It was a hotly anticipated race, and one that seemed like it could go either way. The Oscars this year pitted former spouses Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron and their films; would it be the gritty war drama or the movie with the 3D Smurfs?
Fortunately, the right film and director won. OK, I was rooting for Quentin Tarantino and “Inglorious Basterds” but anything that wasn’t “Avatar” was fine by me.
But those weren’t the only highlights of the night. Following, the things that stood out to me about Hollywood’s biggest night:
• Wait, wasn’t that for Best Actress?: I’m still amazed that Sandra Bullock somehow managed to win any kind of acclaim. After all, this was the same woman who was out acted by Keanu Reeves. And a bus.
But she added a spark of enthusiasm for the night, giving the most entertaining speech of the entire evening. Bonus points to the Academy for awarding Best Actor to Colonel Sanders — wait, that was Jeff Bridges?
• Get on with it already: The Oscars are known for decadence, but that can sometimes turn to bloat, and nowhere was that more evident than Sunday’s ceremony.
From the pointless gathering of the Best Actress/Actor nominees at the start to the opening number by Hollywood mogul Neil Patrick Harris (He was in the “Harold and Kumar” movies, so that counts), then the ego-stroking acting award presentations by those who did the best they could to give credit to the nominees while not relinquishing the cameras themselves, it was a night full of waste and filler. The producers seemed as though they wouldn’t be happy unless the awards rolled into Monday.
• It’s not too late for a recall: Is there any more shameful reminder of the Academy’s mistakes, or how far an actor can fall, then Robin Williams? The former Best Supporting Actor winner capped off a career year with “Old Dogs.” Yeah, I think it’d be OK to rewrite the books a little. And can we do something about Ben Affleck and Whoopi Goldberg while we’re in there?
• They put the “ass” in class: The ceremonies used to be about glitz and glamour, so it was sad to see so many disrespecting tradition.
Considering T-Bone Burnett’s refusal to remove his sunglasses (making him look like a fatter, uglier and less charismatic Jack Nicholson), Tarantino’s disheveled suit and askew tie and bland Kristen Stewart, whose emotionless and monotone monitor reading could have been just as effectively done with a Bella cardboard cutout, it seems that people just can’t be bothered to care anymore.
• Apparently, music doesn’t matter: One of the finest Oscar moments of the past few years was the lovely and touching performance of “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
Flash-forward two years, when the Best Song nominees get shoved aside for a highlight clip. But this year, producers take the time to choreograph some bizarre modern dance to the Best Score nominees.
I do give them credit for sneaking James Taylor in during the death montage, doing a beautiful cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life.” It was a fitting song for a somber moment.
• You may be dead, but you still don’t matter: Speaking of death, did we need the overblown tribute to John Hughes? I realize many from my generation consider him one of the greats, but really, it’s not like Martin Scorcese or Steven Spielberg died. This is the guy behind “Home Alone.”
Yet Farrah Fawcett couldn’t be squeezed into the tribute package, while Michael Jackson got the honor. Oddly, they didn’t do a tribute to the childhoods that Jackson helped to destroy.
• It’s Babs’ world: Proving that Cameron didn’t have the biggest ego in the room, Barbara Streisand was brought in to present the Best Director award, and she immediately made the moment about her.
When Bigelow took the stage, it looked as though she was going to have to pry the Oscar out of Streisand’s claw. When her speech was over, Streisand all but shoved her out of the camera frame to keep from having to share the spotlight.
• Hosts with the most?: In concept, both sounded like great fits for hosts. Steve Martin has done an admirable job in the past, and was the funniest part of last year’s ceremonies. Alec Baldwin has redefined his career with “30 Rock.”
But something just didn’t seem to click, as joke after joke fell flat. Had they gone with one or the other, I think the flow would have been better.
Martin did have the funniest line of the night after the stilted and nervous acceptance of Best Adapted Screenplay winner Geoffrey Fletcher; I would have liked to see how he would have done without others getting in the way.
• Joplin never fails to disappoint: It would have been nice to see “Precious,” “An Education” or “A Serious Man” before Sunday’s ceremony.
But these don’t have big stars or shiny special effects, so they bypassed our local theater. At least we got to see the 3-D Smurfs.
