The Annual Academy Awards - General Discussion

[harrie]

 From that link, Travolta's defense of his creepiness:

Does anyone buy being blown away by Goldie Hawn's stunning beauty as Travolta's excuse for acting weird? Now if he'd run into Chris Evans or Channing Tatum backstage, maybe...

 

I'm just a little squicked out by Travolta's saying he was loving Goldie up backstage.

[JBC344]

You can't get rid of those "smaller" categories because year after year at least one of the winners gives a great speech, this year there were a few!

It's not that he is dying, it was just a fantastic role for a man who doesn't work that much, I mean the last major movie he was in was The Other Guys in 2010 and hasn't been in a movie that garnered any sort of awards attention (and not for him) since Jackie Brown in 1997.

What is funny to me is that people use that reasoning as to why Michael Keaton should have won over Eddie, because Eddie is much younger and will have more time to be nominated.  What I don't understand is if Michael Keaton can't get nominated over the years than what assurance do people have that Eddie will be nominated in the future.  Also it creates this whole argument we have about make-up Oscars.

 

Personally I don't believe in the "give so and so the Oscar because they are older and may never be nominated again."  There are no assurances that anyone will get nominated in the future.  I also think about not counting people out so early.  How many people would of predicted that Patricia Arquette would of won an Oscar a few years ago? Not because she isn't talented but because she primarily works in tv now and is older.  Hell Sally Field was just nominated for Lincoln in her 60's, same as Glenn Close, and Emmanuelle Rivea at 80. 

 

Also Michael Keaton has now had a resurgence in his career, depending on the role he could be nominated again a few years from now. 

[Notwisconsin]

As to the shorts, The live action one was pretty much "illustrated radio" and the animated short was teriffic. It wasn't that good a year for shorts for some reason. Big Hero Six didn't deserve it, as Song of the Sea was by far the best of the ones nominated. It was even better than The Lego Movie."

 

Unlike the shorts, you don't have to see all the films to vote.

[VCRTracking]

Idina would have sung the SOM songs beautifully but she wouldn't have sounded like Julie. That's what struck me the first couple of moments, was that Lady Gaga sounded just like her back in the day. And it was deliberate too, with the British accent.  I knew she could really sing from her performing "Edge of Glory" on SNL while playing the piano and no backup, but I didn't know she could sing like that!

Edited February 23, 2015 by VCRTracking

[cynic]

As to the shorts, The live action one was pretty much "illustrated radio" and the animated short was teriffic. It wasn't that good a year for shorts for some reason. Big Hero Six didn't deserve it, as Song of the Sea was by far the best of the ones nominated. It was even better than The Lego Movie."

Unlike the shorts, you don't have to see all the films to vote.

I didn't see the other nominated animation films, but I floved Big Hero Six. I enjoyed it much more than the Lego Movie even. I was happy it won.

Feast, the animated short, was wonderful too.

[kili]

Big Hero Six didn't deserve it, as Song of the Sea was by far the best of the ones nominated. It was even better than The Lego Movie.

 

Speaking of which, I was pretty peeved that during the announcements of the nominees for Animated Feature film, they showed us some low-fidelity animations that were all the same style. Why couldn't they show us a mini-clip of the film so we could be awed by the animation? A couple of times they went and showed us graphics/photos instead of clips and I was annoyed each time. Show me the Production Design. Show me the Visual Effects. It's a Visual Effects award!!!!! It's like if the Grammys played static instead of allowing people to perform.

[Rick Kitchen]

You can't get rid of those "smaller" categories because year after year at least one of the winners gives a great speech, this year there were a few!

It's not that he is dying, it was just a fantastic role for a man who doesn't work that much, I mean the last major movie he was in was The Other Guys in 2010 and hasn't been in a movie that garnered any sort of awards attention (and not for him) since Jackie Brown in 1997.

 

He has a new movie coming up, Spotlight, about the Catholic Church child molestation scandal.  And he's in pre-production for a King Kong remake with Tom Hiddleston and JK Simmons.

Idina would have sung the SOM songs beautifully but she wouldn't have sounded like Julie. That's what struck me the first couple of moments, was that Lady Gaga sounded just like her back in the day. And it was deliberate too, with the British accent.  I knew she could really sing from her performing "Edge of Glory" on SNL while playing the piano and no backup, but I didn't know she could sing like that!

