I believe that, about 2 minutes into the ceremony last night I predicted it would be overblown but underwhelming. How right I was.
Some notes to the producers:
- The aisle thing doesn't work in the Kodak. Just ditch it, man. The 'all the nominees on stage' actually seemed to make sense for those awards where it's always a whole bunch of people that usually take two hours to get one stage.
- Stage set up was boring, but I liked the way stuff was projected on the floor and ceiling.
- Chris Rock was pretty funny, but you didn't use him very much. I personally prefer Billy Crystal. Also, you should note that a lot of Chris' jokes went right over the audience's head. Still, he was quietly subversive in a way, and he made me laugh.
- Need to bring the funny more. It's the only way the Oscars ever manage to cut through the bullshit.
- Famous Cello Dude combined with the In Memoriam section was pretty good and not as pretentious as it had the potential to be.
- God love her (but I don't), please please please don't invite Beyonce next year. At all.
- Ditto Andrew Lloyd-Webber. He's just an aesthetically displeasing twat incapable of combining more than two or three musical themes at a time.
- Bring the funny more.
- You don't have to explain why the movies move us and inspire us every single year. Trust me, if I didn't already know, I'd have been in BED. ASLEEP.
So, it was completely underwhelming, and the reason I know this is that I spent more time in the back room chatting about the show than I did actually watching it in the front room. Still, I suppose I should be grateful for it- meant that in my weakened physical state I didn't have to run back and forth all the time.
Clothes all un-fabulous. Like Eb said, there must be an LJ for Hollywood's starlets where they all agreed to wear black, and presumably another for the older generation where they all agreed to wear varying shades of wallpaper paste beige. BORING. I think the girls AND the designers themselves are now SO in AWE of the Oscars that they don't dare be amazing or fabulous or unusual.
That said, Stella did a lovely job on Kate Winslet's dress, proving to me at least, that she can design beautiful clothes as well as be Paul's daughter and Gwynnie's equally miserable looking friend.
Speaking of Gwynniepig: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE wear some sort of support next year, or get implants or something. Do you have a no-bra rule to the Oscars? I've never yet seen you do it, and you always look awful. Mind you, I think you're pretty awful anyway, so whatever.
I hate Emmy Rossum. Seriously, she's beautiful, a divine singer (And I usually hate sopranos. Too high for my ears), successful, adored and got to be in a film with Attila the Hun. I hate her, and she was practically wearing my famous red dress. Understand that my hatred is completely inspired by the kind of jealousy I simply do not get for famous chicks. At least, not since Olivia De Havilland, who is much too lovely to be jealous of.
So, Marty lost out once again. In a way I'm glad, because I don't want him to win for this necessarily. He should've won for Taxi Driver, for Raging Bull, for Goodfellas and the trillion other genuinely great pictures he's made. He is the intelligent face of New Hollywood as far as I'm concerned, especially when you compare it to the simple effects-driven Lucas or overly-saccharine Spielberg and of course, the overblown Coppola. Still, take heart Mr Scorsese- you're still too indie/'difficult' for Hollywood. You can take the boy out of the Kitchen...
Still, Richard Burton never won, Peter O'Toole had to make do with a lifetime achievement award, and they only gave Henry Fonda one for On Golden Pond when they realised he was about to die. You're in good company, Martin.
Jamie Foxx. Now, I've been thinking about this, and I think it says volumes about the affection Ray Charles is held in in America. A good choice, I think. Leonardo DiCaprio is a genuinely good actor and will get his other chances- but this nomination has proved he's moved beyond the face and that big, badly-scripted ship. Jamie is great and I hope we see more of him. Also, this felt like a less political win than the Denzel/Halle year, when from my side of the Atlantic it very much seemed to be about wanting to give the awards to the African-Americans so they could say they'd given them to African-Americans. I really don't mean to be down on Denzel, who was triffic in Training Day, and Halle wasn't bad in Monster's Ball, but this time it felt a little bit more like it was on merit rather than fashionable politics.
The Oscar people were worried about them haemorraging viewers over the last few years. This year will not have helped.
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