So... The Oscars....

[chrisd]

Anyone got any interest?

[The Flush]

None whatsoever.

[justapixel]

Nope, no interest. That's what TiVo is for...I'll be watching Criminal Minds or something good. :)

[JimSpence]

I will record it. And if I'm interested I'll start watching so I can skip the ads and the stupid stuff. :)

[lambertman]

It's not like it's the Emmys ... :)

I might catch a little bit here and there, but I haven't seen any new movies in the past year. So I'll mainly go with TAR: All-Stars and Iron Chef America.

[Neenahboy]

The best day of the year for me. :)

[jami]

It's fun - I'll be watching.

[IndyJones1023]

I have more interest this year. I know someone up for 2 awards.

[mzgig]

It's worth watching just to see the clothes, shoes and hairstyles. I don't care who wins the Oscar.

[justapixel]

It's worth watching just to see the clothes, shoes and hairstyles. I don't care who wins the Oscar.

I love the styles too, but I subscribe to InStyle Magazine, and they always do an Oscar fashion issue. I can look at their clothes without actually having to hear them speak, which is a huge plus. :)

[MikeMar]

I'll fast forward through it quickly for funny monologues and moments

I can lookup the winners tomorrow in 2 min :D

[Seattle]

None whatsoever.

+1

[Rosincrans]

I love movies, but the voting always drives me nuts. Just because something is a period piece doesn't mean it's better. Sometime I feel like I could play Queen Elizabeth and get an Oscar. My least favorite is the apology Oscar. Whoopi Goldberg didn't get an Oscar for The Color Purple (which she deserved) so they gave her an Oscar for Ghost (Which she didn't deserve)

[jami]

Did anyone see Sally Kirkland on the red carpet? What a nutcase!

[JLucPicard]

In my family, the only ones who were ever interested in Oscar night were my sister and gay brother. It's still that way.

[Graymalkin]

I'm in it only for the fashion -- which actresses look the hottest on the red carpet.

Tonight, so far, my favorite is Reese Witherspoon. Meeeee-row!

[HomieG]

I'm in it only for the fashion -- which actresses look the hottest on the red carpet.

Tonight, so far, my favorite is Reese Witherspoon. Meeeee-row!

+1 :D

[tase2]

Anybody having lip sync problems with HD ABC?

[jami]

Not HD, but I had a little trouble at the beginning of the red carpet hoopla.

[tase2]

It was really bad during Barbara Walters special

[Turtleboy]

Wow, looks gorgeous in HD.

[jones07]

The female side of the Jones Clan is watching.

[tase2]

nobody else is have lip sync problems?

[Zevida]

I would like to vote for both options - who cares and I'll be watching. I'm not sure why I'm watching, but it's turned on.

[Neenahboy]

Wow, the presenters can actually read the TelePrompTer this year...I'm impressed.

[markymark_ctown]

i'll watch a bit, but not glued to it.

[IndyJones1023]

Woohoo! Bub won for sound editing!

[Amnesia]

Portia de Rossi looks beautiful...

[jami]

Woohoo! Bub won for sound editing!

Your friend? cool! I'm still on the pre-show, thanks to TiVo. :)

[IndyJones1023]

Your friend? cool! I'm still on the pre-show, thanks to TiVo. :)
Oops, sorry for the spoiler. ;)

[kar74]

I missed the red carpet specials but just skimmed through the Yahoo pics. Beyonce is gorgeous tonight! Same with Portia de Rossi and Nicole Kidman (minus that big poofy thing over her shoulder). :up:

Side note: Jack Nicholson going bald? :down:

I liked the comedian song with Jack Black, Will Farrell, & John C. Reilly. :p

[jsmeeker]

I liked the Apple iPhone ad.

:)

The effects the dancers are doing is pretty cool. And I like the sound using people thing. Really well done.

[jami]

Oops, sorry for the spoiler. ;)

Yeah, I was really waiting on the sound editing! ;) You TOTALLY ruined it. :mad:




:D

[MasterOfPuppets]

I have absolutely no interest in any stuffy awards show.
However...here's to hoping for some excellent cleavage pictures in the upcoming days. :up:

[HomieG]

Tom Cruise just doesn't age.

[MFruchey]

Keep in mind I'm watching on a delay and fast-forwarding through the boring parts, but, unless I've lost it altogether, this seems a lot more entertaining than in years past. Not happy about the results for best animated pic, though.

[Alfer]

It's background noise for me as I type this...

