Oscars Live!
Posted: February 24th, 2008 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 43 Comments »
Every family, I guess, has its own particular holiday. Some get WAY too serious about Halloween — you will see rather unshapely people dressed up like Catwoman and the Johnny Depp pirate and their stately homes decorated with bloody hatchets — and some buy enough fireworks on the Fourth of July to invade Granada. Some friends of mine take St. Patrick’s Day to heart and liver, and some make Hanukah like eight Christmases in one. And so on. With our family, it was always Oscar night. I cannot tell you exactly why this happened other than the fact that before my parents came to this country, they had already fallen in love with Hollywood.
At first, I think, Oscar night was supposed to represent our love of movies. The first Oscar night I can remember clearly was 1976, when Rocky beat out Network, which thrilled me since I was 9 years old and, of course loved Rocky. In retrospect, I’d have to say that Network really got screwed — it’s INCREDIBLE how prophetic that movie was. But the point is that in the early years of our Oscar Nights (and inevitable Oscar pools, which I believe began in 1979 with Kramer vs. Kramer *), the point was rooting for movies we liked. Then, we all got older, kids moved out, and we all more or less stopped going to movies or, at the very least, cut down our movie nights considerably. And then, these Oscar nights started taking on a completely different feel. At this point, the only points were:
1. To yell “OK, shaddup already†to people making long and pointless speeches.
2. To judge the humor quotient of the host (Whoopi? Not funny).
3. To win the Oscar pool.
*I didn’t need to look up that 1979 was Kramer vs. Kramer, by the way. I have ever Oscar winner from 1948 on memorized (I always forget if 1947 was Genleman’s Agreement or Best Years of our Lives. So I stop in 1948 with Hamlet). I’m not kidding. I’ll run through the 1970s quick: Patton, French Connection, Godfather I, The Sting, Godfather II, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Annie Hall, Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer. We take this stuff seriously, people.
And that’s where we are now. So I’m going live from the Oscars tonight because tonight marks a very special moment in my personal Oscars Family Night History: I’ve seen ONE movie that might factor in (unless you count Ratatouille and Surf’s Up — I have seen those with the kids). I saw Michael Clayton, which really didn’t do much for me, but that’s not the point. The point is that I am the defending Oscars pool champ — I tend to win this thing more or less every year. The rest of the family does not concede this, but … anyway, since I have not seen any of the movies, I’m feeling extremely vulnerable this year. We’ll see how it goes.
I’m posting my picks now, and then we’ll pick up with some smart aleck comments through the night:
Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis. I hear he’s a lock. I know he’s got a good hat.
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem. I hear he’s ever more of a lock than Daniel Day Lewis.
Best Actress: Julie Christie. This is a gutless pick; I’m just predicting that Hollywood will reward a beloved actress for a fine role at the end of her career. It’s surprising how often Hollywood DOES NOT reward the beloved actress. Some seem to think Ellen Page from Juno will win. I love Laura Linney, but I’ve never even heard of The Savages.
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett. I only took her because she’s nominated twice; I figure they have to give her one Oscar. I hear she really was amazing as Bob Dylan, and I think Hollywood generally likes the gender benders.
Animated Feature: Ratatouille. Only pick I feel good about.
Art Direction: There Will Be Blood. No idea.
Cinematography: No Country for Old Men. I’m wagering everything on a huge night for No Country for Old Men, and you know what? That could really backfire. More on that in a minute.
Costume Design: Atonement. It just sounds like the kind of movie that would have good costumes, no?
Directing: Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men. You know, I think my favorite Coen Brothers movie might be “Hudsucker Proxy.†I love that movie. It’s one of my favorite Paul Newman roles, definitely my favorite Jennifer Jason Leigh roles, and really how can you not love Cleveland’s own Bill Cobbs?
Documentary Feature: No End In Sight. This about the Bush Administration and Iraq, right? That’s Hollywood gold.
Documentary Short: Sari’s Mother. Hint for you first time Oscar pickers … it’s good to pick movies that have words like “Mother†in the title.
Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum. I know there were some commenters arguing about the value of the Bourne movies, but from what I can tell everyone loves the editing.
Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters. A little research tells me this is a lock.
Makeup: La Vie En Rose. I cannot believe Norbit was nominated for an Oscar in ANY category.
Original Score: Atonement. It just sounds like the kind of movie that would have a good score, no?
