It's Hard Out Here For An Oscar Pimp
I pretty much watched the Academy Awards from start to finish. For someone who likes movies, this is pretty much the Super Bowl. I have to say that it got me all movie-fired-up, what with all the clips from old movies and whatnot. Here are my impressions of last night:
* Loved the opening bit with all of the recent hosts. The David Letterman thing was hilarious!
* Jon Stewart - not bad, but I didn't feel he was as good as Chris Rock, Steve Martin, or Billy Crystal. There were a couple of jokes that did elicit a guffaw from me, though. And Jon, when you're miked you have to fake clap!
* Everything I've ever read or heard about Dolly Parton makes her sound like a wonderful person. She started with nothing and has made a huge success out of her life. My hat is off to her. But that doesn't mean I have to like that song she sang. Dreadful. GAH!!
* That suit that Ben Stiller was wearing was a bit too tight in the groinal area. Eww.
* I loved that Wallace and Gromit won.
* I loved that Robert Altman got an honorary Oscar, I think he's he's great. Sure, he's made some clunkers (Pret a Porter, Dr. T And The Women or Popeye anyone?), but he's also made some masterpieces like McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville, The Player, and Gosford Park. And I'm sure this puts me in the minority, but I wasn't a big fan of Short Cuts. I give him a lot of credit for taking chances, though, even if they don't always result in great movies. I love his attitude, he doesn't put up with bullshit and he has always done things his way. He also does fascinating DVD commentaries if you ever get a chance to hear one. I love that he's 80 years old and still making movies, and I thought his speech was really gracious. His win also reminded me of some of the great people that never won 'real' Oscars, just the Honorary variety - like Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart. I guess hindsight is 20/20.
* I loved the fake commercials pimping for the various nominees! I've always been a big fan of the fake commercial.
* Will Farrell and Steve Carrell presenting the makeup award with horribly applied makeup? Genius!!
* I love that Phillip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor. I've loved him since Boogie Nights, and it was so cool how he brought his mom to the ceremony and thanked her. Joaquin Phoenix was great in Walk the Line, but I get the feeling that we'll see him nominated again.
* Reese Witherspoon just seems like a class act.
* It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp. What can I say, I still can't believe a song with this title won the best song Oscar. But I thought it probably was the best song nominated. I love the reaction of the winners, and I love that one of them is named 'Crunchy Black'! Let's see how many Crunchy Black search hits I get now. And I also loved when Jon Stewart said, "I think it just became considerably easier out here for a pimp."
* The 'In Memoriam' segment - I forgot that Anne Bancroft died, and I hope Mr. Miyagi is waxing on and off up in heaven. I feel bad for the people that nobody claps for!
* I was totally gobsmacked that 'Crash' won Best Picture. I didn't see that coming at all. I was curious as to whether I was just totally out of touch on this one, so I went to Roger Ebert's page and saw that he actually predicted a 'Crash' win and wanted it to win. So, maybe I am but I stand by my opinion. This movie has seemed to polarize quite a few people, and Ebert had an interesting article on his page explaining why he felt the way he did. I know that all movies manipulate their audiences in some way, I just didn't respond to the way that I felt 'Crash' was trying to manipulate me. I think the fact that there are people saying it's the best movie of the year and the worst movie of the year (I wouldn't go that far) makes it worth seeing to decide for yourself.
* Just for fun, here's a link to the anti-Academy Awards, the Razzies.
Wow, I already can't wait for next year!
* Loved the opening bit with all of the recent hosts. The David Letterman thing was hilarious!
* Jon Stewart - not bad, but I didn't feel he was as good as Chris Rock, Steve Martin, or Billy Crystal. There were a couple of jokes that did elicit a guffaw from me, though. And Jon, when you're miked you have to fake clap!
* Everything I've ever read or heard about Dolly Parton makes her sound like a wonderful person. She started with nothing and has made a huge success out of her life. My hat is off to her. But that doesn't mean I have to like that song she sang. Dreadful. GAH!!
