The 82nd Annual Academy Awards!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences really tried to shake things up this year.  I had heard this before, and it didn’t come as surprise.  What did surprise me was my reaction to it.  I didn’t mind the changes.  In fact, this was my favorite Academy Awards to date!  Read on for my break down of the night.

Recent History:
The Academy has not done so well in recent years.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the Awards show reached an all-time low in 2008 with only 32 million people watching.  This was the year that No Country for Old Men won, which I think contributed to the sense of apathy.  While it may have been a good movie (never seen it) it is certainly not a crowd pleaser.  The Academy was getting a little artsy on itself, and the public was losing interest.  So this year the Academy switched things around, picked hosts with a track record of pleasing a wide spectrum of viewers, asked winners to cut short their thanks (the lowest rated part of the show) and expanded category nominees to 10 choices instead of only 5. 

The result?  A 14% increase in viewers from last year, with 41.3 million people watching.  This is the highest number of viewers in 5 years.  I think there will be some people, including myself at first, who will see this as selling out.  Especially choosing movies that are more appealing to wider audiences rather than those that were strictly critical successes and staging large scale musical opening numbers.  But if you read my earlier post about the creation of the Awards and the Academy itself, you’ll see that the reason it was created was “to improve the image of Hollywood to the public.”  Well that, and to beat down the unions.  The original Awards were an attempt at PR for Hollywood, as well as recognition for all those in the industry who had made any great achievements throughout the past year.  And that’s exactly what this ceremony was.  A return to what the true purpose of the Academy Awards is.  It was never meant as a highbrow ceremony aimed at those who had achieved the most "intellectual” movie of that year.  Not that we should sacrifice quality, but Louis B. Mayer, father of the Academy, purposefully fought against movie winners that weren’t crowd pleasers.    The Academy even dropped the award for best “Artistic Production.”  They were far more concerned with the best production itself. 

Bottom Line:  If you want artistic, go to Sundance.  I don't mind the musical numbers.

My Favorite Changes:
I have to say that I love the fact that the speeches this year were kept short and sweet.  The Academy asked the nominees this year to keep their speeches short and to save us the long lists of people that we neither know nor care about.  Thank your mom, fine.  Thank your associate producer’s best friend’s boyfriend?  Not interested.  Nominees were told that they would have time immediately after their award was given to go backstage and talk into the brand new “Thank You Cam,” which would then be broadcast on http://oscar.go.com.  The nominees, surprisingly, for the most part agreed.  They kept their speeches short and heartfelt, choosing to focus more on the emotions involved in winning an award than specifics.  (see Sandra Bullock below)

Another thing I appreciated?  For the best actor and actress categories, instead of showing clips of their nominated films, the Academy decided to choose one person for each actor/actress and have them give a short speech on that particular nominee.  For example, co-star and friend Stanley Tucci spoke for Meryl Streep, saying that she had better enjoy this now, because he was going to start a campaign for the Academy to put a cap on the number of nominations allowed per actress.  Cute.

Funniest Moment:
Who doesn’t love Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin?  As a comedy team they did a fantastic job, from the opening act to the small quips along the way.  (What was with the George Clooney stare though?)  I loved their jibes at Meryl Streep and other Hollywood bigwigs.  My favorite moment with them had to be their appearance in a two person snuggie. 

Amazing.

have to give it up as well to Neil Patrick Harris.  Boy, does that guy know how to make a comeback.  Another opening musical number for an awards ceremony, but instead of seeming overdone, it came off as fresh, funny, and self-deprecating.  And let’s not forget Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr.’s presentation or even Cameron Diaz and Steve Carrell.  Both deserve a nod (and not just because I’m secretly in love with RDJ).

But hands down, the absolute funniest moment of the night goes to Ben Stiller.  There are no words.  So I will show this clip.  My friends and I were literally rolling on the couch with laughter.

Incredible.   Perfect timing.  Good job Ben.

