Well, they tried to do something different, I give them credit for that. Some of it worked, most of it didn't, but then, I suppose this year's Oscars were doomed anyway, since there was practically no suspense about any of the major categories. A few notes:
- I actually liked the opening song-and-dance number, especially the Anne Hathaway cameo- maybe SHE should be hosting. The second one, the "tribute to musicals," was a mess though, putting it directly in line with the majority of Baz Luhrmann's work.
- I also wasn't a fan of the five-actors-introduce-the-nominees part, both because it took FOREVER, and because they cut out the actual footage of the performances. Guessing which clip they'd use was always half the fun.
- I don't know what was worse- that the curtain didn't open for the first genre montage, or that a technician could be heard on the broadcast yelling, "open it, Steve!"
- Loved Duncan Lance Black's acceptance speech, for "Milk." Andrew Sullivan would have too, if he didn't hate the Oscars so much. And again, for like the 18th time in the last 20 years, Best Original Screenplay went to a better movie than Best Picture.
- Good for Penelope Cruz. I watched the movie earlier today, and I think my favorite part was that, after Cruz acted atrociously in every English-language movie for ten years, Javier Bardem kept yelling at her to "speak English!" in front of Scarlett Johannson. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," like other Woody Allen films, certainly subscribes to the "throw a lot of really beautiful women into one movie" theory of casting.
- The forced presenter banter was a bit much, even compared to most years. Especially Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston. And were we really supposed to be all excited that Aniston and Jolie were in the same room at the same time? If three different magazine covers I saw yesterday were any indication, then yes.
- I found the Apatow "Pineapple Express" short film generally unimpressive, except for the part where James Franco watched himself (in "Milk") kissing another man.
- The romance montage sucked, but props for the use of Coldplay's great, great "Lovers in Japan."
- Nate Silver: "Remember when the Oscars used to be interesting and the Super Bowl used to be boring?"
- It's funny, I thought Sean Penn's performance in "Milk" was better than Mickey Rourke's in "The Wrestler," but was rooting a lot more for Mickey, mostly because Penn's sort of a loathsome figure, and because Rourke would give a better speech.
- Good for Kate Winslet. And nice to see a Ricky Gervais-written self-fulfulling prophecy come true:
- I long ago made my peace with "Slumdog" winning. Oh well, it was better than "Crash."