Wiki says Boal was embedded with the troops in Iraq.
Ah. Thanks!
Because Streep was completely believable as Julia Child. Sandra Bullock was completely believable as Sandra Bullock. I don’t hate her: hating Sandra Bullock would be like hating kittens for being too cute. But ‘best actress’? I never thought I would hear those words in association with someone who is basically the female version of Tom Hanks. She’s very, very good at playing Sandra Bullock, but is completely unbelievable as anybody else. Come to think of it, Hanks is the current president of the Academy, so maybe this isn’t such a mystery. To get an Oscar for what is essentially a Lifetime Channel Movie of the Week is a slap in the face to Streep, Mirren, and Mulligan, who become the people they are portraying. Hell, it’s even an insult to Sidibe: she’s only 18 and did a far better job of being believable than Bullock has ever been.
Well, I think you overstate it, but I agree that Bullock’s win is a bit of a frowner for me as well. But then, Julia friggin Roberts? Halle friggin Berry? As I said, the Best Actress Oscar doesn’t have a lot left in the way of credibility. Too often in the last couple decades it’s gone to the most appealing actress rather than the real best performance.
“More Weighty”. Many folks are calling The Blind Side a “Movie of the Week”, so that is the comparison.
Well I cannot comment on Bullock’s performance. But I am not always impressed by the act of mimickry. Mind you, I amnot saying Streep was bad, by any stretch. But also didn’t watch that movie and thing to myself “Wow!”. Just from watching the clips of the movies I didn’t see, my feeling is that I would probably actually consider any of the other three nominees to be better winners. But alas, I have not seen them. I just am not on the Streep Train for this role.
Late to the party, as usual, but I’ll throw in my .02.
Still way too long. I’ve stayed to the end of every other Oscar telecast I’ve ever started, but I gave up on this one after Jeff Bridges’ speech. Hey, I like the guy, but how come he got to rattle on for what seemed like ten minutes while everyone before him got 30 seconds?
Even though Martin & Baldwin were clearly reading rather than delivering the jokes, the writing was sharp enough that it didn’t matter much. I laughed. Oh yeah, and I can truthfully say I got the ‘poor black child’ line.
Loved Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr., although they both looked a bit…odd.
The John Hughes tributes did seem to go a bit over the top, but I found it oddly moving nevertheless.
Whoever designed the stage set apparently didn’t give much thought to all the women who were going to have to descend those stairs in long, flowing gowns. I thought for sure I was going to see an ankle broken on live TV.
The demotion of the lifetime achievement awards to a clip of a separate awards ceremony was unconscionable. Geez, if the Academy considers it so irrelevant, just drop the thing altogether.
The breakdancers, while spectacular, seemed completely unrelated to the musical scores they were supposed to be interpreting. Yet another in a long history of crap Oscar-night musical performances, IMO.
When they do the ‘In memoriam’ sequence, could they not just cut to the montage immediately so we at home can actually see who the hell they are trying to eulogize?
Anna Kendrick in that pink outfit, whoa – highly edible, IMHO.
Despite any snarkiness that may come through, and despite not being able to sit still past the 3-hour mark, I still thought it was not too bad as such things go.
Biggest WTF: those dancers. Bad idea. Did no one learn from Alan Carr’s debacle?
Who has compared the two movies? I don’t know anyone who thinks of Julie and Julia as “weighty.” It’s directed by Nora “Sleepless in Seattle” Ephron for chrissakes, who wouldn’t know weighty if it fell on her like a house.
It was disgraceful that the Irving Thalberg award was omitted. If they want to save some time, it should have been from the circle jerk with the acting awards, prattling on about how generous a particular actor is gets tiring to hear. I think that the costume designer that won came off as an insufferable bitch who lacks grace.
And her comment about this Oscar is for all the unrecognized designers but it’s going home with me has been done before. I can’t remember who said it first though. It was kinda funny the first time.
Yeah, I liked the sentiment she ended on, original or not, but that “I ardy got 2 a dese”–you can’t really recover from that. I’m sure she’s feeling some day after blog abuse.
There was an article this morning on the NYT (I think) that said she left the project but still felt the movie was hers. Both of them jumped up to head for the stage, but the guy’s mother stuck her cane out into the aisle to block Burkett from getting there first! Ya gotta love it.
Roger Ross Williams is going to be on LARRY KING tonight. It’ll be interesting to see if Elinor Burkett rushes in to block him.
My favorite take was Michael Buckley’s comparing her to Penelope from SNL (beginning at 1:50).
My guess is Larry will begin by asking Williams if he plans to stay with the NBA and then turn to Burkett and say “So Sylvia, what are your predictions for next year’s Oscars?”
Yeah! Who would ever think to give an Oscar to Tom Hanks! Oh wait..
Seriously though, I thought Bullock did a pretty good job of not being Sandra Bullock in that role. She was pushy, conservative, brassy – none of which are “Sandra Bullock”. She apparently captured the essence of the real Ms. Touhe pretty well. I don’t know that I would have voted for her, but I don’t think she was undeserving. Personally I enjoyed Streep’s performance more.
Well, that’s what Burkett says happened. The director says his (87 year old) mother simply stood up to hug him. Given that she’s the crazy one who rushed the stage and interrupted him, I’m inclined to believe his side of the story.
You have the gist, but you’re thinking of nominations. To clarify, AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) is divided into branches. There are 15 Branches, and membership is by invitation-only:
* Actors
* Art Directors
* Cinematographers
* Directors
* Documentary
* Executives
* Film Editors
* Makeup Artists & Hairstylists
* Music
* Producers
* Public Relations
* Short Films and Feature Animation
* Sound
* Visual Effects
* Writers
All have voting privileges except for Executives, Producers and Public Relations. They can not vote on anything, at any time, thank goodness. (edit to add that I’m not completely sure that Producers are non-voters, but for sure Execs and PR are not).
Except for Best Picture, Foreign-language, Documentary and Shorts, each BRANCH decides on who is nominated. Actors nominate actors. Cinematographers nominate cinematographers. Writers nominate writers, and so on. Nominations are made using a preferential ballot. Everyone who has voting privileges votes on Best Picture nominations, also using a preferential ballot. Foreign-language, Documentary and Shorts are nominated by a committee.
After the nominations come out, everyone (with voting privileges) can vote for everything, except for Foreign-language, Documentary and Shorts. Only members who attend special screenings can vote on those categories. Voting on all categories except Best Picture are done by the one vote method. This year, for the first time since 1943, Best Picture was chosen by preferential voting.
Soon! She’ll running for office in a district near you!
No, he’s gonna go, “So Roger Ross, what was going through your head as Elinor Burkett was making love to your Oscar moment?”
I think my favorite part was seeing a clip of Peter Boyle as The Monster during the horror montage. I’m not so sure I’d categorize Young Frankenstein as a horror film.