83rd Academy Awards (2/27/11)

[RC Vikings]

Don't quit your day job, Gweneyth.

They had the wrong star sing from that movie. I thought Garrett Hudlund did a good job during that movie and sounded pretty good when he sang.

[Non Sequitur]

The movie was ok, but Mark Walhberg was ohhhh so good.

The book it was based on -- Point of Impact -- was much better than the movie. When I traveled a lot, Steven Hunter was one of the writers I read a lot on the plane. His books were the kind that you pick up at Simply Books, read the first half on the flight out and then finish the book on the return flight. Carl Hiaasen is another one of those airplane authors.

[CardiacCoug]

One of the duller Oscar programs in memory. Thank heavens for DVRs and FF; that would have been tough to endure in real time. Franco and Hathaway seem likeable enough, but I'd prefer to have Baldwin/Martin or Billy Crystal back.

Very disappointed at the absence of a swan dress.

Yeah, you're not part of the coveted demographic that they are trying to win over by going with Anne Hathaway over Steve Martin.

I would much rather have a stand-up comedian type, too. But let's face it -- the college kids have no interest in Billy Crystal or Steve Martin.

[Non Sequitur]

Yeah, you're not part of the coveted demographic that they are trying to win over by going with Anne Hathaway over Steve Martin.

I would much rather have a stand-up comedian type, too. But let's face it -- the college kids have no interest in Billy Crystal or Steve Martin.

And if you're going to go with an actor, go with someone funny and interesting, like Kevin Spacey.

[MarkGrace]

I hope ricky gervais is available for next year.

[CardiacCoug]

And if you're going to go with an actor, go with someone funny and interesting, like Kevin Spacey.

Yeah, he would have been good. I like his dry sense of humor.

[RC Vikings]

I hope ricky gervais is available for next year.

Nobody has the balls to do that. I would love to see it but no way that happens.

[LiveCoug]

Looks like I won the Oscar prediction contest against my wife and her red carpet friends for the second year in a row. I rule.

[falafel]

Looks like I won the Oscar prediction contest against my wife and her red carpet friends for the second year in a row. I rule.

Took that long to tally it all up? I guess PWC is pretty busy during Oscar season.

[LiveCoug]

Took that long to tally it all up? I guess PWC is pretty busy during Oscar season.

I had to get an official ruling on whether or not I was allowed to quickly change my vote for Achievement in Visual Effects from Alice in Wonderland to Inception (I checked AiW first and the scratched that to an Inception vote). The ruling came down this morning in my favor giving me a 1 point victory over my sister in law. I still rule.

[cougjunkie]

That's what "Love and other drugs" was for.

I prefer "Havoc"

[UtahDan]

Franco is getting blasted as the worst host of all time this morning. I actually kind of enjoyed him. It may well have been the drugs he did before hand, but if he cared even a little what the pretentious members of the audience thought he didn't let on. Anne Hathaway looked great but sort of over did it, IMO.

[Surfah]

Franco is getting blasted as the worst host of all time this morning. I actually kind of enjoyed him. It may well have been the drugs he did before hand, but if he cared even a little what the pretentious members of the audience thought he didn't let on. Anne Hathaway looked great but sort of over did it, IMO.

They were both terrible. Franco looked and sounded like he was on the pineapple express. Hathaway sounded like she was hosting TRL with her "wooo" after every time she announced a presenter.

[Green Lantern]

It's a bit disturbing how much the Academy demands a happy ending. Dark pictures are rarely rewarded, but those with an uplifting message, even if it's artificially tacked on, tend to do fine.

I won't really argue with your overall point, even if I think it's a bit broadly stated. It should be pointed out that 4 of the past 7 Best Picture winners weren't exactly "uppers:" The Departed, Million Dollar Baby, No Country for Old Men and The Hurt Locker are all lacking these conventional uplifting messages you complain about. Million Dollar Baby maybe, but it's still a downer.

This year, that means that King's Speech will probably win over the Social Network. Neither ends negatively, but the former is just so very uplifting compared to the conflicted ending of the latter.

This is also why Spielberg has done so well. His movies, while often extremely good, never fail to have a cheesily happy ending.

Again, let's talk about perception vs. reality. A Spielberg film has won Best Picture exactly one time and that was Schindler's List so it's not like he's been a consistent big winner in that category. And as a side note, anyone who thinks all of his movies have happy endings obviously didn't watch or understand the end of A.I.

One of the most disappointing things to me is how a guy like, say, Steven Speilburg, who ought to have all the accolades and pride in a job well done he needs, acts so slavishly delighted to get something so artificial as an academy award. George C. Scott did it exactly right. Just ignored it. No fanfare; just didn't come. Credit them for giving him Best Actor.

No less disappointing is that the actual best picture almost never wins the award. I've not cared for most of the winners.

How can you be disappointed if you already claim the awards have no validity?

I think they pick whatever movie is going to maximize the image of the industry. Feel good movies whether or not technically ending happily are always strong candidates. There are a lot of considerations, I'm sure, but it always has everything to do with commercialism. This is radically different from literary prizes, for all the problems with literary prizes.

I am not opposed to commercialism per se. I think it's the lubricant of freedom. But the misdirection is irritating to me, when applied to art. That's an inadequate expression of what I feel about the problem but the best I can do right now. Commercialism also of course damages or ruins a lot of things, like pro basketball.

This happens sometimes, but if the Academy acts as a major boost in any way, it's usually for the underseen indie movies that may not otherwise get a lot of play. I don't give a shit what actually wins Best Picture. The award doesn't make the movie any better or any worse, just as it doesn't make Tom Hooper as good a director as Fincher or Aronofsky, but if the nomination process means that a few more people seek out Winter's Bone, The Hurt Locker, Dogtooth and Fargo (which benefited greatly from its nominations) then I think the overall Oscar behemoth is a net positive.

[MarkGrace]

Franco is getting blasted as the worst host of all time this morning. I actually kind of enjoyed him. It may well have been the drugs he did before hand, but if he cared even a little what the pretentious members of the audience thought he didn't let on. Anne Hathaway looked great but sort of over did it, IMO.

Well, he achieved his goal then. Dude is an interesting cat. I think he's awesome.