Award Contenders

3 Responses to “Martin and Baldwin Opening Act”

1. Thomas Quang says:

   03/09/2010 at 3:03 pm

   Okay, now that I’ve had the chance to go back and watch the Oscars telecast again, as there were parts that I missed on Sunday night while I was occupied on my computer, I have listed the things I liked and disliked about the show. They could be funny moments, touching moments, shocking moments, winners, losers, etc.. Here they are…

   Things or moments I liked the most:

   **The Hurt Locker being the evening’s biggest winner by taking home six Academy Awards(Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound Editing & Sound Mixing). In my opinion, the Academy truly honored the best film of the year. I know there are many Avatar fans out there that will disagree with me.
   **Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first female to win the directing award
   **Geoffrey Fletcher becoming the first black American to win a screenplay award for Precious. His speech was quite moving, too. I’m happy for the fella, even though I think Up in the Air deserved this award more.
   **Jeff Bridges finally winning an Oscar and getting the long overdue recognition he deserves.
   **Sandra Bullock’s moving acceptance speech after she won for Best Actress. I know I’ve been ragging on Sandra all awards season long for her very mediocre performance AT BEST in a truly awful movie, but I was kinda moved by her speech. She seems like a very genuine person. I still don’t think she deserved to win this award but I felt happy for her in a strange way.
   **Ben Stiller’s absolutely hilarious impersonation of a Na’vi from the movie Avatar, though I think his impersonation of Joaquin Phoenix was even funnier from last year’s Oscars show I believe? Or was it another awards show?
   **A couple of funny sketches from the show’s hosts Alec Baldwin & Steve Martin – their parody of the movie Paranormal Activity & them sitting backstage wearing snuggies on a couch watching the telecast. Truly funny stuff!
   **Baldwin & Martin targeting stars from the audience and lightheartedly ridiculing them one at a time.
   **Bringing out fellow actors and co-stars to introduce this year’s lead actor & actress nominees
   **Showing excerpts from the nominated screenplays accompanied by the corresponding scenes from the films before the screenplay awards were presented. It’s fascinating to see if you ask me.
   **The salute to John Hughes with the 80′s Rat Pack actors from his films. I am not a huge Hughes fan as I think his movies are one of the reasons why the 80′s was such a horrible decade for cinema, but his tribute was a nice moment.
   **The tribute to horror films – not sure why they did it but I liked it.
   **The Weary Kind(Theme From Crazy Heart) winning Best Original Song. After repeatedly screwing up in this category, the Academy finally got it right this time. Hallelujah!
   **Not seeing Beyonce perform on the show again. Got tired of seeing her face on the show every year performing. She’s a spotlight stealer if you ask me.

   Things or moments I disliked the most:

   **Making the Oscars the Teen Choice Awards by inviting presenters such as Miley Cyrus, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, Zac Efron, etc.. I don’t mind the last three that much as they are in the movie business but Cyrus? Come on!!! Has she made a movie yet? An obvious attempt by the show’s producers to attract younger viewers. What next? Cyrus’ father Billy Ray? I prefer old Hollywood as opposed to “young Hollywood”, a term which I absolutely despise.
   **Though I thought our hosts Baldwin & Martin had their funny moments, they didn’t seem to have great chemistry and their attempts at making us laugh seemed a little forced. It wasn’t effortless like say former host Billy Crystal, whom I sure wish would come out of retirement and become the show’s host again.
   **The dance routine to the nominated scores. If they are going to include this foolishness, why not bring back the nominated song performers? Or better yet use that time to allow the winners to finish their acceptance speeches instead of that ridiculous backstage thank you cam which no one is going to see anyways. And they complain about the length of the show! A complete waste of time!
   **Every time a winner gets cued off the stage with the music
   **Though honorary recipients Lauren Bacall & Roger Corman were in the audience & recognized for their distinguished careers, it would have been a nicer gesture on the Academy’s part to present their awards(along with fellow recipient Gordon Willis) during the show’s broadcast instead of presenting their awards last year in a separate untelevised event. Let them have their moment in the sun like all the other winners! Kinda shows a little lack of respect by the Academy if you ask me. Another obvious attempt by the show’s producers to cut down on the running time of the show.
   **Farah Fawcett’s omission from the “In Memoriam” segment. They may have left out more people but I would have to go back and watch it again. Does anyone remember if they left out Karl Malden? I would certainly hope not. Not only did he have a distinguished career but he was a former winner and president of the Academy.
   **That psycho lady who came on the stage and interrupted Best Documentary Short Subject winner Roger Ross Williams while he was giving his acceptance speech. It turns out that lady was a producer on the film and she had creative differences with Williams I believe. I think her name is Elinor Burkett. Anyhow, talk show host Larry King gave Williams the opportunity to finish his acceptance speech live on his show. Good job Larry!

   Well, I believe that’s about it. If I can think of anymore, I will definately post them! Anyone agree/disagree with my choices? Got any of your own you would like to share? Would love to hear them.
2. Thomas Quang says:

   03/09/2010 at 5:37 pm

   I forgot to add one more to the “dislikes”:

   Replacing the phrase “and the Oscar goes to” with the phrase “and the winner is”. They NEED to go back to tradition and have the presenters say “and the Oscar goes to”.
3. Mark Johnson says:

   03/09/2010 at 8:14 pm

   Yes… that was quite pointless and annoying.