Oscars, part 7

[cleolinda]

Dammit! The show is actually pretty good! It's not bad enough to be funny! I'm dying over here!

Jackman announces that Mamma Mia! has sold more tickets than Titanic in the UK (it's true). "The musical is back!" he announces--oh Lord, he's breaking out the top hat and the cane old-school. Wow, he's got like two hundred guys in white tie dancing with him and--ah, a medley of Great Musicals. Here's Beyoncé, as threatened, in red sequins and fringe, and about a million billion people going through the Busby Berkeley motions. So we're racing through snippets of The Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story, Chicago, and Moulin Rouge at the speed of light--I'm really losing count here. I think Grease was in there somewhere, I'm not even sure. This is gonna be another one for YouTube, I think. Aaaand... here's Zac Efron again, and I guess that's Vanessa Hudgens, she's kind of being eaten by her top hat, and there's Amanda Seyfried and I guess the other guy from Mamma Mia!, I don't know. Y'all better be careful or you're going to use up the rest of this century's musical appreciation quota, I'm just saying. Everyone takes like three bows, and Jackman thanks the man who created that number--Baz Luhrmann! Suddenly, so much is explained.

Okay, I'm not hitting post for that. We can sit through another commercial break.

Ah, looks like we're going for another major award: Best Supporting Actor montage! (Good LORD, Christopher Walken was young).

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin for Milk (2008/I)
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

Please welcome! Christopher Walken! Kevin Kline! Cuba Gooding Jr.! Alan Arkin! Joel Grey! Wow--you know, when they were doing the Supporting Actresses, I was sitting there thinking how much the little speeches sounded like... eulogies. Oh, God. This is going to be awful. Break out the tissues. Philip Seymour Hoffman gets Alan Arkin--I'll be specific this time, because last time I was too busy boggling to pay enough attention. Joel Grey informs us that last year's winner spent his entire movie trying to kill one of this year's nominees, Josh Brolin (nicely played). Oh LORD, they gave Robert Downey Jr. to Cuba Gooding Jr., which is genius on a number of levels. Gooding play-shouts at him for wearing blackface and taking work from black actors; RDJ laughs. Christopher Walken gets Michael Shannon, and we're back to the happy pat-on-the-back speeches. Awwwww here we are. Kevin Kline looks very serious and grey as he mentions Ledger's "enduring legacy." The camera pans over Heath Ledger's family (as we are informed). Alan Arkin doesn't even waste time, no pauses, no hesitation, nothin': "And the Oscar goes to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight." Here's Ledger's parents and sister to accept. Standing ovation; we see Sean Penn in tears. The music is... kind of inappropriately cheerful. Maybe because they're all relieved that there will be no riots in the streets tonight. As Ledger's father speaks, the camera keeps cutting to tearful actors in the audience: Brad Pitt, Adrien Brody, Mickey Rourke, (Sir) Ben Kingsley, and Anne Hathaway (and also Christopher Nolan). His father's speech is short and classy, then his mother and sister speak, and accept the Oscar on behalf of Matilda Ledger. This is pretty much unprecedented, I think--having three people accept for one.

And we tumble straight into Best Documentary. Seriously? You know, people were talking about how Hollywood, or some of Hollywood, wanted to see Heath Ledger win to have "closure." People were talking about him being nominated for the Joker at the end of 2007, even before he had died, and how great a performance it was; and then he died, and then the movie came out, and it really was that great, and he should have been here to see all the accolades, whether he wanted them or not, and he's not. So this is kind of the final award, the final stop in the journey, like he had passed away but couldn't move on, or we couldn't let him move on, until we saw this award given to him, and now he's finally won it, and HEY GUYS BEST DOCUMENTARY! Wow, that was clumsily timed. What, are you tight on commercial break rations or something? Anyway. Here's a clip of the nominated documentarians talking, and now here's Bill Maher: "Great. Everyone's crying, and now I have to go on." And he starts talking about his documentary Religulous and people's "silly gods" and wow, I hope that wasn't scripted.

Best Documentary Feature

The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008): Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the World (2007): Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
The Garden (2008/I): Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Man on Wire (2008): James Marsh, Simon Chinn
Trouble the Water (2008): Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

Man on Wire wins; the Man himself makes a coin disappear and then balances the Oscar on his chin, thanking the Academy for "believing in magic."

Best Documentary Short Feature

The Conscience of Nhem En (2008): Steven Okazaki
The Final Inch (2009): Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
Smile Pinki (2008): Megan Mylan
The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306 (2008): Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

"Smile Pinki" wins--Maher is movin' this one along as fast as he can. Well, I guess when you perform all the musicals ever, you have to cut time somewhere. Next up: an honorary award! IT WILL BE TAGALONG TIME.

Comments

[brandyllyn.livejournal.com]

I totally teared up when the Ledgers finished.

[bumblebee-1983.livejournal.com]

Me too.

The Academy lives, this year anyways. ;D

Heath owned this role. OWNED IT. He had it and not just because he died, but because he was that good as the Joker. Terrifyingly real even.

