Hollywood's big night
I'm a big-time movie fan, and also an awards show junkie, so you can well imagine how excited I get about the Academy Awards. I started watching the Oscars when I was a kid, pretty much forcing my parents to watch with me and fill out ballots with their picks for the winners in the various categories. Last night, I attended a party at which the attendees dressed as characters from this year's batch of nominated films and performances. My son and I dressed as the assassins from "In Bruges," and I can't even begin to tell you how frightening it was to see my friend George in a nun's outfit, his homage to Meryl Streep in "Doubt." Here are a few disjointed observations about the evening's proceedings.
- Note to Goldie Hawn: I'm guessing you're in your 60s now. When the "girls" start to leak out the side of the dress, it's a good time to start thinking about covering up a bit.
- Favorite line of the evening: I think Sean Penn is as big a jackass as the next person, but his line after winning the best actor award for his portrayal of gay activist Harvey Milk was great. Said Penn, "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns."
- Miley Cyrus (above) wore a gown that looked like the skirt from my grandmother's Christmas tree.
- I don't think there's ever an excuse for a man to hit a woman, but every time I see Angelina Jolie, I want to slap her.
- Novelist Salman Rushdie took a few shots at best picture winner "Slumdog Millionaire," saying the film isn't believable because it "piles impossibility on impossibility." Yo, dipstick, it's not a freakin' documentary.
- Meryl Streep had the right approach to getting dolled up for the evening. When asked whether it was hard to pick a gown, she replied, "No, it wasn't. The dress fit."
- The dress did not fit presenter Whoopi Goldberg. In fact, it looked as if she was wearing a leopard-print couch cover that she had saved since the '70s.
- They totally butchered the part of the show where they honor those who died during the past year.
- The bit with the guys from "Pineapple Express" was hilarious.
- I wish Mickey Rourke had won, just to hear his acceptance speech.
Labels: Entertainment
posted by Brant at
12:09 PM
5 Comments:
Mickey Rourke would have no doubt served up a tribute to his dog, Loki, who died last week. Seriously, though, he was quite good in "The Wrestler," and let's hope he offers up a couple more performances like it.
You have to hand it to the Academy for ending the broadcast on the same day it began, at least in the Eastern time zone (it wrapped at 11:56 p.m., according to the clock on my cable box), and some of the changes they tried this year made it a bit less ponderous than in years' past.
I'm not sure I'm sold on previous nominees coming out and offering gushy tributes to the acting nominees, like they did last night. They reminded me of the toast the best man serves up at the wedding reception. And when Shirley MacLaine told Anne Hathaway, "You'll be nominated for more awards," it almost seemed like she was saying, "Honey, you're not going to win tonight."
--Brad Hundt
They should have an award show for movies that became available on DVD in the previous year... that way, I would have seen some of them :-)
I've loved Mickey Rourke since he appeared in "Body Heat." I think it's a shame that Clint Eastwood didn't get some kind of nod for "Gran Torino."
Brant, I totally agree with you about the "In Memoriam" section - they kept moving the camera around an on-stage screen with small text and quickly moving images. It was like watching bootleg DVDs...not that I have any.
Mickey Rourke gave a great acceptance speech when he won the Independent Spirit Award, given the day before the Oscars and shown on IFC. Maybe it's on YouTube. He is fascinating to listen to, isn't he!! Love the way he says just what he thinks!
I thought the tributes to each of the best actress and best actor nominees were a really nice way to honor the four who would lose.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home