I knew about five minutes into James Franco and Anne Hathaway’s opening monologue at the Oscars last night that we were in for a long evening. Scripted within an inch of it’s life, their words hung in the air momentarily before dropping like lead weights at their feet. The monologue became symptomatic of what would be an odd and listless ceremony. One that commanded the bare minimum of my attention.
Franco has done a good job of cultivating a very relaxed, go-with-the-flow vibe in the last year and a half. But he was practically sleepwalking through his hosting duties. That is, when he could be bothered to show up at all. From where I was sitting, it looked like Anne Hathaway was doing all the heavy lifting.
As a matter of fact, she may have been over-exerting herself. Yelling with unrestrained glee in a desperate pitch to compensate for Franco’s lazy-eyed delivery. Hathaway literally yelled “WOOOOO!” like a sorority girl after almost every presenter she introduced. When she was giving high fives to the kids from P.S. 22 in Staten Island after their performance of “Over The Rainbow” at the end of the show, I was convinced the force of the blow was going to knock some of them off the stage. Franco may have been on auto-pilot, but at least he was being authentic. Not that I blame her for trying, but Hathaway was trying way, way to hard to inject energy into the ceremony where it didn’t need it and it came off as unnatural.
On several occasions, Hathaway referred to her hosting alongside with Franco as an effort by the Academy to make the show “young” and “hip,” but she was undone at nearly every turn. Bringing back 8-time host Billy Crystal to introduce a package showcasing the first Oscar telecast in 1953? Nothing screams “young” and “hip” like projecting footage of Bob Hope behind a podium for 10 minutes.
As far as the awards themselves, there weren’t too many surprises for me. I scored 18 out of 24 on my Oscar scorecard, which I think is the best I’ve done in a few years. I missed the boat on Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, Documentary Short, Documentary Feature, Visual Effects and Supporting Actress.
I’m kicking myself for thinking Alice in Wonderland would win Best Visual Effects and not Inception. That rotating hallway fight sequence was legendary. I guess I assumed since every last frame of Alice had be manipulated in the computer in some way that it would be film the Academy would recognize.
I also should have known better regarding Supporting Actress. I picked Helena Bonham Carter for her work in The King’s Speech even though I knew Melissa Leo had the inside track for The Fighter.
Typically, Best Supporting Actress seems to go to a Brit while the Academy saves Best Actress for an American. I mean, is there really any other reason Sandra Bullock has an Oscar? I was also certain that Leo’s unprecedented individualized campaign would torpedo her chances. Actors NEVER campaign for themselves by taking out ads in the trades. They let the studios do that on her behalf.
Proactively battling against what Leo identified as ageism in the industry, she submitted two ads to industry publications asking them to “CONSIDER… Melissa Leo.” It was an odd (if somewhat narcissistic move) that immediately turned me off to Leo as a contender.
I think that knee jerk reaction was somewhat justified when Leo went on stage to collect her Oscar from presenter Kirk Douglas. I found her feigned shock completely contrived and was amazed she was being awarded for acting, considering how badly she was hamming it up on stage. Even dropping the f-bomb felt like a calculated move to me. Cynically, I can imagine Leo thinking of ways to draw attention to herself that would guarantee prominence in post-Oscar analysis. She came off like a classless outsider trying way to hard to act genuine.
If these observations sound like sour grapes, I apologize. I caught myself at the end of the night being excessively negative about the evening on Twitter. But it looks like those criticisms have become justified in the morning light. Several reviewers are calling this year’s telecast one of the worst in recent memory. In the words of Roger Ebert, “This was the worst Oscarcast I’ve ever endured. It’s time for the Board of Governors to have a long, sad talk with itself.”
What were your take-aways from this year’s ceremony? Am I being unfairly harsh? Leave your comments below!
Why did the academy thing they'd be good hosts?
They probably thought Hathaway would go topless and Franco would score the good weed!
I thought Hailee Steinfeld deserved Best Supporting Actress, personally. She was incredible in True Grit.
Also…you missed the boat on Cinematography? Who did you think would beat out Inception?
I thought The Social Network would win Best Cinematography.
Fincher’s movies get taken to task for being too dark, but I thought the camera work on The Social Network gave the movie an atmospheric feeling of dread.
I’m happy with Inception winning in that category, though. I just thought it has less of a “painterly touch” than The Social Network.
