Oscars..thoughts...

Well the Oscars have come and gone. For the most part, it was not bad. Chris Rock, did a better job than I anticipated. It was pretty much predictable as far as the major awards went. No surprises there. Except I was sure Aviator would win for best picture. I thought it might be a split - Clint for director and Aviator for best flick. That happens sometimes. It's looks as though Scorsese is overlooked once more.

I was glad Finding Neverland got the best music score award.

Now, I will have to see a couple of the movies I missed like Ray, Vera Drake and Hotel Rawanda.

Rock was okay, but he's no Billy Crystal. I thought The Aviator would win Best Picture, too. Was especially glad to see Cate Blanchett and Jamie Foxx win.

I was wondering whether Aviator and M$B would split the votes and some other picture would walk off with the prize!

I was completely surprised that Finding Neverland won anything... I thought it would be overlooked...

If Johnny Depp couldn't win (still haven't seen the movie ) then Jamie Foxx was the only one worthy (but I could be biased) he was AWESOME as Ray... and his daughter was his date which was too cute for words! LOL

Million Dollar Baby winning for best picture was a shock for me, in a way, but at the same time *shrugs* who cares LOL

Alan Alda was great on the red carpet with Star Jones before the event... she wished him good luck and he said "Hey, I got a nomination, but Morgan Freeman is going to win. I'll just frame the nomination and not worry about winning" or something like that... and then Morgan Freeman won and Alan Alda looked so proud of himself for predicting Freeman's win LOL



As for Chris Rock... he was the MOST BORING host EVER... he had 3 original skits... and then basically rehashed his rants on the movies and used stuff Billy Crystal used to say... booooooorrrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggggg (and if you're going to "secretly bash" the president, let's at least have some awesome humor not the gap vs bananna republic stuff... that was just... odd. Though it has potential to make it somewhere LOL)

Robin Williams stole the show with his monologue before presenting the award... he looks good in a beard...

Tonie this may shock you , but I LOVED :agree: Rock's USA-IraqWar/Gap comparison. Maybe if more people looked at it that way he wouldn't have been reelected,LOL.. I'm sure a lot of the Republican's who own stock in companies wouldn't tolerate that kind of performance from their CEO's. You know that the Hollywood crowd would appreciate anything anti Bush. I didn't consider it an attack but a simpler way of of looking at W's mismanagement of the country.

Piel, who four months after the election still can't let it go.

I liked the show. I thought Rock did a good job. I liked the little digs he gave while introducing a lot of the presenters. The only thing that didn't work was the Adam Sandler/Rock bit without Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The show moved at a decent pace, and almost everyone looked fantastic. My favourite dresses in no particular order: Kate Winslet, Virginia Madsen and Hilary Swank. I was suprised that there were no real surprises in the show. Although I am happy that something besides Aviator/MDB won for the screenplay awards.

Apparently the phones were ringing from the Red States to ABC.

He is a stand-up comic and this is what stand up comics do. It's their schtik.
I think he got his feet wet and probably some ABC director will tell him he is not at the Comedy Club. He'll pussy foot the next time out. The gig pays a lot.

Joe

considering Billy Crystal got his digs more than once over the years I don't think ABC would


Michael Moore got his digs in and then won the next year too as I recall...

and Susan Surrandon....
ABC, while in charge of the host choice, really has not ever asked it to be toned down other than after 9-11... and no one listened anyway :sheesh:

I just didn't find Rock original...

Rock is not a stand up guy a lot of the time... he's best known for being fowl... so it was probably hard for him to come up with something funny and not gross... (then again that's most of the comics these days)



Robin dug at James Dobson's stance on SpongeBob... but it was at least funny... the Gap/Bananna Republic thing just wasn't AS funny... like I said, it had potential... but he'd already put me to sleep leading up to it LOL and it went a few lines too long...


Billy Crystal can diss a president and it's funny... Chris Rock was trying too hard to be "good" (considering he was already in trouble for saying the oscars were for only gay people a couple of weeks ago I guess there's reason for it)


next year I hope they get someone who is more into the Awards Anyone for Steve Martin to come back? (Billy Crystal does not want to do them again )

I thought Chris Rock did a good job! I also enjoyed the way he explained how Bush has mismanaged the country! I also liked how he introduced "Comedy Superstar Jeremy Irons!" Simple. Funny.

