Tuesday, February 26, 2013
oscar 2013-real time



It started off with Seth MacFarlane reading badly from cue cards or the 'prompter'. Huh?? He has had months to prepare for this gig....I don't ever remember any host looking so un-prepared......I never thought I'd say that William Shatner saved-the-day at the Oscars...but, he did. temporarily!  Then.....too much time spent on not-very-good bits including rather tasteless and insulting stuff---(the audience will turn on you, so this is NOT a good idea)......And it took forever to get to the first Award....!  I had such high hopes for this years Oscar's......Well, it's early....maybe it will recover----it sure got off to a Rocky Start. Where is Billy Crystal when you need him?


"Life Of Pi" won for Cinematography. I LOVED this guy winning.....So emotional So Very Sweet.

"Life Of Pi"....again.....Visual Effects....Beautiful! I am getting happier

Costumes---Should be "Anna Karenina".....and, it is!!!  Gorgeous Gorgeous Costumes....!!!  In fact, I would say, the Costumes were the very BEST thing about this film.
Make-up and hair style---"Les Mis".....deserved, for sure!

Bond Tribute---Great to see Shirley Bassey and here her sing 'Goldginger'....(and, Hallie Berry looked incredible!!! GORGEOUS Dress!!!)  The fantastic Shirley B. brought the house down and got the first Standing Ovation of the night!

    More Commercials...and it's almost an hour into the show...

Strange 'dead air' when Jamie F. and Kerry W. come on....what is wrong with this....?? There always seems to be things that go wrong with these "pairings" of stars every year...I think it's no rehearsal!!!  They announce Short Films....I haven't seen these films, but I am happy for the winners.....Touching speeches.....

Best Documentary..."Searching For Sugerman"....Has won a  number of other awards----Cannot wait to see it!

Foreign Film.  I want "AMOUR" to win so very much. YES!!!!! HOORAY!!!!  It DOES win!!!  It makes me cry!  Michael Haneke, writer/director, gives a short but very sweet speech!!!

Tribute to Movie Musicals!  GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!  The tribute to Movie Musicals of the last 10 years....highlight for me....Jennifer Hudson from "DREAMGIRLS" brought the house down singing the anthem from that show, 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going'.....Another well deserved Standing Ovation. She really was Fantastic and she looked fabulous, too.....

"Chicago" first---Catherine Zeta Jones, Dancing and singing---lip synced--understandable---GOOD!

"LES MIS"....not my favorite....But this was more exciting than the film.....!  Another Standing Ovation....

Reviewing the Scientific Awards---Well Well Deserved.

Sound Mixing:  "Les Mis"

Sound Editing:  "ZERO DARK THIRTY" and "SKYFALL" a tie......Love It!

Christopher Plummer announces---Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
No surprise there. 
My own choice? Helen Hunt for "The Sessions", though, in truth, that is a Lead Actress role. But what she did was superb.....!

I continued writing in "real time" and 'saved' all along the way....And I have absolutely no idea where all of the rest of what I wrote went....Blogger and Mercury Retrograde rears it's ugly head.....

So, the rest of this is from memory and not in any order of how it happened......

By the way, I never did warm to Seth MacFarlane.....I'm really not that familiar with him and his shows. He certainly is a talented guy, but.....his humor is not my cup of tea, I guess. And I found some of it more than rather offensive. I have heard previous people who have done this job say....'It's a tough gig!'
I believe it!

Adele won for BEST SONG for "SKYFALL", which sounded like a combination of lots other Bond songs to me.....


Christoph Waltz, won Best Supporting Actor. He was very very good, though pretty much the same as in "Inglorious Bastards". I might have given it to De Niro, or Tommy Lee Jones. (I know this award was much earlier----in fact, it was the first award given out.....oh well....)

The "In Memoriam" section was very classy, though many many people were left out---Good Lord, there is even a fight for 'billing' in death!!.......


And the finish was Barbra Streisand singing 'Memories' from "The Way We Were", in memory of Marvin Hamlish who died this past year. It was Great to see Streisand on the Oscar stage, once again....The last time she sang at an Oscar show was sometime in the 1970's.