Original Song: Falling Slowly. I don’t like this pick at all … and I really don’t like this song all that much (I heard it on iTunes). But there are three songs from Enchanted that were nominated, and they’ll probably knock each other out. And no way a song from “August Rush†is winning.
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men. OK, here’s my deal: Every bit of research I have done indicates to me that this is the heavy, heavy favorite. But … I don’t really buy it. No Country is ultra violent, right? I mean ULTRA violent. If it wins, I would think it will be the most violent movie to ever win a Best Picture (based on what I’ve heard; I admit I have not seen it). It would not surprise me one bit if Hollywood goes for something a whole lot less threatening like Atonement or Michael Clayton or even Juno. I’m sticking with No Country because I’m at a huge disadvantage and have to stick with the favorites. But I have a bad feeling about it.
Short Film, Animated: I Met The Walrus. It’s a Beatles thing, I guess, which might play to the Hollywood crowd. Obviously, I have no idea.
Short Film, Live Action: Tanghi Argentini. None of the other names seemed interesting.
Sound Editing: Transformers.
Sound Mixing: Transformers.
Visual Effects: Transformers.
I’m going off what I’ve seen on the Interent — I can’t BELIEVE this movie will really win three Oscars, but those technical people are a different breed.
Screenplay, Adapted: No Country for Old Men. I’m going down with this ship.
Screenplay, Original: Juno. I figure Hollywood will toss some crumbs to the surprise Indie movie of the year. But maybe not. Maybe Michael Clayton. I didn’t think that movie was written all that well, but that’s just me.
* * *
I love Jon Stewart, absolutely love the guy, but I just think he holds back at the Oscars or something because he really doesn’t seem to be hitting. The political stuff has been fairly weak, which is amazing, though I will say that my stripper name is Hilton Warrendale, which isn’t bad.
I am having a HORRIBLE night so far, by the way.
* * *
So, I’m curious how the technical achievement people decide who gets to host their mini, nobody cares version of the Oscars. I’m imagining them sitting around a table, trying to figure out people who are not QUITE big enough to turn them down, but still big enough to be considered sort of cool choices. It’s an artform. Jessica Alba is a perfect choice.
Am I wrong or is Jon Stewart just flat dying out there? I always say that Jon Stewart could make me laugh doing just about anything … apparently this does not include hosting the Oscars. I’m hoping for a comeback.
No comeback in my votes, though. I’m getting killed in the family pool. It might be my worst performance since the Chariots of Fire disaster of ‘81. I don’t like to think about it.
* * *
I think the Jon Stewart deal where he called out a license plate for a Boeing, and John Travolta ran across the stage … that was good. I’m laughing. Of course, it might be because I’ve gotten three or four awards in a row right, so maybe I’m just in a better mood. I’m back in the lead … nobody’s getting any right in our pool this year.
And just now, bringing out that woman who won the Oscar for best song … very cool moment. She had been cut off and prevented from saying thank you; it was cool to bring her out. Of course, cutting her off in the first place was just plain ridiculous.
One thing I love about the Oscars is when you pick some Animated Short or Live Action Short in your Oscar pool that you’ve obviously never seen. Then the category comes up and you see just a snippet of it — and even in a 3 second snippet you realize that the movie you chose ABSOLUTELY SUCKED. Yeah, that’s how I felt watching the snippet of that Walrus animated short. That was a big mistake.
* * *
Every time they run that montage where they show the Hollywood stars who died in the past year, I have three or four, “Oh man, I didn’t know that person died,†feeling. I only had one this year — Laraine Day. You probably know that Laraine was married the old manager Leo Durocher in the 1950s. I don’t sense she was a big star, but she was fairly big … it seems to me this would be the equivalent of, what, maybe Katherine Heigl or Jennifer Garner being married to, I don’t know, Eric Wedge? Clint Hurdle?
This also makes me wonder: Is there a real Leo Durocher, Billy Martin type managing these days? I’m not sure. No one is really coming to mind.
* * *
Eh, well, a pretty uninspiring Oscars all the way around. I finished second in he pool with 12 (winner had 13) and which is the worst performance I can remember. Really struggled with the technicals and short films. Ah well. There’s always next year. Maybe I’ll see some movies BEFORE the actual awards next year. We’re back to our regularly scheduled blog.
