My favorite, Whoopi Goldberg, I won't even put in the same sentence because her flair is simply unmatched by any other host.
Ellen was probably very nervous, although I've seen her hosting other awards, I've seen a couple of her comedy shows, and I've seen her talk show, and I can't say she behaved much different here. She was probably told not to be too harsh or to be politically correct, but she was mostly just being herself, which maybe isn't exactly what the Oscars need.
The Oscars need Whoopi.
As for the ceremony itself, I’m not one of those who complain about the Oscars being too long. They are the celebration of a year of achievements by some of the most talented people on the planet, and the Academy should be allowed to do it with all the pomp it wants. I, for example, enjoyed the several montages throughout the show, especially the one of all the Best Foreign Language Film winners from the Oscar history, which was a nice (and due) acknowledgment on Hollywood’s part that other countries make movies as well (and sometimes they’re better than its own products). I actually proudly watched as the movies’ titles rolled on, one after the other, as Italy was by far the country that won this award the most in the past.
I mistakenly thought the show started at 8, so I ended up watching a good half hour of the lousy pre-show that simply reinforced my dislike for it. It’s nice to see the stars on the red carpet, but those so called “interviewers” they are subjected to are so daft and inept that you feel ashamed at the questions they ask. It’s just baffling that they can’t think of anything smarter or more pertinent, or that there simply aren't any better people to do that job.
The most shocking one was the guy from Vogue (I think) that was (poorly and boringly) commenting on the stars’ outfits and dresses. I saw him with Jennifer Hudson, whom he actually followed around and filmed in the previous days, while she was picking her dress, shoes and accessories. He had the audacity of calling her “The New People’s Princess”!! I was astounded. Besides the fact that the People’s Princess was actually a Princess, how can he compare Jennifer Hudson to Lady Diana?! That's not even a funny joke!
I’m a little put off by all the adoration for this girl. I haven’t seen the film and therefore cannot speak of her acting abilities, but I heard her sing and she certainly has a beautiful voice. She has also lived a Cinderella-like story, since she was a regular nobody until she auditioned for American Idol, where she eventually got eliminated, was then picked among hundreds for this role and has since won virtually every award out there for it.
Now, she has even won an Oscar for her very first part in a movie, all the while admitting herself that she never thought of herself as an actress, although now she feels validated by all this success. Honestly, she might have deserved that Oscar, but the jury’s still out on her acting career. She’s, after all, a singer, and she played one, so whether I’ve seen the movie or not, I’ll hold my judgment until I see her in a role that doesn’t require any singing. I wish her well, especially because she’s "full figured" (and girls need role models like that) and she’s black (and black girls need role models like that), but she might just turn out to be a one-hit wonder, like many others the Academy anointed through the years.
Anyway, that guy who called her that, is a moron. She might be liked and all, but not any more or less than countless other actresses or singers, so what exactly makes her the new people’s princess I don’t know. And it remains to be seen whether all this love showered on her is real or is just manufactured by a media hungry for a new cover girl to call their own. Only time will tell, but I hope someone in her circle tells Jennifer that sticking her hands in her dress’ pockets while being interviewed is a big no-no. She looked so bad I cringed, poor thing.
After Ellen's good but short introduction, the show started with two gorgeous presenters, Nicole Kidman (whose face looked so pulled I almost put my hands up in fear of an explosion) and Daniel Craig. What. A. Stud.
Anyway, they presented the first award, which wasn’t for Best Supporting Actress (poor Jennifer had to sweat it for a couple hours), as it had usually been for years, as a way to give the audience the impression that they’d be served up with big ticket awards mixed up with “less important” ones. Bad omen. In fact, all the technical awards came first, and the first acting ones appeared only midway through. Bad, bad, bad.
On the other hand, a few nice additions helped better understand the value of these supposedly “second tier” awards. For example, reading a couple lines from every screenplay while the scene is played from the final product; or showing the different video streams that get merged into the final movie by the editor; or how important it is to pick the right sounds and splice them together in the right spot.
A few things I liked:
- The set was nice, very majestic, very... cinematic.
- The pairing of a drop-dead gorgeous guy and girl on stage to assist with the statuettes, instead of the usual couple of girls. Finally some equality.
- The Pilobolus’ white-sheet performances, all very clever.
- The strong international presence among the nominees.
- And finally, the “Elements and Motion” choral performance, without a doubt one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.
Jaden Smith and Abigail Breslin were cute, showing their age in a scripted presentation, while Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore were funny and poignant in their wake-up to global warming's dangers message to the masses. An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary whose star was Gore himself, went on, as expected, to win for Best Documentary, prompting another appearance on stage by the former Vice President. You just can't buy exposure like that, whatever your cause.
I loved that documentary, so I was very pleased to see it triumph, as I was for Melissa Etheridge when she was awarded the Best Song Oscar for it. I liked the song from Cars, which I found very sentimental and nostalgic, and I thought the three nominated songs from Dreamgirls (a record, I'm sure) were excellent, but Melissa's performance really brougth the point home that we need to wake up!!
Speaking of Dreamgirls' nominated songs: I think Beyoncé has a wonderful voice, and Ms. Hudson's pipes were a perfect match to hers in terms of both power and range. The other girl was great too, by the way and I sure wish I saw the movie. The elaborate musical number they put up for the show was great, as was the display of costumes on stage when the Best Costume award was assigned.