 

I just read she spent six months with a voice coach before that performance.

[KaveDweller]

I am not really surprised Birdman won because Hollywood loves movies about movies/actors/show business.  But I was thinking today that out of all the best picture nominations I saw (which is everything but Whiplash) Birdman was my least favorite.  The acting was amazing, but the movie itself just didn't do anything for me.   

 

That might explain "Adele Dazeem" (and even that story is odd ... why would they make a phonetic spelling on a teleprompter? It's not like people hadn't heard of Idina Menzel. That was the height of "Let It Go"!), but it doesn't excuse the weirdness of him cooing over her and stroking her face last night. It's like he tried to fix the awkward ... buy making it more awkward?

 

It also doesn't explain why he couldn't just remember her name.  All he did was introduce her so it's not like he had to remember a whole bunch of stupid banter or a long list of names.   I blame Scientology.  

[truthaboutluv]

I've got to think that if Glen were singing that song in the documentary, and people saw that, they'd have been crazy not to vote for him. Then again, Academy members do dumb things sometimes. To make a statement.

 

 

Or maybe some of the voters just thought Glory was better. 

[CherryMalotte]

Note to the Academy and to the people here who may not have seen it, this is how you do a memorial. Simple yet classy.    

[Notwisconsin]

As an addendum to my remarks above about the short subject Oscars. They should have never banned TV pilots. "Dear Diary" won one in 1996, and two animated ones, "Courage the Cowardly Dog" and "Totally Twisted Fairy Tales: Little Red Riding Hood" were nominated and should have won. The quality would have been much, much better.

[McManda]

I think there was a lot of fluff that was in the TCM tribute video (all the shots of the very beautiful estate) that maybe shouldn't be in the Oscar tribute, but other than that, I liked that style a lot. The watercolor portraits of the Oscars were very classy, but I think they didn't have quite the impact as showing examples their work, especially if the watercolor portrait they chose was of a time in their career where they might not have been so instantly recognizable. It's unlikely someone wouldn't know who Robin Williams was, but I'm not so sure on some of the others.

 

For example, I had no idea Marc Platt died! I wouldn't necessarily have recognized his watercolor (if he was even included in the Oscar tribute; he may not have been) and I don't think I would have made a connection from a 7 second name flash, but he was instantly recognizable in TCM's tribute as Daniel Pontipee (from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), even though that's one of my favorite movie musicals. They added in another scene from that movie later in the tribute. (Also, he was 100 when he died last March. That's ... amazing.)

 

That's where the TCM tribute excels in opposition to the Oscar tribute, I think.

Edited February 24, 2015 by McManda

[Lady Calypso]

Well, here are some of my Oscar thoughts, which are somewhat similar to people on here:

 

First off, Neil Patrick Harris. I really like the guy. I think he has done a fine job hosting the Tony's and I've liked his bits on other award shows even when he's not hosting (the Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting People's Choice Awards bit, for instance). I do think, however, that he didn't do a good job on this year's Oscars. The writing of his jokes are subpar, he clearly isn't an improviser and although he tried his hardest (I actually found it endearing that he was smiling at his own jokes), nobody was really biting. The whole ceremony seemed lackluster and boring. I don't think Neil is entirely at fault, although he does play a hand in it. I'm not really sure why he was given the lame, 'safe' jokes and why he was given the most boring gag, the briefcase gag, ever. It would have been better if he had opened up the envelope, have it read "You are all winners", cue the applause, then have the last bit saying something like "except for you, Olivier Stanton" then have Neil go "Oops, John Travolta wrote that last bit" while having everyone trying to figure out who this 'John Travola name' is. It's not horribly funny, but Neil was hitting it with the Travolta jokes, so he could have kept going. 

 

I'm not particularly fond of  the In Memoriam part, only because it usually goes on far longer than it should. I don't mind the tribute, but I do think the singing afterward doesn't really do anything for me, so I tend to go and do other things when that part happens. I also skipped most of the songs, besides Glory and Sound of Music. I will say Lady Gaga has never looked better and I thought she sounded her best too. But Julie Andrews! Wow, she still looks amazing!

