Oscar YAY!s (and not many boos)

[fantine33]

I was going to answer the LS bright and early today whether I knew them right away or not. But since I know most of the songs right off, I now have to puzzle over how the hell they go together! So, as long as I'm here...

Didn't see a specific thread for all Oscar thoughts or impressions, so here goes.

Big yay for Tilda Swinton. I didn't see Michael Clayton (although from the clips they showed, I might), but I've loved her ever since Orlando. She was also brilliant (and the only decent thing) in Constantine.

I'm thrilled that Marion Cotillard won, so maybe they'll do the Oscar winner sale on Amazon and I can get the dvd. Or even better, they finally put it on the screen in this backwater so I can see it in the theater. From the clips I've seen, it looks like she did a really good job with a tough (in my opinion) person to capture. When I finally broke down and joined the cd age (mid 90's!) the first two cds I bought were Chopin and Piaf.

Maybe my biggest yay was for Falling Slowly. Great song and it beat out the Disney block! Besides it being a beautiful song, the performers/songwriters just seem like nice people and it probably means 380568275033 times more to them than it would to Menken and Ashman (yawn, another Oscar...). Triple yay to whoever it was that let Marketa Iglova come back out and give her speech.

Also loved all the past winner montages. Although it made me sad to see a lot of the great ones who are gone, the combination of history and wtf? were great.

Speaking of montage, seeing the old ones of Daniel Day-Lewis reminded me how back then I thought he was the hottest thing on two legs and now those forehead veins in his nomination clip terrified me! This probably isn't fair since I haven't seen the movie, but it seems like he's basically doing a retread of his Bill the Butcher, except more over the top and histrionic. At least the Butcher had malice and scared you, this seemd to be a caricature of a caricature. But I only have this clip and a few others they've shown here and there (like the milkshake thing) to go by.

I think Diablo Cody was regretting her dress choice right about the time she realized that she was going to have to get out of her seat.

Thing I think I learned this year: The less the writers do with the show, the better.

[minimetoo26]

I love the Coen Brothers and I'm glad they won a ton.

I was as surprised and pleased as Tilda Swinton was--haven't seen the movie, but I love her. I love the non-celebrity actresses.

I heard rumblings that Cotillard was toast since she didn't do her own singing, but we can retire that canard now. At least she wasn't dubbed by Marnie Nixon...

[ghostjmf]

My big loud cheer was for the song from Once. A good real song wins against 3 Disney nonentity zillion-dollar-baby songs. And against the spirited but basically melodyless gospel # from August Rush.

And the classiest act I've ever seen on an Oscar show was Stewart inviting the woman co-writer back on to give her thanks, sans what Alison Krauss on the Grammies once called "the go-away music" this time.


The biggest thud I heard on the show was brave Amy Whatever, the star of Enchanted, singing "Happy Working" without her animated helpers. Were they supposed to show but were delayed in traffic? What gives? A line about "even though you're vermin" is kind of hard to explain without, uh, seeing exactly what she's talking (singing) about.

[reeg2223]

Tilda is excellent in MICHAEL CLAYTON. She gets a lot of scenes where she prepares herself, and you see the underlying weaknesses of this woman--where in a typical film, you'd only see the hard lawyer part.
I ended up seeing all 5 Best picture nominees--all were good, and NO COUNTRY, CLAYTON and JUNO were excellent. BLOOD was very long and very ambitious, so it was both interesting and disjointed. I would have nominated RATATOUILLE or SWEENEY TOOD over ATONEMENT, but the first section of ATONEMENT is quite good.
The ONCE song was beautiful!
And Jon Stewart did a strong job despite the lesser prep time (no opening film with Stewart inserted in the nominated pictures for example.) Plus it was a quick show! But if you weren't from Minnesota, Pixar or Europe, you might have well stayed home that night!

[mrkelley23]

The lesser prep time probably made JS look better. He shines in a more hurried environment like that, since it's so much more like his home turf.

I'm really hoping it was him who pushed for the other Best Song winner to get her time at the mike.

[Appa23]

Dang! I was flipping back and forth from the Oscar telecast to other things, as it was incredibly boring at times.

I must have missed the funny jokes that Stewart told. For the most part, I just heard lame political jokes (The Republican party nominates old white men -- Ha Ha. Iraq jokes - wheee!) It's the oscars -- make fun of Hollywodd and movie themes.

I missed having the "movie montage" at the beginning, but I am guessing that Stewart may not have done it, even if there had not been a writer's strike. It really does not seem like his thing.

