The Oscars

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

Thank you for posting that link, NA! I watched the Best Actor segment and could not figure out where I had seen him before. He's Mr. Tumnus! (And he's adorable).

Smacks self upside the head, OOOHHHH that's right! That's where I'd seen him before. duh...

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Oh, and ISM.....

James McAvoy

Yes, that's why I gasped "Ah-Ha" out loud when they showed the Last King of Scotland clip.

Maybe now's the time to talk about men's sexy voices. Such as the above bloke with the the Scottish brogue. Yes, NA, the hack directory of Babel has the sexiest voice of the three amigos (but the least talent). And, oh, just the sound candy of the aforementioned Daniel Craig, Clive Owen and Hugh Jackman. Mmmmmm.

[Morrigoon]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Yes, that's why I gasped "Ah-Ha" out loud when they showed the Last King of Scotland clip.

Maybe now's the time to talk about men's sexy voices. Such as the above bloke with the the Scottish brogue. Yes, NA, the hack directory of Babel has the sexiest voice of the three amigos (but the least talent). And, oh, just the sound candy of the aforementioned Daniel Craig, Clive Owen and Hugh Jackman. Mmmmmm.

Scottish brogue= definitely sexiest voice of the night

[LSPoorEeyorick]

And James MacEvoy was absolutely lovely in Last King of Scotland. Couldn't take my eyes off him (unless Forrest Whitaker was on screen.)

Speaking of which, I was surprised how bad I felt about O'Toole losing... but I really and truly thought Whitaker's performance was better. Here's the thing, though, I'm really not fond of awarding a performance or a directing award to someone for their previous work. If you love their previous work that was mistakenly overlooked [ie Laurence of Arabia or Goodfellas], give them an honorary Oscar (which the academy has already done with O'Toole.) I didn't actually think that the Venus performance, or Departed-at-large, were that notable.

I got 13 right, so I did less well than I have in, like, all previous years. But then, I took some risks (LMS for best pic, which I really thought was possible-- plus I hear it got some major late-in-the-game buzz) and got some surprises (Pan's losing best score and foreign film). Tom took less risks, and got 16 right.

When the night ended, we took stock and decided that it could have been worse. Far worse. Far, far, worse. Babel was nearly shut out, and that was enough to make it an acceptable year at the Oscars.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I have to admit that this seemed like a very political oscar year to me. Inconvenient Truth, West Bank Story, Al Gore Al Gore Al Gore....blech. I know it's par for the course but geez, WBS was my LEAST favorite of the shorts. And the political song? Lordy.

Looks like we need to see Pan's Labyrinth. And Departed, of course, but Pan would be higher on the list for me.

Ellen was great. That bit with Spielberg taking the picture was killing me.

All the women looked stunning. Hugh Jackman's jacket was cut so that he looked like he had a superhuman chest, which was kind of distracting, and almost not in a good way. We saw Casino Royale yesterday so seeing Daniel Craig in a tux made it seem he stepped right out of the movie.

I loved the moment when that chick from Dreamgirls won best supporting - she really didn't expect it.

Like everyone else said, we cheered when the Danish Poet won, yay! I am SO glad we saw those.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

I'm really not fond of awarding a performance or a directing award to someone for their previous work.

Technically, I would agree. But on a night where body-of-work awards were being given away right and left (*cough*Arkin*coughcough*Scorcese*), I think O'Toole was unsentimentally overlooked for what was, truly, one of his greatest performances. (Though I'd forgotten he'd won an honorary Oscar at one point - - - meaning it would have been ultra triumphant for him to actually win one after the Academy had essentially ruled him a legendary has-been!)

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I have to admit that this seemed like a very political oscar year to me. I know it's par for the course but geez, WBS was my LEAST favorite of the shorts.

Wow, if you can't stop your political views from tainting a silly comedy, I seriously think you might consider lightening up. Just because the Kosher Fast Food Joint was managed a little more obnoxiously than the Palestinian Flafel Joint does not make West Bank Story an anti-semetic piece of Israeli-hating propaganda.

Did you listen to the acceptance speech? The movie was a musical comedy spoof designed to promote peace. Get a grip.

[innerSpaceman]

And since GD mentioned the cool Foley Effects Choir, I would like to give some props to the Shadow Dancers. Best Picture nominees The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine were great ... but the troupe really shone when lowering their standards a bit to give hysterical renditions of The Devil Wears Prada and Snakes on a Plane!! Hahahahah!!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Wow, if you can't stop your political views from tainting a silly comedy, I seriously think you might consider lightening up. Just because the Kosher Fast Food Joint was managed a little more obnoxiously than the Palestinian Flafel Joint does not make West Bank Story an anti-semetic piece of Israeli-hating propaganda.

Did you listen to the acceptance speech? The movie was a musical comedy spoof designed to promote peace. Get a grip.

Whaaaa?! Wow, you read a lot into what she posted that's simply not there. All she's saying is that she feels that West Bank Story won because of its political message rather than being the best of the bunch.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Oh, and how was the IM conversation? We got home too late to join in, as we were watching TiVo style.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Nicole Kidman. I mean, I guess it's just not noteworthy anymore when she walks on stage looking absolutely stunning! After they presented, I mentioned to CP that Kidman looked fabulous, and CP replied, "So did Daniel Craid," and that's when I realized I think I had glanced at him once during their whole presentation, the rest of the time I was just transfixed by Kidman.

Hooray for the Danish Poet! The douche they kept showing back stage as they went to commercial called that one a "surprise". Umm, it was only a surprise to anyone who hadn't seen the nominees. It was hands down the best of the bunch.

West Bank Story...eh. I didn't dislike it, I didn't dislike any of the shorts. But I'm really quite surprised it won. I would have picked any of the other before it. The guy's speech was good though.

As for the rest of the awards...I didn't see nearly enough of the nominees to speak to them. But I thought the show was entertaining. Even Jack Black and Will Ferrell made me laugh. I loved the sound effects choir, but whichever director or producer made the call to cut to a closeup of the choir every 5 seconds needs to be shot. That bit was all about the wide angle, seeing the film and hearing the choir. A handful of closeups so we could see them in action would have been nice, but the constant cutting drove me to distraction. Grrrr.

I'm sure I say this every year, but I gotta see more movies.