 

The one winner that I was rooting for was Eddie Redmayne, so I'm glad he won. I think Michael Keaton did a good job, but I liked Eddie's performance way better so he deserved it. I was actually content with most of the winners, although I do have the opinion that I don't think Birdman should have been nomintated for 9 awards, and I'm happy it didn't sweep the categories. Not that Birdman was bad, but I just was more moved by Whiplash and other films. I also liked Wild and thought maybe it deserved one more nomination. 

 

I may not love the smaller categories, but I love that they get the recognition they deserve. Those people put in so much work into making the film work, but this is the only time most people would know, or hear, their names and they deserve it. Plus, we got some pretty great speeches from them. I get why people would rather they weren't there, and I used to share that mindset not too long ago. However, being a film major in university right now and getting to know the ins and outs of films makes me happy that they get their moment to shine, because it often will not happen very often, if ever again after that night. 

 

Ok, so...I'm clearly in a minority, so I'll carefully share my opinion: I didn't really see anything too wrong about Sean Penn's comment. Ok, I do see why people are upset, but I don't think he meant it in a racist or derogatory way. If he wasn't friends with Inarritu, I think it would be worse, but it's clear he didn't take offense to it and I think Penn was just making a poorly timed joke. I think because it was made a public joke on national TV, people (understandably) saw the joke as one that is racist and jokes like that can obviously be harmful. But in terms of making the joke itself, I think Penn was just trying to be funny and I'll admit, I laughed a little bit. 

 

John Travolta is creepy and he's way past his time now. It's time to let him disappear gracefully and, you know, not return. He creeps me out and I used to enjoy him. 

 

I have yet to see Still Alice, Boyhood, Selma and The Grand Budapest Hotel but now I really want to. 

 

Patricia Arquette's speech was amazing. Sadly, I've seen posts on tumblr that call her out on trying to make the show political and bringing in issues that are unwarranted. But hell, somebody's gotta fight for something! And if Arquette has to use her celebrity power on national TV to start talk on an issue that isn't talked about much, then go for it! 

 

On the other hand, the race jokes? They gotta be done with more class and less 'haha, the Academy is kinda racist!'. It would be better to see action on that front, and not 'throw black people on as presenters' kind of thing. But hey, that issue will probably never truly be fixed, which is sad. 

 

So, all in all, lackluster Oscars. Ellen really did an outstanding job and I think NPH is not fit for the Oscars. I'm not saying he's the worst, but he was boring and some of that is on him, and some of that is on the writers/producers that told him to do and say this stuff. But pretty solid list of winners and some of the speeches were great. But yeah, they need to figure out a balance on speeches, songs and 'filler bits'.

[aradia22]

 

It also doesn't explain why he couldn't just remember her name.  All he did was introduce her so it's not like he had to remember a whole bunch of stupid banter or a long list of names.   I blame Scientology.

Oh, that reminds me. Did you know that the Richard Rodgers theatre (where If/Then, starring Idina until March 22, is playing) is across the street from a giant Scientology building?

[McManda]

So, all in all, lackluster Oscars. Ellen really did an outstanding job and I think NPH is not fit for the Oscars. I'm not saying he's the worst, but he was boring and some of that is on him, and some of that is on the writers/producers that told him to do and say this stuff.So, all in all, lackluster Oscars. Ellen really did an outstanding job and I think NPH is not fit for the Oscars. I'm not saying he's the worst, but he was boring and some of that is on him, and some of that is on the writers/producers that told him to do and say this stuff.

 

For me the biggest disappointment of the Oscars was not NPH or his hosting or his lame jokes. He can only do so much to enthuse an audience bored by the nominations. Usually people know more of what's nominated - at least for the big categories. This year ... people might have seen American Sniper. But the only way Joe Schmo off the street had heard of any of the other movies nominated was if they'd stopped in for any of the other awards shows.

 

I'd put the less than stellar telecast on the nominees. This was a year for dedicated movie-goers, which is probably not the majority of people watching the Oscars.

[Shannon L.]

 

And he's in pre-production for a King Kong remake with Tom Hiddleston and JK Simmons.

Great.  Just when I never thought I'd have to see that movie again, this cast signs on.....   :)

 

There have been nice memorial tributes over the years.  The one that I'll never forget is 1996 when George Burns and Gene Kelly died.  They were the biggest known stars to have died that year and I think they honored them separately. They showed clips and when the screen faded to black, with Gene Kelly's they continued the whistling for a few more seconds and with George Burn's, as it was fading, you heard him say "Say goodnight, Gracie.".  I thought that was a nice touch.