Now I've got to watch the Dark Knight in blu ray again (soon) because I need my fix. LOL

[elizardbits.livejournal.com]

Maybe because they're all relieved that there will be no riots in the streets tonight.

Or on the internets. The real scary fans are on the internets. YOU KNOW THIS.

ETA: Ok, this car-chasing, hulk-smashing, beating-people-upping sequence is the finest thing in cinematic history. I could watch 2-3 hours of this with shrieky delight.

[moogleybacon.livejournal.com]

I concur. X3 I loved that montage.

[kittenkatt.livejournal.com]

Blah blah blah Bill Maher blah blah.

[valancy-s.livejournal.com]

Did it seem like the background music wasn't loud enough during the musical sequence? Or something? Hugh and Beyonce were performing their hearts out but it was just flat as a pancake--and I love musicals. What was wrong?

[chulacabra.livejournal.com]

Beyonce can't perform live. Hugh did his best but it was like he was dragging an anvil around the stage. She has zero stage presence.

[glenvorian.livejournal.com]

THANK MERLIN. I don't have to boycott now. xD

[bumblebee-1983.livejournal.com]

Me too!!!

The Academy lives. LOL

[goonie-freak.livejournal.com]

I totally teared up at that one... Ugh I told myself I wouldn't!

[kittenkatt.livejournal.com]

Aaaaand on to the Boom!Squish montage of ESSPLOSHINS!!!

Hostile James McEvoy is so cute.

[ironclad1609.livejournal.com]

That montage makes me realize why I love action flicks ^^
Cool.

[g-woman82.livejournal.com]

That musical number made my brain simultaneously implode and explode ... I don't know whether I liked or hated it?!

[chulacabra.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of loving the Oscars this year. Mostly it's been hilarious and it's moving fast. Do you think it'll finish on time?

[moogleybacon.livejournal.com]

heeeee, Will Smith! I LOVE YOU WILL.

I also loved the action movie montage. It was awesome. :3

[swordmage.livejournal.com]

*loves Herzog*

Though really, I think I may be one of the few people who does....

[ironclad1609.livejournal.com]

"My favorite enemy" is one of my favorite documentaries ever.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Bill Mahr just manages to make me angry. I understand wanting to be controversial and all, but do you have to be such a douche about it? Does your whole intro speech have to sound like sour grapes? Do you have to sort of offend the guy who at least balanced the Oscar on his chin? Was he trying to be funny and just falling on his face or is he really that bitter?

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

1. I love your icon. 1864 Baseball FTW!

2. I'm not watching the ceremony, but whatever happened, Bill Maher is just that snide and full of himself.

[ppyajunebug.livejournal.com]

OKAY COME ON, THAT WAS TOTALLY TDK'S AWARD THERE.

I declare this as belonging to "Watchmen" next year. IT WILL WIN AN OSCAR SHHHH.

[kittenkatt.livejournal.com]

F'real.

[fallingmallorn.livejournal.com]

I was tearing up at Heath's win. I was pulling for him to win, but I didn't expect to get emotional, really. Was there a dry eye in the house during that one at all? 'Cause...damn.

[isca.livejournal.com]

I fucking love how Will Smith was all "Dude, Action gets no respect" and then has to give Ben Effing Button the Tech award.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Ain't that the truth.

[lovely-luck.livejournal.com]

Man on Wire was incredible - Philippe Petit is so goofy and eloquent at the same time.

And I teared up too. I felt in good company, when they showed Angelina with wet, red eyes.

[ppyajunebug.livejournal.com]

Will Smith FTW. "Boom goes the dynamite" indeed.

[gwynnywonk.livejournal.com]

Man on Wire was really the best film I saw last year. I'm really glad it won. Phillipe Petit (the man) is the kinda character it's really hard to invent.

[melayka.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad Heath won; now we shall never have to tell our children of the dread day the bemasked internet rose up with piercing cries of "HEATHUS BE PRAISED!" and "LONGCAT IS LOOOOONG" to mercilessly slaughter everyone in Hollywood.

[sirinde.livejournal.com]

awwww but it would be so much FUN!

[emmaorgana.livejournal.com]

LOL WILL SMITH

Movies with FANS.

And trouble speaking... LOL.

[internal666.livejournal.com]

I love Bill Maher, really, I do. But I reeaaaaalllly didn't need to see him on stage right after the Ledger family.

[melayka.livejournal.com]

I think he was feeling pretty much the same way, TBH.

[klik101.livejournal.com]

All through the musical number I was watching the clips from much older musicals play in the background and wishing we could hear the audio from those instead. I'll take Ann Miller and Gene Kelly over Beyonce and Hugh Jackman (no disrespect to Hugh) any day.

[visceralvamp.livejournal.com]

Well, true that. But we have to take what we can get these days - Hollywood isn't a place for geniuses like Kelly and Miller to flourish anymore. So we take Hugh (who can do things other than musicals) and Beyoncé (..okay, I don't know why her, I would've preferred Zeta-Jones or something) instead.

I'm hopeful that sometime soon, Hollywood will allow for dancing talent again.

[caffeinefairy.livejournal.com]

I'm loving Will Smith!

[kittenkatt.livejournal.com]

FINALLY. Thank you!