Will you watch the Oscars this year?

[Fran]

The Academy Awards:  best supporting actor segment

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffhu6BvdbQw[/youtube]
Time:  8:20

[Ellemeno]

I admire Kevin Klein quite a bit, so I'm very glad he was the one who spoke about Heath.

[serious crayons]

I liked most of the actor pairings in those five-presenter segments. It looked like they tried to factor gravitas into it, so that each presenter was in some subtle way a bit more "veteran" than the nominee. For example, having Sophia Loren -- older, legendary, Hollywood institution -- introduce Meryl Streep seemed more appropriate than having it done by, say, Marion Cotillard (much as I like her). Having Kevin Klein introduce Heath was better than having, say, Adrien Brody do it. The one exception I noticed was Nicole Kidman/Angelina Jolie, whom I see as sort of gravitas equivalents.

[Brown Eyes]

I liked most of the actor pairings in those five-presenter segments. It looked like they tried to factor gravitas into it, so that each presenter was in some subtle way a bit more "veteran" than the nominee. For example, having Sophia Loren -- older, legendary, Hollywood institution -- introduce Meryl Streep seemed more appropriate than having it done by, say, Marion Cotillard (much as I like her). Having Kevin Klein introduce Heath was better than having, say, Adrien Brody do it. The one exception I noticed was Nicole Kidman/Angelina Jolie, whom I see as sort of gravitas equivalents.

I didn't see all the different categories with actor pairings... but I did see the best actress group (for Anne) and the best supporting actor group for Heath, of course.  And, I completely agree with you analysis K.  I thought exactly the same thing about the gravitas and senority issues.  And, the equivalency thing between Kidman and Jolie even crossed my mind too.  I think they did a good job.

[LauraGigs]

I thought the supporting actor and actress presentations were interesting, with one presenting actor giving a sincere-sounding speech to a each nominee.  The only thing I disliked about it is that there were no clips of the supporting actors' work.

Speaking of clips, I really liked how the did the writing clips with superimposed script snippets.

[LauraGigs]

. . . Oscar turned itself inside-out compared to 2006.

And then -unlike 2006 -  they actually show a gay kiss in one of the movie montages.

And they give the Best Actor Oscar to Sean Penn for acting a gay man who, unlike Ennis, was as out as could be. And Sean Penn, bless his heart, goes up there and really lambasts the Prop 8 supporters and their ilk protesting outside (And the same kind of protesters were around in 2006, but noone critizised them from the stage back then!).

So in a way, I do feel that the Oscars this year did quite a bit to make amends for their 2006 fiasco... intentionally or unintentionally, who knows? It happened anyhow. Brokeback certainly paved the way for these various little steps forward this year. And I'm glad I watched it.

I totally agree, Mikaela.

[ednbarby]

I used the word 'depleted.'

I think for me it's something like this: Of course I'm glad he won.  Of course I wanted him to win.  Of course he deserved to win.  But it doesn't make me miss him any less.  It doesn't bring him back.  It doesn't make up for the Brokeback Mountain diss.  And one statue, no matter how special, doesn't sum up how special he was.

I loved what Mickey Rourke said to Barbara Walters when she asked him what it would mean to him if he won.  He said "Of course, it would mean a great deal.  But then again, I look at it this way:  You can't eat it, you can't fuck it, and it won't get you into Heaven."

Gotta love him.  On a side note, I hope he's doing OK with the fact that he didn't win last night.

[serious crayons]

I loved what Mickey Rourke said to Barbara Walters when she asked him what it would mean to him if he won.  He said "Of course, it would mean a great deal.  But then again, I look at it this way:  You can't eat it, you can't fuck it, and it won't get you into Heaven."

Gotta love him.  On a side note, I hope he's doing OK with the fact that he didn't win last night.

That Barbara Walters interview was good, and Mickey Rourke was the liveliest thing at that ceremony. He just about out Robert Downey Jr.s Robert Down Jr. I hope this is the start of a comeback for him, a la Travolta's in Pulp Fiction (which Travolta, BTW, now seems to be endangering a second time around).

