(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Yet another Academy Awards presentation has come and gone. Another evening of waiting, guessing and hoping. Oscar pools everywhere claimed new champions and the ultimate competition - the quest for the golden statue - quite literally crowned a new King.
Every year, there is usually some big event, some bad dress or some decision made that is so out of whack that people will be talking about it for days after. This year, there really wasn't anything that stands out glaringly. As indicated in the Xavierpop.com Oscar Predictions, this is the year that the Oscars played it super safe. This is the year that we got very few risks in the presentation of the ceremony and even fewer in the award choices themselves.
In the age of the internet and instant information, the exchange of information leading up to the event and the interaction online in such conversation media as Twitter and Facebook was, at times, more illuminating than what was happening at the Kodak Theatre. This was the year that one of the Best Supporting Actor nominees tweeted his acceptance speech. There were Oscar apps, virtual backstage passes and stars just having plain old fun and flaunting their access by tweeting on stage while presenting an award (Yes Justin Timberlake, I am looking at you! #tacky). So without further ado, here is a wrap-up of the evening's greatest and most awkward moments: -
- Luke Matheny easily had the best acceptance of the night for his live-action short film God of Love. It is people like him and moments like this that makes the Oscars so unpredictable and such a joy to watch. He started about saying "I should have gotten a haircut" and really thanked his mother "who did craft services" for the film. It was awesome, inspiring and truly one of the highlights of the night.
- The award show presenter pairings with Twitter buzz jumping when Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem came on stage together and then almost exploded when Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law presented best visual effects.
- The screenwriters acceptance speeches. Both Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) and David Seidler (The King's Speech) gave the most eloquent thank-yous of the evening. It was a shame that whomever was producing the show thought that it was appropriate to start the music when Sorkin was talking yet allowed Best Supporting Actress winner Melissa Leo go on for 20 minutes. Regardless, it was a joy to watch two the greatest writers of our time get their due.
- Cate Blanchett proclaiming, "That's gross" to The Wolfman's clip during the Best Makeup presentation, which then went on to win the award.
- The Titanic thing was just weird
- The Bob Hope hologram was just awkward, strange and really wrong. Celebrating the legacy of the great Bob Hope is long overdue. Having him there in hologram to accentuate the point is simply a bad decision.
- Apparently Reese Witherspoon hasn't been to the Oscars enough because the announcer totally screwed up her name.
- Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis were simply not funny. Trying out some jokes like they were at Amateur Night in a comedy club was more like it. It doesn't really bode well for their upcoming movie that they are in, which by the way, looks exactly like the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher movie that just came out.
- Not going to beleaguer the point. Anne Hathway = cute, funny and good. James Franco = simply and plainly bad.
On to next year as they say