There were two solid jokes that I saw: the nomination of Norbit (recognizing that it is about time for the Academy to recognize movies that stunk) and "The baby goes to . . . . Angelina Jolie. She couldn't be here tonight because it is tough to get 17 babysitters on such short notice.")

[mrkelley23]

Dang! I was flipping back and forth from the Oscar telecast to other things, as it was incredibly boring at times.

I must have missed the funny jokes that Stewart told. For the most part, I just heard lame political jokes (The Republican party nominates old white men -- Ha Ha. Iraq jokes - wheee!) It's the oscars -- make fun of Hollywodd and movie themes.

I missed having the "movie montage" at the beginning, but I am guessing that Stewart may not have done it, even if there had not been a writer's strike. It really does not seem like his thing.

There were two solid jokes that I saw: the nomination of Norbit (recognizing that it is about time for the Academy to recognize movies that stunk) and "The baby goes to . . . . Angelina Jolie. She couldn't be here tonight because it is tough to get 17 babysitters on such short notice.")

I don't think being a good Oscar host is about who tells the most funny jokes. Funny is in the eye of the beholder, anyway, for the most part. I thought the Angelina Jolie line, for instance, was one of the weakest of the night, whereas the Jack Nicholson line, in the same sequence, was much funnier to me.

The movie montage, if I'm not mistaken, came in with Billy Crystal, and while others have tried to emulate it, I don't think any of them have succeeded as well as he did.

As far as it being the Oscars, so make fun of Hollywood -- I see enough of that on Fox News.

[Appa23]

That Jack line was funny, as well.

I really enjoy Tom Hanks, and I thought his line (likely scripted) about "a movie about hope . . . my goodness, HOPE" was very funny in naming the nominees for the Best Documentary (long form).

[T_Bone0806]

I had no problem whatsoever with the Best Song winner, but I also love the songs in "Enchanted". They remind me of the music in "A Mighty Wind" and "This is Spinal Tap", in that they lovingly tweak the nose of the genre they spoof. "The Happy Working Song" and "That's How You Know" lose something out of context, to be sure. I loved that Mencken ("Beauty & the Beast", "Little Mermaid", "Aladdin") and Schwartz ("Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Pocahontas") were goofing on their own canon.

I may not have a great deal of sophistication in my movie tastes, but I think I actually enjoyed "Enchanted" more than any movie I saw last year. I'm not saying it was the best-made by any means, but it probably flat-out entertained me more than anything else I saw. Of course, I'm a Disney nut so the gentle parody of the genre really tickled me, and Amy Adams was so spot on with her character I couldn't help but love it.

[Ritterskoop]

Amy Adams was so spot on with her character I couldn't help but love it.

It is a very different kind of movie, but you might try her in "Junebug".

[T_Bone0806]

Amy Adams was so spot on with her character I couldn't help but love it.

It is a very different kind of movie, but you might try her in "Junebug".

She got an Oscar nod for that, didn't she?

I read good things about that movie but have yet to see it. I am quite behind on all the stuff I'd like to see.

[KillerTomato]

I was going to answer the LS bright and early today whether I knew them right away or not. But since I know most of the songs right off, I now have to puzzle over how the hell they go together! So, as long as I'm here...

Didn't see a specific thread for all Oscar thoughts or impressions, so here goes.

Big yay for Tilda Swinton. I didn't see Michael Clayton (although from the clips they showed, I might), but I've loved her ever since Orlando. She was also brilliant (and the only decent thing) in Constantine.

I'm thrilled that Marion Cotillard won, so maybe they'll do the Oscar winner sale on Amazon and I can get the dvd. Or even better, they finally put it on the screen in this backwater so I can see it in the theater. From the clips I've seen, it looks like she did a really good job with a tough (in my opinion) person to capture. When I finally broke down and joined the cd age (mid 90's!) the first two cds I bought were Chopin and Piaf.

Maybe my biggest yay was for Falling Slowly. Great song and it beat out the Disney block! Besides it being a beautiful song, the performers/songwriters just seem like nice people and it probably means 380568275033 times more to them than it would to Menken and Ashman (yawn, another Oscar...). Triple yay to whoever it was that let Marketa Iglova come back out and give her speech.

Also loved all the past winner montages. Although it made me sad to see a lot of the great ones who are gone, the combination of history and wtf? were great.

Speaking of montage, seeing the old ones of Daniel Day-Lewis reminded me how back then I thought he was the hottest thing on two legs and now those forehead veins in his nomination clip terrified me! This probably isn't fair since I haven't seen the movie, but it seems like he's basically doing a retread of his Bill the Butcher, except more over the top and histrionic. At least the Butcher had malice and scared you, this seemd to be a caricature of a caricature. But I only have this clip and a few others they've shown here and there (like the milkshake thing) to go by.