I didn't really like the presentations in the audience, or neccesarily the ones with all the nominees on stage--but it did help the pace of the show. (drive-through Oscars! Another funny quip) There wasn't nearly enough film clips, but I guess that was also to move things along.

I adore Morgan Freeman so I was thrilled that he won!

Why did they have Beyonce sing so many songs? She is absolutely beautiful! # make-up changes, 3 costume changes, 3 songs!

eliza88

IMO if the Oscar won was important enough to be included in the telecast the winners should be given the "honor" of taking the stage without the other nominess to give thier acceptance speeches.

I think Rock did a better job than I had anticipated. His effort was better in my opinion than Whoopie Goldberg and David Letterman - not as good as Billy Crystal. So long as they keep Jim Carey or Robin Williams away from the emcee job I'll keep watching.

I laughed at the Gap/Banana Republic toxic tank top joke and Bush coming up short on the till.

What made me uncomfortable was the dig at Jude Law. It made him seem like a class B actor, when I think the caliber of his work could win him an Oscar someday for the right role. It made me feel a little sad for him....and embarassed for Chris Rock. All in all, better than I thought he would be.

Aloft, ITA about Jude Law. Wasn't the comparison to Tom Cruise? If so, Tom Cruise, Jude Law (I prefer Law) it really didn't make sense. The other comparisons were right on though especially since Rock included himself.

Best Score:

I loved all of the nominees, but I felt some deserved the award more than others. Newton Howard and Debney are long overdue. Their films depended so much on the use of the orchestra as a character, if you will. In The Village, the orchestra played the part of the mythical creatures. In The Passion, the orchestra (rather the synths, and authentic instruments of the day) acted as sort of a narrator, commentator.

Williams writes the same score over and over again, it's a shame that he got nominated. I love Harry Potter, but all 3 scores had very little originality in them. It worked with the film incredibly well though, maybe that's why it got nominated.

I am finally listening to Lemony Snicket. Yes, you can clearly hear Newman's signature piano ballad, if you will. Seems all of his movies have that. He too is long overdue for an Oscar.

Best Song:

My thoughts are actually best summed up by a poster at filmtracks.com.

"What does Alan Silvestri have to do to win an Oscar?! Could Alan really be the true heir to Jerry Goldsmith? Not only by writing amazing music for crap movies, but also for not getting any awards despite being a hugely talented, popular and respected artist? His wine will come in handy tonight!"

I suppose that's all I can say.

The Oscars were totally tame this year. There's usually at least one surprise acting award, and all 4 were exactly who were predicted by major media. I was really hoping Virginia Madsen would get the Oscar...but overall I think it was fine.

I thought Chris Rock was ok - his opening monologue was the best part (and I thought the Gap joke was v. funny), but that Adam Sandler/"Catharine Zeta-Jones" part was awful. It went over like a lead balloon. And having Beyonce sing 3 songsa was a truly bad decision. I hope whoever came up with that bright idea had their pay docked or something. Yeeech. (For the record, I think Beyonce is quite talented -- but she does not have the voice to pull off any of the 3 types of song she sang last night).

Gwyneth wore a pink dress that fit her badly around the top, just as she did when she won her oscar (even though she now has the opposite problem). Scarlett johanson looked great, except I wish she'd smoothed out her hair. I liked the little clips in her 'do, I just thought the frizz looked unkempt. Cate Blanchett is one of those rare white women who can pull off yellow. She is just gorgeous. Jamie Foxx's blue suit was very nice as well (and how cute was his daughter?)

Were there no other talented singers out there? I got sick of Beyonce.

RGal what is your opinion of Beyonce's singing in general (been meaning to ask you that for some time now, BTW)? Frankly I am way tired and bored with Beyonce and and Star Jones Reynolds. Star looks much better since she lost weight but some her red carpet outfits look liked everything has been pushed from the front and is hanging out the back of her dresses.

The only way America's greatest living director, Martin Scorsese, will ever win a competitive Best Director Oscar is: (a) The Academy Awards are moved to New York; (b) the only people who can vote live in New York City AND can provide proof that they ride the subway or bus at least three times a week; and (c) can say and spell "Scorsese" correctly.

