Ah a live tv context rather than a sexual one. Makes much more sense. Didn’t know the origin – thanks Marley!
I would just like to add: Sean Penn’s head is frikkin HUGE.
Calling it “ironic” is giving it way more importance than it had in my mind – a moment’s levity, *sans *agenda.
Aah. Sorry, I just see this all the time, and it seems like it’s become some kind of modern myth that it’s required. Call it a success for the Academy that they’ve convinced people of this, but it’s still vaguely annoying, when people do it because they think they have to.
I also write for publication, so I don’t think twice about doing it, though I realize that it’s not necessary here. Because I realize it wasn’t necessary, I think “a moment’s levity” about covers it.
I liked Jackman’s first musical number a lot, but the second one was gratuitious, disjointed, and not surprisingly, the brainchild of that hack Baz Luhrmann.
Agreed that the worst thing, by far, was the camerawork on the In Memorium piece. I can understand why they had Queen Latifah sing: to downplay the applause-o-meter effect. She was fine, but the directing during that segment was beyond horrendous.
Agreed that the montages were pretty blah, except for the funny Rogan/Franco piece, and the Best Picture collages merging past and present. The Action montage was one long extended car chase, and to add insult to injury, not only does Waltz w/Bashir lose Foreign Language Film, but it’s also excluded from the Animation montage (but can’t forget Space Chimps!).
I thought overall the acting presentations were a good idea well-executed. Sometimes, you could tell they were reading the teleprompter and the “tribute” was a bit impersonal. But there were quite a few where you could genuinely see a personal connection between colleague & colleague, or artist and mentor, or fan and icon that was true and real and quite moving. I’m sorry that some of the more obscure movies (The Visitor, Frozen River) didn’t benefit from the acting clips; but I thought it did shake things up a bit in a mostly positive way.
I work in the industry (though all my nominated friends and colleagues lost last night) so found the “Story Arc” rather obvious but very well done. More importantly, by having Bond & Carrie Bradshaw present Art Direction, Costume Design, and Make-up (for example), it streamlined those awards without shortchanging their importance. In the past, a different set of couples would’ve done their shtick for each separately, and those nickel & dime minutes really add up to the final running time.
I’m a big fan of Slumdog and would’ve voted for it in several of the categories, including the top prize, but 8 Oscars will inflate expectations for those unfamilar with it and burden it with the Overkill impression for the rest–though I can’t think of that many categories where it “stole” an award (Sound & Score are probably the most conspicuous).
And after last night’s ceremony Cate Blanchett’s films have now earned more Oscars (28) than any other actress in film history.
LOTR: Return of the King: 11
The Aviator: 5
LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring: 4
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 3
LOTR: The Two Towers: 2
Babel: 1
Elizabeth: 1
Elizabeth: The Golden Age: 1
There are a few male actors ahead of her, but at this rate, she seems pretty well-positioned to catch up with them over the next decade or so.
Especially since those “nickel & dime” minutes are almost always awkwardly forced and unfunny teleprompter-fed Bruce Vilanch joke-reading. I just now realize how few of those moments there were last night (I thought Fey/Martin and Aniston/Stiller were genuinely funny), and how much they are not missed.
Watched it in spurts. The In Memorium was butchered. It was disrespectful and a slap in the face for the people who had passed.
The 5 previous winners part made me uncomfortable. You’re not curing cancer people. Sorry, it was just too over the top and self-important, even for the oscars.
I agree completely. My movie-loving-but-moviemaking-non-savvy girlfriend was fascinated and made me pause the TiVo several times to ask questions about it. In retrospect, it’s such an obvious format choice that it’s actually something of a wonder it wasn’t done before now. It both streamlines the broadcast and serves to illuminate (albeit in broad, simplistic strokes) the industry being honored. Well, minus the “Supporting Actress,” who is apparently the antecedent of the entire enterprise. 
Well, they had to spread some of the Majors around a little, but this format also diluted some of the suspense, since the Screenplay winners are pretty big indicators of which way the Academy is leaning. It was nice to see some Big Love go out so early, but the two writing winners, while not wholly unexpected, did set the tone for what to expect for the rest of the night.
When it comes to the Academy though, better safe than sorry. The Academy actually sued an Awards site that went by the name of Oscarwatch.com. They have now changed their name to AwardsDaily.
Regarding the tribute, I also didn’t care for the camera work, but having Latifah sing was a smart move. People are usually quiet when someone’s singing a song live, so while it didn’t stop the embarrassing applause, her singing live cut down on it significantly. Random applause is what I always hate most about the tributes. It’s a popularity contest and I feel so bad for the families and friends of lesser known actors, producers, cinematographers, screenwriters, etc. because they just get a smattering, while the big names get loud clapping. At the BAFTAS, they just cut the sound off for the viewing audience. I don’t know if people clap in the hall. I wish the host would come out and tell people, ‘please hold your applause until the end’ and most people would.
I’m going to go looking for videos.
Right. Which is why I used the term “noncommercial.” AMPAS controls the commercial use of various terms; it’s not legally empowered to keep them out of the mouths of private citizens.
A meaningless statistic that I find interesting for some reason: only one of the last eight acting awards has gone to an American.
I was in the odd position that I liked most of the changes they made but still wasn’t much into the show. It seemed like something that would have been a lot of fun in the room but lost something on broadcast.
I like Baz Luhrmann, but not far into the musical number I was thinking “Wow, this is like bad Baz Luhrmann.”
Yeah, a minor trend, but one that disappears if you go back farther.
Best Actor
2001 Denzel Washington
2002 Adrien Brody
2003 Sean Penn
2004 Jamie Fox
2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman
2006 Forest Whitaker
2007 Daniel Day-Lewis
2008 Sean Penn
7 of 8 American
Supporting Actor
2001 Jim Broadbent
2002 Chris Cooper
2003 Tim Robbins
2004 Morgan Freeman
2005 George Clooney
2006 Alan Arkin
2007 Javier Bardem
2008 Heath Ledger
5 of 8 American
Best Actress
2001 Halle Berry
2002 Nicole Kidman
2003 Charlize Theron
2004 Hilary Swank
2005 Reese Witherspoon
2006 Helen Mirren
2007 Marion Cotillard
2008 Kate Winslet
4 of 8 American
Supporting Actress
2001 Jennifer Connelly
2002 Catherine Zeta-Jones
2003 Renée Zellweger
2004 Cate Blanchett
2005 Rachel Weisz
2006 Jennifer Hudson
2007 Tilda Swinton
2008 Penélope Cruz
3 of 8 American
That would be 3 Americans listed (Theron’s from South Africa)
I thought I checked them all and I knew one would slip by. Knew it. Knew it, knew it, knew it. Sorry.
But it does say interesting things about men vs. women and the toles they get today. There’s probably a thread in this.