Post by Rob W. Case on Feb 26, 2013 3:27:49 GMT -6
Wow!!! There was much to be said about the 85th Annual Academy Awards that aired Sunday night, and if you missed it, here is a quick recap. First off, to be honest, I haven’t really watched the Academy Awards in years because for me it was always too political in every area imaginable. Secondly, the last time I wrote about the Academy Awards on this webpage was back in 2007, when Jon Stewart hosted it. But what moved me to watch them this year was Family Guy creator Seth Mac Farlane hosting it, and a good movie selection to boot.
Seth Macfarlane’s Gags:
Some of Seth Mac Farlane’s performance as host of the Oscars were sketches that included William Shatner (as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk), a puppet sock version of the movie “Flight,” some song and dance numbers, and some pretty good “jabs” at celebrities. One sketch that I thought was hilarious was his sketch with Sally Field, where he approaches her on wires, dressed up as “The Flying Nun,” and even refers to her role as “Gidget,” as if her performance as both in the 1960’s still hasn’t overshadowed her performance as Mary Todd Lincoln, or anything else she did in the late 20th to early 21st century.
Seth Mac Farlane: “Oh, he went there!”
Seth Mac Farlane pulled out his trademark comedic offensiveness, and in doing so was, in my opinion, absolutely hilarious. In an edgy move, Mac Farlane opened the show where he, and the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus sang a song called “We Saw Your Boobs” in which he named actresses sitting within the audience who showed their boobs on film (and the cameras showed their reactions while their names were being called out). Some thought it was funny, and some thought it was awkwardly embarrassing and “uncomfortable.”
At one point, after discussing another actor who was nominated for playing Abraham Lincoln in the 1940’s. Mac Farlane said, “This is interesting, Daniel Day-Lewis not the first actor to be nominated for playing Lincoln. Raymond Massey portrayed him in 1940’s “Abe Lincoln In Illinois.” This is true.” Mac Farlane quickly added, “I would argue, however, that the actor who really got inside Lincoln’s head was John Wilkes Booth.” After getting a cool reaction from the audience, Mac Farlane smiled, and said, “Really? 150 years later and it’s still too soon, huh? I got some Napoleon jokes coming up. You guys are going to be so mad. Oh my God!” Another comment that stirred up some controversy was when he introduced the Quentin Tarantino movie “Django Unchained.” In introducing that film, Mac Farlane said, “This is the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who's been subjected to unthinkable violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie.” The line referred to an incident back in 2009 where Brown assaulted the singer while driving in his car. But hey, that’s Mac Farlane’s style of comedy. Another thing I thought was really witty was when he introduced Meryl Streep by not introducing her. He said, “Our next presenter needs no introduction.” He then walked off the stage and out walked Meryl Streep. Another thing I thought was hilarious was when he stole that part from the “Sound of Music” where he introduces the Von Trapp Family singers, and the spotlight shines on a couple entrance doors. He introduces them again, and when they don’t “show up,” a man dressed up in a Nazi uniform says that they’re “not here,” in that they “escaped.” The last thing I thought was great was the song he wrote and sang about those who lost and were to go home without an Oscar. That was classic. There were more jokes of course, but I thought those were the main highlights of the night.
Time Constraints:
I thought it was interesting that when someone who received the award started “rambling on,” the orchestra would play the theme from “Jaws” and try to drown them out. So many of them had to be quick. This mostly happened though however with the more insignificant categories than it did with the main categories.
Dude, What was up with the Envelopes?
Was it just me, or did it seem like every celebrity who introduced the winner of an award, who tried to open the envelope, have trouble? Poor Richard Gere had a heck of a time! You could even hear him muttering to himself how hard it was to open it before he introduced the winner of best song.
The Music:
Apart from the Broadway style song and dance routines, several musical numbers really stood out. For example….
After the James Bond 50th anniversary montage, we were treated to Shirley Bassey singing the opening theme to the cult classic “Goldfinger” from 1964. If you also recall, Bassey also sang the opening theme to the 007 movie “Diamonds are Forever” in 1971. Also in the James Bond camp was Adele, who belted out a powerful performance of the theme song for the latest Bond movie “Skyfall.”
A Tribute to "Chicago":
Ten years ago, the smash hit Robert Fosse musical “Chicago” was nominated for 13 Academy Awards. However it took home 6, and even won Best Picture back in 2003. Ten years after that movie, Catherine Zeta Jones was decked out once again in her role as Velma Kelly singing the film’s paramount musical number, “All that Jazz.” Later on, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rene Zellwegger, Queen Latifah, and Richard Gere all came up to present the Oscar for best song, which went to Adele for Skyfall.
Les Miserables:
The new film version of the hit Broadway musical Les Miserables was not only was nominated for 8 Oscars, but it won three, and had brief highlights from the musical’s songs sung by the cast of the film on the stage.
The Way We Were:
After the “in memoriam” montage, where the Academy pays tribute to well known entertainers who passed away within the past year, Barbra Streisand sang the song, “the way we were,” which was a film she starred in with Robert Redford in 1973, and the man who composed the score for the film and that song (Marvin Hamlisch) passed away in August of last year. He won an Academy Award for best original song and score back in the day, and so that number was in recognition for that.
And let’s not forget the movies that won Awards:
Best Picture: Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis for “Lincoln”
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Lining’s Playbook”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoff Waltz for “Django Unchained.”