As far as the production. It was fine virtually every time that Franco and Hathaway were NOT on the screen. The second presenter was obviously having a ton of fun, and Billy Crystal is Billy Crystal. The Bob Hope thing was kinda cheesy, but very well done. And RDJ IS Tony Stark in every sense of the word. Was that an act? Or was that actually RDJ’s personality? Because that was a FUN section! He’s probably one of the best ad-libbers in Hollywood today. Wouldn’t he be a fun host for a year?
RDJ as host would be kind of fun. But I think he’s more effective as a bit player who can show up on stage, charm the pants off everyone for 10 minutes and then leave. If he were hosting, I think the show would become too much about him. He wouldn’t get out of the way.
You’ve got a problem with that? It’d be better than Anne “I’m hopped up on coke and Botox” Hathaway and James “duuuuude …….. weeeeeed” Franco. I mean, Anne was OK, I guess. But Franco looked like he was stoned all night long. RDJ’s antics would be a welcome break from that.
I still want to know, BTW. Is Tony Stark an act that RDJ puts on? Or is that just how he is? Because I could TOTALLY see his Tony Stark doing exactly what RDJ did for that presentation.
I didn’t watch the Academy Awards this year and it sounds like I didn’t miss much.
I like the Bale one. He’s a fantastic actor. Also, it just sounds cool that Batman has an Academy Award. Now for Dark Knight Rises they can rattle off a list of award winners and nominees in their trailers.
I wanted to be more excited for Bale. But when he went up to collect his Oscar, I was like “Yeah. Of course.”
I’m still reeling from Nine Inch Nails winning an Oscar for best music. Wow. Just wow.
Not that the music in that flick doesn’t deserve the win, but NIN…I mean, in 10 years are we going to see Marilyn Manson getting an Oscar for scoring a flick once he gives up on the whole “goth” thing? That’s how mind-blowing this is to me.
Mind-blowing, and awesome.
I said something very similar when Reznor went up to accept his award last night.
20 years ago that guy wore a braided mohawk and performed on stage, caked in corn meal.
Marilyn Manson did the music for the first Resident Evil movie
I didn’t think it was all that bad. I liked Anne Hathaway, at least she was trying. But she did seem really nervous.
The moment Kirk Douglass came out, I said something about appealing to a youthful demographic that got a lot of laughs at the Oscar party I attended, but even he ended up being entertaining.
Every year I hear people complain about the show not being as good as it used to be…I wonder if it was ever really that good or if people are just remembering the better parts and forgetting that the show is always pretty much ‘meh’?
I think the show is always pretty much “meh.” But usually there are standout moments or at least a few snappy one-liners from the hosts.
I’d say this show was practically lifeless by comparison.
There seemed to be a lot of mentioning Hugh Jackman. Are they making up for no Jack for the past couple of years?
Why didn’t the director …or ANYONE…tell Anne to cut out the “wooing”?
I say leave Anne alone. She did a great job, and seemed to be having fun. I can have fun watching someone have fun and to be quite honest, I rather enjoyed the eye candy of all her costume changes.
Franco failed. I’m sad for him, but I guess he’s someone who needs a few takes to get in gear, and live shows don’t work for him? Who knows.
Best part was Kirk Douglas. It was telling that at that point in the show (oh so early) I wanted him to take over, even if it meant a 6 hour show! At least I would have been laughing my pants off at his ol’ charm!
I only saw a little bit, and I wasn’t really impressed. Also, I only happened to see one dress on Anne and it looked… really frumpy. Like an 80 year old woman’s dress (not to bag on old bags but… damn it was awful).
Also, you forgot to finish the last sentence in the third paragraph and it’s getting to me a bit. :p
Agreed. I need closure on that anecdote!
That’s what I get for skipping around my blog post.
Thought: completed.
I hated the Oscars mainly because of Franco. I actually enjoyed Hathaway but not enough to want to see her back next year. I didn’t mind Billy Crystal showing up because I grew up with Billy Crystal hosted Oscar ceremonies and I’m a fan of classic Hollywood so the Bob Hope bit was a highlight of the night for me. The only thing that ruined it was the impersonator announcing the names of JDR and Jude Law. On the predictions, I got 14 out of 24. I foolishly thought that the Academy would award Best Picture, Best Director (The Social Network), Best Original Screenplay (The Kids Are Alright), and Best Documentary Feature (Restrepo) to the films that actually deserved them.
I haven’t seen The King’s Speech myself but to say it doesn’t deserve it and Social Network does seems… kind of childish? Have you seen it? What about The King’s Speech makes it undeserving of best picture?