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I honestly thought that There Will Be Blood was the best movie of the decade (so far). I won’t be upset if No Country wins, but I think There Will Be Blood is more deserving.
No Country is violent, but it’s not overly graphic. Shootings and stuff, of course, but Silence of the Lambs probably had more graphic violence in it.
Braveheart won in 1995, and was a pretty violent flick. The throat cut, hanging on the rack, arrows in the ass, someone’s leg being cut off and spurting blood, etc. Not to mention, one of the keywords on its IMDB page is “Crushed Head”.
Joe! You’re having a tough night already. But please forgo any more Osker talk, and let us know how you feel about the Cavs’ first game of the season.
No Country For Old Men possibly the most violent film ever to win Best Picture? Just last year The Departed took home the golden statue and that was much more violent… and you call yourself an Oscar expert, Joe! Ha, just kidding. Absolutely love the blog, thanks so much.
I get the feeling John is holding back and trying not to make too many people upset. I also feel that not having the writers for so long effected the whole deal.
I think Jon is killing. He’s been fantastic.
No Country For Old Men’s one of my favorite movies ever; There Will Be Blood is also great, and would be a deserving winner most years.
You know, instead of cutting the acceptance speeches, shouldn’t they cut the idiot gimmicks by the presenters. Especially when there are multiple winners. Its their night, let them talk.
And I think Stewart and Travolta just got it back on track.
See, cool move by Stewart.
Stewart is seeing a massive comeback. Well played, Stewart.
Joe Girardi, in New York. He has the chance to be the new Durocher. Assuming he’s not already married.
You’ve never heard of the Savages? That’s unfortunate. It’s a good movie with some outstanding performances (PSH, anyone?) I’d say fire up the DVD player and watch this one.
Couldn’t Ozzie Guillen be considered close to Leo Durocher? Short shortstops, similar numbers as players, managed the teams they played most of (or plurality of, in Leo’s case) their careers for, outspoken.
Seems close to me, but I’m young enough to not remember most of Ozzie’s career, and of course Leo is all from legend.
I second the Girardi pick. And I also see him going insane with the “new” Boss in charge.
I just had to chime in because it is nice to see there is one other person in the world who really likes The Hudsucker Proxy. Really it is my favorite movie of theirs. Too bad only about a dozen of us have actually seen see the movie outside of families of people who worked on it.
Marion Cotillard was amazing in the La Vie En Rose. She deserved it.
There Will Be Blood didn’t deserve best picture. I haven’t seen the Coen Bros yet. “Diving Bell & Butterfly” was great, and Schnabel deserved best director.
I couldn’t see the Oscars tonight, because (show plug) we were opening a play tonight in Chicago, which everyone in Chicago should come see. It’s a horror play. There will be blood, indeed.
Lou Piniella seems to me a fairly obvious choice for the modern-day Durocher.
I’ll go with Ozzie as the newest manager/lunatic in the Martin/Durocher mold. Ya hadda been at ol’ Municipal Stadium during the beer riot to really appreciate Martin.
But the Oscars Joe – the Oscars. Oh well, at least it wasn’t the Tony awards that had your attention.
Gaydolf Titler ran for president in 1944? I guess Dewey must have beat him AND Willkie in the Wisconsin primary to knock him out of the race.
You’re right about Network, that movie is amazing to watch 20 years later…it could have been written a month ago as a satire it’s so accurate.
I loved The Hudsucker Proxy. Probably seen it ten times. Brilliant stuff. And I like most of the Coen bros.’ edgier stuff too. But “No Country” just blows. I’m convinced that every single voter was just afraid to come out and admit to being the one person who didn’t get it (when the trick was there was nothing all that interesting to get). On the bright side, “The English Patient” finally has some competition for the worst “Best Picture” of the last 15 years.
Also, I thought Stewart was great last night, at least relative to every host (including Jon two or so years ago) since the first few shows with Billy Chrystal. There was a lot of very funny stuff there. I’d like to have seen more of him and less of the presenters either spouting cliches or trying to be funny (the thing with the two guys from Superbad was pretty funny for a minute, but then all of a sudden it got embarrassingly bad)…
“People are going to say “what the hell just happened?” and I’d better say I like it because nobody wants to seem stupid!”
