[8:28] Finally, the Oscars are starting in just a few minutes. This is the moment I've been waiting for in the last two months. Other than the years that the Lord of Rings movies were nominated, this is the first year I've been this emotionally invested in the Oscars. I think I've seen no fewer than 16 films that have nominated for one award or another. That's also very unusual for me, another reason why I'm unusually excited this time around.
[8:30] The show is starting off with a montage of nominated people doing little monologue snippets in front of a plain white background. Weird. Slightly funny.
[8:33] For Eddie Murphy's snippet, he just stands there and says nothing. A guy behind the camera says, "You're funny just doing that."
[8:35] The announcer has the nominees stand. I think he said there were 177 artists and craftsmen nominated.
[8:37] Here's Ellen.
[8:38 - 8:40] Ellen is doing her talky, nervous-style stand-up comedian type monologue. It's okay, but a little meandering. She did so well at the Emmys in previous years, so hopefully the best of Ellen is yet to come in the middle of the show. I miss Billy Crystal's movie montage openings.
[8:42] Ellen just incoporated Jennifer Hudson's past on American Idol and Al Gore together into a joke about the way people vote. Al Gore is there, nominated for An Inconvenient Truth.
[8:44] Somebody just threw a tamborine into Ellen's hand, and now a huge gospel choir in robes is singing in the aisles. Weird. Brief too.
[8:45] Best Art Direction. My pick: Dreamgirls. The winner: Pan's Labyrinth. I'm okay with that; it was excellent too. Labyrinth was probably my 2nd choice, with The Prestige 3rd.
[8:48] Maggie Gyllenhall (sp?) is up discussing the science awards. She hosted the event a few nights prior.
[8:53] Oh no, Will Ferrell is singing. Why? OH NO!!! Jack Black too!!! If Ben Stiller comes on stage, it's a sign of the apocalypse.
[8:54] This Ferrell/Black crap is horrendous. Anyway, during the break, I checked my picks & predictions again. While Dreamgirls was my pick, Pan's Labyrinth was my prediction. So, I didn't get my way, but I did guess right. That counts for something, right? Now, John C. Reilly is up on stage too.
[8:57] Best Makeup. My Pick & Prediction: Pan's Labyrinth. The winner: Pan's Labyrinth. Sweet.
[8:59] Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith are up presenting an award. Best Animated Short is the award. Uh, I have no clue about these, so no pick or prediction. Jaden got a little ahead of himself and tried to move on the next award. Will Smith laughed like crazy. The winner: The Danish Poet.
[9:03] The kids are still presenting. Best Live Action Short. The winner: West Bank Story.
[9:11] Now they're having a sound effects choir on stage. They're making wind noises, bird noises, water noises, screams, whistles, etc. Tires screaching, trains, chariots, cars, helicopters, planes, Apollo 13. Wow, that was weird but cool.
[9:14] Steve Carrell and Greg Kinear are presenting, joking that sound editing is like sex... Best Sound Editing: My pick & prediction: Letters From Iwo Jima. The winner: Letters From Iwo Jima. I got another one right (kind of a lucky guess, really). They just said he sound guy's father was an Iwo Jima survivor.
[9:17] Best Sound Mixing: My pick & prediction: Dreamgirls. The winner: Dreamgirls. That's three picks and four predictions correct.
[9:21] Best Supporting Actor. My pick & prediction: Eddie Murphy. The winner: Alan Arkin. Ugh. I like the actor. I've liked several of his previous roles. I even liked part of this character he played, but I also hated part of this character. I guess the performance was excellent even though I wasn't thrilled with the material he was given.
[9:25] Ellen is walking down the aisle and just happens to have a screenplay to give to Martin Scorsese. Now, that's funny.
[9:26] Earlier they had dancers doing life-sized shadow-puppetry. They tumbled onto stage and formed the silhouette of an Oscar award. Just now, they tumbled into the shapes of pengiuns. I think it was to mention Happy Feet as one of the Best Animated Feature nominees.
2 comments:
OMG the Al Gore/Leo DiCaprio "announcement" bit was the funniest part of the night thus far!
But I must say Ellen's comedy is painful...
I'm enjoying reading your reviews - they are very thorough and thought provoking! Have you ever written for newspapers?
Sorry to be responding late, but I didn't know I had comments pending until the Oscars were over and I checked my e-mail.
Anyway, I agree with you about the Gore "announcement." How wild would it have been if he really had announced a run for president right then and there. Now, that'd be an Oscar ceremony worth talking about. ;)
I agree that the monologue material was pretty bad. Like I said in a later post, Ellen is much better when she's interacting with people. Her personality, wit, and humor really come out when she's just chatting or goofing around with people in the aisles.
Thanks very much for the compliment on the reviews. I've never written for newspapers or anything else professional. I'm surprised I'm even getting a reader here on the blog--so thanks again. ;) I'm pretty sure I use way too many adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions to write professionally. I'm just too wordy.
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