 

I, too, am old enough to remember the dancing segments.  Up in our neck of the woods (or maybe everywhere?), we were still new to the whole genre of contemporary dancing and watching the dancers jump around on stage trying to interpret a movie didn't make much sense to us at the time (especially if it was a war film or something like that).  I could appreciate it much more these days and would probably enjoy it more than just watching someone sing.

 

However, being a film major in university right now and getting to know the ins and outs of films makes me happy that they get their moment to shine, because it often will not happen very often, if ever again after that night.

 

I'm sure many posters by now know that my husband was in the business and we have many friends who still are.  We're always happy to hear someone thank the crew because the ones that are never honored have some back breaking work and work long, hard hours.

 

Usually people know more of what's nominated - at least for the big categories. This year ... people might have seen American Sniper. But the only way Joe Schmo off the street had heard of any of the other movies nominated was if they'd stopped in for any of the other awards shows.

 

I've always wondered about the decisions made in regards to advertising a movie.  I saw many of the movies this year (7 of the 8 Best Picture nominees and a few more) and many of them I'd never heard of until I read about them here.  Most movie goers aren't going to be reading up on whats coming up in Hollywood and when and what the talk is--they just see it advertised on tv or in previews.  Personally, I don't think it would be a bad thing to show previews of, let's say for example, a drama, before a comedy.  Mix it up a little!   But, I guess the studios have their reasons. 

[NYGirl]

I watched for the first time in at least 20 years since I couldn't find anything to watch.  I haven't seen any of the nominated movies.  (I did see the Lego Movie with my grandson though).  My son saw American Sniper and said it was a great movie.

 

After watching tonight nothing made me want to see any of the movies.  NPH seemed a little stiff to me and I noticed he had a somewhat surprised face when the audience actually laughed at one of his jokes... (in his head he was saying "yeaaaaah").

 

I LOVED Lady Gaga and John Legend.  I also loved Everything is Awesome.

[zxy556575]

I honestly think the majority of people who watch awards shows do so because they want to see who wins, what kind of speech they give, and what the women are wearing. Bob Hope used to tell a few jokes in the opening, then everything got away from us when Billy Crystal started his well-received production numbers. Which were different and funny at the time, but damn. When did the Oscars become a variety show? Nobody is there to watch over-long magic tricks!

 

I did used to find the dance numbers kind of fun and when they used to parade all the costumes on stage from those nominations.

 

My personal favorite movie last year was Grand Budapest so I was glad to see it pick up a couple of trinkets.

Edited February 24, 2015 by lordonia

[Crucial]

I was so so happy for Eddie Redmayne to win.  He was the one out of anyone I wanted to win.  He was so adorable too when he won.  I loved his performance and thought he was fantastic.  Congrats to all the other winners and don't have a problem with who won.  I didn't care for NPH and I honestly hope he doesn't come back as a host for the Oscars.  I've never watched the Tony's so I don't know if he was different or the same type of host but anyways.  Not impressed with him at all as a host (really like him as an actor). Please no more hosts in their underwear - ever.  It's not needed (and for me it's just gross).

 

Lady Gaga was amazing.  I know she is talented but her performance here was the best by far for her - and for any other artist who performed.  I loved her voice.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Crucial

[cooksdelight]

I guess I'm old school, as I miss the Academy Awards show where you watched to see if Richard Burton would be drunk, would Liz say something shitty to him... the old guard Hollywood A-listers who were barely hanging on but you figured it might be the last time you'd see them dressed up and out & about. Did anybody use a Telepromtr back then? I think most people may have had cue cards, but they basically just went with a wing and a prayer.

"And the winner is...." was how it was announced. Until someone decided it wasn't PC and changed it. This show is afraid to piss anyone off, so instead it pisses off viewers like me who want to see something entertaining for my 3-1/2 hours of sitting in the recliner.

:)

[Crucial]

I guess I'm old school, as I miss the Academy Awards show where you watched to see if Richard Burton would be drunk, would Liz say something shitty to him... the old guard Hollywood A-listers who were barely hanging on but you figured it might be the last time you'd see them dressed up and out & about. Did anybody use a Telepromtr back then? I think most people may have had cue cards, but they basically just went with a wing and a prayer.