-Maebe Funke
Amen, Bill, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks giving No Country the Oscar nod is a pretty bad cop out…a triumph of the herd mentality among Oscar voters. Never has a movie more quickly transitioned from a tour de force to a complete mess. Of course, that’s what happens in the actual book, so I guess it can’t be rightly blamed on the Coen Bros. Also, of the other nominees I’ve only seen Juno, so it may be that No Country was the best (although I’m sure I’ll like There Will Be Blood more).
I enjoy watching the Oscars, but they will never cease to frustrate me…it’s amazing how often the big awards are incredibly easy to predict.
You know… for kids!
12 … not counting the mezzanine…
Sure sure. And they DOCK ya!
That’s pretty much exactly how I felt about the movie, Greg, except I’ve also only seen that one and Juno, and of the two of them I’d have given it to Juno without hesitation. But yes, There Will Be Blood definitely sounds like it would be better than both.
What a boring show, and I actually saw all the films nominated in major categories and liked all but one of the major award winners.
Way too much montage. No spontanaeity, except for bringing back the girl from Once in the only genuine moment of the night.
I’m surprised and disappointed that Joe ignored the critical question of who were the best-looking women at the Oscars? My ballot:
1. Anne Hathaway
2. Cate Blanchett
3. Katherine Heigl
There were probably a lot of montages, because they didn’t know if the writer’s strike was going to be over. So they probably edited all that stuff awhile ago, and decided to use it since they were done.
That’s just my guess.
The worst best picture choice in recent memory is, without a doubt, Crash. I can’t even be friends with people who like that movie, I hate it so much.
Crash is actually the only one of the last 15 that I haven’t seen. It would have to be pretty awful to beat out English Patient or this one in my mind, though.
I couldn’t bring myself to watch the Oscars last night. Not only had I been unable to see any of the nominated films or performances (animated films excepted) but I had to get up early and simply didn’t have a 4-hour show in me. Too bad, because I always like to see which film about the Holocaust won Best Documentary. What’s that? No Holocaust films were nominated this year? What did they do, just hang onto that award so they can hand out two next year?
You didn’t know Laraine Day had died? You must not have been reading BTF that week.
Ryan (27) – That’s better than a guess. that’s exactly why they produced them.
I just think that once the strike was settled they should have scrapped at least half of them.
The unintended consequence of showing all those old clips was to drive home how lifeless this year’s show was by comparison.
And I agree with other posters that Crash is the worst Best Picture of our moviegoing lifetime, if not ever.
What Crash is worse than Rocky?
The fact that Rocky won anything is an embarassment to all of America.
Totally BS that they keep cutting off people on their speeches. This is a pretty big deal, one that is the culmination of a lot of years of work for a lot of people for God sake. What if Lou Gehrig said, “I now consider myself, the luckiest man on…” and some Yankees song started playing to get him off the stage. It’s always nice to see the little montages of the past winners, but 80 is not a big deal number. Plus, they do stuff like that every year. Why not forget those a bit and build a little more speech time in.
Rob L.-
Good call. Crash sucked. I mean, it was ok, but it should never have won Best Picture.
I do not agree with the people who say No Country is a bad movie. I guess you’re entitled to your opinion, even if it’s wrong. No Country is one of the best movies in years. I like The Hudsucker Proxy a lot, but before No Country, my favorite Coen bros movie was Miller’s Crossing.
Katherine Heigl should always win hottest woman. Although she was really nervous wasn’t she? Cate Blanchett is also smoking and so is that French chick who won best actress. She was pretty charming too.
Rocky is a really awful choice, especially since it beat out Taxi Driver, All the Presidents Men and Network. Still, atleast Rocky is important in pop culture, whereas Crash is just bad…and not important, but it thinks it is.
I thought Stewart sucked, I thought most of the show sucked, and I most certainly thought “There will be Blood” sucked. Bad night all the way around. Is it Opening Day yet?
Crash is one of the worst movies to ever be mentioned at an Oscar ceremony, let alone win Best Picture (and I’m including Transformers in that statement). I greatly enjoy the thought of the masses going out to rent that movie and accidentally picking up the 90s movie by the same name about people who get turned on by auto crashes. Brings a smile to my face every time.
Yes, Hudsucker is a great movie, but most of what the Cohen brothers touch is great. I’m firmly on board behind No Country as being their best yet. I think people that didn’t like it were more upset that it didn’t have the usual comedic leanings of most of their films. I mean, even Fargo had laugh out loud lines while still being incredibly depressing. And yes, the ending rankled a lot of people, but I loved it, and I stand by loving it.
