Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer weighs in on the 80th annual Academy Awards
Well, all those cynics who predicted this would be the worst Academy Awards ceremony ever were wrong. However, because it's become so uncool to say anything nice about the Oscar telecast, don't look for candor in the mainstream press. This certainly wasn't the most memorable of telecasts, but given the short deadline producer Gil Cates had to prepare for the event after the WGA strike was settled, he can take a semi-bow for pulling it all off rather seamlessly. For one thing, the pacing was very fast (by Oscar standards) and the decision in recent years to drop those dreadful opening production numbers looks wiser with every broadcast. I actually thought the awards started at 8:00 PM east coast time, so I was a bit ticked off to find myself watching a half hour "red carpet" teaser show hosted by amiable goofball Regis Philbin. Like Larry King, Philbin's made a fortune off being - well, amiable without having to give his brain cells much of a workout. What Philbin knows about movie history could fit on the head of a pin, so his comments were all of the cringing, arse-kissing variety ("Everybody wants to be George Clooney!" he panted to the Oscar-nominated star). The Reege almost got through the entire half hour without a customary display of his ignorance, but then in the final seconds, he introduced Javier Bardem as "Xavier Bardem", thus obvously channeling the spirit of bandleader Xavier Cougat, who is probably Philbin's idea of a hip celeb.
Once the ceremonies began, Jon Stewart seemed far more comfortable than his first time around as host in 2006. He got off some mildly amusing zingers and a minimum of duds. Throughout the evening, however, his performance wavered on several occasions, though a well-placed observation generally salvaged his performance. He's not the ideal host for this gig, but he wasn't the disaster many of us feared. (For that we'd have to go back to David Letterman's (hopefully) one-shot brush with being an Oscar host.) An impressive aspect of the show was the presence of real star power (or what passes for real star power today.) Not long ago, it was considered too corny to attend the awards, so many major stars stayed away. However, the pendulum seems to have swung back and it was nice to see so many big names in attendance: Harrison Ford (refreshingly, looking as pained and grumpy as ever), John Travolta (still with the bizarre haircut that resembles a skullcap), Tom Hanks, Martin Scorsese, Helen Mirren,Cameron Diaz, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, Jack Nicholson, - and even living legend Mickey Rooney, who probably had to show ID to the ushers to prove he wasn't a limo driver. Highlights of the show included the usual heart-felt tribute to the staggering number of artists who had died in the previous year. (Even well-known agents were included this time around). Unavoidably, the tribute had to end on the somber note of Heath Ledger's passing. Many movie fans probably don't realize how many well known people from the industry have died until they watch this segment of the Oscar show. Another nice gesture was the inclusion of U.S. servicemen and women announcing the nominees and winner for documentary short. The broadcast came from Baghdad and might have been a sop to right wingers because of the abundance of nominated documentary films that were harshly critical of U.S war policy. In any event, it was a good moment.
The absurdity of limiting winners to an acceptance speech of less than a minute became increasingly irritating and embarrassing. Here are people at the pinnacle of their professional careers and if one takes the time to mention their mother in their acceptance speech, then their partner probably loses the opportunity to speak at all. Let these people talk - some will undoubtedly be boring, but occasionally someone will say something profound or memorable. When young songwriter Marketa Irglova was shafted out of being able to speak when her co-writer took up her precious twenty seconds of time, Jon Stewart very graciously invited her out to the stage later to give her speech. It firmly put the spotlight on how ridiculous these time limitations had become - and it's a reason other awards shows that don't have this rule have begun to make serious inroads on Oscar.
For the most part, the stars looked good. There were no completely over-the-top outfits, except for an avant garde number that first time screenwriter Diablo Cody wore on stage to accept her well-deserved Oscar for the charming and funny Juno. However, since Cody's previous career was as a stripper, we'll give her a pass. Most of the men looked handsome and elegant and none wore those awful, designer cowboy tuxes that usually show up. (Though we do wish the craze for tuxedos with straight ties will pass! There is nothing more flattering than the old standard black tux with bow tie. - and if you doubt me, just look at George Clooney. who has the timeless elegance of Cary Grant). The women looked appropriately stunning, though we kind of miss the Cher era in which at least one eye-popping number dominated the fashion columns the following morning. The only truly awful wardrobe malfunction was Jennifer Hudson's white gown. We know she's a full-figured woman, but this little number made her look like an aircraft carrier. I expected to see U.S.S. Enterprise stenciled on her rear end.
The song category should retired altogether. There hasn't been a crowd-pleaser since Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On from Titanic - and that was a decade ago. Is there really a dearth of memorable movie songs or is the Academy just tone deaf? This crop wasn't bad - at least there weren't any total lemons nominated and this year they didn't give an Oscar to a song about being a pimp. (When was the last time you listened to that timeless classic from a couple of years ago?). The five nominated songs were all pleasant enough but none was worthy of an Oscar and I defy a single viewer to hum one of them five seconds after they were performed.