"And the winner is...." was how it was announced. Until someone decided it wasn't PC and changed it. This show is afraid to piss anyone off, so instead it pisses off viewers like me who want to see something entertaining for my 3-1/2 hours of sitting in the recliner.

:)

See I like this type of show. I would love this type of show because you have something show worthy.  Bring a live event and have a couple drunks add to it will make some noise.   It's not some scripted plot where someone shows up in undies to deliver something NPH did.

 

I'd love to be pissed off.  I wish Seth McFarlane was host.  Loved how he hosted even though I was kind of pissed at him.  He was great !

[Kromm]

 From that link, Travolta's defense of his creepiness:

Does anyone buy being blown away by Goldie Hawn's stunning beauty as Travolta's excuse for acting weird? Now if he'd run into Chris Evans or Channing Tatum backstage, maybe...

Right.  Like him perving on a 70 year old woman makes him seem LESS weird?  

 

Doubly so because he's married.  Triply so, because he's known Hawn for decades, so it's hardly like he just stumbled over her for the first time.  Quadruply so if you give any credence to the rumors about his actual preferences. 

[thuganomics85]

Seems like The Golden Globes have taken the "drunk celebs" duties from now on.  I agree that the Oscars would probably be way more fun, if they would just let loose a bit.

 

Not sure what is going on with the hosts though.  It seems like no one can really please everyone.  The closest one I can think of recently was Hugh Jackman.  Obviously, no one is beloved by all, but I remember thinking he mainly got praise.  Maybe that's why he never hosted again.  Why loose that good-will?  What's interesting is that I feel like he and NPH have a similar style with hosting award shows, but he seems to fare much better then NPH, IMO.

[Umbelina]

For a show like this, I think you really need a comedian that's familiar with improve and live shows.  They have to be able to think on their feet, without making it all about them.  They also have to show a bit of respect and SOME dignity.  I think that's one reason the presenters were so dour.  They were trying to add some dignity and gravitas, because the host certainly was not.

 

It's Hollywood's biggest night, it means something to them, in spite of the multiple other awards shows.

 

Endless mocking and insulting really doesn't work well, unless it's good-hearted.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Umbelina

[opus]

Who remembers the "applause meter competition" that used to go with the death montage?

[Madding crowd]

I think the Oscars have been kind of boring for a long time. When I was a kid, I watched it with my mom and that was the only place to see the celebrities (except for in the actual movies or the movie magazines). They had a certain glamour because they seemed distant. Now with the internet, streaming platforms, Twitter etc. we know every detail about their lives and their are a lot more of them due to HBO, Netflix etc.

 

I thought NPH was Ok but his jokes weren't all that funny and it hard to balance comedy with memorials and civil rights speeches etc. I thought Jennifer Hudson was wasted and even though Gaga was great, there was no particular reason for SOM to be mentioned at this time.

 

I didn't see some of the films nominated, but I agree that we need more popular films in the fray. For example, I though Bradley Cooper was excellent in American Sniper, but I was sure he wouldn't win because the other films were more arty. 

[roseha]

Note to the Academy and to the people here who may not have seen it, this is how you do a memorial. Simple yet classy.    

Absolutely.  Did the Academy really forget Shirley Temple?

I for one hated the drawings (they looked like colored pencil to me with those dumb slanted lines over almost everyone's face) especially since they were clearly all copied from photographs anyway.  I can't believe they don't use clips like TCM, why not just give in and use Turner's?

[Moose135]

After last night's show, I'm reminded of this exchange from The West Wing, over the annual presidential pardon of a turkey at Thanksgiving:

 

C.J.: They sent me two turkeys. The most photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.

BARTLET: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.

 

That might add some excitement to the night...

 

ETA:

Who remembers the "applause meter competition" that used to go with the death montage?

I think over at TWOP, someone referred to it as "the world's worst popularity contest".

Edited February 24, 2015 by Moose135

[ruby24]

That's probably true. In the last 15 years especially, access to celebrities has been so streamlined that the Oscars don't seem all that special anymore. They really did used to be this huge thing where all the movie stars are all together and you can't see anything so glamorous anywhere else, but now you can just go online and browse through pictures of any event you want and see all kinds of stars, fashion, whatever.

