Sunshine Cinema on Houston St. in the Lower East Side
My prize for correctly picking The Artist for Best Picture.
Our Oscar stamped hands
I've watched the Academy Awards every year since I can remember. I've never taken them in any way seriously, of course, as it is rarely about art, and often about politics and popularity, with top prizes many times going to the ruthless studio heads who employ cutthroat campaign tactics. But, in spite of the astounding superficiality, I still very much enjoy the spectacle, if for nothing else, than to mock it.
As evidenced by this blog, I love films. Celebrity adoration is something very different, and it can be hard to escape when it is so entangled in our daily 'news' outlets. I don't believe in holding celebrities in high esteem. Unless it's Jack White. He's the only celebrity I come close to worshiping. I don't want to get too serious, but I do believe that 'Hollywood' and the music industry is comprised of a lot of racists, misogynists, pedophiles, and sociopaths. I would never trust the public image of or media spin about any of these people. I can't even begin to imagine the shadiness that occurs in that dirty world. There's little wonder as to why Hollywood and Washington D.C. are inextricably linked. Anyway, I don't want my love of cinema to be misconstrued as a love of celebrity culture, because it certainly isn't, and my admiration for artists mentioned extend only to their work. Unless it's Jack White, whose entire being I admire, obviously.
As I do not own a television, I began researching viewing options in NYC weeks in advance. There were many parties being thrown for the occasion, though most came with a $25+ ticket price. As fun as some of those sounded, I was not willing to pay so much for such an event. Just as my longing for The Alamo Drafthouse (the best movie theater ever!) set in, Sunshine Cinema's post announcing that they would screen the Oscars- for free- popped up on my Facebook feed! My friend Stacey and I had a great time. They let us in at 7pm, so we got to watch a good hour and a half of red carpet coverage before the actual ceremony began. This is where many of the evening's laughs derive from, after all. The oddities of Nick Nolte alone had the whole theater howling. The seats were comfortable and it was awesome watching the show on the big screen. Major props to the staff who put together ballots and handed out prizes (posters, DVDs, movie passes) at every commercial break. It was a really fun and chillaxed night. I hope they make it an annual tradition.
As I'm a big film buff, I've usually seen all of the nominated films come awards season. However, this past year was an anomaly. It was a rough one for me, and films weren't at the top of my priority list. Of the films that were nominated, I only saw: Midnight in Paris (♥♥♥♥), Tree of Life (♥♥♥♥), My Week With Marylin (♥♥♥♥♥ for Michelle Williams, ♥♥♥ for the film), The Descendants (♥♥♥♥), Bridesmaids (♥♥♥♥♥ for Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig; ♥♥♥ for the film). Why Melancholia didn't get any love is beyond me. But isn't that why these awards are so silly? There are so many other films and performances that are equally deserving of the same praise. Comparing such diverse works of artistic expression and subjectively choosing 'the best' has no validity. Especially when you consider that the reported statistics of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that I believe I've already mentioned: 94% white, 77% male, 54% over 60 years old; 2% under age 40. Yikes! Can anyone blame Spike Lee for still being pissed off that Driving Miss Daisy took home the gold in 1989 when Do the Right Thing was snubbed for a nomination? It doesn't appear much has changed since then unfortunately. Because my knowledge was limited, I didn't have strong opinions about who should take home the golden statuettes.
Best Picture Nominations Montage
My frivolous thoughts on the show this year, which given the subject matter, cannot be anything other than completely shallow, and should be taken with several grains of salt:
Billy
Crystal- meh. The producers tried to go modern last year with Franco
and Hathaway, and it bombed, so they bring back Crystal to do his usual
song and dance, which was rather trite and dated. In a sea of talent, is
it really that difficult to find a comically fresh host and some
innovative writers? This is supposed to be the biggest night in
Hollywood. Scorsese and Spielberg are in the audience. And they subject
us to a skit with Justin Bieber? W...T...F? Thank goodness Terrence
Malick wasn't there to witness this atrocity. Speaking of the great TM,
here is a sample of works from one of our greatest auteurs:
The Works of Terrence Malick 1973-2011
The continuation of the "Scorsese!" drinking
game which was carried over from the Golden Globes put Melissa McCarthy and Rose
Byrne amongst the funniest presenters. Emma Stone also gets props. She was really good in her skit with Ben Stiller. Everyone else's banter was the typical award show type- awkward and unamusing.
