What will you do instead of watching Oscar? [and now Oscar discussion]

[JWBear]

For me, it was the nausea inducing camera movements. Just focus on the screen and stay still, damn it!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by JWBear

For me, it was the nausea inducing camera movements. Just focus on the screen and stay still, damn it!

Didn't notice and shaky camera movements, but my only complaint with the memorial was, with all of the ancillary screens showing cool stuff, they spent way too much time on a tight shot of the main screen so we couldn't see the smaller screens. But that's the fault of the director of the TV broadcast, not the people who produced the memorial.

And, GC, I will second iSm's suggestion to skip that montage. It WILL piss you off.

And I forget who it was directed at, but "Suck it _____" was an awesome moment.

Bill Maher is such a douche. According to LSPE, he was whining earlier in the day about his film not being nominated, then he get up there and whines some more. Get over yourself. At least Jack Black's was funny.

Until recently, Sophia Loren had been aging beautifully. Now she's yet another colligen injected, plastic surgeried wreck. I will never ever be able to fathom how people think that walking around with a face that's obviously been stretched and injected (and hit with a coat of lava orange from their local auto body shop for good measure) "hides" their age in any way shape or form. If anything, it's just a big, obvious neon sign that says, "Wow, they must have aged HORRIBLY to have wanted to have that done do them."

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

And I forget who it was directed at, but "Suck it _____" was an awesome moment.

Kate Winslet, and she was brilliant. Plus, I'm envious (as I always am) of people who can really whistle. Her dad A+!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

Kate Winslet, and she was brilliant. Plus, I'm envious (as I always am) of people who can really whistle. Her dad A+!

No, not that one. I'm talking about the sound guy who was in the Pineapple Express bit.

[Morrigoon]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Bill Maher is such a douche. According to LSPE, he was whining earlier in the day about his film not being nominated, then he get up there and whines some more. Get over yourself. At least Jack Black's was funny.

Agreed. Bill Maher is a total douche. He can't help himself being a douche. And it's long since it stopped being funny. It wasn't even just whining about his fecking un-nominated douche-fest of a film (granted I haven't seen it, but if it's Bill Maher and he believes in it, it's a douche-fest), he couldn't help taking an open crack at religion while he was at it. I didn't even know about prior whining, and I still thought it was pretty douche-y.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

Agreed. Bill Maher is a total douche. He can't help himself being a douche. And it's long since it stopped being funny. It wasn't even just whining about his fecking un-nominated douche-fest of a film (granted I haven't seen it, but if it's Bill Maher and he believes in it, it's a douche-fest), he couldn't help taking an open crack at religion while he was at it. I didn't even know about prior whining, and I still thought it was pretty douche-y.

Yay for the pointless religion swipes!

But I find odd the assumption that his comments were unscripted. Pretty much everything said by someone not holding an Oscar in their hands is pre-written. His comments weren't funny (or insightful) but that may not be entirely his fault.

[Alex]

Didn't Spielberg's DP also tell someone in the audience to suck it when Seth Rogan said he was the first DP to present an award? That was the extent of his talking on stage.

I did like Rogan cracking up when Franco mangled the Live Action Short winner's name.

[Chernabog]

The Pineapple Express bit was the best. When James Franco saw himself kissing Sean Penn on TV.... I got me the hy-sterics!

[mousepod]

The line was "suck that, Anthony Dod Mantle." Mantle is Slumdog Millionaire's cinematographer.

Personally, I really enjoyed the show. I admit that the company with whom I watched the show was stellar and that probably shaded my opinion, but the highs of the show sure outweighed the lows in a big way.

Notwithstanding my overall appreciation, my three quibbles:
- The memorial bit didn't work as well because it was the one piece that was designed primarily for the live audience. I don't think the song was the problem, it was the multiple screens. I'll bet that a broadcast-specific feed with the multiple pictures would have worked better, especially for the HD audience.
- The musical number in the middle was a little awkward (sorry, Baz) and the fact that it took up so much time versus the relatively short medley of the nominated songs.
- The surprising contrast between the touching introductions given by the presenters of the Actress awards and the mostly stiff and awkward ones given by/for the Actors. I got chills when Michael Douglas, standing on stage with Anthony Hopkins, said that Langella's portrayal of Nixon made you forget all the ones that came before. Ouch.

But in all, what a great show. Jackman's opening number, the Man on Wire Oscar balancing act, Penn's and Winslet's acceptance speeches... there were so many good things to say about the show.

One moment that should have been: when Jackman said that "musicals are back," Heather turned to me and said "A.R. Rahman should get up and say, 'We have a word for musicals in India - we call them movies.'"

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by mousepod

- The musical number in the middle was a little awkward (sorry, Baz) and the fact that it took up so much time versus the relatively short medley of the nominated songs.

Agreed. On the surface, I liked the nod to the classic Top Hat and Tails award show musical form, but they crammed way too much into that medley, left my head spinning a bit.

It was mentioned before, but I loved the Tina Fey, Steve Martin bit. My favorite moment was as Steve was about to deliver his oft-used joking spotlight stealing bit where he repeats the "And I'm Steve Martin". But he couldn't because people were too busy giving Fey a HUGE ovation. Heehee, the irony.