82nd Academy Awards -- The Show

Post Reply
Uri
Adjunct
Posts: 1230
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 11:37 pm
Location: Israel

Post by Uri »

Jeffrey wrote:As the five 1974 nominees were isolated in their close-ups, I recall Jeff Bridges was grinning ear-to-ear even though he lost. I asked my dad why he was smiling despite defeat. My dad explained that he was just so honored to be nominated.

One of my earliest lessons in sportsmanship.
It was 1975. He was 25. Dad was being protective. Sportsmanship aside, I'd say he was already doing research for his future role as the Dude.
Big Magilla
Site Admin
Posts: 19318
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
Location: Jersey Shore

Post by Big Magilla »

It was her publicist. Her husband must have been out playing golf again.
Hustler
Tenured
Posts: 2914
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 1:35 pm
Location: Buenos Aires-Argentina

Post by Hustler »

Damien wrote:
Hustler wrote:Does anyone know who was sitting next to Meryl?
I'm 99% sure it was her husband, Donald Gummer.
No, I know his husband from other acadmy ceremonies and this is not the one.
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Sonic Youth wrote:
The Original BJ wrote:As Sonic said, the supporting acting clips were outstanding.

Yes I did, and thank you for the acknowledgement, but... um... I wonder where my comments on the show disappeared to?

They're in another thread called 82nd Academy Awards -- Telecast

http://uaadb.oscarguy.com/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=76;t=12789




Edited By Damien on 1268087521
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
User avatar
Sonic Youth
Tenured Laureate
Posts: 8003
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:35 pm
Location: USA

Post by Sonic Youth »

The Original BJ wrote:As Sonic said, the supporting acting clips were outstanding.
Yes I did, and thank you for the acknowledgement, but... um... I wonder where my comments on the show disappeared to?
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Sabin
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10747
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:52 am
Contact:

Post by Sabin »

Like with 2001's Oscarcast, 2010's was a very solid production replete with films I didn't really care about. Had I felt like anything of relative artistic merit was at stake, I might be a little more passionate about it all but I have very few complaints.
"How's the despair?"
Jeffrey
Graduate
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 12:53 pm
Location: Lexington,  Kentucky

Post by Jeffrey »

The Screenplay awards really threw a wrench into the evening for me. I guess it really helped Precious that the full title contains THE NAME OF THE BOOK & ITS AUTHOR from which the film is adapted. Are the Academy members really that literal-minded?

I liked that they kept the seats closer to the stage, an innovation introduced last year to promote intimacy & lessen the time it takes to walk down the aisle.

Really a shame they didn't include Farrah Fawcett. The motivation behind nominating ten best films was to appeal to Americana. Including Fawcett during the In Memoriam would've been compatible with those instincts. "Extremities" almost by itself should've qualified the uber-popular Fawcett for inclusion.

And it was nice to see Jeff Bridges win. I recall seeing him nominated for Thundbolt & Lightfoot many years ago. It was exciting for me to see someone with my same first name nominated! (I was maybe eleven years old.)

As the five 1974 nominees were isolated in their close-ups, I recall Jeff Bridges was grinning ear-to-ear even though he lost. I asked my dad why he was smiling despite defeat. My dad explained that he was just so honored to be nominated.

One of my earliest lessons in sportsmanship.
Big Magilla
Site Admin
Posts: 19318
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
Location: Jersey Shore

Post by Big Magilla »

anonymous wrote:Most random was Charlize Theron introducing Precious. I'm still trying to figure out how is she even remotely connected to it apart from the fact that she's South African and is technically an "African-American".
Nice to see at least one of us still has a sense of humor about all this.
Mister Tee
Tenured Laureate
Posts: 8637
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:57 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Post by Mister Tee »

I'm too tired to post in every different thread, so I'll offer my full reactions here.

I was pretty alienated going in -- partly from the dreary sameness of the season and lack of interest in the top race; partly from life issues; and, in the end, from being sick for about the last two weeks, which made preparing our Oscar party a major chore. I can't even fully comment on the presentations, as I was occupied trying to host through much of the first hour and missed any number of jokes.