I think Diablo Cody was regretting her dress choice right about the time she realized that she was going to have to get out of her seat.

Thing I think I learned this year: The less the writers do with the show, the better.

You should definitely see "Michael Clayton"...it's much better than I expected, since it was less about the case (which we've seen many times before...big corporation poisons poor farmers -- just rent "Erin Brokovich" or "A Civil Action" or a dozen others to see that) and more about the personalities (multiple, in one case!) of the players.

As I said in another thread, I'm thrilled for the Coens (it's about freakin' time!). Javier Bardem was astonishing, and there were solid performances also by Josh Brolin (!), Tommy Lee Jones and all the typical Coen background/minor characters. If "Zodiac" couldn't win, I'm glad "No Country" did.

BTW, the Hollywood Video near my apartment is closing, and I stopped in yesterday to see what I could pick up cheap from them. I got a Criterion Collection version of "The Third Man" for $5 (it retails for about $40, if you can find it), and copies of "The Graduate" (amazingly not in my collection, but I've seen it 10 dozen times), "Nosferatu", "The Bicycle Thief", and "Shoot 'Em Up" dirt cheap. But they also had "La Vie En Rose" for $7, and I didn't buy it....I don't why, I just didn't. Maybe I'll take a trip down there this evening and see if there's still one there....

I was mostly looking for foreign films, classics and maybe a newish movie or two (hence the ones I picked)...no schmaltz, no "eh, it's an OK movie" types...but unfortunately, all the Kurosawas were gone, and all the Truffauts and Godards, too. I got the best of what was left...

[fantine33]

Tilda is excellent in MICHAEL CLAYTON. She gets a lot of scenes where she prepares herself, and you see the underlying weaknesses of this woman--where in a typical film, you'd only see the hard lawyer part.

You should definitely see "Michael Clayton"...it's much better than I expected, since it was less about the case (which we've seen many times before...big corporation poisons poor farmers -- just rent "Erin Brokovich" or "A Civil Action" or a dozen others to see that) and more about the personalities (multiple, in one case!) of the players.

As I said in another thread, I'm thrilled for the Coens (it's about freakin' time!). Javier Bardem was astonishing, and there were solid performances also by Josh Brolin (!), Tommy Lee Jones and all the typical Coen background/minor characters. If "Zodiac" couldn't win, I'm glad "No Country" did.

BTW, the Hollywood Video near my apartment is closing, and I stopped in yesterday to see what I could pick up cheap from them. I got a Criterion Collection version of "The Third Man" for $5 (it retails for about $40, if you can find it), and copies of "The Graduate" (amazingly not in my collection, but I've seen it 10 dozen times), "Nosferatu", "The Bicycle Thief", and "Shoot 'Em Up" dirt cheap. But they also had "La Vie En Rose" for $7, and I didn't buy it....I don't why, I just didn't. Maybe I'll take a trip down there this evening and see if there's still one there....

The synopses of Michael Clayton intrigued me. I worked for the Court for so long that "lawyer" and "case" movies hold no interest for me at all. A personality study makes it much more inviting.

A newly released dvd for $7? Makes sure it's not the La Vie en Rose about the GLBT little boy.

You know, I didn't think that Zodiac was that great. You wouldn't think that coming from me, huh? I've seen it several times on tv and it can never keep my interest all the way through.

[fantine33]

I love the Coen Brothers and I'm glad they won a ton.

I was as surprised and pleased as Tilda Swinton was--haven't seen the movie, but I love her. I love the non-celebrity actresses.

I heard rumblings that Cotillard was toast since she didn't do her own singing, but we can retire that canard now. At least she wasn't dubbed by Marnie Nixon...

I thought it was okay the Coen Bros won, although I know nothing about the movie, but no big wow. I liked Fargo and a few others moderately well. But then I remembered they did The Big Lebowski, which is one of the greatest movies in the History of Everything, so YAY Coens!

Everytime I see Ethan (I think, the one who's married to Frances McDormand) he looks more and more like John Waters.

Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I don't knock Cotillard for not doing her own singing. Sissy Spacek and Gary Busey got extra super duper cred for doing their own singing (and Busey really should have won the Oscar), but sounding like Loretta Lynn and Buddy Holly is a different thing entirely than sounding like Edith Piaf.

I'm really hoping it was him who pushed for the other Best Song winner to get her time at the mike.

I read in an Oscar blog (I think it was eonline, but might have been imdb) that Gil Cates told Stewart to have her come back out.

