The Oscars - Hits and Misses

Best Dressed - Charlize Theron

Hey Everyone! After the first hour of the Oscars, I thought I was golden and deserved my own special award for accurately predicting the winners. I was 4 for 4 at that point. Cate Blanchett, Morgan Freeman, The Incredibles, and even a win for Lemony Snicket amongst all those tech wins for the Aviator. I should have turned off the tv then. Not only because my predictions went haywire, but because the show itself was utterly boring from there on out (I did eke out one more win for Best Original Screenplay - Eternal Sunshine so that put me at 50%). The telecast itself went over by only 10 minutes, but it felt like it went on for decades. The subsequent winners (Hilary, Clint, Jamie, screenplay for Sideways and more Clint) disappointed me and there was no hint of outlandishness or spontaneity for the last two hours of the show. Every year I get excited about this thing, and after it's over, every year I wonder why I even bother. Thankfully I had a book to keep me occupied during most of the show since for some bizarre reason I decided to watch it live. Anyway, here's my best and worst:

Best moments:
Morgan Freeman's win - and his short, classy speech. This guy continues to serve as a role model for Hollywood - both in acting and general behaviour.
Jamie Foxx's speech - I wasn't pulling for Jamie, as I believe he's the first guy to win for lipsynching, but he sure knows how to give a speech. I was blown away by his speech at the Golden Globes, and last nite he hit on some of the same themes, but still gave an original and heartfelt speech (the only one that deserved a replay for me).
Sidney Lumet's speech - I liked that he thanked the movies in general. Like he said, who do you thank for lines like "Here's looking at you, kid". But boy does it leave an impact.
Roger Mayer's speech - He got the humanitarian award. Usually these things bore me. But he gave a great speech and I loved how he recognized his wife of 52 years.

Worst Moments:
The opening montage - I love montages! But this one was so horrible and it set the tone for the rest of the most boring Oscars in recent memory. It was aimed at the ADD crowd, I guess, because seeing one image at a time was just not in the cards. During all this visual madness (multiple shots of Charlie Chaplin and Spiderman) I was also forced to try to connect the dots between Dustin Hoffman's tedious reading of the most banal commentary imaginable....The oscars are where the past meets the future. Just like the movies. What does that mean??!!
Chris Rock - His opening monologue had some funny lines. But after saying he wasn't going to bash Bush, we got to hear the world's longest metaphor comparing the Iraq war to The Gap. He then said some really weird things about Passion of the Christ. Way to win over middle America there, Chris. After the opening monologue tho, Rock uttered maybe one funny line. He should have just left the building and let the offscreen announcer take over for all he contributed.
The set - TVs everywhere. On the ceiling, on the floor. It drove me nuts. Again, I guess they thought it would help keep us awake.
Hilary Swank's speech - If you didn't hear her speech at the Globes or the SAG awards, you probably thought last ntie's was pretty good. I thought it was pretty repetitive. How many times can she tell Chad Lowe he's her everything....... Arrgh. She has this thing memorized and delivers it well. But after hearing it verbatim for the third time, I was bored silly.
Jude Law - In his monologue, Rock went off for some reason on Jude Law. It really made no sense, but when Sean Penn was announcing the Best Actress award, he rebuked Rock for his comments and said what a great actor Law was. Once we saw Rock again, he made a phony threat towards Penn. Good for Penn for calling Rock out on something he said. I just have to wonder what Jude must have been thinking over in England during all this.
Too many sound awards - They tried to speed the show up by giving some awards in the audience and even by making all the nominees for some categories come on stage so they could be even more publicly humiliated when they lost. My big complaint - the sound awards. There are like 15 of these! Figure out a way to give them out at a different occasion. We only need one sound award presented at the ceremony itself.
Beyonce - Sure she has a pretty voice. But I hated all these songs but the French one at the beginning. Why is she the only girl allowed to sing? Does she have some weird non compete clause attached to her? By the time she sang her 3rd song I'd about had it. They need to cut the songs all together and turn this sucker out in 2 hours tops.

Best Dressed Women:
Overall best dress, hair, everything - Charlize Theron
Next - Kate Winslet
Other favorites: Annette Bening, Salma Hayek (except for v bad bangs), Natalie Portman, Beyonce, and Jamie Foxx's daughter Corrine (very age appropriate and sweet with her white gloves and ballerina slippers).

Worst Dressed Women:
Easily Laura Linney - hated her hair, makeup, and dress
Renee Zellweger - hated her makeup, hair and dress were OK
Kirsten Dunst - the dress look v bad on her, but I like her new hair color and cut
Scarlett Johannsen - not a fan of the dress or the hair

Special Mention:
Drew Barrymore - She looked all grown up and quite beautiful. The dress was pretty, but nothing special, but I loved her hair and the brooch on the back of the dress.
Hallie Berry - For one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, she's got to stop it with these asymmetrical dresses. The dress was so close to being a top pick, but there was something weird about the bodice. Loved her hair though.
Emmy Rossum - She's the star of Phantom of the Opera which I haven't seen. Her dress was pretty this time, but I predict big things to come from her. Next year, she may steal the show.

Best Dressed Man:
Leonardo DiCaprio - He looked wonderful, and as creede said was the closest to capturing the old glamour of Clark Gable. Plus he had the world's most beautiful accessory - his girlfriend Gisele.

Worst Dressed Men:
Johnny Depp- We get it Johnny, you're not in the mainstream. I laughed everytime they showed him in the audience sitting next to his companion, Vannessa Paradis. She is a wonderful actress in her own right (Girl on the Bridge is a must), but she looks so serious and glum, like a French Wednesday Adams. When he would clap, she would look at him suspicously before slooowly clapping herself.
Orlando Bloom - What was with the weirdness with the bowtie underneath the collar? And the vest made him look like a penguin. Tres bizarre, Orlando.

Whew. Maybe next year will be better. Unfortunately, I'll be watching.
Aloha