[kar74]

It's background noise for me as I type this...


+1

[TonyD79]

Tom Cruise just doesn't age.

You didn't see the very young looking picture of him in the montage honoring whoever he was honoring? I mean he is only 44. How old should he look?

[Tivo_60]

OK, 10:45pm EST...the most booooring Oscar show ever !! Only 1 majpr award in the first 2 hrs, Are they kidding ?!

[Neenahboy]

If the Academy has any brains whatsoever, they'll tap Jerry Seinfeld to host next year.

[jsmeeker]

OK, 10:45pm EST...the most booooring Oscar show ever !! Only 1 majpr award in the first 2 hrs, Are they kidding ?!


It's pretty much following the standard schedule. Best actor and actress are at the end. Best director, then best picture at the very end. One of the supporting actor awards is early, then the other in the middle.

[IJustLikeTivo]

Portia de Rossi looks beautiful...

True but she plays for the wrong team... Sigh.

[genearch]

True but she plays for the wrong team... Sigh.

But we need her on our team! We need a shortstop!

[mrmike]

True but she plays for the wrong team... Sigh.

Beauty knows no teams. I don't stop looking at a Monet just 'cause I'll never be able to afford one.

[jami]

Beauty knows no teams. I don't stop looking at a Monet just 'cause I'll never be able to afford one.


http://www.steptogether.org/forum/images/graemlins/clap.gif

[Zevida]

OK, 10:45pm EST...the most booooring Oscar show ever !! Only 1 majpr award in the first 2 hrs, Are they kidding ?!

No kidding. I remember not too long ago they used to do both supporting actor awards right up front, which at least kick started the evening. Now we've got a Dreamgirls performance with no sign of ending.

[jsmeeker]

Beauty knows no teams. I don't stop looking at a Monet just 'cause I'll never be able to afford one.

hell yeah.

Melissa Ethridge's wife is HOT!

[craftassistant]

anyone still up and watching?

[kar74]

unfortunately, yes. :o I'm heading to bed now. I picked a bad night for insomnia. :p

[craftassistant]

night kar!

finally it is a wrap......

[Neenahboy]

Wow, that was honestly the most entertaining broadcast in the last five years. While Ellen DeGeneres was far from spectacular, the dancing troupe they hired was phenomenal, the montages were actually entertaining, and for the most part (I'm looking at you, Diane Keaton and Clint Eastwood), the presenters managed to read the teleprompter well.

[LoadStar]

Good:
- just about everyone read the teleprompter well.
- Ellen's interaction in the audience (particularly the bit with Clint Eastwood)
- the tumblers
- the cinematography - simply breathtaking in HD, particularly the opening crane shot

Bad:
- montages, because just about every one had no connection to anything being done tonight
- the Errol Morris bit at the beginning, simply because it's just so much more of the same thing he's done for years
- the backstage bits, because they just slowed the show down and added nothing


I think they really need to concentrate more on keeping the show within the time alloted. If they start to notice the show going long, they need to be unafraid to scrap some of the comedic/host bits and montages.

[David Platt]

Wow. I must be in the minority. I thought the "dance" segments were awful to the point of being completely hilarious. I wished they would have been cut.

[LoadStar]

Wow. I must be in the minority. I thought the "dance" segments were awful to the point of being completely hilarious. I wished they would have been cut.
Well, I thought they were ingenious how they could tumble their bodies into such accurate representations. Additionally, it was more that it was so much better than I thought it was going to be - I thought it was going to be one of those annoyingly artsy "interpretive dance" troupes, writhing on stage in supposed emotional response to something or other.

What did you find so awful about them?

[Neenahboy]

Wow. I must be in the minority. I thought the "dance" segments were awful to the point of being completely hilarious. I wished they would have been cut.

I'm curious as to why. They lasted no longer than 30 seconds each, and they made for nice little segues into commercial breaks, I thought.

[Neenahboy]

Also, was it me or was Ellen's monologue unusually short?

[craftassistant]

I watch Ellen daily, and I was somewhat disappointed in her tonight. But I managed to still watch everything. She has been so much funnier on daytime. She had been preparing for this for so long.

The shadow things were cool. The snakes on a plane was funny!

[Ntombi]

I'd vote for this third option: I'll TiVo and FF through the boring parts.

I watched the entire thing in about an hour.

[TAsunder]

I thought ellen was great. Rarely do you see an oscar host keep their comedic style in their presentation of the oscars.

