To be fair, if you really want to save time, just eliminate the In Memoriam section entirely, as well as all song performances (just have a 30 second snippet of each song when announcing the nominations).
You misunderstand, I like those two elements (Best Songs and Memoriam). I want to save time elsewhere so they can flesh out the Memoriam with actual clips. Start by getting rid of the post-Memoriam song performance and the lame NPH secret prediction box routine.
I would’ve scoured the world for someone actually named Adele Dazeem, to go onstage with John Travolta.
Well personally, I tend to skip over most “Best Songs” (I kept watching for “Everything is Awesome” and “Glory”) and don’t find In Memoriam all that compelling. So I guess its one of those you can’t please everyone things, so just shove it all in there ;).
I thought the dress was divine! Though Oprah certainly has put on a few since I last saw her on TV some years ago. There are quite a few full-figured women in movies now and they are seen on the red carpet dressed to kill. I don’t think I’ve really heard anyone making ‘fat jokes’! It’s OK to criticize a gown, but not a body type. I think Joan Rivers stopped making fat jokes long before she died.
The production was amazing, and I applaud the sentiment expressed in the acceptance speech. But [apologize for politicizing a Cafe Society thread] John Legend’s comparison of slavery in 1850 to incarceration now had to be the Most Meaningless Statistic Ever.
It certain burned Shonda Rhimes’ butt. She was spluttering with outrage that Lady Gaga, not Idina Menzel or whatever the f her name is, was singing a Sound of Music tribute. Spluttering. With. Outrage. Lady Gaga was absolutely wonderful, and is 10 times better known than I.M. Shonda Rhimes. What a jerk.
Agree.
Say, has anyone watched The Artist lately? Didn’t think so.
I guess I disagree about the lasting power of Boyhood. I mean people will be talking how amazing it was to film every year for 12 years, but most people I’ve spoken to said it was a dull film (Personally, I thought it was interesting, but it’s not something I’d consider a ‘stand the test of time’ sort of film).
And let’s be fair, re: The Artist. People aren’t necessarily re-watching many of those other movies that were nominated for the award that year lately either (maybe “Tree of Life” and “Midnight in Paris” have the most staying power of that group).
The one with real lasting power will be The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Looking at the nominees from The Artist’s year, I have rewatched The Descendants several times. It’s good every time. Also rewatched (and enjoyed) Moneyball and The Help. The Artist just doesn’t hold up.
Wasn’t he introducing Best Director when he wasn’t even nominated for it himself for Argo (which one BP). I’d be dour too!
I love Wes Anderson, but Grand Budapest Hotel wasn’t even his best work. Also, Wes tends to alienate folks - some people love his style, others can’t stand it.
Anyways, from 2011, you never even hear about The Descendants much anymore (except that it helped launch Shalleen Woodley’s (sp?) career. Moneyball is a great sports movie, but it really isn’t going to be elevated beyond that. And when The Help may have been very influential in kicking off the big looking back at racism movies, 12 Years a Slave and Selma have definitely eclipsed it. FWIW, I have re-watched The Artist - its still as charming as ever, IMO.
My wife and I are pretty picky about which movies we want to spend $12 on so we don’t really watch very many in the theater (although if it were up to her alone we’d probably watch more than we do) so I’m proud to announce that one of the ones that we DID pay $$$ to see was Birdman. I hate to spend $$$ on movies that suck.
I thought that since Gaga went to the trouble of wearing an evening gown, the least Julie Andrews could have done was wear a meat dress.
And it led to some of the awkwardest audience response ever.
John Legend: “There are more African Americans incarcerated now than there were during slavery”
Someone in audience: “Wooo!!” clapping
Everyone watching: Did… did you just “woo!” that!? 
I don’t think Boyhood is going to be remembered at all, other than as a footnote regarding it’s filming schedule. As a film, while I definitely liked it, it was really nothing special. The only thing that made it different was that it was the same actors for 12 years. It’s not a film I have any interest in seeing again, whereas I really want to re-watch Birdman & Whiplash.
Ha, I saw that too.
Thought it was the Oscar equivalent of liking the “My mom died today, RIP such a sweet woman!” on facebook
Not about Oprah, only about her dress, which draped her bottom in a way that only over-emphasized and exaggerated it’s largeness. I defy anyone to look at her in that dress from the back and not think that it was a mistake for her to pick that design. “Does this dress make me look fat?” “No, dear, it makes you look like a hippo from the back, but the front is divine!”
I thought they did it so if Linklater won, there’s be a DAZED & CONFUSED reunion, just like there was a 21 GRAMS lovefest when Penn gave Picture to Inarritu.
Let’s be honest–the Oscars rarely ever reward an “art” film their top prize. And last night, they did.
Sure, there’s artistry in a lot of the films they honor, but the winner tends to snugly fit into a conventional category (historical epic, biopic, crime drama) that appeals to middle-brow sensibilities. For all its genuflecting about creative ennui, it simply does not follow the standard Academy template of “what we like”. Whether you think it’s successful or not, or profound or not, there is no questioning that the movie really goes out on a limb*. It is a very daring experiment and that rarely gets enough credit.
It’s BOYHOOD’s unfortunate state that it (another daring experiment) came out the same year–and that film is far more meditative and less flashy than the eventual winner. But they are both far from typical Oscar fare, and the fact that it was a race between those two (while more standard films like IMITATION GAME or THEORY OF EVERYTHING were only distant also-rans) is itself remarkable.
It’s easy to say “Oooh, Oscar loves celebrating Hollywood”, but until MILLION DOLLAR BABY, no Best Picture winner was even set in California! And while THE ARTIST may be a celebration of Hollywood, “foreign-produced black-&-white silent film” is hardly your typical Oscar stuff, either, no matter what the subject matter.
Will BIRDMAN stand the test of time? Who knows? But there were plenty of opportunities to play it safe with the top prize last night (the way they did with the acting winners, for example), but they didn’t. They took a chance on something different. And that’s something that’s always welcome.
*pardon the pun.
It’s easy to say it because it’s true. A movie doesn’t have to be set in California to be about show business. Birdman is a good example. Whiplash is another. (You think every foul-mouthed Type-A producer in Hollywood didn’t see him/herself in J.K. Simmons’s character? Hey, we’re just cracking the whip to get the best artistic output!)
Nominated movies from recent years that have at least a major subplot about performing arts:
Birdman
Whiplash
Argo
Hugo
The Artist
Black Swan
Inglourious Basterds
Crash
The Aviator
Finding Neverland