And while we're on the subject, I would also like to have seen Marissa Tomei win. Though I didn't see Penelope Cruz's movie.

Other observations:

Does Jack Nicholson usually go every year? That grinning, shades-clad face seems like such an institution there, though it's possible that like most people he skips the years when he's not nominated or presenting. Otherwise, I'm wondering if his conspicuous absence last night might have anything to do with Heath's prize ...?

The speeches given by the groups of five actors and actresses sounded so sincere, and each slightly different, as if they had actually written them themselves -- highly unlikely -- but maybe at least were written by different writers.

Why does everyone in Heath's family sound more "Australian" than Heath did? I know this is partly my ignorance of Australian accents, but to me Heath didn't speak with the accent I think of as typically Australian. Yet his family members do, including his sister.

[southendmd]

A little Oscars post-mortem.  Warning!  Bitchy comments ahead.

Hugh:  Nice job overall.  However, when Baba Wawa asked you to choose from a list of three occupations, you chose "actor" over "singer" and "dancer".  Nuff said.  
I can really do without the musical numbers.  While having Anne H. joing him as Nixon was cute, the best picture medley was pretty corny IMO.  
And the other splashy number where they sang half a bar from every film song ever made was pointless.  
(Note to Hugh:  the lap dance was sexy, but very embarrassing.  )

Music:  I can understand why Peter Gabriel refused to participate:  the best song nominees were strung together in a 60-second-per-song medley which made no sense.  If there were no splashy silly numbers, then there'd be time to hear the whole songs, plus some decent excerpts from the nominated scores.  

Format:  While I understand the desire to mix it up, the 5-on-5 actor presentations seemed too "group-therapy-ish"; even a little condescending.  As Laura mentioned, where were the actuall clips of the actual performances that were nominated?  Isn't part of the evening designed to get you to go see some of these films?
(Side note:  Sophia Loren looks fabulous.)

Winners:  Of course, Heath's family were very dignified.  Major congrats to Sean Penn and his speech!  Was this the only surprise of the evening?  (Sorry Barb, can't stand Mickey Rourke.)
Kate Winslet just has to gush, doesn't she!  Penelope Cruz made me want to go see VCB now.

Losers:  Brad and Angelina looked very regal and were good losers.  Philip Seymour Hoffman (Alan Arkin actually called him "Seymour Philip") looked bizarre in that skullcap.  Anne was radiant.  

Random thoughts:  The "In Memoriam" sequence was very hard to follow, but I loved Queen Latifa's rendering of "I'll Be Seeing You".  
Loved the crystal curtain, but hated the "giraffe" motif on everything else.  
Too many GD commercials!

[Brown Eyes]

That Barbara Walters interview was good, and Mickey Rourke was the liveliest thing at that ceremony. He just about out Robert Downey Jr.s Robert Down Jr. I hope this is the start of a comeback for him, a la Travolta's in Pulp Fiction (which Travolta, BTW, now seems to be endangering a second time around).

And while we're on the subject, I would also like to have seen Marissa Tomei win. Though I didn't see Penelope Cruz's movie.

Other observations:

Does Jack Nicholson usually go every year? That grinning, shades-clad face seems like such an institution there, though it's possible that like most people he skips the years when he's not nominated or presenting. Otherwise, I'm wondering if his conspicuous absence last night might have anything to do with Heath's prize ...?

Hunh.  I hadn't thought about the Jack absence until you brought it up here.  Now that you mention it, it does seem odd to see an Oscars without Jack.  I thought Jack and Heath were fond of one another?  Why do you think he would have skipped due to Heath's nomination?  It would have been kind of poignant to see the senior-Joker there actually.  And of course, I'll always associated Jack with the BBM debacle... I'll always love Jack for the way he said "Crash" when announcing best picture.  He sounded as flabbergasted as most of us.