'Life of Pi' won BEST SCORE.
I'm happy.
And the extraordinary Ang Lee won BEST DIRECTOR. for, guess what?
"Life Of Pi"
I was thrilled for him and for the picture.
And the audience gave him a standing ovation. This is a great great film!

BEST ACTRESS--Jennifer Lawrence....

So very talented! I wanted Emmanuelle Riva to win because there may not be another opportunity for her, at 86 years old, but I LOVED Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook", and I'm willing to bet this won't be the only Oscar that will be on her mantel as the years go on. I think she is extraordinarily gifted!

BEST ACTOR---Daniel Day-Lewis
....a given. No surprise there.  But I have to sat, he gave me the biggest laugh of the night when he said that Meryl Streep,(Who presented the Oscar to him) was Stephen Spielberg's first choice to play Lincoln.....and then also said, HE was supposed to play Margaret Thatcher but that just didn't work out....This was wonderfully entertaining.....

BEST PICTURE---"Argo".
I had not gotten around to writing about this film....I think it is a very good film; very entertaining and filled with a lot of suspense. It would not have been my choice for Best Picture---My Choice? "Life Of Pi".  But I'm happy for all involved with "Argo", especially Ben A.......

And then we had a closing song about 'The Losers'....who's idea was that?? OY!


So, that's it! The 85th Academy Awards is now History.
I was thinking that I have been 'listening' to and/or 'watching' the Oscars for about 75 of those years. I still look forward to them and still try to see all the films that  have been given nominations in whatever category.....
And this year I saw ALL nine of the Best Picture Nominees.
Personally, I think this was an exceptional year for the movies! Not an exceptional year for the Oscar show though, with some outstanding exceptions....
And now, on to next year......!

 



More To Come......








25 Comments:
had this to say:

I agree with you Naomi.. I felt bad that Seth was doing a stand up comedy/ wait for the laugh routine..but then doing what he did isn't his thing ..it doesn't help that I think we compare everyone (everyone!) with Billy Crystal! lol
The winners were great but I did think that The Hobbit should have gotten visual effects... oh well lol

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 3:15:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

I did not know who Seth McFarlane is - I googled during a commercial. I've never watched The Family Guy, but have heard of it. That monologue of his went on way too long. I read that he won't agree to do the show another time, and I imagine that's mutual. :)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 3:17:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

I loved watching this year's awards program and managed to stay up until the end of the show. Like you, I felt that closing number was a nonsense ending. What was that all about?

There are still several films I've yet to see and seeing the awards inspired me to go to the movies more often.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 3:27:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

Dear Naomi,
Love your opinion! Would be great if I could be there with you watching the Oscar...
Yesterday I saw Argo, it's a good film and I love Ben Affleck.
I am looking forward to see these films soon.
Thanks for this post, dear Naomi.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 5:07:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

Sorry to say I watched it on DVR the next day. I just can't stay up that late and I got to flash through the commercials. Saw the whole show in a little over an hour.
Seth was new to me as I don't watch Family Guy. I think he appeals to a much younger audience. Much younger.
I am so glad Pi did so well and it is soon to be available on Netflix as are some of the other winners. I will be first in line.
Thank you always for your great reviews.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 5:33:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

I watched it to almost the end (missed the last song) but my husband left early. I did not know who this Seth McFarlane was as I had never seen him before (don’t’ watch much TV) and did not find him particularly gifted. I frankly thought that Daniel Day-Lewis in his acceptance speech was a lot funnier. I was pleased that the Life of Pi received several awards – they were well deserved. I have not seen Les Misérables but heard that Anne Hathaway was good. I saw clip of the movie on the Jon Stewart show and was surprised that she sang so well for an actress. Many people don’t like her and I don’t understand why – she is cute and sweet, and reminds me a bit of Audrey Hepburn. I loved looking at all the dresses and as you say, Hallie Berry looked smashing. The music-hall bit was fun. Both Shirley Bassey and Barbra Streisand were outstanding- they have class and enormous talent and it shows. I think Jennifer Hudson will keep getting better and better (she is great already.) I thought that Michelle Obama’s dress was very pretty and she looked good, but I did not think that she should have been part of the Oscars as she is not part of show business. I agree with your review on the rest of the awards. I enjoyed watching it – I have enjoyed watching the Oscars for years too.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 8:22:00 AM PST 

