added, 12:18 am: Well, that was a night of firsts -- not only Bigelow's win (obviously), but the first-ever wins for African Americans in any screenwriting (Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire) or directing (Roger Ross Williams, best documentary short for Music by Prudence) category, though in the latter case I forget whether the award technically is for the film itself, its director or the producer -- and Williams was the latter two here.
As for the show itself, the hosts were adequate, and I'm a big fan of spending this much time on the nominated films and performances at the expense of the songs and minor categories. Just, please, axe the interpretive dance!
Our live chat remains archived below the fold. Thanks to so many of you for showing up -- we had a blast.
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Up in the Air: 0 for 6.
ReplyDeleteInglourious Basterds: 1 for 8
And probably right.
The Kimmel ad was carried forward into an epic sketch on the show itself tonight. Worth looking at when it comes online.
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud several times reading the live blog.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I enjoyed the show, at least in part because the 10 nominees required them to have 10 clips of the nominated films. Hosting the Emmys and Tonys and opening the Oscars, all in the same year? Pretty damn awesome for NPH. My least favorite thing about the show was the testimonial feature before Best Actor and Best Actress. I would have much preferred to have had clips of the films nominated for cinematography (and some other awards), and time for Tom Hanks to relist the 10 nominees for Best Picture, rather than a pack of actors talking about how awesome the nominees were.
The documentary award goes to the director, not the producer or "star" of the movie, though from time to time, the "star" has accepted (e.g., "An Inconvenient Truth").
ReplyDeleteJenn, I'm so with you on the testimonials before the lead actor/actress awards. It's best actor or actress, not Best Human or Most Fun. Cut it with the adulation. Though I did think Tim Robbins was pretty funny in intro'ing Morgan Freeman.
ReplyDeleteWho bets that Forrest Whittaker and Sandra Bullock wish Hope Floats could be scrubbed from their CVs?
I wasn't a big fan of the actor/actress testimonials either, but I just used them as another predicting-game opportunity: who would be the most bizarre/humorous/unexpected/unwelcome choice of former co-star to introduce each nominee?
ReplyDelete<p>Sandra Bullock - Dennis Miller, from "The Net"
Helen Mirren - Nicolas Cage, from "National Treasure 2"
</p><p>Carey Mulligan - Colin Firth, from "Pride & Prejudice" (the wrong "P&P," I know, but that would be the joke)
Gabby Sibide - Mariah Carey, from "Precious"
Meryl Streep - Roseanne, from "She-Devil"
Jeff Bridges - Rosie Perez, from "Fearless"
George Clooney - Arnold Schwarzenegger, from "Batman & Robin"
Colin Firth - Keira Knightley, from "Pride & Prejudice" (might as well do the joke twice)
Morgan Freeman - Rita Moreno, from "The Electric Company"
Jeremy Renner - LL Cool J, from "SWAT"</p>
I actually really like the testimonials. I certainly prefer them to the clips. The clips themselves aren't memorable, and by this point in awards season, I've probably seen them already on the Golden Globes or something like that (if I haven't seen the entire movie in the first place). When done right (e.g. Stanley Tucci's salute to Meryl Streep), the testimonials can be memorable.
ReplyDeleteI like this game.
ReplyDeleteBullock: William Shatner, Miss Congeniality
Mirren: Cuba Gooding Jr, Shadowboxer
Bridges: Missy Peregrym, Stick It. (Seriously, what was he doing in that movie?)
Clooney: Charlotte Rae, The Facts of Life (someone mentioned this during the chat)
Freeman: Keanu Reeves, Chain Reaction
I also remember being stunned by Jeff Bridges' presence when I got Stick It on Netflix a while back. What about one of Morgan Freeman's "Electric Company" co-stars?
ReplyDeleteHelen Mirren: Roy Scheider, 2010.
ReplyDeleteTPE has really upped the degree of difficulty with that one.
ReplyDelete