This is another Letterman year: one of the years people look back on and say, “Please, please don’t do it like this again!”
Steve Martin doesn’t want to be there, and it shows. He’s using a generic schtick and filling in the blanks with Oscar-specific words. He’s taking cheap shots at people who aren’t on stage, so they can’t counter him. He’s as expressive as Al Gore.
Gotta get back…
Okay, I’m busy hostessing, but I have to say: Bob Dylan’s live in Sydney, right? So lose the feed! Blame it on Mir! Friend says he sounds like Otto. I say he sounds like Steven Banks parodying him. Argh!
What? He got the Oscar?
Someone, anyone, please tell me Desmond Llewelyn died before last year’s Oscars and was in last year’s montage. We are all perfectly willing to be mocked for communal memory loss if we can be reassured Q wasn’t shafted.
Russell Crowe: Like we didn’t see that coming. :rolleyes:
Do I have X-Ray vision, or were Jennifer Lopez’ knockers clear as day?
I swear they had to cut her off at the neck…
Best oscar choices: Soderberg for Traffic, Gay harden for Supporting Actress.
Worst: Best picture, Best actor, best actress.
Nipples galore!
Who won for supporting actor?
Benicio Del Toro won supporting actor. I was happy.
Kat: I’m pretty sure Llewelyn was honored last year. I think he died shortly before the ceremony. The list did seem a bit short, though, which I suppose is a good thing.
Richiam: I disagree completely. This year’s show seemed to move at a nice pace. They were right to ditch the pointless montage sequences, and it seemed they cut back on lame patter by presenters. But I could be influenced by my loathing of Billy Crystal.
I hated how they gave us a brief glimmer of hope with the Best Director Oscar. I think that they just wanted to raise our spirits so as to increase the pleasure that they got from crushing us by reading “Best Picture - Gladiator”.
I have to completely agree with the OP. It DID suck. Big time.
Steve Martin was mildly amusing, but again I agree: he behaved like he’d rather be having hemorrhoid surgery sans anesthesia. But I also might be influenced into this thinking because I LIKE Billy Crystal. (I like Steve Martin, too, but he really fell flat tonight.)
The only good part it did seem to go along at a much faster clip.
But what the HELL was up with Tom Cruise’s attire? Did somebody not inform this idiot it is a FORMAL occasion? He looked like he had just decided at the last minute to go and had to grab his duds at K-Mart. At least, for once in about 10 years, he actually deigned to shave. I had a horror that somebody was gonna screech out, “Hey Tom! Where’s NICOLE???” But alas, the hecklers were rather quiet tonight. Maybe they were asleep. Or passed out.
And one more thing. Did I just not see him, or was Billy Bob (Mmmmhmmmm) Thornton conspicuously absent from Angelina (Is my tatoo big enough) Jolie’s side? I thought those two were sickeningly joined at the hip…or something.
Sorry. I am just a celebrity gossip monger at heart. It’s a disease…I admit it.
Just got home from my mom’s house, which is where I watch the show every year. My 2 cents:
Supporting Actor: I was hoping for Willem Dafoe to win, but I was happy with Benicio Del Toro. We just saw Traffic today, and it was phenomenal!
Supporting Actress: Haven’t seen Pollock yet, but I love Marcia Gay Harden, so I was thrilled that she won.
Actress: Julia Roberts would not have been my first (or even second or third) choice, but I had resigned myself to her winning, and I like her in general, so I can live with it. I would have preferred Joan Allen.
Actor: Since we’re not in the Pit, I will refrain from using the words that I shouted out when his name was read. It was an awful movie, and IMHO, he was the worst part of it. Aaaarrrgh!
Director: Steven Soderberg for Traffic. I was so happy about this, I can’t even put it into words. I loved that film.
Film: (see above comment about “Best Actor”) I am so bummed out, I don’t even want to keep talking about it 
And what will it take for Ed Harris to win an Oscar? The man is a damn genius, and he loses to some guy who mumbles through the whole movie. (Did I mention how much I hated Gladiator?)
Oh, and as to the OP, I liked this year’s show, and I thought Steve Martin was a good host (Billy Crystal is still the best, though, in my book).
They should get Ben Stiller to host. He had about three lines on stage, and with that he improved the quality 300%. More than anything, Martin’s attitude brought the show down. I don’t understand, really. I was looking forward to seeing his his snippy, obnoxious persona, and he just read the Teleprompter.
but he didn’t wow me. Then again, he really seemed to be trying to serve the old-fashioned role of host, and not trying to make it a showcase for his own talent. Which i don’t think was a bad thing.
By far, the most brilliant decision was to cut out all of the ludicrous montages. Pacing was rapid. The show actually ended by midnight!
The show was perhaps a bit more boring than usual, because no one wanted to be very daring and out there. I applaud the crouching tiger dancers, discoball, and Bjork’s delightful swan for providing the few memorable moments.
Gladiator:Best Picture as:
A)Taco Bell:mexican food
B)Thomas Kincaide:art
C)Carrot Top:comedy
D)Jewel:poetry
E)Oscars:entertainment
F)all of the above
Friggin’ smilies! Should be:
D)Jewel: Poetry
Desmond Llewellyn died on December 19, 1999. So he would have been featured in last year’s montage.
(I remember the date because it’s my birthday.)
He was in last years montage. (I have a good memory. ;))
I thought the show was pretty good. Yeah, expected a little more from Steve Martin, he did seem a little bland. And I know I’m not alone in saying “Gladiator” got a few too many wins. As the score is “Gladiator” 5 awards, “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” 4, and “Traffic” 4.
Most deserving wins:
Benicio & Soderberg
Hell, at least Gladiator didn’t win all 10 (or was it 12) awards it was up for. :rolleyes:
I really did enjoy the lack of dance sequences, pointless presenter patter (say that 10 times fast whilst drunk), the CT,HD guy rattling off 100 names in rapid succession, alternating English and Chinese names. 
One question, though, is the number of nominees per category dependent on the number of decent films in a given year? And if so, did the sound editing suck that much this year?