Anonymous Anonymous
had this to say:

Every host is a second stringer next to Tina & Amy.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 11:37:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

Ii agree with you, as usual. Seth did a piss poor job and should have stuck to singing; something he was reasonably good at. Get Billy Crystal back!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 1:04:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

I see so few movies that I mostly go by the names of actors I know from other films. I am looking forward to seeing Argo and liked that Affleck won. He was so badly put down by Hollywood but what he said about not holding grudges was a lovely truth. Onward and upward as a friend of mine used to say. I hope his marriage and family survive all the difficulties of that world as he's right-- it takes work-- really in any world.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 4:07:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

I think it's inevitable that more mature actresses lose out to the 20-somethings. I think that sucks.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 6:14:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

Great year for films, bad oscar show, well, bad host. I hated him. Too long, HE, whoever he is, took up 30 min at start...ugh. But the few treats were worth it all---Bssey--didn't expect her--wonderful. And I love Barbara. I thought argo was executed to perfection. But, I didn't see Story of Pi. Love your review!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 6:47:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

How did I miss that song about the losers, probably glad I did. I too thought Seth Mcfarlane went over the line on taste a few times but he was good at the straight forward stuff and old school singing and dancing. To me it is like the Super Bowl is to others. I even opened a beer as I settled in. Loved it!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 7:08:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

Oh Naomi, you are such a darling gaving such a good post on the event of the Oscar. I only managed a glimpse & highlights but reading this sounds as though I was there :D

I did saw Daniel Day Lewis gaving his speech and yes it was really funny :D

I can see that the movie industry meant to much to you and I can feel the energy there :D

Thank you :D

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 4:19:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

Seth McFarlane's voice grates on me so honestly? I've never listened to him long enough to know if I liked him. Some of his shows I used to watch but quit after they seemed to become repetitive.

Life of Pi - Can't wait to see that.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 8:16:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

This is the first year in a very long time that the films- I want to see the contender's I've missed.

I was surprised Seth McFarlane can sing.

Whoever wrote his jokes- I'm not the target audience and I certainly thought many were either offensive or more appropriate for a much later hour when kiddies should be expected to be part of the audience.

While the movies made me want to watch them- this show made me not care if I see it ever again.

Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 12:39:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

Shirley Bassey performed beautiful (I fell asleep and missed Streisand)...and I didn't get a lot of Macfarlane's jokes either...or I did but they just didn't work. I still love Billy Crystal, or maybe a young hottie like Ashton Kutcher could host next year. I don't know how hosts get chosen...who votes for THEM??

I must get my hands on some of these films. I feel out of touch as I haven't seen any of them.

Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 9:46:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

I didn't see The Oscar's... Way past my bedtime in this timezone! :)

Apparently, Seth MacFarlane has already said that he won't present The Oscar's again. His humour certainly is borderline, but I'm guessing that's why he was chosen.

I hope you're well :)

Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 2:01:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

I enjoyed your views on the Oscar award show especially since I had decided not to write on it this year. I had seen most of the movies and was pleasantly surprised at how good so many were -- surpassing my expectations. I did watch the entire awards shows.

I agree that "Pi" unexpectedly captured my heart and was my choice to win. I was surprised Argo was as well done as it turned out to be -- was suspenseful to me all the way through.

I hadn't expected Jennifer's movie to deal with a mental health issue with which so many cope, but enjoyed it and she was very good in her role.

I looked forward to Amour and they did also deal with some significant issues associated with aging that people should give serious consideration, but I hadn't anticipated that ending. I encounter so many variations in thinking about end-of-life issues with those I encounter in my work.