* That suit that Ben Stiller was wearing was a bit too tight in the groinal area. Eww.
* I loved that Wallace and Gromit won.
* I loved that Robert Altman got an honorary Oscar, I think he's he's great. Sure, he's made some clunkers (Pret a Porter, Dr. T And The Women or Popeye anyone?), but he's also made some masterpieces like McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville, The Player, and Gosford Park. And I'm sure this puts me in the minority, but I wasn't a big fan of Short Cuts. I give him a lot of credit for taking chances, though, even if they don't always result in great movies. I love his attitude, he doesn't put up with bullshit and he has always done things his way. He also does fascinating DVD commentaries if you ever get a chance to hear one. I love that he's 80 years old and still making movies, and I thought his speech was really gracious. His win also reminded me of some of the great people that never won 'real' Oscars, just the Honorary variety - like Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart. I guess hindsight is 20/20.
* I loved the fake commercials pimping for the various nominees! I've always been a big fan of the fake commercial.
* Will Farrell and Steve Carrell presenting the makeup award with horribly applied makeup? Genius!!
* I love that Phillip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor. I've loved him since Boogie Nights, and it was so cool how he brought his mom to the ceremony and thanked her. Joaquin Phoenix was great in Walk the Line, but I get the feeling that we'll see him nominated again.
* Reese Witherspoon just seems like a class act.
* It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp. What can I say, I still can't believe a song with this title won the best song Oscar. But I thought it probably was the best song nominated. I love the reaction of the winners, and I love that one of them is named 'Crunchy Black'! Let's see how many Crunchy Black search hits I get now. And I also loved when Jon Stewart said, "I think it just became considerably easier out here for a pimp."
* The 'In Memoriam' segment - I forgot that Anne Bancroft died, and I hope Mr. Miyagi is waxing on and off up in heaven. I feel bad for the people that nobody claps for!
* I was totally gobsmacked that 'Crash' won Best Picture. I didn't see that coming at all. I was curious as to whether I was just totally out of touch on this one, so I went to Roger Ebert's page and saw that he actually predicted a 'Crash' win and wanted it to win. So, maybe I am but I stand by my opinion. This movie has seemed to polarize quite a few people, and Ebert had an interesting article on his page explaining why he felt the way he did. I know that all movies manipulate their audiences in some way, I just didn't respond to the way that I felt 'Crash' was trying to manipulate me. I think the fact that there are people saying it's the best movie of the year and the worst movie of the year (I wouldn't go that far) makes it worth seeing to decide for yourself.
* Just for fun, here's a link to the anti-Academy Awards, the Razzies.
Wow, I already can't wait for next year!
posted by JC at 2:46 PM
6 Comments:
Well, I only got to see the last half or so. Sounds like I missed a lot of the good stuff.
I was dismayed by the Pimp song, but it was the most interesting of the bunch. The rest were just so mind-numbing, I guess that it's okay.
Jon Stewart seemed pretty freaked out by the fact that he was even there. I expected more charisma or something. I think that if they give him another year, though, he would be good.
I was stunned that Reese Witherspoon won. I agree that she is a class act, although her speech did kind of go on. And the music during the speeches was beyond annoying.
I thought the whole show was good. I wasn't bored and I thought Jon Stewart was funny. I especially loved the bad makeup and I loved that Crash won best picture.
I ditto everything you said which I know is boring as hell but damn you covered it perfectly except I did not know Chris Penn had died. What the hell? When did that happen? PSH is the kind of acting.
Yeah, that music behind the speeches....was that just to show that they wanted to cut it short? pfft.
That music was annoying, I think it was to get them to move things along.
Yeah, Chris Penn just died back in January from an enlarged heart.
I got Faith to say "hard out here for pimp" after I kept singing it at the top of my lungs in a really silly way. I guess that will go right along with her screaming her name as "FAITH A FAITH!!!"
I don't know that I ever seen such an animated post from you! For all your Oscar coverage - go no further!
Yeah, the single mom thing with Phillip Seymour Hoffman got me (of course), plus he's one of my favs..
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