An actor dodging free publicity? Hell must have frozen over.
Anyone who saw Requiem for a Dream knows that Julia Roberts shouldn’t have won for Best Actress. Ellen Burnstyn was simply phenomanal in that picture. But as usual, the Academy gets it wrong. Russell Crowe may have deserved to win last year for The Insider, but certainly not this year. More than ever, the Oscars are a commercial for the movie industry. I’ve often wondered if there will ever be a major figure who will continually shun them, a la Woody Allen. I sincerely doubt it.
Not only did she wear the silliest, most ridiculous outfit of the evening (a skirt that featured some sort of dead swan motif) she goes on to deliver an utterly tuneless, completely forgettable piece of drivel that had somehow been nominated for Best Song thus re-affirming what an absolute joke that category continues to be.
I could sense the embarassment that members of the audience surely felt.
Yes, she always sounds like that. Kind of an ethereal, pixielike vocal. As a member of The Sugarcubes, she had quite a following. She’s not conventional, as her attire would attest, and she’s got a certain sense of quirkiness and impiness about her. Personally, I like her, but I can see how to some she might not be all that. She’s an acquired taste.
Ethereal? Joni Mitchell was ethereal. Suzanne Vega. Some would say Sarah McLaughlan. That was a seven-year-old in a Christmas pageant, except no one was saying “Aw…” and taking photos with a disposable camera.
Yeah, I usually like Bjork’s stuff, but for some reason it seems like all of the best original song performers were off for the show. That Bangles singer didn’t sound good at all, and Sting looked so straight with his arms at his side it was sad. I really like Dylan’s song, but even it sounded kind of off.
Dylan’s was my favourite in the category; I just really liked it. I was surprised it won, though.
I liked Bjork’s song, but it just didn’t work as well outside of the context of the film.
Sorry, Kaz, I looked around for a link, but all I could find were mentions of his name as a presenter.
If it helps any, he was wearing a dark blue suit, with a dark powdery blue shirt, with the top two buttons undone. While I always think he looks gorgeous, he was not dressed appropriately. But on a brighter note, he finally got a haircut! That mop had its place in Magnolia, but short hair suits him much better.
You’re right, and I forgot to mention that. His hair was finally out of “What’s a barber?” mode and it went well with “I found my razor”. He looked so much less grungier than he usually does when he’s seen publicly. I just got hung up on the outfit, and I couldn’t find a link to a picture either. Which isn’t really surprising considering he had to be the worst dressed man there. The photogs were probably avoiding him for that reason alone.
Joni Mitchell was never ethereal. She’s a folk singer. She’s got a gorgeous voice, too, but it’s hardly ethereal. I would think we’re using different definitions of the term, but then you also mention S. McLachlan, who IMO also is ethereal. Bjork sounds like she’s from another planet; “ethereal” means unwordly or beyond the Earth… Anyway, isn’t is possible you just don’t like her music?
Re: Tom Cruise. Are you sure it was him you saw? I checked over at Oscars.com and there is no listing of him. I think him appearing sans Nicole for the first time would have been noteworthy…And I didn’t see him in the audience either.
Joaquin Phoenix was there looking disheveled. Perhaps you mistook him for Tom Cruise???
Oh no, Tom was definitely there. Someone made the distinct comment among the press that he was there sans Nicole to show he could stand on his own, etc. And I do remember seeing him without a tie, shirt unbuttoned at the top, etc.
I guess we are using different definitions. I’m not familiar with Bjork’s music, that’s why I asked. I just wanted to know if that was her usual style. No offense meant.
The article also says how he only stayed for an hour, as he had to be on the set of Steven Spielberg’s film (I forget what it was, but it’s not A.I.; a different film). So that’s most likely the reason that he wasn’t dressed up and why he was nice and trimmed up: he was on his way to work. Despite that, I think he should have made a little better of an effort. He could have dressed in the limo on the way if need be.
…okay, just rented Gladiator and saw it for the first time last night. My comment as the credits started rolling:
“THAT won ‘Best Picture’???”
Russel “Prettyboy Flavour Of The Year” Crowe got an Oscar for THAT?!?
jeeezus!
I’ve seen CT/HD, Quills, & Traffic and believe that Geoffrey Rush was much more deserving of an Oscar than that Kiwi (with no offence to Kiwis).
Hail Benicio! (Deserved if not for all the good stuff he’s done since I first saw him in The Usual Suspects)
And Praise for the Director of Traffic, also well deserved.
But why oh why the Gladiator movie?
But The Daily Show put it best:
Apparently, everyone liked gladiator movies, but the directing, music, set decoration, editing, writing and cinematography could’ve used a little work…
But I say again:
Anyway, isn’t is possible you just don’t like her music?