[KillerTomato]

Tilda is excellent in MICHAEL CLAYTON. She gets a lot of scenes where she prepares herself, and you see the underlying weaknesses of this woman--where in a typical film, you'd only see the hard lawyer part.

You should definitely see "Michael Clayton"...it's much better than I expected, since it was less about the case (which we've seen many times before...big corporation poisons poor farmers -- just rent "Erin Brokovich" or "A Civil Action" or a dozen others to see that) and more about the personalities (multiple, in one case!) of the players.

As I said in another thread, I'm thrilled for the Coens (it's about freakin' time!). Javier Bardem was astonishing, and there were solid performances also by Josh Brolin (!), Tommy Lee Jones and all the typical Coen background/minor characters. If "Zodiac" couldn't win, I'm glad "No Country" did.

BTW, the Hollywood Video near my apartment is closing, and I stopped in yesterday to see what I could pick up cheap from them. I got a Criterion Collection version of "The Third Man" for $5 (it retails for about $40, if you can find it), and copies of "The Graduate" (amazingly not in my collection, but I've seen it 10 dozen times), "Nosferatu", "The Bicycle Thief", and "Shoot 'Em Up" dirt cheap. But they also had "La Vie En Rose" for $7, and I didn't buy it....I don't why, I just didn't. Maybe I'll take a trip down there this evening and see if there's still one there....

The synopses of Michael Clayton intrigued me. I worked for the Court for so long that "lawyer" and "case" movies hold no interest for me at all. A personality study makes it much more inviting.

A newly released dvd for $7? Makes sure it's not the La Vie en Rose about the GLBT little boy.

You know, I didn't think that Zodiac was that great. You wouldn't think that coming from me, huh? I've seen it several times on tv and it can never keep my interest all the way through.

"Michael Clayton" is defnitely more than just a "lawyer" movie (there are NO courtroom scenes, and only a short snippet of a deposition, shown on a TV). I predict you'll like it.

And no, it's definitely "LA Vie en Rose," not "MA Vie en Rose". I did pick it up this evening, along with a bunch of movies I missed on Sunday. Got 2 more Criterion DVDs (Antonioni's "L'Avventura" and Kurosawa's "Sanjuro" -- which I would have snapped up the other day if I'd seen them), "American Splendor" with the great performance of Paul Giamatti, Truffaut's "Day for Night" (again, I'd have snapped that up earlier if it hadn't been in the "Comedy" section (!), Scorsese's "The King of Comedy" and Hitch's "Frenzy". All of 'em $7 or less ("L'Avventura" was only $5!!!).

[TheCalvinator24]

And no, it's definitely "LA Vie en Rose," not "MA Vie en Rose". I did pick it up this evening, along with a bunch of movies I missed on Sunday. Got 2 more Criterion DVDs (Antonioni's "L'Avventura" and Kurosawa's "Sanjuro" -- which I would have snapped up the other day if I'd seen them), "American Splendor" with the great performance of Paul Giamatti, Truffaut's "Day for Night" (again, I'd have snapped that up earlier if it hadn't been in the "Comedy" section (!), Scorsese's "The King of Comedy" and Hitch's "Frenzy". All of 'em $7 or less ("L'Avventura" was only $5!!!).

Speaking of Sanjuro, I watched it last night. It became my second favorite Kurosawa film after Seven Samurai.

[danielh41]

BTW, the Hollywood Video near my apartment is closing, and I stopped in yesterday to see what I could pick up cheap from them. I got a Criterion Collection version of "The Third Man" for $5 (it retails for about $40, if you can find it), and copies of "The Graduate" (amazingly not in my collection, but I've seen it 10 dozen times), "Nosferatu", "The Bicycle Thief", and "Shoot 'Em Up" dirt cheap. But they also had "La Vie En Rose" for $7, and I didn't buy it....I don't why, I just didn't. Maybe I'll take a trip down there this evening and see if there's still one there....

I was mostly looking for foreign films, classics and maybe a newish movie or two (hence the ones I picked)...no schmaltz, no "eh, it's an OK movie" types...but unfortunately, all the Kurosawas were gone, and all the Truffauts and Godards, too. I got the best of what was left...

We bought a new HDTV and Blu-ray player last month, and I'm in love with movies on Blu-ray. It plays my existing DVDs pretty well too, so I don't have any plans for replacing them, except for a very few (I can't wait to watch Lawrence of Arabia on Blu-ray later this year). I did get The Searchers on Blu-ray, and it looks positively stunning. I also got A Clockwork Orange, but I haven't watched it yet (have to wait for the kids to go to bed before putting that one in). Yes, the Blu-ray discs cost more, but Amazon has had some good deals.