The 83rd Academy Awards ~ The Broadcast and the Day Afterwards

I wrote notes while watching the broadcast so I’m going to present this article in more or less chronological order.  The show started at 7:30.  I had heard that they were going to cut down on the movie montages this time around, but I love the movie montages because I think they fit in perfectly with the theme of celebrating movies.  The opening montage featured all ten Best Picture nominees was nice.  I also thought that James Franco and Anne Hathaway did a nice job with their ‘Inception’ inspired comedy skit; that is until until they came to the part of the ‘Brown Duck’.  During their shared introductory dialogue they made a ‘younger demographic’ inspired joke which was an undeclared theme of the show.  Hathaway is the youngest host ever at 28.  Franco is 32.  Combined throughout the show their hosting performances were light and fun but nothing overly memorable except for the Rachel Zoe picked ensembles that Hathaway sported (seven of them if you count Hathaway’s red carpet dress).  Notice that today there wasn’t any talk they had burned their career bridges as there was with Ricky Gervais after his last hosting gig on the Golden Globes.  Okay, now months later there is talk about Franco phoning in his performance.  BTW, if you couldn’t tell, this article has been gathering dust on another website. 

 

                I really enjoyed the stage sets this year.  I thought the multiple arches showing past award winning films was eye catching.  The ceremony seemed to be divided up with different Oscar eras starting with the first Academy Awards, the first television broadcast, and the Grauman’s Chinese Theater – each with its own set pieces.  I for one was glad that there weren’t ten foot tall Oscars decking the stage.  I even liked the three mini stages, with what looked like the Swarovski decorated larger one in the middle, where the presenters and awards recipients stood.  On the whole it was a nice presentation that focused on movies and the people who have made them through the history of the awards. 

 

                Speaking of set decoration, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ won the first Oscar of the evening which was well deserved for Art Direction.  It was one of the few awards I was happy that ‘The King’s Speech’ didn’t win considering that the set had been used for…you can read about it here. 

 

                Much ado has been made about the new envelopes used to announce the winners/“And the Oscar goes to.”  I believe it was Tom Hanks who noted that they were a work of art, which I thought stretched the description, but overall the envelopes were welcome change.  If anything, if you won an Oscar wouldn’t you want to frame the envelope it came in?

 

                Oh my, Kirk Douglas was charged with giving out the Best Supporting Actress trophy.  There he was all 94 years of him with walking cane and slurred speech (the after affects of a stroke) and then there was his…plastic surgery.  Why?  Why?  Why?  For heaven’s sake he seemed perfectly okay walking around with a cane and he knows that his speech is impaired, why tighten the skin around your eyes as if you haven’t lived a full and exciting life?

 

                I enjoyed his prolonging of the announcement, but I think Douglas overplayed it just a tad bit.  He definitely had his flirt on targeting Anne Hathaway as if he was Hugh Hefner and she the blonde bunny of the moment.  By the time Melissa Leo made the stage, I’m sure he felt like he had his hands full especially after she dropped the F bomb.  Yes, the F bomb at the Academy Awards…nice.  Although I’m not a fan of the multiple award shows that happen prior to the Oscars, one thing I can say is that they probably prepare the favorites, of which Leo was favored to win as Supporting Actress, for giving acceptance speeches that don’t need to be bleeped.

 

                I imagine Leo’s dress will divide certain fashionistas in the audience, I liked it, but didn’t love it.  I thought her earrings were unique and perhaps indicate an upcoming trend.  The category allowed me to finally spy what Helena Bonham Carter was wearing…not bad considering the source.  Of course her hair looked like she had just escaped from three nights sleeping under a bridge, but overall she matched.  Hailee Steinfeld was perfection in her lovely dress. 

 

                Justin Timberlake, whose jokes for the most part fell flat, and Mila Kunis presented the winners for both Animated Short and Feature Film.  Thankfully, ‘Toy Story 3’ won for Feature because otherwise there would be no justice in the world.  However this makes me wonder why this Oscar is only ten years old?  There been a Short Animated Film Oscar for what appears to be forever; one would think that it would be the other way around.

