Overall, I didn't think it was much better or worse than any Oscar ceremony. There were some blunders and some nice moments.
BIGGEST MISTAKES:
Opening with Neil Patrick Harris, who looked slick, over it, and managed to sound bad. He was shrill and off-key for most of the number. Not much of a notch above Rob Lowe, and that takes some doing.
THE DEAD REEL:
We didn't need a "star" singer pulling focus from those who were being honored. I'm not sure why people are upset that Fawcett and Arthur weren't included. Neither made a hugely memorable film appearance (Fawcett came closer with Extremities and The Appostle), or even made that many films at all. Although they included Michael Jackson which was a mistake. The Wiz is no reason to celebrate him on celluloid.
The dancing film scores ... another confusing and distracting moment, like the Dead Reel. Why celebrate these scores by "outshining" the music with exciting choreography? I thought the dancers were terrific, but it had nothing to do with honoring film scores. The minute the audience started applauding in the middle of a segment, I knew it was a huge mistake. Next year, I'm hoping they'll have some of the Food Network stars on stage to COOK during the presentations for Best Score. Sheesh! It would have been better to prepare short films on each of the composers working on their films. Or to show scenes from the movies while the isolated music tracks were playing. If that's too boring for this awards show, then don't feature them! But don't "cover them up" either. It's insulting.
Playing "I Am Woman" when Bigelow left the stage. Wow, that was totally wrong. I'm glad Lee Daniels didn't win, or we might have heard the Theme from Shaft or Shortnin' Bread or Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. It was a classless, clueless moment.
Those endless Best Actor and Actress "eulogies." Why the hell did we need to hear Michelle Pfeiffer going on and on AND ON about Jeff Bridges in The Fabulous Baker Boys? Good GOD. And then Tom Hanks didn't even get to create two seconds of tension before he ripped open the biggest envelope of the evening and rattled off the Best Pic winner. What an unfortunate fizzle, at the end!
I was pissed that we didn't get to see Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman get their Lifetime Achievement Awards on stage. It was obvious how much the Academy cares about the "old guard." They'd rather sweep it under the table for "new, fresh, current, and MARKETABLE films!" What they don't realize is that the more they ignore the old Hollywood stuff, the more they lose their own reputation. The Oscars mean less and less each year without their own history. Especially "living history" like Miss Bacall and Mr. Corman.
ON THE POSITIVE SIDE:
I liked the hosts quite a bit. Baldwin and Martin were both funny and stayed out of the way, which is the best thing they could have done.
The set looked beautiful in HD.
I loved not having too many songs or tributes, and despite the fact that there were ten nominated films, I didn't feel that those segments dragged at all.
The clips used for the pictures and their acting nominees were very well done. Great editing jobs, highlighting scenes and moments that actually made cohesive sense and also made me want to see some of these films. In years past, they've shown some tearful moment out of context that made absolutely no sense as a stand-alone showcase. They did much better this year.
Nice speeches by Bullock, Mo'Nique, and a few others. I don't fault the show for cutting people off ... although Jeff Bridges was having a senior moment at the mic and decided to ramble away about his parents and Sea Hunt and God knows what else. I'm glad he won, but the dude needs a script in front of him.
ALL IN ALL:
It didn't suck, some of it was good, and some of it was bad.
Per usual.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