Angelina Jolie is still rocking the 1990's heroin chic look. I'm not sure why she was so intent on presenting her boney leg to the world all night long but, in spite of her obvious beauty, she does not look well. Jim Rash later imitating her pose on stage was such a good one. I think I actually laughed out loud. I'd be willing to bet that a significant percentage of those in attendance are high. Not that I'm blaming or judging; it may be the only way to get through such an event.
It might have been surprising and impressive that The Artist took home Best Actor, Best Director and Best Film given that Jean Dujardin and Michel
Hazanavicius are not very well known, and given that the film is a
silent, black & white arthouse type of flick if the infamous Harvey Weinstein had
not been behind it. The Weinsteins also produced The Iron Lady, so Meryl Streep winning Best Actress gave them a clean sweep for the top awards.
The French are so wonderfully and hilariously French. And who doesn't love a dog?
I find Tom Cruise as creepy as the next person, but damn he looks good, like he hasn't aged in twenty years.
An unusually scrawny looking Chris Rock wins best line from the show: "In the world
of animation, you can be anything you want to be. If you're a fat woman,
you can play a skinny princess. If you're a short wimpy guy, you can
play a tall gladiator. If you're a white man, you can play an Arabian
prince. And if you're a black man, you can play a donkey or a zebra."
(Rock voiced the zebra in Madagascar; Eddie Murphy voiced the Donkey in Shrek.)
His entire speech about earning a million dollars for doing the easiest
job in the world, aka voice over work, was hilarious. Where would this world be without the comedy stylings of Mr. Rock? Anyone see HBO's Talking Funny? I haven't but it looks great. Four brilliant comedians- Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais, and Louis CK (who has his own hilarious show Louis)- sit around discussing the craft of comedy:
Talking Funny, 2011
Bravo to Woody Allen for not showing up, again, to collect his fourth Oscar! I truly admire his disregard for such nonsense. Midnight in Paris is such a lovely film, the opening sequence of which is reminiscent to that of Manhattan:
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, 2011
My favorite dress award goes to Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton. Her golden frock from a few years back is still my all time favorite Oscar dress. Oh wait. Check that. She might have to share that honor with Bjork's infamous swan dress- loved it! Second place goes to Emma Stone inGiambattista Valli. And a special nod to Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford, because who doesn't love a cape? Best hair award goes to
Viola Davis- rocking her natural afro was so cool. It was a strong
statement following all the hoopla surrounding The Help:
Totally
random yet awesome was Christopher Guest & his usual mockumentary
crew making an appearance in the focus group sketch; I'm a huge fan of that clan! But where
was Parker Posey? Best movie ever:
Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman, 1997
How have Glenn "I will not be ignored!" Close and Gary "EVERRRRRRRYONE!" Oldman never won Oscars?
The intense clip of Demián Bichir in A Better Life really made me want to see that film. Here's hoping it's available at the library to check out soon.
I'm not a fan of Rooney Mara still sporting her Lisbeth Salander look and attitude. An appearance on the red carpet that is in stark contrast to her character's appearance in the film would benefit her, psychologically speaking, as physical transformation plays a large part in perceived acting ability. Don't you want people to believe that the role was a big stretch? There wasn't a hint of Marilyn in Michelle Williams, or a hint of Mrs. Thatcher in Meryl Streep, or a hint of Albert Nobbs in Glenn Close, or a hint of Aibileen in Viola Davis. Yet there was Lisbeth Salander sitting in the audience. It's interesting how much physical transformation played in each of the leading actress roles and how little it played in the roles of their male counterparts.
"I'm giving you a night call to tell you how I feel/ I want to drive you through the night, down the hills/ I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear/ I'm gonna show you where it's dark, but have no fear/ There's something inside you/ It's hard to explain/ They're talking about you boy/ But you're still the same" --Kavinsky, Nightcall (song from Drive)
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