 

                Aaron Sorkin won Best Adapted Screenplay for ‘The Social Network’.  This was his first Oscar, and if I remember correctly his first nomination.  David Seidler gave a charming speech for his Original Screenplay win for ‘The King’s Speech’.  He mentioned his father always said he was a late bloomer and he hoped in the future his record (he is the oldest person to win an award in this category) would be soon smashed.  He gave one of the best speeches of the night.  That’s how it is done Melissa Leo – humble, heartfelt, and no F word utterances.

 

                After 8:00 Hathaway had her first costume change which was in a tux.  I loved her shoes and did you notice that her faux eyelashes had some glitter on them?  Two years ago when Hugh Jackman was hosting the two did a musical number that included a comical bit about ‘Frost/Nixon’.  Honestly, I don’t know if Jackman really did refuse to come and sing on stage or if that tidbit was added later, but Hathaway sang about how a certain Aussie had abandoned her…it was a hot mess and the skit should have been axed.  I think the producers were counting on James Franco coming on stage dressed in one of Marilyn Monroe’s more iconic gowns to draw HUGE laughs; instead Franco’s appearance was more like mild ha-ha.  The night’s one and only Charlie Sheen joke was told at that moment. 

 

                Russell Brand and Helen Mirren presented Best Foreign Film.  I must say that Mirren knows how to dress flawlessly.  Reese Witherspoon gave out the Supporting actor trophy and she looked so cute with a fake hair fall, reminiscent of a 60s go-go dancer.  Christian Bale won for ‘The Fighter’ and gave a wonderful speech.  He acknowledged that he wasn’t going to drop the F bomb. 

 

                Around 8:35 there was a bit where the Academy president and head of something at Disney announced that ABC would be hosting the Oscars until 2020.  This is all fine, but shouldn’t it just be put in a press release and not the show?  At least there wasn’t any big production about the accountants.  Afterwards was a great bit with the orchestra and ‘The Social Network’ won Best Original Score for its distinctive and haunting music.

 

                Cate Blanchett gave out the Best Oscars for makeup and costumes.  It will be interesting to see how the various fashion police in both print and television react to her dress (Update: Joan Rivers hated it on ‘The Fashion Police’).  I liked it because it was different, but I’m afraid I might be in the minority.  Anyhow, much to my chagrin ‘The Wolfman’ won.  The clip they showed of the makeup in the movie looked wonderful, I still can’t forget how they made Anthony Hopkins look like a Muppet.  ‘Alice in Wonderland’ won Best Costume.

 

                After an hour and a half the awards needed a little pick-me-up.  Thankfully NYU recent graduate Luke Matheny’s ‘God of Love’ won for short film and both his appearance and his speech were memorable.  Upon taking the stage he said, “I should have gotten a haircut.”        

 

                Oprah Winfrey was up next after an over fawning introduction by Anne Hathaway where she stated one of the perks of hosting the Oscars was that she could breathe the same air as Oprah.  Winfrey started her presentation by noting that the movie audience goes to films for escapism she then started to talk about how documentaries don’t let us escape which I found somewhat…confusing isn’t the right word…more like an analogy that documentaries were the prune juice we movie fans need to keep us informed in the world lest we ‘escape’ to the point that reality becomes a foreign concept to us.  ‘Inside Job’ won and Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs gave concise and good speeches.  Probably the only political comment of the night came from them about how after the horrible financial crisis none of the Wall Street pin heads (my term) or CEOs responsible for the mess have served jail time…I don’t even think any of them have been indicted.  Maybe Oprah is right, I need to watch more documentaries.  Alas, due to the win of ‘Inside Job’ the audience wasn’t treated to the appearance of Bansky for his documentary ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’. 

 

                Next up was a surprise visit from Billy Crystal!  Last time I saw him on TV he didn’t look so chipper, but he looked great at the Oscars.  I’m sure people were wondering if he would ever concede to take up the hosting reins again.  Despite all of today’s commentary about how boring or mediocre Hathaway and Franco were (actually, I thought they were fine) one has to admit that hosting the Oscars is pretty much a thankless job.  Unless you hit it out of the ballpark, which Crystal did during the 1990 ceremony after a disastrous 1989 broadcast, it isn’t going to do much for your career and has the possibility of derailing it for a while like David Letterman’s attempt in 1995.  Crystal ushered in a new era as host where the movie montages replaced the corny over the top dance numbers with their equally horrendous accompanying songs.  He has hosted the ceremony eight times, only Bob Hope, whom Crystal honored last night, has hosted more (18).

