Final Oscar Reactions

[fabala4077]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 1:21am

I can't find a forum with this topic, so here it is. These are my reactions.

Pros:
John Stewart letting Marketa Irglova come back to speak after the orchestra cut her off.
Marion Cotillard winning Best Actress.
Helen Mirren's dress.
Tilda Swinton's reaction when she won Supporting Actress.
Daniel Day-Lewis bowing to Helen Mirren.
Cate Blanchett for being beautiful.
James McAvoy... just for being there.

Cons:
Diablo Cody's dress.
The lack of any good entertainment apart from some dry humor from Stewart and a lot of montages.
Viggo Mortenson's beard - ?
Atonement missing out on everything but Best Score (which it deserved)
Too many commercials.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 1:24am

Best part was by far Stewart brining back Marketa and her speech. In fact, everything about "Falling Slowly," from performance to win, was the best part of the evening.

I loved Stewart, especially his opening monologue.

And congrats to the Coens for the highlight of their fantastic career. Three Oscars each. PTA's time will come.

All-in-all, a good ceremony.

The only real shock for me was NO END IN SIGHT losing Best Doc.

I wasn't that surprised by Cotillard's win (I picked her in my Oscar pool), but I still wish Christie and her had tied.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 1:32am

YAY
-"No Country" love (hardly unpredictable, but that's not the movie's fault. Don't hate, appreciate.)
-Swinton and Day-Lewis have won for master class performances.
-"Falling Slowly"!
-Bardem (Holbrook should have won, but Bardem's haunting performance is also deserving.)
-As stated above, Stewart bringing Marketa to deliver her speech. Why would they cut off someone's once-in-a-lifetime moment? Instead, do away with the binocular tributes and endless montages.


NAY
-Cotillard (she was very good, but her win left me empty. Her speech, however, was so warm and genuine. Christie's graceful, powerful performance is what it's all about.)
-"Bourne Ultimatum" (love the movie, and I'm fine with the sound wins. But "No Country" is a textbook example of how editing is done right.)

[StageManager2]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 1:33am

"John Stewart letting Marketa Irglova come back to speak after the orchestra cut her off."

Yeah, that was awesome. I felt bad for her when she stepped up to speak and the damn orchestra began playing. Kudos to Stewart et al.


"... but I still wish Christie and her had tied."

I thought for sure there would be a tie, especially after they showed Barbra reminiscing about her tie with Katharine Hepburn just before the first commercial break.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:27am

Well, Stewart wasn't as bad as everyone else thought IMO. He was a little boring, and that Obama joke was terrible, but overall he was polished and smooth.
I think we expect more of the host than they are really there to do.

I'm happy for Tilda.
The only musical number that was any good was the one from Once.
The montages were better this year than in past years I thought.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:29am

I thought Stewart was great all-around.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:31am

Yeah, that Obama joke made me cringe, but only because it was unoriginal. I mean, who here hasn't heard papa say that ad nauseam.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:32am

LOL. It was just not funny. Gaydolf Titler?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:34am

I loved the fact that the Coens were taking this all in stride and really didn't seem to care at all about winning. They just love the fun of making movies and THAT is the way it should be.

Don't make movies for money or awards. Make them for yourself.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:38am

Cruel, I actually agree with you.

The Coens were appreciative, but you could tell they knew that at the end of the day, while great honors, these awards don't mean that much to the art form.

A great film is a great film.
A great performance is a great performance.


And I hate how some people complain about some winner's acceptance speeches, saying that they were too boring or some other complaints. Something like, "Well, I wish they hadn't won...what a disappointing speech." I'm pretty sure the awards are for various aspects of filmmaking, not for orating.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:54am

Yeah it was such a nice change of pace from previous years where the winners are all "OMERGERD! AMAZING!"

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 2:57am

Well, I don't mind that either. I certainly would be emotional. But, whether they are emotional or not, who cares? We are celebrating their work, not their speech or their reaction.

The best speeches of the night were from Cotillard, Bardem and both of the duo from "Falling Slowly."

[tazber]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 3:03am

I always fell like the tech people deserve more credit. They are the ones who really take the medium of film to the next level. Without them, we'd still be watching silent movies.
At least they get their own ceremony though.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 7:22am

Usually the Oscar speeches make me cringe, but for some reason this year, the speeches didn't seem long and boring. Most had something profound to say or just said "Thank you" and that was that. Even the ones that had two or more winners, seemed to go by fast. I don't think (too many times) that the conductor had to start playing the "get off the stage" music. Marion Cotillard's speech was wonderful!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 7:27am

This year made me realize how out of touch the Oscars are.

Perhaps they'd consider honoring films people have seen. I mean, I know Norbit got a nomination, but still.

Did the average movie fan in Podunk, Nowheresville see a movie like Michael Clayton?

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 8:52am

Did the average movie fan in Podunk, Nowheresville even watch the Oscars?

Nope.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 9:27am

A couple of other reactions...

This might be the first year that the four acting Oscar-winners are the exact same as the BAFTA winners. And they're all foreign born. No American won an acting award.

And Rob Marshall and Harvey Weinstein must be REALLY happy about their film version of "Nine," assuming they move forward as planned now after the WGA strike. Their Guido Contini just won Best Supporting Actor, and their Luisa Contini just won Best Actress. Add in the former Oscar-winner (and legend) Sophia Loren as Guido's mother, and Oscar nominee Penelope Cruz as Carla and you've got quite a cast so far. That's a whole lotta "Hollywood gold" in one movie coming to a theatre near you in 2009.

Updated On: 2/25/08 at 09:27 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 9:29am

Well, less deserving films than NO COUNTRY have won more prizes. Of course, far more deserving films than NO COUNTRY have won fewer prizes. C'est la vie.

I thought the show was pretty good, swifter moving than in recent years, with fewer of those ghastly irrelevant montages, and that really awful device last year of having Chris Connelly lead in to commercial breaks by telling us all what we'd just seen. And John Stewart can stay as host, as far as I'm concerned.

I have to say I really hated having the documentary short nominations/winner read out by troops serving in Iraq.

But I did like the honorary Oscar given to Robert Boyle, after last year's award to Ennio Morricone. It is really nice to see them give these lifetime awards to people other than movie stars.

Updated On: 2/25/08 at 09:29 AM

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 9:40am

Tilda anyone? Did no one tell her she was going to the Oscars and should put a little makeup on? She should have also allowed the designer of her dress to finish putting it together.

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 9:44am

I loved Javier's speech (did Regis call him Xavier?) and kinda teared up a bit.

The whole show just seemed very slight--I enjoyed Boyle's tribute, but that more to do witht he fact he worked with Hitch that the quality of the tribute.

I thought the Coens were hilarious--I could almost hear the running commentary in Ethan's head: "We win for this but not for FARGO? Okay....."

I thought Marion had the best dress too--though Jennifer Garner looked great too--what was up with the wispy hair dos with the lazy bangs?

[mattonstage]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 10:37am

I asked my friends if the hairdressers had gone on strike. The hair was very bad this year. LOL!
I'm not sure if it was mentioned in another thread, but what was on the stage that caused Miley Cyruss, Colin Farrel and John Travolta to slip. Colin even mentioned that someone should take care of it.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 10:41am

Marion Cotillard peed at the podium when she won.




*joke*

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 10:45am

What was that shoe polish black chia pet hairdo on John Travolta?

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 10:45am

She accepted in character?

[xxnewgirlxx]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 10:49am

Obviously, Americans were lousy actors this year as all four acting awards were presented to Europeans.

Yay to Diablo Cody and especially Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.


Otherwise, pretty boring, I thought.