Frankly, I think this year's Oscar show may have been rather poorly conceived and was a bit of a hodgepodge, including in the music category. I certainly agree the host is talented but the first twenty minutes or so of the show was a disaster for my taste they had better left out. Shatner's addition helped Still, if they wanted to attract the young teenage male crowd -- which may be what boosted the ratings -- they put in the right juvenile stuff though I thought it degraded the show and women actresses. Should we have a song next year about some male body part that would elicit snickers from grade schoolers? What a waste of the Gay Men's Chorus and all the movie music we could have heard.

Yes, again, they left out some pretty significant well-known entertainers who died during the past year.

I was glad to listen to and see many of the singers you named. Have long been tired of Le Miz and so many repeat adaptations of other old musicals. Would that we could have more new originals -- forget the comic book stories, gory horror tales, wild special effects. Enough with the animals. Give me good stories, fun, music, dancing, some focus on happy aspects of life with less emphasis on darkness, or focus on matters present today.

Why does it have to be so expensive to stage those shows and expend such outrageous budgets on movies? Sorry...but I feel better after spouting off. *smile*

Thanks for all you've shared here.


Friday, March 1, 2013 at 1:51:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

Hi Naomi! When I think of the Oscar's I think of you, and I hope you are doing well dear lady!! As you know, I'm not big on watching movies, so I haven't seen any of these. I always enjoyed Barbara Streisand who I think has a wonderful voice! Reading your post makes me feel like I was there! Too bad blogger lost part of it for you. That is so annoying to say the least.

Well done as usual Naomi. xxoxx

Friday, March 1, 2013 at 6:39:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

Hi! Why the academy wants to hire as host someone who is better suited to a celebrity roast than the top awards show- frequently punches in jokes that were either rude or appropriated for the hour... the closing was atrociousness use of the talent.... Despite all that- I want to see the movies I haven't- but I just might not watch the actual ceremony again.

Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 2:00:00 PM PST 

had this to say:

Great post and good list! Seth M. -- what was with that? I rather liked him which he sang (except for the boob song) and when he just introduced he was charming. Every other time he opened his mouth he was an idiot. I thought they'd never get to the awards. Did love all the musical numbers. Since I'd only seen one movie I had no super faves, but it all seemed to work out well and for once everyone was lovely. I'm thinking the show overall could have been very good with a different host and sightly less intrusive or objectional comedy. But it's always fun!

Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 7:38:00 AM PST 

Blogger Pat
had this to say:

Superb Naomi!

The Oscars may have been curate's egg - good in parts- but your write up is EXCELLENT.
You are right back on form after all the sadnesses youhave had to cope with. I'm so proud of you.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 8:35:00 AM PST 

had this to say:

A great recap of the show. It was on UK television live, but I couldn't watch it at the time for one reason or another.

It's always good to see your reactions and I like the sort of 'live-blogged' way you did it this time!

Like you, I'm not sure about the hosting, although sometimes its just differences in UK and US ways of expressing things.

I've also just seen Argo and found it interesting but I wasn't sure whether if should have been the best movie in such a crowded and good field. I felt it played 'to the moves' rather than taking a new twist on anything.

I can understand why it won though, with such a strong Hollywood back story.

Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 9:52:00 AM PDT 

had this to say:

I read about how sexist the Oscar's was this year with Seth as the host. That's why I had to watch and his type of humour is not really my cup of tea as well just like the Family guy.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 7:04:00 AM PDT 

had this to say:

That was a great read Naomi. I was watching but got bored and turned the show off. Thought Seth looked good but did not do a good job at all. It does make you appreciate the likes of Billy Chrystal doesn't it?

I just finished watching Argo again for the second time. I really enjoyed it although not my usual taste. I really enjoyed all your reviews on nominated films. You have an insiders knowledge which makes it more authentic.
I have watched a few of the films and found them all great. amour is one I truly have to see as the reviews are all great.

Look forward to the next awards season and your liv blogging. It's a great way to do it. Xx

Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 5:54:00 AM PDT 

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