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway for “Les Miserables”
Best Director: Ang Lee for “Life of PI”
Best Foreign Film: Amour (I’ll be honest. I’ve never heard of this movie before, but noticed it kept “creeping” up in all sorts of various categories, competing with the best American films)
And so, in my opinion, the 85th annual Academy Awards was the funniest, most enjoyable (on many fronts), edition to date. It was very memorable and left a unique impression regardless.
Seth Macfarlane’s Gags:
Some of Seth Mac Farlane’s performance as host of the Oscars were sketches that included William Shatner (as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk), a puppet sock version of the movie “Flight,” some song and dance numbers, and some pretty good “jabs” at celebrities. One sketch that I thought was hilarious was his sketch with Sally Field, where he approaches her on wires, dressed up as “The Flying Nun,” and even refers to her role as “Gidget,” as if her performance as both in the 1960’s still hasn’t overshadowed her performance as Mary Todd Lincoln, or anything else she did in the late 20th to early 21st century.
Seth Mac Farlane: “Oh, he went there!”
Seth Mac Farlane pulled out his trademark comedic offensiveness, and in doing so was, in my opinion, absolutely hilarious. In an edgy move, Mac Farlane opened the show where he, and the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus sang a song called “We Saw Your Boobs” in which he named actresses sitting within the audience who showed their boobs on film (and the cameras showed their reactions while their names were being called out). Some thought it was funny, and some thought it was awkwardly embarrassing and “uncomfortable.”
At one point, after discussing another actor who was nominated for playing Abraham Lincoln in the 1940’s. Mac Farlane said, “This is interesting, Daniel Day-Lewis not the first actor to be nominated for playing Lincoln. Raymond Massey portrayed him in 1940’s “Abe Lincoln In Illinois.” This is true.” Mac Farlane quickly added, “I would argue, however, that the actor who really got inside Lincoln’s head was John Wilkes Booth.” After getting a cool reaction from the audience, Mac Farlane smiled, and said, “Really? 150 years later and it’s still too soon, huh? I got some Napoleon jokes coming up. You guys are going to be so mad. Oh my God!” Another comment that stirred up some controversy was when he introduced the Quentin Tarantino movie “Django Unchained.” In introducing that film, Mac Farlane said, “This is the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who's been subjected to unthinkable violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie.” The line referred to an incident back in 2009 where Brown assaulted the singer while driving in his car. But hey, that’s Mac Farlane’s style of comedy. Another thing I thought was really witty was when he introduced Meryl Streep by not introducing her. He said, “Our next presenter needs no introduction.” He then walked off the stage and out walked Meryl Streep. Another thing I thought was hilarious was when he stole that part from the “Sound of Music” where he introduces the Von Trapp Family singers, and the spotlight shines on a couple entrance doors. He introduces them again, and when they don’t “show up,” a man dressed up in a Nazi uniform says that they’re “not here,” in that they “escaped.” The last thing I thought was great was the song he wrote and sang about those who lost and were to go home without an Oscar. That was classic. There were more jokes of course, but I thought those were the main highlights of the night.
Time Constraints:
I thought it was interesting that when someone who received the award started “rambling on,” the orchestra would play the theme from “Jaws” and try to drown them out. So many of them had to be quick. This mostly happened though however with the more insignificant categories than it did with the main categories.
Dude, What was up with the Envelopes?
Was it just me, or did it seem like every celebrity who introduced the winner of an award, who tried to open the envelope, have trouble? Poor Richard Gere had a heck of a time! You could even hear him muttering to himself how hard it was to open it before he introduced the winner of best song.
The Music:
Apart from the Broadway style song and dance routines, several musical numbers really stood out. For example….
After the James Bond 50th anniversary montage, we were treated to Shirley Bassey singing the opening theme to the cult classic “Goldfinger” from 1964. If you also recall, Bassey also sang the opening theme to the 007 movie “Diamonds are Forever” in 1971. Also in the James Bond camp was Adele, who belted out a powerful performance of the theme song for the latest Bond movie “Skyfall.”
A Tribute to "Chicago":
Ten years ago, the smash hit Robert Fosse musical “Chicago” was nominated for 13 Academy Awards. However it took home 6, and even won Best Picture back in 2003. Ten years after that movie, Catherine Zeta Jones was decked out once again in her role as Velma Kelly singing the film’s paramount musical number, “All that Jazz.” Later on, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rene Zellwegger, Queen Latifah, and Richard Gere all came up to present the Oscar for best song, which went to Adele for Skyfall.
Les Miserables:
The new film version of the hit Broadway musical Les Miserables was not only was nominated for 8 Oscars, but it won three, and had brief highlights from the musical’s songs sung by the cast of the film on the stage.
The Way We Were:
After the “in memoriam” montage, where the Academy pays tribute to well known entertainers who passed away within the past year, Barbra Streisand sang the song, “the way we were,” which was a film she starred in with Robert Redford in 1973, and the man who composed the score for the film and that song (Marvin Hamlisch) passed away in August of last year. He won an Academy Award for best original song and score back in the day, and so that number was in recognition for that.
And let’s not forget the movies that won Awards:
Best Picture: Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis for “Lincoln”
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Lining’s Playbook”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoff Waltz for “Django Unchained.”
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway for “Les Miserables”
Best Director: Ang Lee for “Life of PI”
Best Foreign Film: Amour (I’ll be honest. I’ve never heard of this movie before, but noticed it kept “creeping” up in all sorts of various categories, competing with the best American films)
And so, in my opinion, the 85th annual Academy Awards was the funniest, most enjoyable (on many fronts), edition to date. It was very memorable and left a unique impression regardless.