86th Oscar Thoughts

Here's last years reaction, and on that page is a link to my thoughts on previous shows.

 

 

THE 86TH ACADEMY AWARDS

Host: Ellen Degeneres

Winners: 12 Years a Slave, Alfonso Cuaron, Matthew McConaughey, Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong'o

Notable Occurrences:
+The show aimed to salute movie heroes, with montages of animated heroes, superheroes, and real life heroes. 
+Bette Midler performed for the first time on the show, right after the In Memoriam segment.  She sang her classic "Wind Beneath My Wings."
+Pink sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as salute to the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland's children, Liza Minelli most famously, are in the audience.
+Alfonso Cuaron became the first Mexican to win Best Directing.
+Ellen returned as host, taking a selfie with audience members that temporarily breaks Twitter.  She has pizzas delivered to the Dolby Theater, much to the delight of attendees.
+Hollywood legends Kim Novak and Sidney Poitier made appearances. 

 

The Good:
+I'll start with the audience in attendance.  The pizza, the selfie, the standing ovations, the dancing with Pharrell, the audience was INTO the show.  This adds so much, I think.  Too often we think of everyone at the Oscars sitting there looking bored, disappointed, uptight.  What a nice change of pace!
+Did this show hold a record for standing ovations?  Lupita, Cate, Matthew, Pink, Bette, Idina, both screenwriters (has that ever happened?), U2, Sidney, and I think 12 Years winning. 
+Ellen's two mid-show stunts: the selfie and the pizza.  The selfie was something so simple and yet brilliant.  I think it was the perfect way of embracing social media without looking desperate.  It also a great way of saying "This is the Oscars, and this is where everybody wants to be!" without coming off too smug.  The pizza thing seemed kind of lame at first, but the pay off was perfect.  You could tell how everyone was hungry, Kerry Washington especially.  Oh, and her dressed as Glinda was great, too.


+I know this probably falls closer into "THE BAD" but John Travolta's botching of Idina Menzel's name is the hardest I've laughed during an Oscar telecast in ages.  "Adele Dazeem", you're always in our hearts! 
+More unintentional laughter: Goldie Hawn's upbeat then campily somber intro of 12 Years a Slave.
+Even more unintentional laughter: Liza grabbing Lupita when she won.
+Ellen's closer to her monologue: "Possibility number one: 12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture. Possibility number two: You're all racists. And now, please welcome our first white presenter, Anne Hathaway."
+THE MUSIC.  I'm gonna break this down:
 *Pharrell's number, particularly dancing with Lupita, Meryl and Amy.  This was perfect

 *Karen O's performance was easily the best of the night.  While I'll get to the stage design in a bit, the simplicity of "The Moon Song"'s set added to it.  Just beautiful.  Also, strangely, the only number to not get a standing ovation.  (No standing O for Karen O.)  But I guess Pharrell shouldn't count given he told them to stand during his song.
 *Darlene Love singing at the end of 20 Feet From Stardom's win.  They probably should have given that cast its own number.  Loved Bill Murray seemingly leading the standing O for her.
 *Pink was perfection.  I'm not really a fan, and was relieved she wasn't twirling in the air. 
+Some inspired presenter pairings.   Charlize and Chris = yum.  Benedict and Jennifer, Naomi and Sam, and especially Bill and Amy.
+Bill's impromptu tribute to Harold Ramis - nice touch. 
+I loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emma Watson's little bows to each other.  Nice inspired pairing there too.
+They didn't skimp as hard as they did last year on the tech categories.  We got actual clips instead of just title cards.  They still could be a little better, but it's a step up.  Also, the animated cards for the Best Picture lineup was cute.
+OMFG - did they only start to play off one person?  This made me so happy.  One of my biggest criticisms last year was that awful Jaws music used to usher people off or shut them up completely.  Rectified!  That said, I get we want the acting winners, but all four people went on a little too long.  I think someone said Cate Blanchett's was three minutes.  It wouldn't surprise me if the four winners combined held the record for longest speeches.  All that aside, most of the speeches were very good.  I don't think anyone is shocked that Matthew McConaughey is his own hero.
+#suckitjulia