Beyonce made jennifer hudson look like a cut rate singer, IMO. Not saying she didn't deserve the oscar, but I was reminded of why she was voted off AI when she sang opposite beyonce. Yeah sure, she can bellow louder, but that's about all.

Very disappointed that Pan's Lab didn't win best foreign flick, but I won't consider it a travesty until I watch the german flick.

What a great moment when they gave marty scorcese a standing O. I wonder if their votes were influenced by the death of robert altman?

[Lee L]

I also liked the dance bits. Pretty amazing they could choreagraph that considering they can;t see what they are making very easily since they are pretty close to the screen.

I did not really love Ellen. I actually like her comedy usually, but I just did not find her that great.

AS far as time, I wonder if they really think that they have a chance to make the 3 hour running time. I know things go longer than they would hope here and there, but 45 mintues is quite a bit of extra long speeches. I think they know they will be long and just don't care.

[Skittles]

OK, so here's an honest question.

During Jennifer Hudson's big song and dance number with Beyonce, where she was bouncing around the stage, was anyone else expecting her right boob to pop out?



Oh, and put me in the "Loved it" category. Ellen was enjoyable. She's no Johnny Carson, or Billy Crystal, but still enjoyable. I did enjoy the joke she did when introducing Al Gore and Jennifer Hudson. But someone needs to tell her that velvet suits are a big No No at the Oscars... especially for a host.

And was I the only one who saw the opening montage, with the various filmmakers, and kept thinking there'd be an Apple logo at the end of it?

[DougF]

I haven't watched yet, probably will skim through it tonight. Did they all, as usual, ignore the producer's advice about giving an entertaining acceptance speech? Thanking everyone from "our brilliant, brilliant director" to the person who walks their dog is a bit played out.

[Skittles]

I haven't watched yet, probably will skim through it tonight. Did they all, as usual, ignore the producer's advice about giving an entertaining acceptance speech? Thanking everyone from "our brilliant, brilliant director" to the person who walks their dog is a bit played out.Oh yeah. In fact, I skipped through most of the speeches because they were so run of the mill. I don't think anyone had anything particularly funny.

Helen Mirren's speech, though, was fairly good. Her tribute to Queen Elizabeth was very sincere and touching. It was so classy.

[TIVO_GUY_HERE]

Loved Ellen telling Steven Spielberg how to frame her picture in the camera. Dancers were different, pretty cool. Other than that, ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Lee L]

OK, so here's an honest question.

During Jennifer Hudson's big song and dance number with Beyonce, where she was bouncing around the stage, was anyone else expecting her right boob to pop out?





I said to my wife, "wardrobe malfunction in 3... 2... 1..." She actually noticed part of her bra was starting to poke out so I guess ABC would have avoided a $200 milion fine.

[Ekims]

Can someone settle something for me please?

In the opening of the Oscars, where all the nominees are just talking or whatever, I told Jennifer that it looks like they used some goofy lense effect on them. It seems their heads were all odd shaped or way to big/small for the body. Was I high?

[kdelande]

Side note: Jack Nicholson going bald? :down:

TVGuide.com says that's for a part as a cancer patient.

KD

[David Platt]

Well, I thought they were ingenious how they could tumble their bodies into such accurate representations. Additionally, it was more that it was so much better than I thought it was going to be - I thought it was going to be one of those annoyingly artsy "interpretive dance" troupes, writhing on stage in supposed emotional response to something or other.

What did you find so awful about them?

I've been thinking about this, and I'm having a hard time putting my finger on it. They weren't "awful" so much as just way too literal. Dance is about interpretation, about taking an idea and transforming it into something else using the body. What they did was simply use their bodies to transform into a literal representation of each movie, instead of using their bodies to interpret each movie. It just wasn't very clever.

And they used cardboard cutouts to cheat. ;)

[Neenahboy]

And was I the only one who saw the opening montage, with the various filmmakers, and kept thinking there'd be an Apple logo at the end of it?

Nope. I honestly thought they were doing a parody of the Switch or Mac vs. PC ads until a minute in.

[TiVo'Brien]

No kidding. I remember not too long ago they used to do both supporting actor awards right up front, which at least kick started the evening. Now we've got a Dreamgirls performance with no sign of ending.The moment that third singer came on stage after Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson finished, I gave up and went to bed.

[LoadStar]

Well, I don't blame them for the extended Dreamgirls segment... after all, the movie had 3 songs nominated for best song, and historically they've always performed the full version of all nominated songs. It just seemed like a lot since they were all sung back-to-back (and that's really the only way that they could've performed them... it would've been odd to have a bunch of Dreamgirls songs spread out throughout the telecast.

