At 12:15 am this morning (technically still Sunday night) Mr Ruby Slippers and I climbed in my car and drove over to Best Friend Ruby Slippers' house (she has satellite tv) to watch The Oscars. Seven hours later, we left. Of those seven hours, I would estimate that five were pre-show and show, and two were advertisement breaks. They were so long and so frequent this year (between every one or two awards) that next year we are seriously considering finding someone to record the show for us and watching it immediately afterwards, so we can skip through the breaks. Oh, the tedium. I wanted to jab nails in my eyes just to see something new.
However, it is still the Oscars, and as such, here are my high and low points:
HIGHS
* Hugh Jackman's awesome opening number, culminating in a duet with Anne Hathaway (why has this girl never been in a musical?) as Richard Nixon.
*Tina Fey and Steve Martin's presentation - could they just present every single award next year?
*Heath Ledger getting a standing ovation, the cameras catching people crying, and the sweet, heartfelt speeches from his family.
*Past winners paying special tribute to each of the acting nominees, especially Shirley Maclaine's lovely words about Anne Hathaway.
LOWS
* The song nominees perfomances - boring, pointless and badly put-together. And why was (yawn) John Legend singing Peter Gabriel's song, and singing it so badly?
* Most of the presenter-schtick, especially Jessica Biel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston with whoever she presented with.
*Seth Rogen and James Franco's unfunny mini-movie.
*The montages of comedy/action/romance clips over the past year.
LOWS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIGHS
*The awful camera-work in the In Memoriam segment, which meant that home viewers couldn't see half of the people honoured.
*The "Musicals are back" number, which started off well but just ended up as a mess. Possibly because of the inclusion of people from High School Musical.
*Kate Winslet's win - she deserved an Oscar more than pretty much anyone I can think of, but not for that role. Any other performance, any other year, and I would have been jumping for joy.
And now let's see how I did with my predictions!
Correct guesses:
Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director - DAnny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actress - Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Animated Feature - Wall-E
Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog Millionaire
Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire
Editing - Slumdog Millionaire
Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Costume Design - The Duchess
Makeup - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Original Score - Slumdog Millionaire
Original Song - Jai Ho, Slumdog Millionaire
Sound Editing - The Dark Knight
Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Incorrect guesses:
Best Actor - Sean Penn, Milk (I voted Mickey Rourke)
Original Screenplay - Milk (I voted Wall-E)
Sound - Slumdog Millionaire (I voted Wall-E)
Yeah. I totally rock. :-P
4 weeks ago
Good for you for sitting through the entire thing! I watched for 10 minutes and had to turn it off. You're right about the tedious nature of the show. I always just like seeing what people are wearing!
ReplyDeleteNice Job!!
ReplyDeleteI missed the beginning, so I didn't see Hugh and Anne's number. I loved the past winners as presenters. That was so great. And I agree about the Musicals Are Back number. Why do you need Zack and Vanessa? I think they ruined it. Hugh and Beyonce were doing a wonderful job. I also agree on the In Memorium thing! How inconsiderate. Although Queen Latifah was excellent!
ReplyDeleteWow, nice work on your Oscar predictions! And, thank you for the sweet comments about my photo over on Cheyenne's blog. I appreciate them!
ReplyDeleteOh hi Melissa! No problem, I think your photo is just darling! I really hope you win!
ReplyDeleteSarcastically Bitter - try get hold of the beginning; it's the best part!