 

That's personally why I think they have GOT to make some changes. The award itself still has prestige, because it's the oldest (I can't believe in just 12 years it'll be the 100th Academy Awards, that's nuts), but there would be nothing wrong with updating the ceremony, shedding some of the technical awards, do whatever you can to make it more entertaining. They're afraid to mess with the basic format, but I don't think it would hurt it to do so.

[Thumper]

Too much NPH. Didn't need the running gag about the briefcase or the "isn't the show over with yet?" ending with his forecasts. Have the song sung at the same time as the "In Memoriam" segment, or no vocal at all.

I too remember when they would give a short announcement about the documentaries. I really liked that.

Someone upthread said Garth Brooks should have sung "I'm Not Going to Miss You" instead of Tim McGraw. Not a huge TM fan, but I am so glad it was not Garth. Garth would have over-emoted, making it more about him by taking his hat off at the end and looking sorrowful, or something like that. Love Garth and his music back in the day, but recently saw him in concert and he was way OTT in (faux, IMO) emotion to the crowd.

[designing1]

 

Did the Academy really forget Shirley Temple?

 

She died February 10, 2014, and the show was the beginning of March, so if they go by "Oscar's year" rather than calendar year she was probably included in last year's show.

 

 

I for one hated the drawings (they looked like colored pencil to me with those dumb slanted lines over almost everyone's face) especially since they were clearly all copied from photographs anyway.

 

I actually liked them but couldn't help thinking "Photoshop filter". I do prefer actual photos and film clips, though.

[biakbiak]

Did the Academy really forget Shirley Temple?

She died February 10, 2014, and the show was the beginning of March, so if they go by "Oscar's year" rather than calendar year she was probably included in last year's show.

Yes, she was in last years tribute along with Harold Ramis and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

[briochetwist]

Someone upthread said Garth Brooks should have sung "I'm Not Going to Miss You" instead of Tim McGraw. Not a huge TM fan, but I am so glad it was not Garth. Garth would have over-emoted, making it more about him by taking his hat off at the end and looking sorrowful, or something like that. Love Garth and his music back in the day, but recently saw him in concert and he was way OTT in (faux, IMO) emotion to the crowd.

I read today that Tim McGraw was asked to sing it by the Campbell family.  I'm not really a fan of country music, and by that I mean I loathe it, yet I thought that Tim's performance was moving and beautiful.  It was actually my favorite performance of the night.  I'm shocked to admit that.

[Kromm]

Someone upthread said Garth Brooks should have sung "I'm Not Going to Miss You" instead of Tim McGraw. Not a huge TM fan, but I am so glad it was not Garth. Garth would have over-emoted, making it more about him by taking his hat off at the end and looking sorrowful, or something like that. Love Garth and his music back in the day, but recently saw him in concert and he was way OTT in (faux, IMO) emotion to the crowd.

Supposedly Glen Campbell picked McGraw.  So it would be weird to override that for another choice. 

 

Not that I'm really sure how an Alzheimer's patient in the late stages picks ANYONE, but I kinda took that as code talk that maybe McGraw is simply a family friend and the Campbell family simply designated him.

[ennui]

Note to the Academy and to the people here who may not have seen it, this is how you do a memorial. Simple yet classy.    

Thank you for that ... and it was only 5 minutes! You would think an academy of filmmakers could come up with something.

[superdeluxe]

Getting married is campaigning?

 

Yes.  Getting married was part of his campaign.  Look, as much as it should be about the performance, it's not.  It's about the campaign and that boy hustled his way to that Oscar.  And he's going to go even harder next year.

[cooksdelight]

By doing what....giving birth all by himself? :)

[truthaboutluv]

For example, I though Bradley Cooper was excellent in American Sniper, but I was sure he wouldn't win because the other films were more arty.

 

 

YMMV but I was sure he wasn't going to win because others gave better performances than him, in my opinion anyway. Hell Bradley was the "surprise" nominee in the category because he'd been ignored for many of the precursor awards - including the SAG and BAFTA. 

 

Yes.  Getting married was part of his campaign.  Look, as much as it should be about the performance, it's not.  It's about the campaign and that boy hustled his way to that Oscar.  And he's going to go even harder next year.