[LoadStar]

Nope. I honestly thought they were doing a parody of the Switch or Mac vs. PC ads until a minute in.
That's an Erroll Morris thing. I've seen a bunch of stuff from him, and it all looks exactly like that.

[TAsunder]

Usually he interviews in houses or buildings. He did pioneer the technique of having the interview subject looking right at the camera while talking to the interviewer, though.

[Neenahboy]

Was anyone else surprised that they had Clint Eastwood translating for Ennio Morricone? I knew the speech wasn't going to be in English, but I thought they'd have a transcribed and subtitled speech ready so he could just talk freely. Having to stop so Clint could translate every sentence was just awkward.

[astrohip]

* I liked Ellen. She did a good job, and has a quick wit, which is essential for Oscar hosting. The only better host in the last twenty years was Billy Crystal (best host ever). I thought when Ellen stopped to talk to Scorcese, and just happened to have a script on her, that was funny!

* Beyonce is incredible. An all around talent, singing, acting. And she always looks so elegant & composed.

* Someone said several posts back "even they could play QEII". I beg to differ. Hellen Mirren is one of the best actresses working today. She fully deserved her Oscar 100%. And her acceptance speech was the best of the evening (along with Scorcese's).

* The SO for Scorcese was moving. Heck, you gotta figure he's prolly worked with half the people in that room. Waaay overdue honor.

* Show still runs too long. Find a way to squeeze it in its time frame. MUST find a way to cut the speeches shorter, esp the less important ones. I know that sounds cruel, but most of America doesn't want to see a long speech from the minor winners.

[astrohip]

Meant to add . . . the scene with Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas together was great. I knew the minute they walked out they would do something to jab Lucas over his lack of an Oscar. :)

[SoldOnTivoToo]

The speeches length was ok this year. I FF most of them anyway (YAY Tivo!!!!)

The question I was asking myself was: "Who thinks that we need SO MANY movie montages?????" They bring nothing to the party, they are boring and they eat SO MUCH time.

[jsmeeker]

Usually he interviews in houses or buildings. He did pioneer the technique of having the interview subject looking right at the camera while talking to the interviewer, though.


Somewhere, I saw a story on Ellen Feiss. Remember her? She was the "stoned" girl in the Apple "Switch" ad campaign. Anyway, she was interviewed abotu the whole thing recently and she said that he used some sort of "special" camera where you could see him clearly while he operated. And it's not scripted. It's just him interviewing. Then, they cut it together.

[LoadStar]

Somewhere, I saw a story on Ellen Feiss. Remember her? She was the "stoned" girl in the Apple "Switch" ad campaign. Anyway, she was interviewed abotu the whole thing recently and she said that he used some sort of "special" camera where you could see him clearly while he operated. And it's not scripted. It's just him interviewing. Then, they cut it together.
The Interrotron: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/Interrotron_web_page.jpg

Basically, he adapts a teleprompter type of system to display camera footage of the interviewer. This allows the interviewee to look point blank at the camera and answer the questions naturally, as if they're talking one-on-one with a person.

[jsmeeker]

cool. Thanks for sharing that.

[TAsunder]

Wow, that device is much cooler than I thought it was just from the name.

[kar74]

I really liked Ellen as the host this year. I had to laugh at her with Scorcese and when they came back from commercial at about midnight and she was vacuuming. :p

[That Don Guy]

Show still runs too long. Find a way to squeeze it in its time frame. MUST find a way to cut the speeches shorter, esp the less important ones. I know that sounds cruel, but most of America doesn't want to see a long speech from the minor winners.Most of America doesn't want to see the "minor winners," period. The problem is, what can you do?

My first thought: do what the Tonys does - have the "less popular" awards in the first hour, and air it on a different network (I think the Tonys uses PBS for this). The problem: the hour before the Oscars is reserved for Barbara Walters (in the east, anyway - the west gets her show after the ceremony).

Maybe having them on a different night, the way the Scientific and Technical awards are handled now (as well as how the Emmys do it)?

You're not going to get rid of the long speeches - especially for the top four categories. That's one of the reasons people watch in the first place.

-- Don

[That Don Guy]

Who presented the first award - and will she ever be invited back, considering she broke one of the cardinal rules of the Oscars: don't say, "And The Winner Is"?

-- Don

[mattack]

Watched it on my non-Tivo recorder, at 1.5x with sound.. it was fairly entertaining.