Most Awkward Moment:
Does anyone know who that woman is that jumped onto the Thank You speech for “Best Documentary?”  We all thought we had another Kanye moment on our hands.  Why is it that the award for "Best Documentary" almost always turns the podium in a radical, uncomfortable soap box?  I most enjoy the look of chagrin on the director's face.  See for yourself:

Still have no idea.  Weird.  Get off the stage, crazy lady in the purple satin mumu.

Most Heartwarming:
I am SO happy Sandra Bullock won for "Best Actress".  I really thought she deserved it.  I got a little nervous when Oprah came out and spoke for newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, because obviously Oprah has the golden touch.  But to my happy surprise, the award went to the person I thought deserved it. 

Beautifully done.  Funny, sweet, and heartwarming, this speech is also pure Sandra Bullock.  Fantastic dress too, by the way.  Quite possibly my favorite.  While I don’t know if this role was the most serious or the most taxing, Sandra Bullock became her character in The Blind Side.  I just hope she tackles more roles like this in the future.

Worst Academy Award Moment:
What was up with the dance troupe?  I’m sure that they’re a very good dance troupe.  But almost every number seemed the same.  I get Fantastic Mr. Fox…but how do you turn The Hurt Locker into a dance?  It was weird.  And lest we forget…why?  This is “Best Original Score,” not America’s Best Dance Troupe.  It was long, repetitive, and completely unnecessary.  I’m not even going to show a clip.  That’s how pointless it was.  I appreciate all the changes, but bring back the best song performances.  I actually enjoyed those.  And leave the dancers at home.

Saddest Moment:
Obviously this is always when they do the tribute.  For John Hughes in particular, I was especially sad.  Ferris Buehler’s Day Off was part of my childhood.  For a lot of people of my generation who aren’t particularly film buffs, seeing that montage was a great way for them to realize just how many great movies he was a part of.  I wouldn’t have minded knowing exactly who every person giving the tribute was, although I will mention that Macaulay Culkin’s presence riveted every girl I was in the room with.

Notable absences include:  Farrah Fawcett, Bea Arthur, Gene Barry, and former Oscar nominee Richard Todd.  The excuse given for the first three was that they were mainly television actors, and the salute to Farah Fawcett at the Emmy’s was more appropriate.  Really?  So that’s why Michael Jackson was honored?  Because of his incredible and Oscar-worthy performance in The Wiz?

Best and Worst Dressed:
Well I’m not People magazine, but I did have my favs.  Rachel McAdams, Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz rank as some of my top dresses.  And though I wasn’t a fan of Meryl Streep’s dress, it did grow on me.  It seemed very her.  And designed by Project Runway alum Chris March!  Let’s be honest, Meryl could wear a potato sack and still be fabulous.  I think everyone was going in a very 1940s direction, apropos of the whole “old Hollywood” idea.  I think I like the Kathryn Hepburn/Lana Turner look.

Less impressed?  Jennifer Lopez-stop trying to have a comeback.  You look like you’re pooping pink organza.  I’m also less and less in favor of Miley Cyrus.  She looked like she was wearing a gold 1980s Madonna wannabe top.  Also, you can’t be a Disney star and show that much cleavage (plus tan lines).  Zoe Saldana would have looked less like a pom-pom if the dress hadn’t flared as much, and Sarah Jessica Parker looked cute from the front, but bizarre from the back.  What’s with those silver flowers?

The guys, as usual, don’t really count.  Sorry!

Finally…
A good time was had by all, even though the ceremony did begin to drag towards to end.  But with good stars, great writing, and a bathroom break during the dance troupe, my friends and I really enjoyed watching it.  And eating the wings.  JL’s feta puffed pastries were pretty great too.  Sorry WW, but I think we’ll have to try again with your cake balls.  I liked the wine though!

I’ve also decided that next year I’m putting money on the winners.  After all this researching, I’ve become eerily good with my predictions.  But I would have lost everything on Best Picture and Director.   I thought James Cameron would win “Best Director” for Avatar, and Precious for “Best Picture.”  Much to my surprise when The Hurt Locker won both!  It think it’s great for feminism and everything, but whether the movie deserves it remains to be seen.