 

 

I don't think anyone is arguing that Eddie didn't campaign hard but the notion that his getting married was part of that just seems a bit of a stretch. This is Hollywood, land of affairs, inappropriate relationships, multiple divorces, etc. In other words, I highly doubt voters give a shit about any nominee's marital status or lack thereof. It's not a political campaign where things like this matter. Added to that, it's not like Eddie married some fellow celebrity/actor so there was the added celebrity factor like you get with couples like Brad/Angelina. I'm pretty sure his wife isn't even the entertainment industry at all. 

Edited February 24, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[Kel Varnsen]

My interpretation of the Patricia Arquette speech was "It is tough to be a woman.  Woman get paid less and they go through childbirth.  Women should be treated as equals."  And then a "You go girl" from La Streep.  

 

 

 

I agree with you.  I will unashamedly say that sorry, but I really could give a crap about most of the "lesser" awards.  99% of the time, I haven't seen any documentaries or live action shorts.  I don't understand the difference between Sound and Sound Editing and can't really tell the difference between the winners and the losers.  And yes, I don't care to see the "unknowns" getting their awards, and I really don't care if it deprives them of their moment in the sun, like the "you know you've made it when your dress costs more than it cost to make your movie" lady from some years ago.  I watch the Oscars for star power.  It's Hollywood's biggest night.  I want to see stars, in their fanciest suits and dresses, being stars.  I loved the year the "lesser award" people had to accept from their seats.

I would be totally down with that. I recently learned that with the Grammy's a ton of awards are given out before the show starts when the celebrities are on the red carpet. If they want to do it all in one day, do it like that, and stream those presentations on ABC.com. For the most part they aren't that interesting. I would say move the short categories to that event as well. I mean this isn't like back in the day when the animated short was a bugs bunny cartoon vs. a mickey mouse cartoon or something. Now the short categories just feel like film school projects compared feature films.  It would be like if the Emmy's gave out awards for best youtube clip.

 

If they wanted to really make it fast I would say give the director more power. If someone is giving a speech, give them a minimum amount of time. If they go over none of this playing the music crap. If the director thinks it is compelling, let him/her speak. if he is just rattling off a list of names, cut their mic and cut to the host on another part of the stage.

[Inquisitionist]

even though Gaga was great, there was no particular reason for SOM to be mentioned at this time.

 

As mentioned on the show, it was the 50th anniversary of TSoM, a film that not only won Best Picture and 4 other Oscars, but also earned a huge amount at the box office.  I had no problem with honoring the film at this time, especially when it led into that wonderful reception for Dame Julie Andrews. 

 

Speaking of whom, here's a marvelous clip I found on youtube re her GG and Oscar wins for Mary Poppins, released the year before TSoM.  She was always a bit cheeky!

[Madding crowd]

You are right, I didn't phrase that right. I know it is the anniversary, but that was the point of the remake with Carrie Underwood. They have also been showing the original movie in some retro type movie theaters and there has been a lot of mention in the media. I thought a movie clip and then having Julie Andrews on to talk about the experience would be better than Gaga singing. Lady Gaga has a beautiful voice, but she is all about changing her image now so we know she is no longer the crazy meat dress lady, now she sings with Tony Bennet! And I don't think the Oscars needed that or her. YMMV.

[FormerMod-a1]

That's not new. Lady Gaga has always done both the crazy stuff and the "real" stuff.

[Kromm]

This was apparently no cakewalk for Gaga.  ET: Lady Gaga Worked With a Vocal Coach Every Day for 6 Months for Epic 'Sound of Music' Performance

 

Whatever some may think of the appropriateness of her doing it or it being on the show, I like Gaga more for seeing that article and learning that it mattered that much to her.  Frankly, she probably could have done 75% of that performance (quality-wise I mean), with only a bit of training, and it still probably would have been a decent performance, but clearly simply doing a decent job wasn't enough.

[ennui]

Yes.  Getting married was part of his campaign.  Look, as much as it should be about the performance, it's not.  It's about the campaign and that boy hustled his way to that Oscar.  And he's going to go even harder next year.

I doubt getting married was part of the campaign, unless Eddie invited all the Academy voters to the reception. Benedict Cumberbatch got married, too, and apparently has a baby on the way.

 

So, we've have to compare wedding dates to voting dates. Add in conception dates. 

[Vixenstud]

I was the one that mentioned Garth Brooks instead of McGraw.....ohhhh, didn't know that he was personally picked by the family to perform the show.  (Takes foot out of mouth)

 

Anywho, the song still reduced me to tears and I so wish it would have won.

