Now everyone knows that this year the Academy was trying to revitalize the Oscars in order to rekindle that viewership they used to have. Beginning with having Hugh Jackman as the host, I think they made a pretty good effort to meet that objective. Also, if you watched, you could see that they added quite a few things to the ceremony: the genre montages to give retrospective on the film industry as whole rather than just honoring those who were nominated, the 5 former winners presenting the best actor/actress awards, and the beautifully engineered and designed stage (Swarovski crystal curtains, who knew), and entertaining musical numbers. All in all, I am glad the Academy broke with tradition and that they finally accepted the fact that they are going to run over on time.
The only major issue with this Oscar ceremony was probably that the Academy was so predictable or maybe I was just that good this year. In the end I predicted all the categories winners, 24 out of 24, and was even able to guess Ann Hathaway’s dress color on the red carpet (Champagne if you were wondering).
The best moments:
1. “I’m Wolverine!” as the last line in the Hugh Jackman opening number and Ann Hathaway singing
2. Joaquin Pheonix impersonation by Ben Stiller and Natalie Portman’s comment that he looked like he worked in a meth lab
3. Musical montage arranged by Baz Lerhman and performed by Hugh Jackman and Beyonce (as Sasha Fierce), with backups by Mamma Mia and High School Musical cast.
4. Presentation of the Best Supporting Actor/Actress awards by 5 former winners and the video montage of past wins beforehand
5. James Franco in the Comedy 2008 montage
6. Audiences sentimental reaction to Heath Ledger’s win as Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film
7. Queen Latifah singing for the In Memoriam portion of the show
8. Kate Winslet having her dad whistle so that she could say thank you to them
9. Sean Penn calling the Academy, “Commy, homo-loving sons-a-bitches”…in a good way
10. The Best Picture nominee reel
The worst moments:
1. Bill Maher plugging his religion documentary a billion times while he presented the best documentary award
2. Winner of the Sound Mixing category crying while he accepted the award
3. Having to sit through 2 appearances by Zac Effron (and that doesn’t include him being all over the red carpet)
Now it is time to watch some more movies!
P. D. Griffith's P.O.V. 