It's that time of the year when I force myself to watch the entire Oscar telecast and then complain while being irritated for most of the three hour + running time. I just re-read last year's telecast and I couldn't stop harping on the woeful hosting job by Anne "I'm Perky!" Hathaway and James "This Sucks" Franco. While I'm nowhere close to being excited in a re-treaded Billy Crystal as host, at least it isn't those two nitwits. Go here for the recap if you'd like to read it again. And now, here's the 2012 Oscar journal.
5.30pm [western time zone]: If you would have told me as I watched the Oscar telecast in 2011 that I'd be living a few miles from where the awards take place, I would have said you were insane. Yet, here I am in Los Angeles.
5.36: He might get older, producers may change, but the omnipresent Billy Crystal opening with himself being placed into a bunch of films will never, ever change. Way to keep it predictable Billy.
5.41: Please stop singing Billy. Nine ditties that had a success to failure ratio of 1-8 [Hugo being the lone good one].
5.44: Cinematography is the first award? Followed by art direction? That ought to get folks tweeting up a storm in excitement. Two awards, two wins for Hugo, my top film in 2011 by the way.
6.01: Dang, that was a dull first 30 minutes. Lifeless.
6.08: A Separation wins for best foreign language film. Confession: I slept off and on all the way through it when I saw it in London. I did have jet lag to blame since I got off the plane only a few hours earlier. Never go see a talk-heavy film from Iran as soon as you fly halfway across the world and haven't slept in 24 hours.
6.22: Focus group best thing of the night, but I'm always a sucker for Christopher Guest and company. Do they have a new film coming out?
6.40: Cirque du Soleil--pretty freaking amazing sayeth SJ.
6.48: Man I wish Chris Rock was the host and/or handing out EVERY single award!
6.56: Emma Stone: adorable. Is it just me?
7.05: Christopher Plummer: adorable too.
7.29: Best adapted screenplay to The Descendants? What a joke! Sorry, but turning Moneyball or Hugo into a screenplay was thousands times harder, and better. First time I'm ticked off all night.
8.15: Angry at the best adapted screenplay award, I realize I haven't written anything down in over 45 minutes. Oops.
8.31: Over and done. Ho-hum telecast to say the least. At least we didn't see either of that dastardly duo from last year, but I was sick of Crystal when he'd hosted five times. This was his ninth. I'm hoping he doesn't reach double digits.
5 comments:
thank you for this as i steer way clear of this event and was actually watching 'the artist' at that time! i just want to see the christopher guest bit. you should do an 'i heart christopher guest' post. i heart christopher guest!
I honestly don't know why I watch it myself. All I do is gripe and complain and then feel like I've wasted three + hours when it is over. The best thing about watching it in Los Angeles: we see it live too and when it is done, it's only 8.30! Weird seeing it start at 5ish though.
It was a lame show. Same here, I guess I don't know why I do it anymore. I think it's too much to resist a gigantic room full of the most famous movie people in the world. In fact you almost have to think it would be a RECIPE for the greatest moments in the world - that much beauty, creativity, intelligence - all together in one place. So how do they manage to mess it up so badly?? There was not a bit of sparkle or spice to to it, the Oscars have become oatmeal.
The best moment was when that one guy who picked up an award mimicked Angelina Jolie's stupid pose. When I saw her present already, I was like "what is this? you have got to be kidding!" I mean I'm all for the gorgeous dresses, the looks, the red carpet, the fashion police. Every now and then I can just be gladly shallow and completely enjoy that. But when I saw Jolie, I was just thinking wow, way to ruin everything you've got with one ounce of fakeness, one ounce of too much overconfidence, of revolving around yourself. That really showed in one single moment that the most gorgeous woman, the greatest fashion, all of that, doesn't matter one bit if there is too much awareness of it, or if it's just fake. Elegance and style can only exist alongside humility and some degree of unawareness (is that a word?). It's like someone analyzing their own joke - it's not funny anymore.
Anyway, what a letdown. Oh well. Back to books about movies ;) I'd still love to arrange for that photo, did you get my e-mail? All the best,
Eva
yeah...it was always weird to see celebs all dressed in nighttime high fashion when the sun is still out on a sunday...and it IS a waste of 3 plus hours, ha! watching that show is like eating too much of a bad thing and then just feeling sick for too long afterwards. it has zero to do with the creativity and art of film!
Eva--
No, I didn't get that e-mail. Maybe it got shot into my spam filter. Send me another if you can and I'll be on the lookout: unpavedroad@yahoo.com
And yes, Jolie's leg thing. Not sure why I didn't write about that! That was ridiculous--plus, she looked anorexic.
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