Talking About the Oscars

We didn't see the ceremony together, but we definitely had something to say about this year's ceremonies. In summary though, the hosts were uninspired, the winners were charming, but predictable, and Kirk Douglas pretty much stole the show. More below...

AKI -- So at about 10:00pm, I was so bored by the Oscars I started washing dishes. Oh, Franco and Hathaway tried... well Hathaway tried. Franco looked like he had indigestion. Dear Academy, cause I know you read this blog, please oh please bring back the comedians. Comedians aren’t just funny, they know how to hold the attention of the crowd, respond to whatever is happening and keep the show moving. Bring back the professionals! The Oscars should not be amateur night.

The show aside, the major awards were pretty predictable. Natalie Portman was cute and Colin Firth was hot and they both seemed generally touched by winning. I love Aaron Sorkin to death and I’m glad he won adapted screenplay. I don’t like Christian Bale (and he totally forgot his wife’s name), but everyone knew he was going to win Best Supporting Actor. Melissa Leo earned my respect by dropping the f-bomb and being completely distracted by everything around her during her speech because that is exactly what I would do.

I loved The King’s Speech but best picture? Really? It’s not even about predictability. The best picture should be the film of the year that moves the ever-evolving entity that is cinema forward. Sorry, but it isn’t enough to be a really good film. To win, you have to be a really good innovative film. Inception or The Social Network should have won. Inception because it threw away conventional storylines, created an entirely new reality and, most importantly, assumed that the audience was smart and made them work to figure out what they were seeing in front of them. The Social Network because it took a close look at who we are as a generation and where we are as a society. It wasn’t a flattering assessment; it was petty and empty and disgusting and completely honest. It made me angry and I loved that. I love when a movie evokes that kind of emotion; it’s like listening to good punk music. The people who voted for The King’s Speech are dead inside. Okay, that’s was a little extreme.

On a more positive note, the best moment of the night was by far Kirk Douglas giving out the Best Supporting Actress award. I don’t know why people say this moment was uncomfortable. He’s old so his delivery is a little slow, but he was hilarious and energetic. Maybe he can host next year.

RYAN -- When it was announced that the Academy had unexpectedly chosen James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host, I was initially worried, but quickly applauded the balls they had to think outside of the box. Plus Franco and Hathaway are young, hot, and would surely bring a different energy to the ceremony. That was the problem. Their energies weren't in sync with one another. While Franco was stuck on the basement floor of boredom, apathy, and/or cold feet, Hathaway tried to compensate by getting more and more enthusiastic and excitable as the night went on creating a generally uncomfortable energy between the two that permeated the whole ceremony.

They both weren't helped by the clunky structure of the show where each set of categories had to be tied in to some historic cinematic milestone that, while informative, wreaked havoc to the flow. And as much as I loved Kirk Douglas expertly hamming it up, his act most likely set everything behind and set the tone for the rest of the evening.

The winners themselves were absolutely delightful, but ridiculously predictable, which made the ceremony a bit dull. Of course it was still great to see Colin Firth and Natalie Portman deliver heartfelt and emotional speeches with both also looking like winners if I do say so myself. Another favorite speech came from David Seidler who dedicated his win to stutters everywhere,. I'm also happy that despite all of the drama that they've both endured, either from the past or more recently, both Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won. I was a bit sad that Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop lost as I would've loved for him to have done something, but alas it wasn't meant to be. As for The King's Speech winning the top prize, I'm largely okay with it despite it not being my personal choice which would've been The Social Network, Black Swan, or Inception. I don't begrudge the Academy one bit unlike other years where my favorite have not won, because in this case it still went to a truly worthy film.

To end, just some of my favorite things/moments from the show: the Best Picture montage to open the show as well as the latter one to present the nominees, the Inception-movies skit from the beginning, the presentation of Original score, Hathaway singing to Hugh Jackman (get them both in a musical now!), and finally, the whole auto-tune montage (hilariously brilliant!).