Another funny couple of presenters was Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, who brought an unaware Meryl Streep into their own skit, giving her yet another chance to make us marvel at what a talented and histrionic actress she is. She was in and out of character, seamlessly. No wonder she holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations by an actor. Ever.
Actually, I'm starting to think that one actress who has a shot at beating that record could be the wonderful Kate Winslet, who, at 31, is the youngest actress to have already garnered 5 nominations. Wow!
Ellen's skits with Martin Scorsese (look at that, I'm holding a script) and with Clint Eastwood (can I take a picture for my My Space page?) were very funny, especially when she gave Steven Spielberg advice on how to frame the picture. Meanwhile, what the hell was the guy who accepted the Best Animated Film award for Happy Feet thinking with that silly and ugly tuxedo?!
Happy Feet's win was actually a shocker for me, since I was sure Cars would have won it, as Pixar always does. Not having seen the movie, I can't say anything, I just hope it deserved it, since Cars was really, really good, especially on a technical level, which this prize takes into account.
Sherry Lansing's acceptance speech for her honorary award was a little stiff but thankfully short, while Ennio Morricone's was downright emotional, although I was stunned to find out he doesn't speak English! How did he work effectively with foreign directors for all these years? I was also astounded to hear he has composed over 400 scores. How does he even find the time to do all that!?!
The song he composed for Celine was nice, a little understated maybe, but very cinematic. What's the reason for it though? Is she going back to the studio for a new CD of fresh material?
Helen Mirren was very classy, as usual, and I'm happy for her. She deserves this Oscar and her recognition was long overdue. I was also happy for Forest Whitaker, but not for his performance, since I haven't seen it. Instead I was happy because a black actor won the Best Actor Oscar and I didn't hear anyone point out that it was a big step forward for African Americans or mention his race when talking about his chances of winning.
Actually, I only realized it myself when Reese Whiterspoon (who must have lost her mind for divorcing Ryan Phillippe) was about to announce the winner and the five nominated actors were up on the screen, and TWO of them were black!! I couldn't believe that I hadn't read anywhere how it was "extraordinary" for blacks to have filled not only one, but two slots in the category. I must say, that really pleased me, since I took it as a clear sign that perhaps, African Americans really have turned a corner and are now playing on the same level as their white counterparts.
At least, I hope so.
As for the other awards, since I saw so few of the nominated films, all I can say is that I'm glad The Departed won (by the way, this is the second year in a row that the great Jack Nicholson gets to announce the Best Picture winner, and for the second time, it was unexpected; this year, he also just so happened to crown the movie he starred in). It was a good movie, although I don't think it's Martin Scorsese's best work, so his win for Best Director is not justified if it's only just so that the Academy can right a wrong it committed decades ago and so that no one can say anymore that a master like Scorsese never won an Oscar for directing a movie.
Nevertheless, I'm glad he won, I just have the feeling that the day I'll watch Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, I'll be upset that the latter didn't win Best Picture and that Eastwood wasn't recognized again, since after all last year he directed not one, but two of the most critically acclaimed pictures in years. Again, I reserve my judgment for when I will have seen them.
Another shocker was Alan Arkin's win for Best Supporting Actor over Eddie Murphy. I know that Arkin was gaining ground while Murphy was losing momentum (he'd have certainly won if the ceremony had been held a month earlier), but it was still a surprise. It also made me doubt (and others as well, judging by Ellen's comments afterwards) that Ms. Hudson's win wasn't such a sure thing after all (let's face it, Cate Blanchett is awesome in anything she does, so I'm sure she deserved to win just as much, if not more).
I was similarly surprised by Pan's Labyrinth's loss in the Foreign Language Film category after winning 3 technical awards earlier on. It just goes to show that you can never tell. One thing sort of cleared the mystery here for me though. At the end of the credits, when they explain the Academy's rules for voting, they said that everyone votes for Best Picture nominees, but only those working in a specific field get to vote for the other categories' nominations (like editors for editing, cinematographers for cinematography, and so on). The entire body of the Academy then gets to vote for the winners among the nominees, but for Foreign Language Film (as for, I believe, Shorts and Documentaries) only those who attend special screenings get to vote. Therefore, Pan's Labyrinth was able to win the technical awards because everyone could vote and felt it was the best, while only a few could vote for Foreign Film, and of those, the majority preferred The Lives of Others.
In the end, the big winner was The Departed, with 4 Oscars, while the big loser was Dreamgirls, which lead the field with 8 nominations but won only 2 awards, and 1 was technical. It didn't even get Best Original Song when it was a musical and had three out of five shots at it, although that's possibly the reason, since the vote probably got split among its three songs, allowing a fourth one, "I Need To Wake Up," to come up on top.
In the end, these few upsets were what made the ceremony interesting, since it's no fun to go in knowing all the results already.
I want to close by saying that I did like Ellen, I love Ellen, and I wish her to be offered to host the Oscars again one day, especially after I saw this video that clearly shows how much she loved and appreciated hosting the ceremony, and how hard she worked to do a good job:
One thing is clear, she poured her heart into it. Let that be acknowledged.
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