10:18: Okay, I’m back. Nine for thirteen.
10:18: So the wire guys sleight of hand was cute, even if he did obviously pocket the coin after the simple misdirection. But balancing the Oscar on his nose was cool. That’ll make some highlights clips.
10:21: So we’re almost through two hours…thirteen awards have been presented…and there’s eleven to go. After two hours. Oy.
10:22: It’s nice to see that they’re doing film creation basically in order. But even so, this is just dragging.
10:24: And the award for best commercial goes to: Jimmy Kimmel and Tom Cruise. Meantime now we have action films. Here’s what I’d like to see: A montage of films that just monumentally sucked. I mean ghastly. Terrible. Stuff you can’t believe was released. That would amuse me.
10:26: Visual FX; Will probably win: Button. Should win: Iron Man.
10:27: And thus does the bias against action, so deftly pointed out by Will Smith, continue. Ten for fourteen.
10:28: Sound editing: Will probably win: Slumdog. Should win: WALL-E. Would be nifty: Iron Man.
10:29: No. Kidding. Okay, well, I still think WALL-E should have taken it. The first half hour was nothing BUT sound editing. Ten for fifteen.
10:30: Okay, sound mixing. Will probably win: Button. Should win: WALL-E.
10:31: NOW Slumdog wins? Terrific. Fracking sound awards. Ten for sixteen. Ðámņáŧìøņ.
10:34: Film editing. Will probably win: Slumdog. Should win: Dark Knight.
10:35: Okay, back on track. Eleven for seventeen. Stupid technical awards.
10:36: In less than ten minutes we’ve blown through more awards than we did in the previous 45.
10:41: Seven awards to go. Average of five minutes per award, 35 minutes; we might hit 11:30.
10:42: They should have had someone French present this award. Or bring back Steve Martin and have him putting on his French accent from the Pink Panther films.
10:43: I saw Jerry Lewis as Applegate in “Ðámņ Yankees” on Broadway. He was great.
10:44: Oh yeah. I forgot about “The Nutty Professor” connection. Eh. Still should’ve been Steve Martin.
10:46: To think that when he and Dean Martin split up, the popular wisdom was that Martin would thrive and Lewis would vanish into obscurity. Guess in the long-term competition, Lewis won.
10:50: Nominated score. Will probably win: Slumdog. Should win: WALL-E. Should’ve been nominated: Iron Man. And Speed Racer.
10:53: I love the way she says the names. “Alejandra”
10:54: Twelve for eighteen. Yeah, well, y’know what? My definition of “best” is what I’d most want to put on when I’m driving. Definitely Speed Racer.
10:56: Oh, for the days when the Academy was going nuts trying to figure out how to mount “Oh Canada”
11:00: Interesting that they combined those two songs. That never would have occurred to me. Will probably win: Jai Ho. Should win: Jai Ho. Best combo: Jai HO and Down to Earth
11:01: Hard to ignore a song that keeps you in the seat during the credits. Thirteen for nineteen. Anybody know what “Jai Ho” actually means?
11:03: Kath informs me it means “Victory,” with the longer version meaning “May You be Victorious”
11:06: Good evening to the world. Okay: No clue about this. Will guess from the visuals.
11:07: I was trying to type “Waltz with Bashir.” Ah well. Thirteen for twenty.
11:08: I swear, I don’t know how I’d sit through this if I weren’t blogging. This makes it pass much faster.
11:10: Best actor is going to be really interesting. If Mickey Rourke wins, then I think Slumdog is probably a lock. If Sean Penn wins, Best picture is a question mark.
11:11: I forgot about the dead zone. Be interesting to see the reaction when Heath Ledger hits the screen. She’s…singing with it? Not sure how I feel about that.
11:15: Did they miss Heath Ledger? Did I miss him? I think taking the extra time for Newman was nice, and I’ve decided I liked the sing along. Took me about a minute.
11:18: Oh. He passed away in January of 2008, so he would have been in last year’s montage. That’s right.
11:19: They’re giving director before lead actors? Interesting. Of course, if they were doing it in true production order, best director would have been right after screenplay. So: Will probably win: Slumdog. Should win: Milk. would be nifty: Ron Howard.
11:20: Okay then. Fourteen for twenty one. Which means that if “Milk” wins it’s more of a political statement than a genuine belief as to what’s the best.
11:25: So the ONLY montage that wasn’t full sized on screen was the In Memoriam? That’s screwed up.
11:26: And the winner for most smoking hot working of a gown: Sophia Loren. Winner of the “crap, why did I have to stand next to Sophia Loren award: Shirley McClaine.
11:27: Best actress. Will probably win: Kate Winslet. Should win: Kate Winslet. Be nifty if she did: Angelina Jolie
11:30: Merl Chreep? Who the hëll is Merl Chree…oh. Sorry. I can’t help but think that right now she’s studying and memorizing the accent for future use.
11:31: Fifteen for twenty-two. The kicker is that the producers tried to position her for best supporting because they figured she’d have a better chance. What a hoot.