A true highlight was the honorary Oscar given to 98 year old art director Robert Boyle, who gave a wonderfully moving speech about working with the true giants of the industry. Boyle did art direction on Hitchcock classics such as Saboteur, The Birds and North by Northwest. The old boy looks younger than I will tomorrow morning and it was great to seem him honored. (For some reason, the Academy has invited Time columnist Joel Stein to post his live blog on the official Oscar web site. Stein, who knows as much about movies as Regis Philbin, refers to the award to Robert Boyle by writing "an old guy was wheeled in. Art direction or something." Isn't it great that the precious access passes to the Oscar ceremonies are given to true film historians like this?)
As usual, most of the scripted "spontaneous jokes" between presenters fell completely flat, as with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway who will play Max and Agent 99 in the forthcoming big screen version of Get Smart. If their banter on the Oscar show is any indication of their chemistry on screen, the studio should already be saying, "Sorry about that, Chief" to fans of the series. Equally awful were some film clip comedy segments that Stewart said were going to be used to fill up the telecast in the event the WGA strike was still going on. Judging by the brief snippets, we can all thank heaven we weren't subjected to a full show of these. Even a Bee Movie intro with Jerry Seinfeld was awful - and I didn't think it was possible not to find Seinfeld funny.
The awards themselves were all over the map and there were some genuine surprises. Cate Blanchett was considered a shoo-in for her performance as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. I confess to not having seen the film, but the brief clip of her in the role didn't make the concept appear to be any less absurd than it seemed when the project was announced. Thus, Tilda Swinton became a surprise winner for her stellar performance in Michael Clayton. Swinton made a bizarre sight. With flaming red hair, a pasty white complexion that made her look like Casper the Ghost's girlfriend and clad in a jet black, gown-like thing, Swinton presented an image that would have kids staying up all night clutching in fear at their security blankets. Nevertheless, she deserved the nod and it kept the evening off kilter in terms of being predictable. Unlike years when there is a film set to sweep the awards, this time around the various artists in specific categories didn't suffer from a herd mentality. Technical awards are supposed to be judged on their merit and should not have to do with whether the film itself will prevail in the major categories. Thus, The Bourne Ultimatum won three technical awards, a refreshing sign that shows Academy members were acting as free thinkers. Similarly, Sweeney Todd and The Golden Compass were dark horse winners in their technical categories.
Among the other major awards, things went pretty much as the pundits predicted, though Marion Cotillard's Best Actress win over sentimental favorite Julie Christie was somewhat of a surprise. Daniel Day Lewis copped the Best Actor Oscar (as predicted) for There Will be Blood and cinematographer Robert Elswit won a well deserved award for his work on the same film. No Country for Old Men was the biggest winner of the night with Best Picture, Director(s), Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem) winning in the slots they were favored in. (I'm still pondering why Josh Brolin's terrific performance didn't get a Best Actor nomination for the film.)
All things considered, the evening went well and the fact that Gil Cates was able to pull off a glitch-free show on short notice is to his credit. The naysayers will be out in force tomorrow, acting like they've outgrown Oscar. Funny thing is, there isn't any law that mandates that they watch the show. The program is like one of your best friends - they occasionally irritate you and bore you, but you like 'em anyway. Besides, is Oscar mania any dumber than the frenzy that accompanies the Super Bowl or World Series? Unlike half of the athletes who are idolized today, Hollywood stars aren't cheating in order to get their trophies.
Just a few closing suggestions for next year:
- Have a real film historian like Robert Osborne host the pre-show red carpet special
- If the nominated songs continue to be this bland, just lump them together in a musical montage segment and use the time saved to allow winners to speak longer
- Do away entirely with the filmed segment that explains the Academy voting rules. It's the era of the website. If anyone really has a burning ambition to learn about the rules, they can read about it there.
- Drive to Billy Crystal's house and leave a horse's head in his bed as an inducement to return to hosting the show.
FOR THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS AND CLIPS FROM THE SHOW, CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE OFFICIAL OSCAR WEBSITE.
Footnotes:
- For those of you who read my Oscar predictions, here is how I fared. I correctly guessed ten winners and blew it eleven others. If that was a batting average, I'd be a baseball star, but as a predictor of Oscar's taste, my track record remains frustratingly mediocre.
- I went back and read my review of last year's Oscar ceremonies, and found most of my criticisms to be the same - though this year's telecast moved much faster and there seems to be more genuine star power this time around.
To read Lee Pfeiffer's review of the 2007 Academy Awards, click here