Solitary Oscars

Last night I sat down to watch the Academy Awards – usually a night I look forward to with unbridled excitement.  This year was a little different – the nominations were all over the place and went for a lot more of what I refer to as “artsy” movies versus the main stream movies where I dwell.  I was initially very excited to hear that Billy Crystal was back as the host but that lasted for all of about the first five minutes of the show.  Everything has its time and Billy’s has certainly passed.  He’s lost the edge that made him so enjoyable in past Oscar telecasts.  I think, in reality that we, as an audience, have moved on expecting more and Billy was still back in the 1980s.  His opening song was almost unintelligible and none of his jokes hit the mark.  It was kind of sad but in a way it’s almost liberating because I won’t be bemoaning future hosts and wishing Billy would come back.  As I said above, this year was different – usually I’ve got the wife around and she serves as a catalyst for the excitement I feel for the Oscars.  Buddy did try to fill the gap but I found I was much less stoked to watch the show as I have been in the past.  I didn’t even remember the show was on until my wife reminded me on the phone.  We did talk and she said she would call after the show was over.  I stayed up well after 1AM not wanting to miss her call but I guess she fell asleep.  Not that I blame her, the show was not that memorable.  My daughter told me about the big winner, The Artist, and I really tried to see it but it never came to my area.  Since this is Hollywood’s biggest night of the year I think there should be some rules about the type of movie eligible for nomination.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about this movie but it was only available in a limited release.  That’s what we have the independent movie awards for – Oscars should be reserved for the big, Hollywood movies.  These things go in cycles and I think we’re currently going through the periodic cycle where the academy takes itself a little too seriously and forgets they are in a mass appeal business.  More shows like last night and they’ll start becoming irrelevant to most of us which would be a shame.  Hollywood was built on glamour and over the top showmanship – that was missing last night.  The best part of the show was the female cast from the Bridesmaids – incredibly funny.   I liked the fact the Streep won again, she is so good and I think has been passed over in other nominations where she deserved to win because she’s won before.  She also gave the best speech of the night – a total class act.  I also enjoyed Emma Stone, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifinakis, and Robert Downey Jr. who were all hilarious but the rest of the show was kind of blah. I also thought the In Memoriam section was poorly done, showing pictures instead of clips for most of the deceased.  These were stars of a moving medium and were reduced to posters instead - big mistake.  I missed being able to share the show last night – I guess I learned that the sharing is what makes it fun for me.  Next year I’ll host my own Oscar party if that’s what it takes!

Well Done!