Sunday, February 22, 2009

The 81st Oscars

I'm a fan of the Oscars. I may not watch the whole shebang, but I usually try to catch some of it. This year I was excited to see what Hugh Jackman would do. I was not disappointed! (If you want a more thorough and professional review, go here. And yes, I totally missed the intro, which according to this source, was awesome. Shucks.)

Here are some observations in no particular order - well, until the last section. Next year, I'll livebog it!

-Did anyone catch the closeup of Angelina Jolie while Jennifer Aniston was presenting? Meee-ow! Actually, she looked disappointingly normal. And also later, in another close up of Angie, her ginormous emerald? earrings and ring?

- I love the concept of the awards following the making of a movie. It actually made the sequence make sense.

- Where are the colorful dresses? The first several I saw were pale gold or silver...Thank you Amanda Seyfried for wearing red! Can't wait to see what the Fug Girls have to say about all this...

- Heath Ledger won for supporting actor. His parents and sister accepted the award, and while the camera panned the audience, there were an awful lot of tear-filled eyes. Tough act to follow.

- The musical is BACK! And that montage - live, onstage, starring Hugh and Beyonce, directed by my man Baz Luhrmann - was incredible. I love musicals. Have I mentioned that before?

- I am actually enjoying the presenters. They are goofy. Especially Will Smith. Also, I really liked Tina Fey and Steve Martin. Like, when she was looking at him, and he turned and said, "Do NOT fall in love with me." And she's all, "No, but, um..." and the clips roll. I tried really hard-for um, 20 seconds- to find a clip of their bit, but the only one was kinda crappy, so you'll have to take my word for it. Go look yourself in another day or so.

- I also love montages. Especially the one dedicated to the romances (on film) of 2008. Very cool. But then again, I'm a big sap. This we know.

- One of the subjects of a winning documentary not only made a coin disappear at the podium, but then followed it up by balancing an actual Oscar on his chin! Now THAT is show business, folks.

- Bill Maher bugs me. Way to use your 30 seconds of Oscar time to promote your own (non-nominated) film AND anti-religion views.

- The ads are even kind of great. The Coke ad - um, I watched every second of it. The Jimmy Kimmel live spot with Tom Cruise? Pretty genius. I missed all the Super Bowl ones, so this kind of makes up for it.

- Slumdog Millionaire seems to be sweeping so far, and they just got director! The guy just did a Tigger jump!

- I love how they are announcing the nominees for the top awards. Having past winners speak directly to the nominees makes each of them a winner. Especially Anne Hathaway, who was lucky enough to draw Shirley MacLain. Dude, I'm almost crying, sitting at home with my hand in the popcorn bowl.

- Kate Winslet's hair? Odd. Dress? Gorgeous. The shampoo bottle thing? Very cute. Also, her whistling dad!

- Nobody tell Dad that Sean Penn won an Oscar. At least he gave a funny self-depricating speech.

- Aaaand it's Slumdog! What an underdog (hehe!) on top story. Good grief, I think everyone involved in the movie is on stage!

What has Aaron been doing this whole time? For the last hour he's been watching with me, but most of the day he's been painting - ceilings in the entry, hallway, and Leah's room, and then two different options on the new door frame.

No, you can't have him. He's all mine.

7 comments:

. said...

i cried when kate winslett's dad whistled.

Kim said...

You can test your green paint in my back hall that still needs to be done!

Anonymous said...

The Man-on-wire balance the Oscar act and Winslet's dad whistle were also favorite parts of mine!
I thought Hugh Jackman did a great job in the opening, like when he was dancing with those weird back up dancers about "The Reader", and how he laughed to himself about the ridiculousness of it all.
Also, he is good looking. My Aaron agrees with me on that one.

Aaron said...

Haven't seen slumdog yet, but I've yet to be disappointed by a Danny Boyle movie; glad he won the Oscar. Sean Penn is insufferable, same for Bill Maher.

If you want to hear a good acceptance speech, google the one Mickey Rourke gave at the Independent Spirit awards last week. 6 minutes of entertainment.

Noel said...

Last night at C Concourse of MSP, the screens had Larry King's interview with Bill Clinton on CNN(?). SO much for glitz and glamour during my 2.5 hour layover en route to Moline.

Tonight during the phone call home, I was updating the Netflix queue with "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Reader", and "Man on Wire": two more R-rated movies and a documentary for the queue...not what keeps the viewers happy on family movie night. At least the Foreign Film winner "Departures" should keep the cellist in the family happy.

Good to see Lyz recognizes she is spoiled by Aaron the Handy Husband.

Lyz said...

Noel - Aaron has totally turned me into a princess.:)

The Reader? Hmm, not on our Netflix...TOO rated R. But the other two look promising!

Anonymous said...

Ok, just like I will not go to the Baseball Hall of Fame until both Pete Rose and Roger Maris are enshrined; I also am boycotting the Academy Awards since they did not nominate "Gran Torino" for anything (how can a movie be nominated that opens in America two weeks before the Award show).