I liked Chris Rock. He made some typical rookie mistakes, which weren't bad for a stand-up comedian. Where I think he got into trouble was with the Letterman Factor. Like Letterman, Rock is not a Hollywood insider. It's hard to find Hollywood insiders who can be funny and are willing to zing it to Hollywood. Ya wanna work in film or TV anytime in the next 10 years? Don't agree to host the Oscars and do a great job.

IMO Rock was at his best in his own medium, political humor. I thought the Banana Republic/Gap joke was a scream. Besides, every Oscar host disses the president. That's their job. Slick Willie was a goldmine, no matter what your politics. Actually, all presidents are fun to make fun of.

Hey, at least they didn't nominate Michael Moore.

BTW, Robin Williams walked out with that paper in his mouth because the producers and ABC reps censored his routine big-time after they heard it in rehearsal that afternoon. I was wondering why I'd heard virtually every joke he told before. About 80% of his original routine was red-lined by the powers-that-be, which makes the paper in the mouth all the more hilarious.

Williams IS a Hollywood insider and would be great as a host--if the Oscars were on pay-per-view. On Mars. The guy just can't help himself--thank god, lol.

I'd like to see them have Christopher Guest, Micheal McKeon, and Harry Shearer host the show as "Spinal Tap." It's Hollywood. They could diss people in character and get away with it. They'd be too old to be in those outfits. And it's ROCK 'N ROLL!!!

Here's to the '06 Spinal Tap Oscars!

Rgirl


P.S. Unwanted Rgirl Advice: Go see "The Aviator" while it's still in theaters and see it on a good screen. Even if you don't get into the story, visually it's thrilling to watch--and not because of things blowing up, although there is one lengthy horizontal extended blow-up. All the others BP nominees, which I've seen, don't gain much by being in a theater. Unless you count seeing "Million Dollar Baby" at a theater in Manhattan, where the audience affects the experience a lot. You have half the people crying through much of it and the other half laughing and yelling rude things at the screen. Now THAT was worth the $10 bucks I paid for "M$B." Yes, I know. Now I'm being rude. :agree:

The Motorcycle Diaries winning Best Song was the biggest surprise of the evening, along with Finding Neverland winning Best Score, and The Incredibles winning Best Sound Editing. I was so happy that Spiderman 2 won the award for Best Visual Effects. The moment I saw it in the theater I knew it deserved a nomination.

I would love it if Robin Williams were to host the show, he has more experience than Chris Rock, and probably more respect for awards other than the Big Six.

Tonichelle said:

I just didn't find Rock original...

Rock is not a stand up guy a lot of the time... he's best known for being fowl...

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Like a turkey? Goose?

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

RealtorGal said:

Were there no other talented singers out there? I got sick of Beyonce.

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I thought Beyonce was completely unnecessary at the oscars. Was it really necessary to have her sing three times. The song from Phantom of the Opera was so bad that no one could have saved it, but it was originally performed by Minne Driver and I think it would have been much more interesting to have her sing. At least she would have had some chemistry with poor Andrew Lloyd Weber. Beyonce seemed like she was afraid to look in his direction.

The song from Polar Express was a great Christmas song, and well suited to Josh Groban's style, and Beyonce did not bring anything to the performance. I thought Chris Rock's comment about their chemistry together and Jay-Z being threatened was really funny. Of course, Beyonce with the boy's choir was hilarious and ranks with all time bad Oscar moments like Rob Lowe singing with Snow White and Debbie Boone singing "You Light up my Life" with children signing who were not really deaf. At least Beyonce let Counting Crows perform by themselves.

The song from Motorcycle Diaries was very soothing in the film but Antonio Banderas was oversinging in his performance, and Santana was doing his own thing that had nothing to do with the original music. They completely changed the mood of the song and it was no wonder that the songwriter looked stunned when they showed him in the audience. I did love Salma Hayek's introduction of the song. She was so excited and enthusiastic about the meaning of the lyrics and the fact that it was the first ever Spanish language nominee.

Back to Beyonce, I know they brought her on to bring star power to the songs that most people aren't familiar with, but I don't think Beyonce's fans tuned in to see her sing those songs.