No Oscars thread?

[SeriesFinale]

Yeah, yeah, I know they're considered a joke by true film fans

 

That said, I thought there would be one.

 

As far as the awards go, it was like any other year: there were some winners I though deserved it, some not (that's a whole other thread, but as much as I love Penn, sheesh...).

 

Some funny stuff, blah blah blah, some touching stuff... Besides Maher's milquetoast attempt at some controversy (whether you agree with him or not, I found it kinda lame), the only shocking moment for me was Departures winning Best Foreign, but I guess people always forget that only Academy voters who've actually seen the movie can vote--hence the much vaunted possible upset of Waltz with Bashir by The Class never actually happened.

 

As far as the telecast went--it was the best and worst in years: the numbers and general television cuts were terrible (the numbers were maddeningly bad for me), and there was too much Queen Latifah and panning and not enough tribute during the standard "tribute"; but the awarding concept (when the actors actually meant it and had actually seen the movies--did Sophia Loren actually see anything this year?) was quite fantastic, and the art direction was gorgeous. And at first I thought the idea of a mash-up for Best Song was horrible, but it actually kinda worked. Lastly, Jackman was average at best, I thought; I prefer a raconteur-type.

 

You?

[InsomniacInkRoss]

I watched very little of them, but I caught a lot of un-curtainted views to bare cinder wall, ladders, and fire doors back stage

 

Seems like a pretty big mistake to me, but I am not sure

[SeriesFinale]

I watched very little of them, but I caught a lot of un-curtainted views to bare cinder wall, ladders, and fire doors back stage

 

Seems like a pretty big mistake to me, but I am not sure

I'm not sure if this is a joke or not (it's late but I have my ideas), but they kept the backstage open and lit for the design portions of the awards

[InsomniacInkRoss]

Oh, I did not see that part, I only saw it off and on from the death montage thru Best Picture

 

What was I saw definitely didn't look intentional

[Team Canada]

I thought it was hilarious and entirely predictable that Sean Penn is now the world's greatest human being.

 

I agree that art direction was fantastic, and thought Jackman did a fine enough job, although I wouldn't mind Fey and Martin doing a whole show together. My wife was miffed that they didn't show clips of the nominees this year.

[RU Rah Rah]

I turned it on and just saw that horrible musical number with Hugh Jackman and Beyonce. I turned to my wife and said, "Well, at least Jon Stewart will come on now and make fun of it." But then she informed me that Hugh Jackman was the host.

 

Off went the TV. I watched the end of Cavs v. Pistons.

[pitchleague]

Yes, it was certainly a different take on the awards presentation. I kind of liked their dissection of the way a movie is put together and how they used props and set pieces with camera pans. However, I, too, did not like seeing clips for the major nominees.

 

The really good thing about the ceremony was that for the first time in years (probably ever) I had my best night of predicting winners that I've ever had. I hit 13 of the 24 awards, while my wife only got seven correct. It was great! Makes up for last year (and most years, really) when I only had 3 right the whole night.

[brewcrewreview]

I turned it on just in time to hopefully see Mickey Rourke win. As a double whammy, not only did I turn in just in time to see Sean Penn beat him, but I had to go through another one of his eliteist speeches. Almost broke my 52 inch HD TV.

[Schlitz001]

After watching some of it last night, I realized how soft 2008 was for noteworthy movies. I also agree that it would have been nice to see Mickey Rourke win the oscar.

[brewcrewreview]

I was upset that The Wrestler wasn't up for Best Picture and Darren Aronofsky wasn't up for Best Director. It's hard to imagine the five nominated movies were better than The Wrestler, especially after reading all of the reviews I read about The Wrestler as well.

But then again, I didn't see any of the other nominated films. In fact, The Wrestler was the first time I have seen a movie in a theather since Borat.

[PeaveyFury]

I'm assuming Gran Torino was out too late to earn nominations? Otherwise, everyone I've talked to that has seen the movie has said it was the best movie they've ever seen (and that includes people who have also seen Slumdog Millionaire).

[Outlander]

Nope, Gran Torino was out in time it just got snubbed. I saw 4 out of the 5 nominated movies and thought the Wrestler was better than them all and it wasn't nominated. I was also rooting for Rourke to win best actor but to be fair I have not seen Milk.

[RobertR]

I've no quarrel with Slumdog Millionaire, Wall-E, and Man on Wire winning in their categories, although I'd agree that Slumdog Millionaire probably won a couple of awards too many. It was a pretty predictable night with the only true surprise being the Best Foreign Language Film winner.

