Sunday, March 07, 2010

Random Oscar Broadcast Comments

I don't know why, but I really want Sandra Bullock to win the Oscar for Best Actress. I liked her in The Blind Side. Oh sure, I loved Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia, but Sandra's never won.

Who wins won't make one bit of difference in my life. I really have no reason to care but . . . here I am, staying awake to watch the awards. I could keep playing Bejeweled Blitz to keep myself awake, but my hand's starting to go numb, so I thought I'd share some random thoughts.

ABC's red carpet coverage right before the awards broadcast took inane to a new low. George Clooney did his best acting by not giving away that he thought Sherry Shepherd was a babbling idiot.

Kudos, George, for letting your hair go all salt and pepper and still looking like one of the sexiest men alive. Ever since Bob Costas soaked his head in Grecian Formula before the Olympics, I've been noticing obvious dye jobs on men. Yes, I know this is sexist and hypocritical, but I think only women should color our gray hair.

Holy hell, Sandra. I have nothing against red lipstick but stick you on a coastline on a foggy night and your mouth could guide ships in safely to shore. Talk about bright! (Loved your gown though. Beautiful, elegant and you wore it well.)

When they were pairing up presenters did someone not know that Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper have both dated Jennifer Aniston? Why not throw in John Mayer and Brad Pitt while you're at it?

For months we've seen promos of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-hosting. Wisely, the producers hired Neil Patrick Harris to do the splashy, funny, snarky musical opening number. Throughout the broadcast so far, Martin and Baldwin have been as much background noise as the woman announcer. Probably not a bad thing.

Take note, costume designers. If you're competing against a movie about any English queen, you're probably going to lose.

My favorite acceptance speech came from Michael Giacchino who won the Best Score award for Up. In it he explained that in all his life, whenever he experimented with creative pursuits, nobody ever told him it was a waste of his time. He urged anyone, young or old, who's experimenting with their creative side to remember that it's never a waste of time. Hear! Hear!

Second favorite acceptance speech so far -- the guy who won for Best Animated Short -- Logorama. "No logos were harmed in the making of this film."

Can't Quentin Tarantino afford a tux that fits?

The promos ads for V where the creepy lizard-woman alien leader speaks directly to us are clever.

I just had a thought. Every year the network worries about ratings for the Oscar broadcast. Instead of obsessing about the show, why not steal an idea from the Super Bowl? Encourage advertisers to make super-creative, special commercials. Even people who don't care about football often tune in the big game just for the ads.

These long, drawn-out personal sharings by co-stars for the lead actor nominees are . . . long, drawn-out and unnecessary. What are they doing? Building in some ego-stroke for the actors who don't win? Are Morgan Freeman and Jeremy Renner wondering why the other guys got lauded by beautiful women and they got Tim Robbins and Colin Ferrell?

Kate Winslet -- absolutely stunning dress and no boob pillows spilling over the top.

Awww. Standing ovation for Jeff Bridges. Now that's an honest, lovely moment in a make believe business. His acceptance speech was long but nobody played him off. Another classy moment.

Well, if they had to do this "co-star tribute" thing, thank God they picked Forrest Whittaker for Sandra Bullock. He spoke with charm warmth, and real sincerity. Better him than Keanu Reeves who demonstrates a range of emotion from A to . . . B.

This is the first time I've seen actor Michael Sheen as himself and not portraying a real life person like Tony Blair or David Frost.

I think that Gabourey Sidibe was incredible in Precious. I hope that Oprah wasn't overly optimistic saying that she's at the start of a fabulous career. I'd love to see more roles for overweight black women played by real actresses and not Eddie Murphy or Tyler Perry in fat suits and makeup.

Why isn't it enough to call Precious just Precious? All night long they've called it Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire.

Can you image if 70 years ago they'd said, Gone With the Wind: Based on the novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell?

Yay. Sandra won. How cool that they showed the real family and the woman she portrayed, along with the football player. Sandra was obviously deeply moved and still managed to show off her dry sense of humor, along with gracious appreciation for her fellow nominees.

Barbra Streisand, your bubbe called. She wants her lace curtains back when you're done with that awful dress.

Kathryn Bigelow -- tonight the first woman to win for Best Director. Tomorrow, an answer in the next edition of Trivial Pursuit. I can't believe they played her off to an instrumental version of I Am Woman. I wonder what songs they had lined up for the other nominees.

Tom Hanks just gave the shortest introduction to a major award ever. If you ran to the bathroom after the Best Director award, you missed hearing that The Hurt Locker won for Best Movie.

Thank you, and good night from the Kodak Theater. Everybody go out to your parties. They need to strike the set and get it ready for American Idol.

1 comment:

Hope said...

Your Eddie Murphy/Tyler Perry comment has me attempting to not laugh out loud and disturb my office mate! :p