But, from what I saw, the big surprise was how typical an Oscar show it was. For all the talk (and deliciously snarky anticipation) that Shankman was going to move it to the level of reality TV, it pretty much felt like dozens of other editions I've seen. Apart from the Vegas-y opener and the "why is this here?" Hughes tribute, the show wasn't a disgrace, and it managed some nice moments. I honestly liked alot of intros of the lead performers -- Pfeiffer & Robbins in particular -- and thought it seemed a decent variation on last year's innovation...giving more tribute to the top nominees than a mere one-more-time recitation of their names. (Though even that honor was not accorded the best picture nominees -- did Hanks screw up, or were they just running late?)

But, in the end, it comes down to the awards, and here, for me, it was mostly ho-hum mixed in with an occasional Oh, no! The award to Bullock -- which will live in infamy -- wasn't even the evening's low point, that having been provided by the disgraceful screenwriting award to Precious. How sad when you go in with low expectations, and the evening's biggest surprise takes them lower. You might guess I also disapproved of the other screenwriting award -- undeserved AND a quick tipoff to the evening's final award. Screenplay had been a safe harbor for many of us over the past two decades, but the last few years, since '04, beyond the best picture winners I've found very little to cheer in that area.

They should have given the sound awards in reverse order if they'd wanted any modicum of suspense. Once Hurt Locker took sound editing, sound mixing was a gimme. (And, again a sign of where best picture was going, though, like many, I briefly entertained the prospect of a ghastly Precious upset)

It wasn't, of course, an evening totally without its pleasures. Waltz and Mo'Nique were deeply deserving, and so, for me, was Bridges. And I was happy for Bigelow, who look like she might keel over from the thrill. About the issues people are raising re: her -- 1) I think her being a woman made her unstoppable, and, by my ears, the night's most heavily-applauded winner, but The Hurt Locker defied all sorts of historical gravity to get this far, so writing her off as a victor-by-vagina is utterly silly; 2) I agree, Strange Days is her earlier film that most bears a look...though I think it crashes in the last reel; 3) her acknowledgement of the troops is emphatically not support for the war -- in fact, she's numerous times spoken of bringing them home. What she is doing is what many on the left have done concerning Iraq to correct a mistake made during the Vietnam era: not holding the individual soldier, who is bound to obey authority, responsible for the mistakes of leadership.

As for Sandra Bullock -- who cares if she gave a nice speech? A nice speech is in fact the problem, as those who voter for her do so with the speech rather than the performance in mind. A disgraceful choice. (And BJ, you're correct: Streep will be a significant part of Who'll Be Back this year -- to come whenever I can shake this everlasting cold and get my thoughts down on paper)
Damien
Laureate
Posts: 6331
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: New York, New York
Contact:

Post by Damien »

Hustler wrote:Does anyone know who was sitting next to Meryl?
I'm 99% sure it was her husband, Donald Gummer.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
ITALIANO
Emeritus
Posts: 4076
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:58 pm
Location: MILAN

Post by ITALIANO »

The Original BJ wrote:As Sonic said, the supporting acting clips were outstanding. I thought the lead montages were good too -- you really got to see the work that was being recognized.

I agree. The clips in general were very well selected and edited (those of the Foreign Films especially), and I was also disappointed that they did that with only a few categories.

Yes, they didn't like Up in the Air enough - this is a fact. Which, in such a year, with awards going to so many movies which seem to deal with important issues but only do that on the surface, says something about Reitman's movie, and something he can probably be proud of.