11:33: And now as we stare down the barrel of best actor, we find ourselves asking about the presenters the same question we had for Battlestar Galactica for ages: Who will the final five be?
11:35: Final five. Let’s see: Jack Nicholson, I would think.
11:36: Maybe Dustin Hoffman.
11:37: Oh well. Didn’t get any of them right. Should’ve twigged to Hopkins. And Kath figured Brody.
11:38: Michael Douglas has had some work done.
11:39: Best actor. Will probably win: Sean Penn. Should win: MIckey Rourke. Would really like to see win: Frank Langella.
11:42: If nothing else, Mickey Rourke would give the most interesting speech.
11:43: Sixteen for twenty-three. With Penn beating out sentimental favorite Mickey Rourke, I think that means best picture could flip either way.
11:46: I find it interesting that they’ve totally done away with bringing up the orchestra to play people off. On the one hand I always thought it was rude. On the other hand, you wind up running late. Great speech by Penn. Absolutely great, from the slam at the gay haters to the shout out to Rourke.
11:47: I remember this guy. He played the guy in the office of tax clerk at the end of “Blues Brothers.” The one who stamped “received” on the receipt. I wondered whatever happened to him.
11:50: Okay, THIS is an interesting montage. Starting with films that are nominated this year and then showing films that were thematic precursors. I just wish we hadn’t had to wait three hours and twenty minutes to get to an interesting montage.
11:52: Best film. Will probably win: Slumdog. Should win: Milk. Be nifty: Frost/Nixon.
11:53: Final tally: Seventeen for twenty-four. I was right on everything I’d actually seen except for the dámņëd sound awards. A closing montage of what’s coming up in 2009: Good idea. Of course, a lot of them are comedies and action flicks and therefore will be MIA from next year’s awards.
Boy, is this awards show going to be pilloried in the press. Presentations that seemed like good ideas in theory but just inflated the running time. Acceptance speeches that went on and on. A half hour overtime. Hugh Jackman trying to do Billy Crystal stuff when he’s much more at home with the Tonys. Tina Fey and Steve Martin giving us a glimpse of what the awards would be like if the right people were hosting. If I hadn’t been blogging I’d likely have fallen asleep by now.
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I think this is the first time that I’ve seen up to four of the five films nominated for Best Picture. I was thinking of going to see The Reader yesterday or today, but I’d have to go to NYC, and right now, that’s not feasible.
Me, I liked all four of the other films, but I think Slumdog Millionaire is not only the odds-on favorite to win, but that it should win. It had the post powerful, uplifting ending of the four I saw.
For Best Actor, Mickey Rourke is favored to win, a notion bolstered by his Golden Globes win, but I think Sean Penn deserves it. The Wrestler was not as good as it was hyped up to be, and I was disappointed by it. Rourke performed his role well, but it didn’t blow me away. Penn, on the other hand, was almost unrecognizable as Harvey Milk.
My mom said she doesn’t know if anyone is going to be wearing any of the dresses she or my aunt made at Oscar de la Renta, but she’ll know if she sees one.
Okay, the dress Taraji P. Henson is wearing is a modification of a dark-colored original that my mom made.
I know you’ll probably like this because you’re into Broadway shows, Peter, but I’d have preferred a funny comedian hosting the show instead of Hugh doing a show number.
Okay, the pseudo-Hathaway improv made it interesting to me. 🙂
Well, the producers have surprised me, I didn’t realize just how bad an opening could get. Bring back John Stewart, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin… Heck where’s David Letterman! Uma… Oprah… Uma… Oprah…
Oh joy now it’s past winners… Meeeh
Whoopi Goldberg, Tilda Swinton, Eva Marie Saint, Goldie Hawn and Angelica Huston??????? What’s the theme here?
The theme is I hope they don’t dislocate a shoulder patting themselves on the back.
Anyone know why they didn’t invite Jon Stewart back to host?
Okay seriously I don’t want told what I should think about a actor/actress, just show me a freaking clip! This is sucking bad.
Geez, are any of the Original Screenplay nominees for films that were nominated for Best Picture????
Okay, Milk was. And it’s nice to see the story of Wall-E was.
Okay, I’m a little behind. Hee! Anne Hathaway is adorable! But she always is.
Speaking of Wall-E in the same breath as fils like Star Wars: Clone Wars is an insult.
Can I just say that I LOVE that KFP won all those Annies? Of course WALL-E deserves it’s win. It deserved a best picture nod but… you know…
What is it about Jennifer Aniston that makes me want to throw a chair at my TV? Jesus, what a bore.
Peter David: 8:35: Wow. Ann Hathway has nice pipes.
Luigi Novi: Yeah, and she sings nice, too.
Okay this is officially the worst Oscar telecast I have ever seen. It beats out the year they presented the Oscars in the aisle to the “lesser” winners. Was that last year? I can’t remember.
So the big animation films get an epilepsy inducing montage flash and the unheard of ones get what should have been presented.
I am really tempted to go watch a movie instead.
