Will you watch the Oscars this year?

[Brown Eyes]

Well, so far, Michelle hasn't exhibited that kind of behavior.

She has never spoken publicly about Heath.

I don't think she gives a fig about camera time.

I thought that Michelle has made a statement or two about the loss of Heath.  Am I misremembering that?

[HerrKaiser]

In my opinion Sean Penn winning the best actor award for Milk was also  a tribute to actors like Heath and Jake and moviies like Brokeback Mountain, and an open stand up for the gay community.

Hmmmm. Penn, especially at his career level, risked nothing to play the Milk character. What are you saying?

[HerrKaiser]

I don't think she gives a fig about camera time.

She gives a lot more than a fig about camera time, guaranteed. I hope she has been and remains non-commercial about Heath and if so, I will be pleased.

[karen1129]

I thought that Michelle has made a statement or two about the loss of Heath.  Am I misremembering that?

She did talk about his death in a couple of magazine articles, but she hasn't gone on camera to milk it.

[karen1129]

She gives a lot more than a fig about camera time, guaranteed. I hope she has been and remains non-commercial about Heath and if so, I will be pleased.

Guaranteed?

[Katie77]

Hmmmm. Penn, especially at his career level, risked nothing to play the Milk character. What are you saying?

I'm not quite sure what you are saying......in your opinion, is his career level at a low or a high??

I think he is a terrific actor, and have enjoyed watching him in all the films he has been in. I think he is a lot like Heath...not necesarily a movie star, or celebrity, but a fine true actor, who seems to take every part he has and owns it, and gives it 110%.

Just because he is not making two or three movies a year, does not mean his career is on the decline.Its not the quantity that counts its the quality.

[ifyoucantfixit]

   I seem to remember Jack being very upset at not being asked to reprise his role, as the Joker.  And was rather petty
and snarky about it.  He probably didn't want to see Heath win the Oscar for the role after his less than gracious attitude
on the whole affair.  I am pretty tired of him anyhow.  He is to the point in his career, where he does nothing new.  He
makes me think of Jack and his comment about his and Lureens marriage.  He could just as well phone it in.  I say good
riddance for his lack of an appearance.

[serious crayons]

Yeah, I recall Jack saying something snarky about reviving the Joker character. He may have been particularly sensitive about it, and although it was my understanding he was otherwise on friendly terms with Heath, this may have been enough of a sore point that he wanted to avoid the award-granting.

Just wild speculation on my part, of course.

[retropian]

Well Karma is a B*tch. I did watch the Oscars last night at a friends house. So I broke by vow to boycott them and I paid for it. We both enjoyed the show. I liked how they had previous winners in a category come out and sing the praises for the current nominees. I also liked how they let the winners make their speeches and let them have their moment. I've always abominated how, because of time constraints, the music would start up to interrupt a winner and force them to shorten their acceptance speech. Let them enjoy it a bit, how many people get to be up there and how often does it happen for them? Once in a lifetime for most. I thought Hugh was very fine as the host. After all he's hosted the Tony's several times, so he knew what he was doing. So, after they were over I got sick, really sick, leading to dry heaves all night sick. I feel better now, but weak. We both ate the same food (pizza) and I had 4 beers, which over the course of the evening is not a huge amount. So it must have been Karmic retribution acting rather quickly rather than waiting to punish me in the next life.

[Ellemeno]

Every now and then, I come upon something and think, "I'd love to have that job."  What fun it would have been to brainstorm who to ask to introduce each of the nominees this year.  We'd all have a good time with that one, I think.  Let's try to remember to do it ahead of time next year.

And gravitas, that's the exact word I thought of too, but I had a specific memory jog - I often think of that word when I see the more mature Kevin Kline, because his character (modelled very much on himself) in The Anniversary Party used it to whine about how actors getting parts that he wanted had no gravitas, unlike he himself.  I always loved how Kevin Kline mocked himself and the industry with that statement.

My biggest gripe - how during the In Memoriam portion I couldn't even read some of the names because of the weird camera choices.

I'm confused - you guys thought it was good when Robert De Niro made the remark about Sean Penn being able to pull off playing straight guys all these years?  I thought it sounded like an insult to gay people.  On the other hand, I loved when Sean Penn called the academy "commie, homo-loving sons of guns."  I loved that homo-loving was embraced so positively.