Could be, I do not remember him being very funny either time. I actually liked Chris Rock, but I thought Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman and Chevy Chase were terrible. I don’t think I saw Robin Williams in '88.
Not on the thread last night, but watched the awards.
I thought Ellen Degeneres did a good job: not a tour de force at all, but she does what she does on her show very well. She’s great at breaking the barrier between celebrity and audience; best example was the photo of her and Eastwood taken by Spielberg for her MySpace page, and handing Scorcese a script she’d written “Oh, where did that come from?” They all played it well, and seemed to enjoy it. Is she the first woman to host the Academy Awards?
Couple of notes:
Clint Eastwood faltered during the Honorary tribute to Ennio Morricone, but you could hear him at the end, after the camera had panned off, totally on mic : “I should have worn my glasses…”
It was a bit through Mr. Morricone’s speech that Eastwood picked up the translation on the prompter and started to read it. Pretty seamless and gracious, though.
One bit during the American Film montage, a satire, ala “Airplane”, where the scene was a presidential faux scene. Fake George Bush Sr, with Fake Barbara Bush getting slammed in the face with a door and falling back slapstick, by action of whatever comedian was in that movie. Small thing, and went by ultra quick, but quite a stealth comment, really. Anyone know the movie?
Melissa Etheridge did not only thank her wife, but, before going up for the award, kissed her just like anyone would do when winning, all on camera. I thought that was great. Progress is a beautiful thing to see.
The critical and financial stinkeroo American Dreamz.
1955: Thelma Ritter *
1956: Claudette Colbert *
1958: Rosalind Russell *
1972: Helen Hayes *
1973: Carol Burnett *
1974: Diana Ross *
1975: Shirley MacLaine *
1977: Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda *
1983: Liza Minnelli *
1986: Jane Fonda *
1987: Goldie Hawn *
1994: Whoopi Goldberg
1999: Whoopi Goldberg
2002: Whoopi Goldberg
- Co-host.
I loved that movie. It was hilarious.
Thanks Wallon and Archive Guy, y’all are why this SD is so great and quick.
Did anyone else notice that sly wham on the powers that be?
No, the clip from American Dreamz was a Bush Jr.-esque president asking his advisor if he knew there were three different kinds of Iraqistanis. The clip of Elder Bush being hit with a door was from The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear.
That surely was from one of the Naked Gun films. That was Leslie Nielsen coming out of the door.
In the clip on the Oscar montage, it was the faux Barbara Bush getting slammed, by the door, hard, and then falling backwards, slapstick. The faux Bush character was George Sr, definetly, off to the left of the scene, if that helps.
This may be meaningless to most, but the coffee house where I write is physically located right on the other side of the big curtain where the Oscar audience enters from off the street. You’d think with the Kodak theatre and all there would be loads of aspiring screenwriters looking to create their dreams there. Nope. I’m there almost daily never see the same person twice. (I alternate between there & Starbucks where the tea is less costly).
I stayed outside today because I’m under the weather and am avoiding caffeine for now, but took a peek at where the red carpet and all the decor had been. Just about all removed and is nearly as it looks 355 days a year: Asian tourists taking photos on the stairs, tour groups parading through the area, shoppers, a homeless person or two around. Out in the shopping area there were still a few suited Oscar guests probably doing the late checkout thing and an army of production people taking down the hardware.
See you next year!
could somebody please tell me why David Letterman was such a bad host, without using the words Oprah or Uma? I missed it that year, and that one joke is all anybody EVER talks about…
The answer is that he wasn’t such a bad host, despite what you’ve heard.
Actually that was his funniest joke. The hosting duties just fell very flat and I like Letterman. I used to watch Letterman nearly every night, I watched him when he was young and edgy and weird after the Tonight show.
Based on Walloon’s post: YMMV,
Jim
I liked Letterman as host and if Uma-Oprah is still being referenced, he must have been doing something right, doncha think?
I liked Jon Stewart a lot. Rock had a few good bits, but I got tired of the Af-Am related humor, sans when he went to the Magic Johnson Theatres to interview folks about the movies they liked. I think Whoopi’s awful, just sucks eggs. Who else? Steve Martin? A C+.
And I thought Ellen was terrific, hope she comes back again and again. A bit of a head-scratcher to me that critics have faulted her for lacking an edge or being too much of a suck-up on this self-congratulatory affair. If Billy Crystal is generally considered the consumate host and isn’t exactly a Gellette Mach 3, why the backlash against Ellen? The Gore-eco stuff was way overdone (and this coming from a guy who drives a full-electric car) and I thought Ellen missed an op to slam it, but that’s nitpicking someone’s performance who had me and everyone at our home laughing out loud. YMMV, of course.
IMHO, it’s because Crystal makes people laugh and Ellen only makes them grin…if that. Boiled down to its essense, Crystal is witty and funny; Ellen is cute and mildly amusing but basically dull.