 

The show itself could have done with fewer commercials. And I liked the concept of the new things they tried, although they could have used a bit of tweaking. The montage look back at individual genres of film was an inspired idea, celebrating the whole year of film beyond the nominees, but other than the Apatow clip, I thought they were mostly pedestrian efforts. I thought the idea of past winners coming out and giving personal kudos to the individual acting nominees was a good idea and added a level of immediacy to the show, but I think the effort rambled somewhat and became repetitive. I like the basic idea though, but think it needs refining. Jackman's opening number was good, but the one in the middle wasn't and could have been cut without loss. I thought they bungled the In Memorium segment by not zooming in on the screen, the segment is supposed to be about the departed not Queen Latifah. Nothing too memorable, but I thought the shakeup of the show added some freshness. And, I agree, mirroring the awards with the film process was a good and educational idea.

 

Robert

[brewcrewreview]

Actually, Mickey Rourke losing was a HUGE upset. He was a 2/5 favorite in one of my gambling accounts. No, I didn't bet on him though. To lay $100 to win $40 is ridiculous. I loved his performance in the movie and the training that he went through and I really wanted him to win.

[RyDogg66]

I saw most of the show, and only two of the movies (Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda). THe best part of the show was the Seth Rogan/James Franco bit on the couch. I was cracking up.

 

The past winners talking to nominees was a decent idea but it didnt seem to work as well as they might have hoped. Bill Maher was bad, and that is coming from a guy who doesnt dislike him. They even managed to make Jack Black seem un-funny - but that could have been due to Jennifer Anitson's awful acting ability.

 

Here is to Tina Fey hosting next year, she and Steve MArtin were good.

[RobertR]

Actually, Mickey Rourke losing was a HUGE upset. He was a 2/5 favorite in one of my gambling accounts. No, I didn't bet on him though. To lay $100 to win $40 is ridiculous. I loved his performance in the movie and the training that he went through and I really wanted him to win.

 

That says more about the gambling sites than it does about the reality. Sean Penn won the SAG award which is the biggest branch of the Academy and a much better indicator than the Golden Globes. While it may have been an upset, it was only a mild upset.

 

Robert

[bjkrautk]

I saw most of the show, and only two of the movies (Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda). THe best part of the show was the Seth Rogan/James Franco bit on the couch. I was cracking up.

 

The past winners talking to nominees was a decent idea but it didnt seem to work as well as they might have hoped. Bill Maher was bad, and that is coming from a guy who doesnt dislike him. They even managed to make Jack Black seem un-funny - but that could have been due to Jennifer Anitson's awful acting ability.

 

Here is to Tina Fey hosting next year, she and Steve MArtin were good.

Agreed on the last part, but I'd love to see her co-host with Steve Martin. They work well together (which I assume is the reason he was on SNL so often while she was writing).

To me, all it takes to make Jack Black seem unfunny is to put a camera on him....which was part of what made his satire in Tropic Thunder work.

 

Rogan & Franco was the best part to me, way better than Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly last year (?) doing their salute to comedy. Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix spoof wasn't quite as good, but still hit the right tone.

 

Didn't really like the past winners presenting nominees for the major categories (instead of actually showing clips of the actors....acting).

 

Penn winning Best Actor was every bit as non-surprising as Heath Ledger winning Best Supporting Actor. Without delving too far into the political, let's just say that the role he played, combined with the initiatives on the ballot last year made that role very difficult for the Academy voter to ignore; add in that Penn is a good actor, and I could see it coming a mile away.

 

Did they even mention the technical awards this year? I remember seeing (via C|Net's Buzz Report) that Jessica Biel hosted that portion of the awards, but I don't remember any sort of clip, or even passing mention.

[SeriesFinale]

That says more about the gambling sites than it does about the reality. Sean Penn won the SAG award which is the biggest branch of the Academy and a much better indicator than the Golden Globes.

Yeah, seemed like a done deal at that point--I was kinda hoping Penn's relatively recent Best Actor award would cost him a few votes, but what can you do. I thought Penn was pretty great, but third-best this year behind Rourke and Langella.

 

Anyway, I knew Slumdog was unstoppable once it beat out Wall-e and The Dark Knight for the Sound Mixing Award.

[JoeHova]

Did they even mention the technical awards this year? I remember seeing (via C|Net's Buzz Report) that Jessica Biel hosted that portion of the awards, but I don't remember any sort of clip, or even passing mention.

 

Yeah, they trotted her out to talk about it for a minute. She was terrible, stumbling over her lines and sounding like a disinterested high school kid reading from a book in front of a class.