# Assorted Observations About the Oscars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258 "2005-02-28T06:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/81 "2005-02-28T22:50:12Z")
> [@watsonwil](#): > > - Johnny Depp. My wife and I discussed his hottiness. She thinks MOVIE Johnny Depp is VERY SEXY. I admit the guy is nice looking. But REAL WORLD Johnny Depp is very pugfugly. He looks dirty and cartoonish. IN FACT, MOVIE Johnny looks like a normal, good looking guy. REAL LIFE Johnny looks like a character from a movie. Someone tell Johnny Depp he has it backwards. He looked like he was going to tie Kate Winslett to a train track last night. So, he’s the male version of Gwyneth Paltrow, then. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/82 "2005-02-28T23:09:52Z")
> [@kevja](#): > > I know eveyone liked Jamie Foxx’s speech, and it was good overall. But thanking grandma for beating him bothered me a little. Yeah, I went with it, and I think I know what he means, and I think I understand when adult kids say that their parents did them a favor by whipping them, but it still bugs me. I thought his speech was his best performance yet. :rolleyes: Don’t get me wrong, I like Jamie Foxx, and I’m sure he deserved his Oscar, but that speech was so rehearsed. And of course, the little glance up to make sure everyone saw him crying was trite as hell. I dunno, maybe I’m just cynical. I thought Swank’s speech was much better, because it didn’t _seem_ like she was expecting to win. Foxx knew it was in the bag and that’s why he had the “perfect” speech. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/83 "2005-02-28T23:43:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I must’ve been in the other room; what did Sean Penn do? I assume he was a presenter? He came out to make a presentation but interrupted hinself to harrumph about Rock’s monologue comments concerning the overexposure of Jude Law. If there were an Oscar for “Best impression of a man with a coathanger lodged in his rectum”, Penn would have been a shoe-in. With that said, I too think Rock made a piss-poor host. The Magic Johnson Theater bit was the only one that really worked, IMO (of course, it could have been a lot more angerous and interesting if he’d asked the cinemagoers if any of them had seen _Ray_), and the rest of his schtick seemed to consist of playing The Dozens with a bunch of clueless white folk who had no idea they were in the game. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/84 "2005-03-01T00:00:41Z")
> [@kevja](#): > > I know eveyone liked Jamie Foxx’s speech, and it was good overall. But thanking grandma for beating him bothered me a little. Yeah, I went with it, and I think I know what he means, and I think I understand when adult kids say that their parents did them a favor by whipping them, but it still bugs me. That bothered me too. Stuck out like crazy in an otherwise okay speech. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/85 "2005-03-01T00:41:52Z")
Rock during his opening monologue: “This is the one show where the nominees don’t get to actually perform their thing. You go to the the Grammys, there’s people singing. You go to the Emmys, there’s people singing AND dancing. You see the [??Source?? some Rap awards show] Awards, there’s people singing and dancing AND SHOOTING.” Reaction shot to: P. Diddy. Not looking like he thinks that’s funny AT ALL… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/86 "2005-03-01T00:42:56Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > I thought his speech was his best performance yet. :rolleyes: > > Don’t get me wrong, I like Jamie Foxx, and I’m sure he deserved his Oscar, but that speech was so rehearsed. And of course, the little glance up to make sure everyone saw him crying was trite as hell. > > I dunno, maybe I’m just cynical. > > I thought Swank’s speech was much better, because it didn’t _seem_ like she was expecting to win. Foxx knew it was in the bag and that’s why he had the “perfect” speech. It’s well-rehearsed because he’s given the speech before at the other awards shows. Now that he’s got the Oscar, does this mean he will finally stop trying to be Ray Charles? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/87 "2005-03-01T00:48:20Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Reaction shot to: P. Diddy. Not looking like he thinks that’s funny AT ALL… “We are not amused.” Why did he get picked to present an award, by the way? Seemed weird. > [@Wile E](#): > > Now that he’s got the Oscar, does this mean he will finally stop trying to be Ray Charles? What, you think he’s gonna ditch a peaking career as an actor to make a living as a Ray Charles impersonator? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/88 "2005-03-01T03:50:14Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > "It’s not a technical award… But he was making a factual point (see the OP of this thread). The technical awards are a separate, earlier event, and are given for equipment and processes. The awards given on the televised ceremony are the artistic awards. Yet the press will repeatedly and incorrectly call categories such as editing, sound mixing, and visual effects as “technical awards”. ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/89 "2005-03-01T04:31:28Z")
I’ve been listening to the Motorcyles Diaries soundtrack for months now. The song in the movie is exquisite and quite lyrical. I’m so glad it won. I really disliked that Phantom Song. And in other news, we saw _Hotel Rwanda_ on Saturday night, and \*\*Don Cheadle \*\* was robbed. His performance was natural and flawless, with most scenes lasting many minutes and intensely fueled with believable emotion. Pretty darn happy with the MDB cavalcade of awards, though. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/90 "2005-03-01T04:48:28Z")
Yeah… I liked _Ray_ a lot and I can’t be unhappy with Jamie Foxx’s win, but after I saw _Hotel Rwanda_ I realized Cheadle deserved the thing for so many reasons. Great movie, incredible performance. I hope people see this one. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/91 "2005-03-01T05:12:04Z")
