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March 3, 2007This year's Oscars show was the most energetic and entertaining one I have seen in years. Ellen was alright -- better than Jon Stewart, not as great as Billy Crystal. All the morning-after whining about the length of the awards show is rubbish. I'd rather add an extra hour to give award recipients the special moment they so deserve on stage. Standouts of the night included: The performance of songs from Dreamgirls, the unbelievable sound effects chorus (video here), the beautiful on-stage display of costumes from the movies nominated for Best Costume Design, the brief, on-point, and fantastic dance interpretations of the Best Picture nominees.Best Speech(es): The first speech, whichever one it was, gave me high hopes for the rest of the night. Also wonderful was the acceptance speech for short animated film, calling attention to difficulty faced by independent filmmakers, especially those who make animated shorts. The speech in which someone mentioned a pinky swear with his son. And Ennio Moriconne's speech -- I loved it even before Clint Eastwood translated. Best Slip-Up: In a speech about how wonderfully culturally diverse the Oscar crowd was, Ellen DeGeneres mistakenly lumped Penelope Cruz in with the nominees from Mexico. Most Endearing Award Recipient: Whoever accepted award for Best Art Direction for Pan's Labyrinth. He was shaking and teary-eyed -- humbled, grateful, overwhelmed. Most Endearing Audience Member: Guillermo del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth. I don't remember if he actually made it up on stage, but each award recipient for the movie acknowledged him in his or her speech, so the camera zoomed in on him sitting in the audience. What a wonderful night for him. Best Presenters: Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith. Best Moment of Defiance: Recipient for Best Foreign Language Film defying the Oscar wrap-up music to tell his wife that he loves her. Most Frank Acceptance Speech: Melissa Etheridge accepting the award for Best Song, "This feels as good as you think." Most Precious Acceptance Speech: Helen Mirren accepting the award for Best Actress, comparing the Oscar to a gold star. The speech was short and gracious, a perfect bite-size serving of humble gratefulness. Most Appalling Moment: A tie between two memorable moments: 1. Alan Arkin won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, beating out crowd favorite Eddie Murphy. Right before they cut to commercial, one of the "backstage" hosts observed, "We've already had 3 surprises so far: X award, Y award, and Best Supporting Actor." Not enough that Eddie Murphy had not won mere minutes before that -- must you rub salt in the wound so quickly? To top if off, the remark served double duty as an insult to Alan Arkin. 2. One of the first awards of the night, two people came up to stage to accept an award. Both stood there with speeches written down on small pieces of white paper. The first one to speak went on and on and on in the SLOWEST POSSIBLE MANNER, until the wrap-up music started and his co-accepter was left standing on the stage with his undelivered speech! The poor man tried to approach the mic but the tall model-like ushers did their job and swept him off the stage. You can bet they had words offstage. Best Dance Moment: Besides all of them? Ellen DeGeneres being eaten alive by the "snakes" was pretty cool. Coolest Addition to Oscars: Sound effects choir! Absolutely amazing. Coolest Lighting: During the performance of "Listen" by Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson, a man comes on stage and stands between them. As the women take turns singing to him, there is no light on his face, making him a dark shadow in the middle of the stage. Most Surprising Dress: Cate Blanchett. Reese Witherspoon. Nicole Kidman. Most Shocking Hairstyle: Jack Nicholson, bald... Best Shot of the Night: As the producer of The Departed accepts the award for Best Picture, Martin Scorcese, having just (and finally) received the award for Best Director, watches from offstage. Labels: film |
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