The Bad:
+Ellen seemed a little off.  It wasn't quite bad, but it just felt very off.  I laughed more with her than the past three show hosts.  But if it weren't for the pizza and selfie, I wouldn't be so kind.  A lot of her introductions were terrible and some delivery was weak.  Her first time was much better.  Not sure I want her back immediately, but maybe some time down the line.
+The Heroes theme felt like an afterthought.  It was basically just three montages (I liked the middle one Sally Field introduced) and the occasional presenter throwing in the word hero in their banter.  The "theme" aspect needs to be dropped altogether and just make it, you know, we're presenting awards and honoring movies.  Simple as that.
+The presenters lines were okay.  It felt a little Hallmark, if not entirely awkward.  Again, like last year, hardly anyone was funny.
+The stage was mostly terrible.  It looked the same as last year, and why were those Oscar gummy bear / balloon things still there during Pharrell's performance.  The minimalist stage during the performances only worked during the aforementioned "The Moon Song" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".  U2 looked stranded.  Idina (Adele Dazeem) had a really lovely lighting and crystals, but it still needed something.
+The song needs to be performed during the In Memoriam not after.  It worked okay last year because Barbra Streisand was paying tribute to Marvin Hamlisch.  This year it just felt like Bette Midler hijacking the presentation.  The Esperanza Spalding / "What a Wonderful World" from a years back was exactly how it should be done.  I'm also not a fan of using a popular movie under the person's name. 
+Speaking of Midler, and the same thing happened with Menzel, they needed to be directed to bow and then exit the stage.  What happened was they finished singing, then stared the audience into giving them a standing ovation.  Well, that might not be what happened exactly, but it felt like that's what happened.  Taylor Swift would be proud.
+The orchestra needs to come back to the Dolby, not down the road.  This was more problematic last year, but there's no reason why this wasn't a problem for years and suddenly became one the last two years.
+The direction of the show was much improved.  That said, way too many swooping shots of the front row - the first one was good, the next seventeen not so much.  The view from the seats in the audience by peoples' heads didn't work either.  I get why we kept seeing Sandra Bullock, as her film won a lot.  But why did we keep seeing Emma Watson?  And when Kevin Spacey presented the Honorary Oscar segment, why wouldn't there be a shot of Angelina Jolie? 
+Way too much stray sound getting in, too.  We don't need to hear what's going on backstage.
+Really, what the fuck does it take to get a woman to present Best Picture!?!?!?! (And not a man introducing a woman via satellite.)
+The Best Picture triple pack thing still doesn't work for me. 

Last year, I requested more the Charlize/Channing dancing.  More of this please:




David O. Russell steals Spike Jonze's Oscar

BEST DRESSED:

I couldn't find someone I agreed with for #5.  LOL.  Jennifer Lawrence's makeup (making her eyebrows almost invisible) ruined that look.  Wasn't a fan of Amy Adams' hair, way too severe.  I'm not too high on Cate Blanchett's look either.  I know some are.  To me, it looked like a cheap version of the very pretty dress Cameron Diaz wore four years ago.  I didn't like Angelina Jolie's at all, and it looked like something I've already seen three or four times.  Julia Roberts - too drab.  I was considering Jessica Biel, but then I saw it up close and wasn't as wowed.  Maybe Jennifer Garner, maybe.  Or Olivia Wilde, who showed us a thing or two about how to dress while very pregnant and still look fantastic.  Plus, she had Sudeikis as some serious arm candy.  Though I guess with him being a presenter, she's the arm candy.  Still, they both look fantastic.  I'd also like to salute the fellas, for finally doing some colors instead of just a black tux. 

#4 - CHARLIZE THERON - I'm not that wowed by the bottom, but from the knees up she looks killer. 

#3 - LUIPTA NYONG'O - such a moment dress.  Would be higher if it weren't similar to the one Natalie Portman wore when she was nominated for Closer.  It's a little too severe on her chest, but it's definately an "I'm here to win!" dress and I love those. 

 

 

#2 - SANDRA BULLOCK - She just crept higher and higher for me.  This is such a romantic look, and she doesn't often do that.  This is also the fifth year in a row she's made my top 5 Best Dressed on Oscar night.  Whoever has styled her for this last half decade deserves a mad raise.

 

 

 

#1 - KATE HUDSON - I know, I'm as shocked as you.  Though in truth, looking back at some of her looks over the years, she does often really look amazing.  Old Hollywood glamour, very hip, and juts gorgeous. 

 

One with the cape, one withouth.  One without a hot man, one with.  Bravo, Hawn spawn!

 

MOST DISAPPOINTING: Emma Watson.  Ugh, first time at the Oscars and that's what you wear.  It's way too bland.  She usually brings it, and I thought she'd take another risk like she did at the Globes.

 

BEST SWITCHEROO: Anne Hathaway.  I didn't have as much of a problem with the metal/grunge thing that most did.  (Though I suspect their problem was who was wearing it, more than anything else.  Hathahate - soooo last year, dumbasses.)  But her Vanity Fair party dress would've easily made my top 5 (4?) of the night had she worn it to the Oscars.  I know a lot of actresses switch it out to go partying, but the dress you wear to the Oscars should be the better one.

 

 

 

WORST: I'll just agree with everyone else.  MARGOT ROBBIT in second.  (I don't hate it as much as everyone else, but she killed it at the Globes!  And she's new!  She should've shown up looking better than a late 90's goth. 



 

#1 - ANNA KENDRICK - There's way too much going on here, and none of it is good.  She has such a big year ahead, why start it off like this. 

 

 

 

And that's a wrap for another award season.  It's been a fun, lively one!  More of that next year please!