The King’s Speech does deserve it, BUT it’s a movie that would deserve it had it been made 30 years ago, or 30+ years from today. The Social Network couldn’t have been made 5 years ago, and its relevance will not be the same even 5 years from today, making it much more desirable for the win.
…How on earth is The King’s Speech not as relevant as The Social Network? Just because it is based on a historic event?
I refer you to the conversation me and my best friend had during lunch after the Oscar’s, both of us rolling our eyes at The Social Network. Was it well done drama wise? Yeah. Did it suck in every way concerning realism? Ayup.
Me and my friend are both College students, and I have yet to see a single one of our age group identify with The Social Network. Good drama, but maybe if they focused more on the question of mass communication rather than “WE ARE NOW RICH AND PEEPS BE SUEIN’ US” then it would be more current. (The suing over internet stuff is at least a decade old by now… still happening, but so is every other crime. /shrug) Not to mention the age old question of WHY CAN HOLLYWOOD NEVER DO REALISTIC COLLEGE STUDENTS?
The King’s Speech was something both me and my friend, and my younger sister (a highschool student) connected with. The themes of fear, and feelings of inadequacy is timeless. The theme of stepping up into a role greater than the individual is something we can all learn from.
So really… yeah. I don’t get how The King’s Speech is outdated.
I agree with this… a little bit.
Selfishly, I wanted The Social Network to be more about how Facebook has revolutionized communication. Instead, it was basically a courtroom drama without the courtroom. A deposition drama.
But I can’t discredit the movie for what I *want* it to be and instead appreciate it for what it is. And I think what Fincher and Sorkin put together was very engrossing.
I can see your point, but I don’t think current relevance should play into the decision for who actually gets the award. The award is for *best picture*, not *best picture that is relevant to the year it was released in*. š
I dunno. Tapping into the zeitgeist? I think that’s enough to elevate any movie into the “best” category.
It depends on whether or not you take the Oscars at face value – which I think many Academy voters do not. Do we wish this objective selection were sometimes more black and white? Sure. It would curb the debate somewhat. But – realistically – money, influence and politics all play into what movies are nominated an ultimately win. Just like everything else in life.
Art that is commoditized in this way can never fully be recognized based solely on its individual merit.
I came in at Best Supporting Actor so I missed the first parts. Overall it was pretty boring, and the funniest parts were some of the jokes the award winners made in their acceptance speeches. And I loved Kevin Spacey and the RDJ/Jude Law combo presenters schticks the best.
Regarding the hosts, I didnt notice any particular flaws with Anne as I was consistently too shocked that James looked stoned out of his mind, and I was so … Offended almost at that. I grew up a movie lover, and the oscars were long my super bowl. It was such a shame to see someone squander such a huge opportunity. I didnt have particulary high hopes for the team as hosts, but I was let down all the same.
We watched Mark Kermode’s alternative Oscars. Kermode is the best film fan and critic on UK TV, his version of the Oscar selection process was extremely funny- and probably more accurate- than some people would like to admit.
I still remember the 1989 Oscars, with Rob Lowe in the opening with Snow White. By that comparison, last Sunday’s was not as big a drag as it could have been. Damned close, but not that bad…
I was annoyed that TS3 won over HTTYD. I think it just won because it’s a Pixar movie. HTTYD had a MUCH better story, character development, effects….pretty much everything.
I disagree that HTTYD had a better story. TS3 connected emotionally with A LOT of people.
And although I realize that popularity doesn’t automatically mean quality, the Academy isn’t going to look past the fact that TS3 was the highest-earned and best reviewed film of the year.
If it was strong enough to be a Best Picture contender, it was a foregone conclusion that it would win Best Animated Feature.
As I told my family before the Oscar’s even started “Man, I want HTTYD to win, but I know TS3 is going to. Because it’s TS3.”
As a kid who went to see TS1 in theaters, you really can’t beat the nostalgia and empire factor. My best friend grew up with a Jessie the Cowgirl doll and adored the movies, and TS3 was the first movie EVER I saw her watch without snarking up a storm, and she actually cried. Nearly gave me a heart attack. (Let’s just say I never bring her to romance flicks…)
HTTYD is a wonderfully awesome movie, but TS3 is every kid’s childhood of my generation, and every parents fond memory of taking their kids to see it. It’s really darn hard to beat that.
I am surprised that “The Social Network” didn’t win for Best Picture because the Academy people could use it as a way to say that they are hip and down with the young people.