The Sean Penn story with exact quotes.
That makes more sense now. Penn was working with Law on a movie now. Best to let him know that he’s sticking up for him, just in case.
I’m trying to picture what celebrities were in attendance who were neither presenters nor nominees.
All I’ve come up with is Oprah.
Might explain all the empty seats. Was there some sort of boycott going on?
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I decided Adam Durwitz’s hairstyle should be called the Dreadhawk. (Dreadlocks and Mohawk)
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Sean Penn needs to take the stick out of his ass and get a sense of humor.
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The Carson tribute was great. Especially the clip from the Carter admin. (“this is day 164 of the Academy Awards. America hasn’t forgotten you and President Carter is working on a plan for your freedom.” Or words to that effect.)
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Has anybody else ever noticed that you never see Martin Scorsese and Eugene Levy at the same time? Hmmmm.
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I thought Robin Williams was funny. Not his A material, but he’s still hilarious to me.
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It was interesting how they made use of the theater boxes, but if I was up for an award I’m not sure I’d want to get it in the aisle. It seemed like a bit of a slight to those categories. Plus, if there had been a fire marshall in the house the academy would be in a lot of trouble!
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I was disappointed at not seeing clips, particularly from the animated shorts, but that’s just a category I’m into.
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Beyonce is hot. 'nuff said?
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Renee Zellweger is…unusual. She can be really hot, but then she can also look like she’s just had a lemon shoved in her mouth.
Actually, they did cut away to Clint at the viagra joke, but I don’t remember any of the others you listed on the Red Carpet business, so they may not have been there. They did cut to Kirsten Dunst, though, when Rock mentioned Maguire.
As someone who works with these "arteeste"s regularly, I’m going to refrain from pitting you. But I’d say Robert Richardson, Dante Ferretti, Sandy Powell, Thelma Schoonmaker, John Dykstra, and Randy Thom (who made the comment) have much longer artistic credentials than Jaime Foxx or Hilary Swank.
Oh, but let me guess–they’re not actors or directors so they don’t count. Right? :rolleyes:
Well, given that half of the 20 acting clips were from Best Picture nominees, I think we saw plenty of footage from the films.
A few other things:
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Poor Kevin O’Connell (Best Sound Mixing, Spider-Man 2) is now an awe-inspiring 0-for-17.
At least he got to go on stage this time. -
I was very wary of the admusted format, but I think they handled it quite well. At no time did I think the audience winners or the on-stage losers were treated in a fashion that was undignified or embarrassing. And certainly, we got more screen-time for non-winning nominees than probably any Oscar telecast ever.
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I thought both honorary winners (Lumet & Mayer) gave excellent speeches. Too many times, the Lifetime Achievers meander endlessly, but their speeches were full of specific tributes, general gratitude, and always stayed on focus.
And as someone who several years ago assisted in preservation work at the Library of Congress, this is probably the closest I’ll ever come to getting thanked at the Oscars. 
I completely agree. Short, concise, and very much from the heart. I wonder if they were given a shorter time limit when they were notified they’d be receiving an award? But I agree - very classy speeches.
- And while I think she’s a fantastic actress, when is Hillary Swank going to wear something that doesn’t make her look like she’s clomping around looking for her feedbag and a handful of carrots and sugarcubes?
One of the biggest logistical nightmares for Oscar producers has often been coordinating rehearsals with all the best song nominee performers. Usually, there’s little you can do–you can’t replace U2 or Bruce Springsteen with someone else (though there was a time when this was common at the Oscars, with predictably disastrous results). And you have to deal with various entourages, personalities, temperaments, etc. Consolidating several songs with one person definitely makes things easier, and in this year’s case, I don’t think anybody was really going to notice (though I don’t know whether Driver bowed out or got bumped).
Actually, I don’t dispute the sentiment – that those involved in “technical” areas make many artistic decisions in the course of their work. But feeling the need to say so while accepting your award comes across as petulant.
Pretty sure that was Letterman.
Paul Hogan hosted once. I thought he was hilarious.
Ed
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned:
Some categories that have traditionally been grouped together were well separated. For instance, Best Actress was given well before Best Actor.
The most striking example were the awards for Best Screenplay. Usually, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay are given consecutively, often by the same presenter. Here, they were given in totally different parts of the show!
Ed
Why would the Gap fight Banana Republic when both are owned by the same company?
Edna Mode presented the Best Costume Design award. Boo yah! 
(What, all those other people? Don’t bother me with those undernourished rails, dahling.)
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only person thinking that.
Get your logic and rational thought outta here! 
Actual quote, sorry for the misremembering but I was pretty close:
Berry’s class act charms Razzies (Link probably requires subscription)
People used to make fun of her squinty eyes, which she still has. They looked like they were buried under her cheeks. Now she’s skinny and her face still looks wrong.
Well, similar to how there’s always a short winner who feels compelled to remind people that shorts are a viable film vehicle, too, I think this is largely a response to the continuous pressure the AMPAS is under to streamline the awards, making them more viewer-friendly by eliminating categories people “don’t care about” and proposing that some of the other “technical” awards be awarded on a separate night, or during commercial breaks. Many writers also treat them as after-thoughts (articles on The Passion “only” getting “technical” nominations), and seem to matter only when a film is padding its sweep-count.
Given that Thom won his Oscar for an animated film (the first sound Oscar, actually, to ever go to a “cartoon”), he’s speaking as someone who’s coming from a perspective that’s seen as ghettoized twice-over.
Agreed, but the organization prohibited Jorge Drexler to play and sing his own song, they wanted a pretty, mediatic, well known face instead, [shakes unthreatening fist] bunch of morons[/shakes unthreatening fist] ; Santana mangled it beyond recognition and Antonio Banderas… he is a good actor, isn´t he?.
It was a shame, a real shame what they did to Drexler.
By the way, he´s the first Uruguayan to win an Oscar…
I give Chris Rock an A-. I thought he could have been even a little more edgy/harsh/whatever. And he did go on a little too much about Jude Law, but at least he took a hit too. When you want Denzel, you don’t take me. When “Pooty Tang” came out [someone, didn’t hear name] sent me $80.00. And he really went on to praise Russell Crowe, who didn’t even have a movie out in 2004.
The guys who came out as the accountants were the hottest men who appeared on camera all evening. Just a preference. I’m not much into "pretty boys’ like Johnny Depp. I do think he’s a good actor, though.
Sean Penn rules. Not because he defended Jude Law, but just because he is who he is, and will not play the fluff thing.
Tim Robbins, A+. A good sport on stage, but the pic of him flipping off Rock was great.
If I see Hillary Swank in the next year, it will be too soon.
Warren Beaty and Annette Benning looked like they were at a funeral, all night. Not just after she didn’t win.
Great speech by Morgan Freeman.
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.