The Oscars: Observations

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards bored me.

I used to really look forward to the show. I used to enjoy watching it. I don't anymore.

I suppose I still enjoy a bit, at least enough to devote hours and hours of my life to it. But I really don't care. It's not as fun as it used to be. I don't know if it's the movies or the stars or me.

From the New York Times:

“The Hurt Locker,” a little-seen war film with big backing from the critics, pushed past “Avatar” and other crowd-pleasers to win the best picture Oscar at a Sunday night ceremony here, while its director, Kathryn Bigelow, became the first woman to win the directing award.

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” had come into the night as favorites, but the smaller film took the prize from the bigger in the end.

“There’s no other way to describe it, it’s the moment of a lifetime,” said Ms. Bigelow in accepting her award. It was presented by Barbra Streisand, who announced it with the words, “Well, the time has come.”

Mark Boal, a producer of “The Hurt Locker,” said of his modest expectations when the movie was shot back in 2007, “Hopefully, we would find a distributor and somebody might even like the movie.”

There was no mention of a last-minute embarrassment in which a fellow producer of the film, Nicolas Chartier, had been banned from the show for violating Oscar rules by urging academy members by e-mail messages to vote against a film assumed to be “Avatar,” which had the advantage of a vast budget and enormous popularity.

In a sense, the awards season had shaped up into a showdown between James Cameron, who directed “Avatar,” and Ms. Bigelow, who was previously married to Mr. Cameron.

Among other winners, Christoph Waltz took best supporting actor at the start of a sluggishly paced ceremony for his bilingual performance as a Jew-hunting Nazi officer in “Inglourious Basterds.” And also, as expected, Mo’Nique won for best supporting actress for her portrait of a terrifying mother in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.” With no excess of modesty, Mo’Nique thanked the academy’s members for showing that “it can be about the performance, not the politics.” The remark was a reference not just to her considerable talent, but to the fact that she had refused to spend time playing the usual Oscar campaign game. Backstage, she blamed the media for trying to stir up a controversy.

Jeff Bridges, a multiple nominee and now first-time winner, took best actor for his gritty portrayal of a broken-down country singer in “Crazy Heart.” A darling of the Hollywood crowd, Mr. Bridges had been seen as the designated winner almost from the moment Fox Searchlight made a last-minute decision to drop the low-budget movie into the Oscar race. “Thank you, Mom and Dad, for turning me on to such a groovy profession,” said the gray-bearded Mr. Bridges, who brought the crowd to its feet in a prolonged ovation as he whooped, hollered and showed obvious joy in the moment.

“Crazy Heart,” one of the evening’s smaller contenders, also took an Oscar for its theme song, “The Weary Kind,” by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

Sandra Bullock, who had been pointed toward an Oscar since winning a bellwether Screen Actors Guild award, won best actress for her performance as a tough and loving contemporary Southern mother in “The Blind Side.” Like Mr. Bridges, she was clearly a favorite of those in the auditorium, though she had never been nominated before and had been best known for romantic comedies like “The Proposal” and the occasional action film, like “Speed.”

“Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?” Ms. Bullock asked her cheering peers.

...The show clocked in at a relatively long three hours and 32 minutes, but at times it felt longer than it actually was. That was mostly because the first half was loaded with clip samples and retrospectives, while the latter part moved along with the speed that one of its producers, Bill Mechanic, had promised in advance.

The pace of the show was really strange.

It dragged and dragged, but then incredibly rushed through the night's biggest awards.

Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were entertaining. Their jokes were funny enough, but they felt very scripted. There wasn't much material, if any, that was in direct response to the happenings of the evening. Billy Crystal and his team of writers were the masters of that.

Did you notice this? Presenters said, "And the winner is...," replacing the "And the Oscar GOES to...."

I did hear at least one "the Oscar goes to" instead of "the winner is."

For so many years, it had been taboo to say "winner."

John Hughes deserved a tribute, but it was too long. It wasn't necessary to bring out the Hughes troop of actors, now middle-aged, as if they were icons, each delivering some lines. Clips of Hughes' movies would have sufficed.

I'm surprised so much time was spent on the nominees for Best Score. That segment and the dancing was way too long.

There was little politics and really nothing controversial.

It's strange how a live awards show could be so dull. There should be surprise and excitement by virtue of the fact that the winners haven't been announced. I don't know how that element of the unknown manages to feel missing when the winners haven't been revealed.

Mo'Nique's win was a foregone conclusion. Speaking of Precious, it was driving me nuts the way the movie was called "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." That was an unnecessary repeated mouthful.

There really wasn't much in the way of touching moments. For the most part, the show lacked emotion. However, it was sweet when Gabourey Sidibe wiped tears from her eyes as Oprah Winfrey spoke about unlikely rapid journey to becoming an Oscar-nominated actress. I thought it was touching the way Jeff Bridges focused on his mom and dad as he accepted his award. I liked Sandra Bullock's acceptance speech because it seemed so real, not like she was playing an Oscar winner on TV. She joked, but spoke from the heart.

Why did we have to see shot after shot of George Clooney? Enough already.

About James Cameron--

There were some creepy shots of him during the show. He looks scary. It has to be tough to sit in the audience for hours and wait to find out if your peers have awarded you with the Best Director Oscar or given your movie Best Picture. It looked like the stress was getting to him.

It's nice that Kathryn Bigelow won as Best Director for The Hurt Locker. Her ex-husband, James Cameron looked happy to lose to her, but at that point, I think he was still expecting to win the big prize for Avatar.

I'm glad that Bigelow gave a shout-out to our troops. Now that Obama is in office, Hollywood doesn't like to talk about the wars being waged by the current administration.

About the biggest award of the night, Best Picture--

Tom Hanks didn't even run through the nominees before announcing the award. It was so sudden. I couldn't believe that was how the Best Picture was named.

In sum, it was an uneventful night. It was very predictable. It was forgettable. It was too long.