Thanks it for now!  Comment please and get ready for The Broadway Melody..and sound…

In the Beginning

The first time I got this idea into my head, I was in high school.  I went to an old, prestigious boarding school somewhere in the cow fields of Connecticut, where one of the few things to do on a weekend was to watch a good movie with your friends in the dorm.  Very cool, I know.  But I had always loved movies, and it was a great day when I figured out that I could go to the school library and rent as many movies as I wanted for free! (And 30,000+ a year.)  The library had been saving up movies for the past decade or so, and was even beginning to have an extensive DVD collection.  Wow, I'm old.  Anyway, I couldn't get enough of the movies I now had unlimited access to, Netflix having not been invented yet, and I embarked on a plan to educate myself by watching the best movies ever made: the "Best Picture Oscars."  I tried to start at the earliest one the library had, Cimarron, and painfully sat through one of the worst movies I think I've ever seen.  After that, my desire to conquer great cinema noticeably ebbed, I grew up, and spent all my time and effort trying to get into New York City clubs with an ID made out of paper.

Flash forward to the present, and I find myself in a situation that 10 years ago I never could have imagined.  The economy decided to take a serious downswing right around my graduation from college, and job opportunities for a confused English major seem to be few and far between.  I can write, or I think I can write, but other than the several half-finished starts of novels and poems littering my hardrive, I can't seem to work up the enthusiasm for anything.  I'd even thought of a blog, but couldn't think of anything worthwhile to write about.  I knew it should be a challenge of some sorts; at the risk of enraging my peers, blogs had always seemed to me to be largely narcissistic.  Who could possibly care about the everyday trials of my life? Much better to focus on something tangible that others could relate to.

Then the idea occurred to me.  Why not now, armed with my Netflix account and an abhorrent amount of free time, attempt to do what had alluded me nearly 10 years ago?  Of course, with several film classes now under my belt, I have learned enough to know that the Academy Awards are not necessarily the arbiters of great filmmaking.  Many of the best films have been passed over by the Academy, or have lost out to other films that were later forgotten.  I briefly considered the AFI film list; surely if I wanted to watch the best films of our time, I should adhere to that.  But, while I may sometime try to conquer that list, I am still completely drawn to the "Oscars."  I enjoy the idea that I can watch them in order, journeying through time, in a sense.  There are drawbacks (witness Cimarron), certainly I could do without certain titles, but in general I think each movie will give me a sense of the time that it's portraying.  I've always loved old movies for their ability to connect us with the past, with what was important to that particular time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  This first entry is my way of writing a forward, an explanation for all that's about to come.  I've decided to watch every movie ever to win an "Oscar" for Best Picture, from the silent movies of 1929 to whichever movie wins this year.  To give myself a guideline, I'll begin when the Academy Awards this year begin, and end with the Academy Awards next year.  To my estimation that's around 2 movies a week.  With each movie I'll write about my thoughts: what that movie was like, a little history of the film, and the reactions of those I can beg into watching them with me.  I'll watch them in order, every one, even those I've already seen.  Yes, even Cimarron.  God help me.

And last but not least, I've decided to rip off TBS and do Dinner and a Movie.  With each film, I'll use what skill I can muster to make something for everyone to snack on while they watch.  Be it popcorn, tacos, meatloaf or lasagna, I'll make something fun that somehow correlates with the particular movie I'm watching, and share it with all of you!  This is more bribery than anything else...I think if I make food, I won't be watching these all alone.

So that's it!  Here I go...the first two, both silent movies, and both winners of the 1929 award for Best Picture (I'll explain in my next post) will be watched by me on Saturday, March 6th and Sunday, March 7th, 2010.  After I've watched both, somewhat fittingly, I'll watch the Academy Awards.  So please read, and maybe watch, with me.  I'll enjoy your comments and support!  And the envelope goes to...