Answers to previous questions (in no particular order):
-Miller’s Crossing
-Stewart was sublime, easing his way through what seemed like it could have been a tough room
-Apparently The Bourne Ultimatum was the best sounding movie of the year.
-Stripper Name: My friends and I always used either (Middle name + Street you grew up on) or (1st pet + Mother’s maiden name)… the better of my two being Andrew Foxtail.
-I’m here in Columbia, Mo; and let me be one of the first people to mention how exciting it is to see Royal’s fans nervously stepping out and squinting in the bright sunlight of hope for the first spring in quite awhile. I’ve seen more powder blue and interlocking K’s & C’s than I have in quite awhile. We know we’re not playoff bound, but the prospect of playing meaningful games after the All-Star break is a welcome relief.
-Like Joe and his memorization skills, I had a friend that built an AMAZING collection of Best Picture Winners. He started in “1970″, and came forward, and then worked his way back, he had just purchased his last 60’s winner the day I brought home a DVD for the first time from Best Buy. (His were all on VHS) The “grown man crying” cliche was very very true that afternoon.
Keep up the good work Joe! Thanks.
Renee Zellwegger tends to work in genres that don’t interest me, (romantic comedies, musicals, anything with Tom Cruise) so I’m not very familiar with her work, but… didn’t she used to have eyes?
Harrison Ford would seem to me to have a pretty good life, so why does he always seem so damn cranky?
On the other hand, I’m impressed by the wax sculptors from Madame Tussaud’s, that Nicole Kidman statue was eerily lifelike.
I was happy to see No Country win, partly because I’m a Coen fan and partly because it was the only one of the Best Picture nominees I saw.
Count me in on the Hudsucker love. I love the Art Deco sets. I love the stylized acting. I love Jennifer Jason Leigh. (trivia note: JJL shares a birthday with Hank Aaron and Robby Alomar)
“Too bad, because I always like to see which film about the Holocaust won Best Documentary. What’s that? No Holocaust films were nominated this year? What did they do, just hang onto that award so they can hand out two next year?”
Don’t despair. The foreign film award went to an Austrian film, “The Counterfeiters”, which does feature Nazis and the clip they showed from it had men in obvious prison uniforms. You’re really messing with my “paul white is always wrong” theory, btw.
Billy Martin type = Charlie Manuel?
Joe needs to see Once. I bet it will change the opinion of the song Falling Slowly.
It’s good to see somebody else contribute with a live blog on the night of the Oscars. Although I’ve never done an Oscar pool, you can say that I’m a sucker for the awards. I mean, not only can I name all of the Best Picture winners in order*, but I’ve actually gone an seen them all.
*1947 was Gentleman’s Agreement. The Best Years of Our Lives was 1946. It may help to just keep in mind that the movie was about how the lives of three veterans changed after returning home from WWII, and 1946 was a year after WWII ended.
Needless to say, I wasn’t very impressed with the awards this year. I didn’t really care for many of the films, and there weren’t any women that knocked my socks off this year. It’s too bad Transformers didn’t sweep the sound awards like Joe predicted. It meant that hard-luck Kevin O’Connell lost for the 20th time. He’s like the Brooklyn Dodgers (post-1939, pre-1955) of the Oscars.
@ Pat (42)
That brings up the question of what the category Best Original Song stands for? Does it measure the song’s quality on its own? Or does it measure how the song adds to the movie?* I guess I’m like Joe and wasn’t terribly impressed with the song itself, but I could see how it would work with the context of the movie.
*Speaking of which, I may not agree with Crash winning Best Picture, there is one award that I felt it deserved, that of Best Origial Song. I thought “In the Deep” was a great song by itself, and was a perfect sort of song for the end of the movie. Needless to say, I was disappointed when it lost to Hustle & Flow’s “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.”
Anyways, my earliest Oscar memory was watching Deborah Kerr get her Honorary Oscar in 1994. After that, I remember watching them present the Best Documentary Feature two years later. I remember it well because I saw that one of the nominees was the documentary about Hank Aaron. Alas, it lost the award to the documentary about Anne Frank.
I Met the Walrus isn’t too terrible. Sure, the animaton style is extremely bizarre, but it does have some great clips in it. You can download all of the Best Animated Short nominees off of iTunes.