Edited By ITALIANO on 1268078232
Hustler
Tenured
Posts: 2914
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 1:35 pm
Location: Buenos Aires-Argentina

Post by Hustler »

Does anyone know who was sitting next to Meryl?
The Original BJ
Emeritus
Posts: 4312
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:49 pm

Post by The Original BJ »

Well, now I know what Mister Tee felt like during the year of The English Patient. I logged on to this board right after The Hurt Locker had won Original Screenplay (one of my hunches that came to fruition), and read the bored comments about how Hurt Locker had sealed the deal for Best Picture. My feelings couldn't have been further from that -- I was on pins and needles the whole night. Even after Hurt Locker had won both sound trophies, as big a blow to Avatar's chances as possible, I still had the fear that upset Screenplay victor Precious, or some other film, might prevail. But when Hurt Locker was finally (and, I'll agree, shockingly abruptly) declared the year's Best Picture, I was absolutely elated -- I'd forgotten what a great feeling it is to have your movie win the top trophy.

It almost offset the night's big outrage. If you'd have told me six months ago that Sandra Bullock would have a Best Actress Oscar before Julianne Moore and Michelle Pfeiffer, I wouldn't know what to say.

It's tough to know what the Academy thinks of Jason Reitman. The surprise Director nomination for Juno suggested to me that they really wanted to embrace this second generation filmmaker. But his screenplay loss, after he had basically run the precursors, might suggest otherwise. (It seemed like it would have been one of the classic "you're going to lose Director so we'll give you Screenplay" trophies.) I wonder if there's some resentment toward a filmmaker who's this successful this young. Or, maybe it's a lot more simple than that -- maybe they just liked Precious more than Up in the Air.

Thoughts on the show:

As Sonic said, the supporting acting clips were outstanding. I thought the lead montages were good too -- you really got to see the work that was being recognized.

Too bad this didn't extend to the below-the-line categories. We didn't get to hear the nominated sounds, see any editing clips, and, worst of all, the breakneck reading of the cinematography nominees made it seem like the whole category was an afterthought. Not even one pretty still for each of the nominated pictures?

As has been stated, the dance sequence was hideous. The Hughes tribute beyond long, and seeing all the washed-up stars of his pictures just made me feel bad.

Can Ben Stiller be forever banned from the Oscars? Jesus Christ that man is hideous.

After Barbra Streisand stated that this could be the first time a woman or an African-American won Best Director, it would have been REALLY awkward had it just been another one of those white guys. I loved Kathryn Bigelow's reaction to Streisand's "the time has come," as if she was nervously trying to figure out, "does that mean me?"

Maybe this is leading into the Who'll Be Back thread, but just what does Meryl Streep have to do to win another Oscar? A couple weeks ago, it looked like she had this one, only to lose in the end to a really weak contender -- a total lightweight in an idiotic movie. It's as if voters are expecting her to pull out another Sophie's Choice, and nothing less will do...except, paradoxically, MUCH less from MUCH less talented performers.
anonymous1980
Laureate
Posts: 6377
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 10:03 pm
Location: Manila
Contact:

Post by anonymous1980 »

Johnny Guitar wrote:Funniest choice of awards presenters - there were too many, but Kathy Bates introducing Avatar and Jackson introducing Up seemed particularly inspired in their randomness.
Not really THAT random. Kathy Bates was in Titanic directed by James Cameron. And Samuel L. Jackson was in The Incredibles which is also a PIXAR film.

Most random was Charlize Theron introducing Precious. I'm still trying to figure out how is she even remotely connected to it apart from the fact that she's South African and is technically an "African-American".
Big Magilla
Site Admin
Posts: 19318
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
Location: Jersey Shore

Post by Big Magilla »

Johnny Guitar wrote:Best acceptance speech - Sandy Powell.

Funniest choice of awards presenters - there were too many, but Kathy Bates introducing Avatar and Jackson introducing Up seemed particularly inspired in their randomness.
I thought Sandra Bullock's speech was the best, but Sandy Powell's was right up there. She said what we've all been saying about the costume award going to corsets and clothes for dead monarchs while contemporary designs are basically ignored.

I liked the randomness of the Best Picture introductions as well. Star Trek's Chris Pine introducing District 9 was another totally unexpected one. I also like that the introductions were mercifully short.
Post Reply

Return to “82nd Nominations and Winners”