[Shannon L.]

It's not uncommon for Oscar front runners to have speeches written ahead of time, but this was kind of sad: http://www.vox.com/2015/2/23/8097213/oscars-michael-keaton-speech    While I was pulling for Eddie Redmayne, I'd have been happy with any of them winning.  As has been said my many posters, Best Actor was a really strong category this year. 

 

On a lighter note:

 

I remember my mom telling me that she watched Lady Gaga's Thanksgiving special a few years ago and being quite impressed with her singing, so I wasn't surprised by her SoM performance.  I appreciate that she took the vocal lessons, too, because it showed how important it was to her to get it right.  I could also tell how important it was to her by how she hugged Julie Andrews afterward.  That wasn't a polite hug, that was an appreciative, "You're awesome and thank you for trusting me with your songs" hug (even though they weren't Julie's to give away, but you know what I mean).

 

And even lighter than that:

 

Did anyone notice when they were showing a longer than usual shot of Steve Carrell, sometime after Everything is Awesome, that Channing Tatum was photo-bombing Steve with his Lego Oscar?  We got a kick out of that. 

Edited February 24, 2015 by Shannon L.

[DollEyes]

My verdict: the show was pretty good, but more despite host NPH than because of him. I like him, but IMO he was out of his depth here. NPH is perfect to host the Tonys, but just because someone can host one kind of awards show, that doesn't mean they can/should host them all. The opening number was great, but most of the jokes sucked even more than Kirk Cameron in Saving Christmas. The name-butcering gag got old long before John Travolta's return- the only time it actually worked-and that was because of Ben Affleck & Benedict Cumberbatch (sounds like a law firm or and ad agency), not NPH. As for the magic box bit, it would've been much funnier to me if Octavia Spencer had decided to switch NPH's predictions with copies of Sony's leaked emails dissing NPH for those shitty Smurf movies, which OS could've gotten from an anonymous source-Hugh Jackman.

 

 

Why was John Stamos there?

 

 Why not? Maybe he's an Academy member or he was invited by one.

 

 

Looks like Adrien Brody & Kevin Hart bough the same tux...in different styles, though.

 

  At least Brody looked like a man in his; Hart, otoh, looked like he was going to a wedding in Sough Central Lilliput.

 

 

Chris Pine, that is not a good look on you. I'm getting a Homer Simpson vibe.

 

 Homer wishes he looked as good as Chris Pine.

 

 

Everything Is Awesome was the highlight of the whole show.

 

John Legend, Common, Lady GaGa, Dame Julie Andrews, Idris Elba, Dwayne Johnson and three out of the four Chrises prove otherwise.

Edited February 28, 2015 by DollEyes

[Inquisitionist]

It's not uncommon for Oscar front runners to have speeches written ahead of time, but this was kind of sad: http://www.vox.com/2...l-keaton-speech

 

Why would someone have a speech in hand before the winner is announced?  And given that Redmayne had already won the SAG award, why would Keaton think he was a sure thing?  It all feels odd to me.

[JBC344]

Yeah as "sad" as that Vine is, it is a little arrogant for Michael to have already had his speech out in his hand. 

 

Speaking of Vine's, for the people who wonder why we include the few tech Oscars in the ceremony checkout TJ Miller's hilarious/heartwarming Vine when his team won the Oscar.  Someone posted it in the early pages of this thread.  I'll take that moment and hold it up to any of the "big" wins of the night.

[Ohwell]

Lady Gaga was the highlight of the night for me.

 

I like Lupita but when she was on the pre-show, she made a point of saying how she wasn't nervous at all because she's a presenter, so the pressure was off.  All she had to do was learn her lines.  Then she goes on stage and fucks up her line. 

 

NPH looked desperate and out of his element to me.  I didn't see Birdman but I read that the skivvies routine was related to the movie?  Whatever.  To me, it just looked like a man desperate for laughs when in reality, it was just unnecessary--and plain skeevy. 

 

Speaking of skeevy, Travolta has always been that way to me.

 

I don't know what it is about Michael Keaton, but I'm glad he lost.

 

Common and John Legend do nothing for me, never have.  And while the song Glory was good, I don't think Common's rapping was necessary.  I think the Academy just threw them a bone with the win for the song.