[PJO1966]

I thought it was a slick, classy production. There weren't any moments where two presenters walked out and you thought to yourself, "why the hell did they pair these two together?" The only time I came close for that was for Latifa & Travolta, before I remembered that they're doing Hairspray.

Ellen was good, but I thought she was better when she did the Emmys. We had someone from Landmark theaters watching with us, and he was really, really, really pissed at the remarks that Seinfeld made. I thought he was pretty fuuny, but I have a feeling he pissed off a lot of people last night.

I loved the dancers, as well as the sound effects choir. I also loved all of the edited sequences. They were really well done.

Jennifer Hudson mopped up the stage with Beyonce, Anika Noni Rose, and Keith Robinson. She's just amazing.

[avery]

Pretty much my sentiments too...

There weren't any moments where two presenters walked out and you thought to yourself, "why the hell did they pair these two together?" The only time I came close for that was for Latifa & Travolta, before I remembered that they're doing Hairspray.
Except...though I'm sure they thought it was a cute idea - I couldn't believe Jaden Smith, who is going on 10, couldn't read the words: west, bank and story off the card.

Ellen was good, but I thought she was better when she did the Emmys.
True.

I loved the dancers, as well as the sound effects choir. I also loved all of the edited sequences. They were really well done.
Philobolus (dance troupe) is always amazingly inventive and the Foley artists [sound effects people] were great. The two most creative elements in the show.

Jennifer Hudson mopped up the stage with Beyonce, Anika Noni Rose, and Keith Robinson. She's just amazing.
Have enjoyed every moment of Jennifer Hudson's amazing rise to recognition and not even a Beyonce fan, but in fairness they really ALL were wonderful.

[TAsunder]

Jennifer Hudson mopped up the stage with Beyonce, Anika Noni Rose, and Keith Robinson. She's just amazing.

Disagree pretty strongly... beyonce was much, much, much better than the other two to me, and obviously so. Hudson still sings awkwardly to me, like she can't transition from normal to power vocals. Sort of like if someone used to driving a prius stepped on the gas pedal of a veyron... "Ok I'm idling, idling, VOOOOOOMMM! How'd I get in texas?"

But I didn't like the 3rd female singer much at all, Hudson was better than her with her veyron vocals.

About the person who said, "and the winner is" (was that anne hathaway?)... that would have seemed more significant to me if they hadn't made pretty blatant errors later on, like when the announcers said The Departed was based on a japanese film... WTF... hong kong is not in japan, fools.

[smak]

Ellen was good, but I thought she was better when she did the Emmys. We had someone from Landmark theaters watching with us, and he was really, really, really pissed at the remarks that Seinfeld made. I thought he was pretty fuuny, but I have a feeling he pissed off a lot of people last night.


That's classic Seinfeld, because we do kind of have a "deal" with theater and sports arena owners that we'll pay ginormous prices for their crap, and then we can throw the crap on the floor.

Where else is it cool to just chuck your trash on the ground.

-smak-

[cwoody222]

Just to chime in late... I love the Oscars. Not as much as the Emmys but it's still an all-day Sunday event.

I watched the 6-hours of E! from about 4pm - 6pm. (FF thru a lot) Then I flipped between E! and Joan & Melissa on the red carpet from 6pm - 8pm. Then watched ABC's coverage for an hour and a half or so.

Then I took a break and watched Amazing Race. Then I went back to the show and caught up via FF'ing.

It looked amazing in HD. I wish E!'s all-day coverage was in HD.

Ellen was good, not great, but good. I love her, though.

I picked 15 winners... winning my friend and office pool :)

[Marco]

Jennifer Hudson mopped up the stage with Beyonce, Anika Noni Rose, and Keith Robinson. She's just amazing.

Can't agree, I thought they were all great. They collectively mopped the floor, however, with James Taylor and that awful Celine Dion thingie.

[TIVO_GUY_HERE]

Who presented the first award - and will she ever be invited back, considering she broke one of the cardinal rules of the Oscars: don't say, "And The Winner Is"?

-- Don
Nicole Kidman said "and the winner is" and I think she will be back.

[TAsunder]

Nicole Kidman said "and the winner is" and I think she will be back.

Who? Never heard of her. Must have had her 15 minutes of fame already.

[PJO1966]

Can't agree, I thought they were all great. They collectively mopped the floor, however, with James Taylor and that awful Celine Dion thingie.


I ran screaming from the room when Celine came on.