You know what, I'm going to go out on a limb here and declare that I really like James Franco. The internet is a cruel place, and definitely not a place where he could catch a break. So what if he was high? To me, he appeared to be acting like himself- his goofy, time-stopping, overachieving, high-on-life self. I liked watching him. Kudos James Franco. And I didn't mind Anne Hathaway either. I really liked their intro montage.
In general, I didn't think the broadcast was as horrible as I'm gathering most people did. Maybe I set my expectations too low. Maybe the rest of the internet community set their's too high. Melissa Leo's f-bomb was a polarizing moment. Some were endeared by it or thought it was really funny and honest. Others thought it entirely distasteful and predict she'll never be invited back to the Oscars. I was amused, though I love the f-word. Fuck. See? I fucking love the fucking f-word.
Apparently people really hated Alice in Wonderland and resented that it won any awards. Come on, it won for Art Direction and Costume Design. All the awards can't go to Inception just because you think it was the most original thing ever based on the fact you didn't really understand it and you graduated in the top 10% in your high school. I'm standing out in the middle of an empty field here claiming that I actually enjoyed Alice in Wonderland and find it deserving of the awards it won, and that I think Inception is overrated. I liked it when I saw it, but I didn't love it- the motivation seemed off and I didn't give a flying fuck about the dead wife, and I think all the attention was undeserved. Anyway, back to the actual Oscars.
The non-awards part of the show were hit and miss. I really enjoyed the auto-tunes portion; I think James Franco edited that himself. I thought for sure Celine Dion was severely injured or at least had the decency to never show her face in public again. The song itself, Smile, is a good song, though I couldn't hear it through all the blood clogging up my ear canals. Plus, it's not a great choice for the In Memoriam section. I'm surprised they didn't stick with their theme, and just play music from one of the Best Picture nominees over the entire montage. Maybe something from Toy Story 3. That would have been nice.
Clearly, the Oscars dole out speech time based on the prestige of the award. I was foolish in thinking an Oscar for Cinematography would be more prestigious. Apparently all that guy does is point the camera and tell some other guy to push the button, so he only gets 30 seconds worth of thanking. Whatevs, Academy. I get it- we give the most time to the actors because the actors are who the public pay to see, therefore sustain the industry.
Kirk Douglas is old. He's so old. I get that he's iconic, but as I texted to several friends last night, I don't think it's appropriate to let stroke victims present awards. Also, the way he was revered made me think maybe he cured AIDS and Cancer while walking on the moon. Nope, turns out he's just an actor. But again, it is a ceremony celebrating actors, so fine. I'm the asshole.
I would like to point out that my prediction for The King's Speech was correct, even though it was based on nothing. Also, it was super cool that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won for score. I'm actually listening to it right now. I'm guessing a lot of people are tearing apart Natalie Portman, but I actually liked her speech. Yes, it was a little long, and the award was not at all surprising, but I bet those AC guys never get thanked for anything. It was very nice of her to share that moment.
The most mind blowing moment of the night for me was the short category. I hadn't thought about it too much until I saw the nominees flash up on the screen and realized I had seen them before, and that indeed I had seen God of Love not too long ago at a film festival, and had met the director. It was a very Holy Shit moment for me. And then he actually won and I couldn't fucking believe it. God of Love was a thesis film for NYU. Amazing. I remember so clearly the screening and him talking afterwards; it was just a few months ago. And now he was on my TV, at the Oscars. Man, that's a guy I should have given my number to.
It ran long, like it always does. I don't know why they even give it an ending time slot anymore. They should assume it's going to take 5 hours, and then when it ends in three and a half, they win, and they can play Full House reruns, and we win (not really, that show sucks). In general I liked the broadcast, but I wouldn't watch it again. I would, however, hang out with James Franco any day of the week.
James Franco is cool. And so is Full House.
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