2/28/11

There are two reasons one might watch the Oscars.  You might be there to find out who wins the awards/celebrate the great achievements of the year in movies that just ended.  Or, you might be there to see the show, to sample the outfits, to laugh at the skits.  For the former group, last night's Oscarcast was a tremendous success:  a wonderful group of movies split up the top awards as equally as one could ask, with the only real disappointment being the total lack of upsets (I was 8-for-9 in my predictions for the third year in a row because I once again fell for the notion that there MUST be an upset in the Supporting Actress category).  For those watching the show, this year's Academy Awards were most notable in their lack of... well, just about everything.  The show was trying to correct past sins by giving us actors instead of comedians as hosts, no silly montages of astronauts and movies that didn't win and actually performing the nominated songs and indeed the evening was low on things to complain about (aside from poor James Franco, but we'll get to him in a moment).  But there was also precious little to get excited about or even remember.  The Academy powers-that-be (you know, ABC/Disney, who's going to be airing this show for the Next!  Twenty!  Years!  Thanks for letting me know, guys.) swapped out "Remember that horrible musical number and ridiculous dress?" "Yeah, that was pathetic!" for "Remember that year what's-his-name hosted?"  "Um, no.  No, I don't.")

Let's start with what went right.  Ten nominated movies were handled to great effect by an opening montage and a brilliantly edited bit right before Best Picture was handed out that set them all to, well, the King's Speech.  Only those aggressively rooting against what, by then, had become the only movie with a real chance to win could have been unhappy with that splendid presentation.  And, because a ten-movie field will inevitably include the lion's share of nominees in all the major categories, the Best Picture nominees gave unifying shape to the evening.  It helped, obviously, that I'd seen them all and liked all but one, but all the movies in question put on their best faces throughout an evening when clips, even for the nominated actors, were particularly well-chosen.  The "In Memorium" sequence was never better, building off the success they've had the last two years having someone sing under the clips to discourage clapping (I'm told this year the audience was specifically asked NOT to applaud until Anne Hathaway gave them the OK in the next segment) and getting a splendid Celine Dion performance on top of it.  The performances of the nominated songs, while truncated, were effective, and I appreciated the fact that neither of the non-musician actors who sang in their roles ducked out (Zachary Levi was cool as a cucumber, and I really dug his wink to Mandy Moore when they finished singing their Tangled song, while Gweneth Paltrow was endearingly nervous in her final go-round as a country crooner).  There were some good speeches, and I was happy that no one terribly embarrassed themselves (Melissa Leo, staving off upset talk whipped up precisely because she came off throughout the awards season as the sort to drop the f-bomb during her speech, came closest).  The most entertaining were a wonderfully dry Randy Newman and ecstatic bushy-haired Live Action Short Subject winner Luke Matheny.  The orchestra was in fine form, nicely integrated into a very solid set and playing long-winded winners off with a more subtle underscore than usual.  And Anne Hathaway showed once again what a splendid Oscar host she could make if only they gave her anything to do and paired her with someone she had chemistry with, like Hugh Jackman, one of the evening's two Hosts in Exile.  The other, Billy Crystal, was a highlight as he made a triumphant return to the stage (think he might return to host next year?) to introduce a bit involving Bob Hope that was, like most of the evening's bits, a good idea that didn't really go anywhere.  Robo-Hope, in turn, introduced Sherlock Holmes co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, two of the better presenters in an evening where, again, everybody was pretty good but no one really shined.  Well, there was Kirk Douglas, still a pistol at 94.

What went wrong... man, I like James Franco.  He seems like a ridiculously cool guy in the way he's taken his modest fame as a blockbuster supporting player as a license to create himself a recurring role on General Hospital, to stage dramatic readings of old Three's Company scripts at the Sundance Film festival and to generally enjoy his time in Hollywood rather than bemoan it.  Hosting the Oscars must have seemed like another delightful lark for him, but it went horribly, with him adopting an arch, stoic posture where he seemed to be playing the golden statue himself and firing off wooden readings of his awkward lines with an ever-present goofy grin.  Once or twice, whatever he was doing worked (the obligatory "these movie titles are offensive" bit was funnier because of his simultaneously earnest and awkward delivery), but generally he gave Hathaway nothing to play off at a time when their modest material really needed to be sold.  The script for the evening was oddly underdeveloped, with cute moments like the little song Hathaway sung to Hugh Jackman and Franco showing up onstage in a dress a moment later seeming like setups for bits that never came.  Their opening Inception bit was cleverly assembled and both hosts were game performers in it, but that big punchline just never arrived.  A later taped bit where clips from nominated movies were edited into songs (Franco's introduction was another of the rare moments when his arch style actually sold a joke) played so horribly I can't imagine why it was still used after the people assembling it learned this was the best result they were going to get from what admittedly sounds like a funny idea.  Having the previous year's Best Actor and Actress give little speeches to this year's nominees comes from such a good place I almost hate to say it didn't work at all (although at least the tenor of Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock's presentations was so different, they seemed to actually be coming from the people saying them rather than the teleprompter).  I liked the parade of past co-stars used the last couple years much better.  And, while it was kinda cool to have all the winners come out at the end Saturday Night Live-style, I stick by my annual assertion that no children's choir should ever perform at the Oscars.  Ever.  That goes double for dance troupes, which luckily we were spared this year.

But once the show is long, long forgotten, it really is all about the awards, and they acquitted themselves well, spreading the wealth amongst The King's Speech, The Social Network, Inception, Toy Story 3, Black Swan and The Fighter while also acknowledging the technical brilliance of Alice in Wonderland and The Wolfman.  Among the top contenders, only True Grit went home completely empty-handed.  While it's clear that Harvey Weinstein's campaigning skills helped to put Speech over the top, it's no Shakespeare in Love, and should stand the test of time as a worthy winner.  I'd have voted differently, but where this year's field went, there were very few truly bad options.  So I am content rather than thrilled, but a good Oscar season was had by all.  Even James Franco got nominated, which I hope he remembers long after the trauma of his hosting gig has been repressed.