I don’t see anything in the art direction category that really stands out for art direction. Even the Dark Knight is made of mostly real-world inspired locales.
That goes double for Costume Design! UGH! It’s always the same types of costumes that win!
And that goes TRIPLE FOR MAKEUP!!! (Peter, I’ll let you do the rest of the live blogging now.)
They could shave off a little time by having the presenters already at the microphone instead of striding across the stage for a grand entrance.
Also, present the middle 2.5 hours of technical awards in a local burger joint a few days before the telecast.
Yet another montage with no clips from The Spirit. Surprise, surprise.
(Now that I think of it, I’m surprised The Spirit got no Razzie noms. Maybe they didn’t see it.)
Wally Mantle: What is his hair doing? It’s better than A Flock of Seagulls!
Natalie Portman really needs to hook up with Luc Besson again and do a sequel to The Professional.
Only a medley of the three songs this year. That’s why Peter Gabriel dropped out of performing, since they only offered him 65 seconds for his song from WallE.
Somebody parodied Jacquin Phoenix on last night’s Independant Spirit Awards, too.
Okay, a commercial for The Soloist. That’s something.
“Will someone please tell Hugh Jackman that this isn’t the Tony awards?”
Just thought the exact same thing.
Come back Rob Lowe & Snow White! All is forgiven!
Let’s see Jackman sell Wolverine: the Musical!
I actually liked the musical sequence. I just wish it had been a way to announce the musical awards.
Nice nod to the HSM kids too, even though I hate them. You have to admit that it’s popularity is helping repopularize the genre.
Uhm…guys? Mama Mia isn’t up. For anything.
Not it’s not, but it is a musical. As is “High School Musical 3”.
It was a celebration of movie musicals, not nominated musicals. IMO, it was nice to see, regardless of the length of the show to this point.
10:00: I mean, honest to God. In what universe is the musical back? There was exactly one musical this past year, it was critically slammed, it wasn’t especially good, Pierce Brosnan embarrassed himself in it.
Luigi Novi: For which he got a Razzie.
Kevin T. Brown: Not it’s not, but it is a musical. As is “High School Musical 3”.
Luigi Novi: “It’s a musical” is hardly solid criteria for saying the genre is “back”. “Musicals are successful again as a genre” would be more solid criteria for saying that.
This whole five-past-winners-presenting-the-acting-awards things is just plain friggin’ stupid. I hate it. Get rid of it. Now.
Heath won. Big shocker there. 🙂
Luigi, I whole heartedly agree! I didn’t think they could find a worse way to present an award than presenting them in the seats, but these five boring lecturers is… I’m putting on a movie and just watching the comments here. Heath won and I could care less about anything or anyone else nominated.
All those nods to musicals and not one song from “RENT”?!?
I know RENT isn’t SOUND OF MUSIC, but SOUND OF MUSIC didn’t win a Pulitzer either.
The best moments are the ones that aren’t planned.
Philippe Petit just did some little tricks but you’ll see that Oscar being balanced on his chin on every Oscar telecast from now on. I’m sure I’ll smile when I see it.
And I really meant to see Man on Wire too when it was in the theater. Everyone LOVED it, critics and audiences alike. I’m sorry I missed it but I’ll see it next chance I get.
The musical of Rent bombed.
Also, Rent is terrible.
*sigh* The *movie* of Rent bombed.
If you happen to have Netflix, Man on Wire is currently available as one of the movies you can “watch instantly.” Worth watching.
I hate the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Not only is it stealing all the awards but I think Oscar Wilde would be outraged that the producers ignored his story to make their own.
Wow… Wall-E is getting screwed
Yay! The Dark Knight won another award!… But it was the award that WALL-E should have won. It was all sound. Geez.
Slumdog/Button head-to-head awards (4) have gone to Slumdog. Button’s won 3 awards where Slumdog wasn’t nominated.
Oh God, Jerry Lewis is next. Wake me when it’s over.
Eddie Murphy? Geez, I wonder if he’s gonna storm out when he doesn’t win.
Kaboom32: If you happen to have Netflix, Man on Wire is currently available as one of the movies you can “watch instantly.”
Luigi Novi: Unless you have a Mac.
Byron: I hate the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Not only is it stealing all the awards but I think Oscar Wilde would be outraged that the producers ignored his story to make their own.
Luigi Novi: I think F. Scott Fitzgerald would be screwed to think that his story is being attributed to Oscar Wilde. 🙂
Well, it’s just the music awards and then only the remaining major ones.
I agree Steve Martin would have been better then Eddie Murphy for this.
And I’ll have go watch man on wire on netflix…tomorrow, since this won’t be over until late late
I think Eddie should’ve shouted out a “Hey Lady!” to Jerry just as he was walking onto the stage.
Luigi, I choose to think that Byron’s point was that the makers of Benjamin Button could’ve put their efforts towards making a film based on a Wilde story. It amuses me.
Only thing keeping Slumdog from winning all 10 of its nominations is that 2 are in the same category. Where’s Springsteen?