Monday, February 23, 2009

Oscar journal

6.15: Some dude from Twilight is interviewed on E. The future of Hollywood belongs to people who look fifteen and who I've never heard of.

6.28: Mickey Rourke talks about the love of his life for the first time--Loki, his recently passed eighteen year old chihuahua. If he wins for best actor, who knows what is going to come out of his mouth.

6.42: I love Philip Seymour Hoffman but why in the world is he wearing a stocking cap? A beanie at the Oscars? That's just ridiculous.

7.12: Mickey Rourke talks about Loki again on ABC and this time gets choked up.

7.24: Marisa Tomei--I will stalk you!

7.34: Hugh Jackman's opening song--I thought this was kind of lame but it actually grew on me by the end. Schmaltzy Broadway song stylings.

7.49: Past winners discuss each nominated actress for a supporting role--different. No clips as usual. Some of these are a little more honest than others. Scripted? The actresses nominated are eating up the praise though. Got to feed that ego, ha. Penelope Cruz wins and I'm okay with that.

7.54: Tina Fey and Steve Martin are a witty pair. Why is Martin making such crap movies these days? Pink Panther 2 for a man this talented? It makes no sense other than the paychecks to fund his art collection. I love how they read the script and we see the text and the scene together. That was cool.

8.10: Number of times the director cuts to Angelina and Brad when Jennifer Aniston is presenting: two. Maybe the producers would like to see a catfight in their expensive gowns? I'd root for Jennifer in that bout.

8.31: Ben Stiller refuses to break character in his super-bearded spoof of Joaquin Phoenix as he mumbles, stares off blankly and wanders the stage. Awkward titters from the crowd.

8.47: Best short Oscar goes to Toyland? That was my least favorite of all five that were nominated. You hate to say it but its story relates to the Holocaust. Just like Ricky Gervais and Kate Winslett discussed in Extras a few years ago--Holocaust = Oscars.

9.16: Man On Wire wins for best documentary. Go rent it!

10.05: Jeez, dragging on now...Lots of awards for Slumdog Millionaire. If they are winning these best film is coming shortly.

10.32: Kate Winslet wins an Oscar finally. Even though I thought she was a lot better in Revolutionary Road (see 8.47, her role in this is connected to the Holocaust!), I'm a huge fan of hers as she's carved out a career of unique characters and brave performances.

10.40: Best actor time. Lookout if Rourke wins. It's Penn for the second time. I'm glad actually. I respect Penn immensely as he's never thrown it away for the $ of action films and dumbed down roles he could sleep walk through (Nic Cage anyone?). Plus, I agreed with everything he said in his speech except Mickey Rourke being "my brother."

10.53: Slumdog Millionaire wins best picture. It was their night that's for sure. I'll be curious if Hollywood starts to raid Bollywood the way they have with Japan and Asia for film ideas since they have less good ideas with each passing year?

4 comments:

Guy Gadbois said...

Penn is a great actor but, dammit, he stole Best Actor from Bill Murray, too, & Penn is much more likely to keep winning than Murray or Rourke.

Rumblefish said...

Penn didn't deserve it for that performance. I'm sorry, but if you've seen any actual footage of Harvey Milk, his performance seemed like a caricature. His win was motivated by the timely politics of Proposition 8. Instead of people applauding him as he took the stage, they should all have just patted themselves on the back.

Joshua Blevins Peck said...

Rumblefish--I actually sort of thought about the whole Prop 8 thing regarding Penn and his nomination that night when I heard about all the protests outside the theatre. I have only seen photos of Harvey Milk but in the context of the film thought Penn was pretty good actually.

Regarding the audience patting themselves on the back--that's what the entire Oscars is anyway--one big love fest whether they winners deserve it (they usually don't) or not.

Rumblefish said...

Yeah, but a love fest is still a bit better than blatant self-aggrandizement.