 

                Probably one of the best speeches of the night came from Randy Newman as he picked up his second award after twenty nominations.  He stated that he had attended so many nominee functions that the catering staff had a chicken dish named ‘Newman Chicken’.  He managed to place a well meant dig on the fact that only four songs were nominated and most of the other categories had more.  He then talked about the rules that make good TV according to the Academy.  One thing was for sure, Randy ‘I Hate Short People’ Newman makes good TV. 

 

                Celine Dion sang Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Smile’ during the ‘In Memoriam’ segment.  For the second year in a row there was a noticeable absence of a popular celebrity.  Last year it was Farrah Fawcett who had acted in more movies than Michael Jackson, who was given a spot, this year Cory Haim was left off the list along with a few others.  The producers may use the tired excuse that they didn’t have enough time to put everyone but frankly I think it would be better if they could include everyone and perhaps cut some silly skit (Hathaway’s song about Hugh Jackson could have gone to the wayside without anyone caring).    

 

                Tom Hopper won Best Director for ‘The King’s Speech’ and he made a memorable speech involving his mother.  He explained that his mother, who was his date for the night, is a native Australian.   She was invited to some Australian centered event in London where she heard David Seidler read his screenplay.  She went to her son, whose best known project before ‘The King’s Speech’ was the HBO miniseries ‘John Adams’, and told him that she had found his next movie.  “Moral of my story, listen to your mother.”  However, his “triangle of man love” comment sounded randy…especially now that we know the set of ‘The King’s Speech’ doubled for other interesting productions (see the link located within the third paragraph above).   

 

                I think for the last few years, or maybe just last year, the presenters will say personal things nominated for Best Actor and Actress.  I really hate that, I feel like I’m a fly on the wall for someone’s self esteem building therapy.  Natalie won Best Actress which was no surprise.  She had a nice speech, her dress was pretty and hid most of her pregnant tummy, however I wasn’t a fan of her hair and her left earring looked like it was pulling too hard on her ear.  The one note I made about her speech was that she thanked her manager that she has had for the last 18 years.    

 

                Colin Firth won Best Actor for ‘The King’s Speech’ and he proved that he was quite a good little speech maker himself.  With his time in the spotlight he thanked all of his fellow actors, his family, and even Harvey Weinstein.  He quipped, “I have a feeling that my career just peaked.”  He then alluded that he had some happy feet but being the dignified Brit that he is, he felt he needed to run backstage before his toe tapping began. 

 

                The show ended with the now famous PS 22 choir singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ with all of the Oscar winners coming out for the finale. 

 

                The day after on ‘Good Morning America’ it seemed as if the Oscar coverage kept getting interrupted with updates about Charlie Sheen’s antics.  According to Sheen his favorite drug of the moment is Charlie Sheen.  I thought Robin Roberts was going to fall over from exhaustion.  At one point during the bi-coastal interview she actually got up as if she was done for the day without knowing that the camera was still on her.  Michelle Leo was making good on her Oscar fame by stopping by for an interview.  Not only was she on the morning program, but she was also on ‘Oprah’.

 

                Alas, I do believe this might be the last ‘Oprah’ show at the Oscars.  Winfrey’s voice was hoarse but she had all of the regular suspects on her show including the before mentioned Leo, and the ‘Triangle of Man Love’ in which Firth proved himself to be every bit as adorable as his Oscar speech presented him as. 

 

                Anne Hathaway dropped by in her tux and beautiful Brian Atwood shoes (here is a list of the designers she wore).  She seemed very chipper and reported that James Franco flew back to his classes at NYU without attending one celebration – he did tweet a picture of himself on a plane drinking a Blood Mary.  One has to hand it to Hathaway, she said that she really didn’t think that hosting the Oscars was a thankless job considering she got to meet wonderful people, wear beautiful clothes, and sport a lot of expensive bling.

 

                 And like the Oscars the PS 22 choir came out and sang to end the show, but this time Oprah arranged for Katy Perry to come and join them.  Thus, my Oscar Odyssey for this year ends.  It wasn’t the best Oscar telecast, nor the worst.  It really didn’t have a youth feel.  I think the biggest progression was the set design for the stage.  The orchestra didn’t play loudly when people needed to leave the stage and there was no instruction that you had to keep your speeches to a 30 second limit.  Hopefully, next year will be just as fun if not more.               

 

 

Westerfield © 2011