Shoddy Camerawork close the iris on the friggin cameras a little Beyonce has a good voice but perhaps some variety would be nice. Antonio Banderas can sing?! I understand you don’t like the oscars and I don’t hold that against you…but put on a happy face for one night a year? \ Martin Scorsese didn’t seem the least bit angry - cool. Natalie Portman is so beautiful it’s just plain wrong. Johnny Depp is the coolest man alive…with the possible exception of Charlie Kaufman. The breakdown of what movie won what award seems just a little too perfect… ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/92 "2005-03-01T06:32:22Z")
My review: it was a smooth, well-paced show, at just over three hours, shorter than most of the last decade, with a lot of innovative ideas and breaks from worn-out old conventions: - I liked the idea of having all the nominees for the [not-really] technical awards on stage together, instead of waiting for them to run up on stage. And I liked the awards presented in the aisle, too. - Mercifully few big, boring production numbers. - I liked the set, especially the monitors on the floor and ceiling. - I liked Chris Rock. His opening monolog was just edgy enough, went right up to the line without (IMO) crossing it. - I thought the guy pretending to be asleep as they announced his name was pretty funny. On the downside: - After Chris’ opening bit, he might as well have left the theater. Except for the lame bit with Adam Sandler (whom I hate), he didn’t say or do anything interesting. Kind of a waste. - What’s with all the nominees clapping for themselves? Except for Kate Winslet and one or two British people, almost every nominee clapped as his/her name was read. Very tacky. You’re supposed to applaud for all the other nominees and sit modestly when you’re named. - I liked Morgan Freeman’s wink, but it came at an inappropriate moment during one of the serious presentations. - The diamond necklace Beyoncé wore in one of the songs was the most gaudy, ugly, and ostentatiously tasteless things I’ve ever seen. - How dare they have empty seats in that theater that night! - Sean Combs? At the Oscars? Justified only by the joke Rock made at his expense. Oh, and I’ve always been a David Letterman fan, and I didn’t think he did such a bad job back in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/93 "2005-03-01T06:56:42Z")
I just saw _Million Dollar Baby_, which I would rank as easily the most feel-good uplifting leave-with-a-song-in-your-heart movie I’ve seen since _Leaving Las Vegas_ (or at least since _Passion of the Christ_). Somehow though it rises above the manipulative tearjerker some would have made it into to be a movie that truly deserved the Oscar (and Eastwood did the soundtrack as well). While Morgan Freeman was good I think that his Oscar was more cumulative as this was not his best work (don’t get me wrong- he wasn’t bad, he was just given more to play with in Shawshank, Miz Daisy and Glory). Hillary Swank deserved a second Oscar for it, which it surprises me to see myself write- she’s incredible. (I don’t think this is a spoiler of any kind since you learn it early on- her character grew up in a trailer park in the midwest and thinks of herself as whitetrash, and Hillary mentioned that she grew up in a trailer park (in the midwest) last night- I wonder how much of the self-esteem issues of the character hit home (DISCLAIMER: I have lived in mobile housing myself and do not consider anybody to be of inferior social or intellectual qualities for having done so, but there is much stereotyping rightly or wrongly). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/94 "2005-03-01T07:12:53Z")
> [@watsonwil](#): > > Ossie Davis SHOULD have been in the montage because they do it Oscarcast to Oscarcast. He WAS in the montage. Or were you replying to someone who thought he shouldn’t have been? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/95 "2005-03-01T07:39:43Z")
I think the applause was muted for most of the people in the montage because Yo-Yo Ma was playing and I think people were afraid to drown him out. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/96 "2005-03-01T14:05:24Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > He WAS in the montage. Or were you replying to someone who thought he shouldn’t have been? Yes. Someone said he died in 2005 and his presence was inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/97 "2005-03-01T14:56:13Z")
> [@drm](#): > > Antonio Banderas can sing?! Cf. Banderas singing as Che Guevara in the movie _Evita_. He also starred in 228 performances of the Broadway musical _Nine_. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/98 "2005-03-01T15:15:17Z")
Hoffman was definitely drunk. He was wavering, slurring his speech, and Babs kept having to nudge him to remind him to read. Did I just hear wrong, or did Rock introduce Cruz and Hayek as “our next four presenters”? So, he introduced their breasts instead of them? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/99 "2005-03-01T15:24:25Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > - The diamond necklace Beyoncé wore in one of the songs was the most gaudy, ugly, and ostentatiously tasteless things I’ve ever seen. Given that it was for the _Phantom_ song, I assumed she was trying to imitate that chandelier in the film. Overkill now has a new visual definition. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258/100 "2005-03-01T15:57:22Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Given that it was for the _Phantom_ song, I assumed she was trying to imitate that chandelier in the film. Overkill now has a new visual definition. I would bet some jeweler paid a mighty sum to have her wear that ensemble and show it off. But I would think that bet backfired. She looked like a Christmas tree gone bad! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assorted-observations-about-the-oscars/292258.md?page=6)