AAR

[merryweather]

Anyone watch? I watched the red carpet and the whole dang show, save for the last five minutes that was cut off by my idiotic DVR. Luckily I got to see Colin Firth win for best actor--highlight of the night for me.

Other highlights for me:

Toy Story winning for best animated picture--anything Pixar wins is 100% deserved.
Kirk Douglas presenting an award--I was a little scared, but he did wonderfully. What a man.
Russel Brand--the guy needs to host next year. With Helen Mirren.
The opening montage and music video--clever.

Lowlights:

James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting. I love them individually, but they were terrible as hosts. Terrible. I don't know if they pulled in the younger crowd but they were sure hard to watch. She had beautiful costume changes, though. But James in drag? Lame.

Anyone else? Who had the prettiest dress? I liked Mila Kunis' lavender pleated one.
_________________
For the first time in her life, she saw exactly what she’d thrown away when she decided to have him by means fair or foul……that she’d not saved him but wronged him by consigning to him all the ability of a box turtle to make his own choices. ~Gigi

[Tee]

I only watched the pre-show, not the Oscar show itself. I really liked the gowns of Michelle Williams, Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow. Wow, they were classy and they wore them that way as well.

[Donna Lea Simpson]

I loved Kirk Douglas... what an inspiration! I hope it leads to more awareness that folks with disabilities or limitations should be celebrated and used more as presenters, etc. I thought he was witty, fun, charismatic... ten times more so than most of the winners or presenters. LOVED him.

Anne Hathaway and James Franco.... meh. Clothes were pretty.

Colin Firth's acceptance speech was the best of the evening, and I loved how the director of TKS thanked his mother, who brought the play to his notice.
_________________
Visit my blog for the latest!
http://donnaleasimpson.wordpress.com

http://www.donnaleasimpson.com

[BabyBorge]

Love the guy who won for best short feature film. He had awesome hair and thanked his mother for providing craft service during the filming. That's really how speeches should be. No need to thank your publicists or agent (you pay them to get you these gigs). Randy Newman was hilarious as well.
_________________
Crimson. Eleven. Delight. The smell of dust after rain.

[ChrisReader]

merryweather said

[Claire]

I felt nervous watching Kirk Douglas but I thought he added some needed "whats going to happen?" energy to the show. Loved how he drew out the result. Funny guy! Melissa Leo... she really irritated the heck out of me. I hate when they don't seem prepared to give a speech when they are the frontrunners. Has anyone noticed that a lot of the non actor winners gave much better speeches than the actors? I especially liked the Kings Speech winners (Colin's speech included of course. Didn't he look great?! ) and the writers like Aaron Sorkin.

I like Anne Hathaway but didn anyone notice her "WooWoo" yelling after she announced just about everyone? She seems nice but a bit of a suckup. James Franco does seem a weird choice. Was he stoned or are his eyes always like that?

I liked Mila Kunas dress as well. What a pretty color! I noticed Helena Bonham Carter dialed it down a notch in her dress. At this point, fashion experts should stop putting her on their worst dressed list so they have to pick someone else! I won't say my "worst" dressed but most disappointed was Sandra Bullock. There was nothing wrong with her dress per se but her hair all pulled back tight and her lipstick so red didn't appeal to me. I still love her.

Did anyone hear Gwyneth Paltrow sing? Eeeek! I had to turn the volume down. She sounded so nasily. I was so disappointed after hearing her at the Grammy's.

[library addict]

I thought Anne did a better job than James, but her woowoo-ing did get on my last nerve. And I don't think either co-host was capable of adlibbing. Much of their banter was boring.

I will never understand the need to keep highlighting past films at the Oscars. That's fine if you are doing a retrospective on an individual's contributions throughout their career, but otherwise I feel they should concentrate on the past year's films.

I didn't like the turning Harry Potter, Twilight, etc into musicals. That was pretty lame.

But the worst part of the show for me was having the overrated, I-will-never-understand-how-she-won-two-Oscars Hilary Swank come out just to introduce Kathryn Bigelow. What, Kathryn isn't capable of reading the teleprompter by herself and announce the winner? They let the male directors come back all by themselves the following year.

I was happy the awards went to various films. I was rooting for Colin and The King's Speech to win. I enjoyed Social Network, too, just not as much as The King's Speech. The best performance to me in Social Network was Andrew Garfield, but he wasn't even nominated.

[merryweather]

I loved how Billy Crystal got a standing ovation--it's like they were saying "please stay and finish off the show!"

re: Oscar hosting. I heard something on the radio that made sense. They were saying that James Franco and Anne Hathaway are actors, not entertainers. They do their best with the script given to them. But an entertainer like Bob Hope, or Steve Martin, or Billy Crystal can think on their feet and ad lib, and go with the moment. Anyway, they tried something new and it didn't go great--back to the drawing board.

And poor Gwyneth Paltrow's song--it's not as easy as it looks, that's for sure. Anne Hathaway has such a beautiful singing voice and actually pulled off her live song--that was very impressive.
_________________
For the first time in her life, she saw exactly what she’d thrown away when she decided to have him by means fair or foul……that she’d not saved him but wronged him by consigning to him all the ability of a box turtle to make his own choices. ~Gigi

[xina]

I love Anne Hathaway and James Franco, but it was pretty apparent that they did not have comedic timing without a script. I think if they were trying someone young they should have gone with Russell Brand (hilarious) or even Justin Timberlake.
Awkward moments, well...Kirk Douglas. My father is aged (97) and has had a full life with some wonderful stories, but he does better with telling them with a little prompting. I think someone should have been on stage with him, but it all worked out. And another awkward moment...when Christian Bale forgot his wife's name! He was pointing at her and nothing came out. One more...Gwyneth's song...she is not a singer, but a gifted actor. Just go with that.
The gown changes with Anne were wonderful too. She looked beautiful in all of them and I loved the tuxedo. Franco in drag...not so much.
_________________
"As you wish"
~The Princess Bride

[Claire]

[library addict]

[Cora]

[Donna Lea Simpson]

I loved Kirk Douglas's moment; I thought it was a wonderful example of how the elderly and stroke victims do not need to be babied. I constantly remind myself not to jump in to make things 'easier' for my 89 year old mom, to let her do and say things for herself unless she asks me to help. She is not a child, and can do very well if people are more willing to wait a moment, and not rush so much. I thought Douglas was the wittiest presenter there.

Apparently Bale did not forget his wife's name, he choked up with emotion... I do believe that.
_________________
Visit my blog for the latest!
http://donnaleasimpson.wordpress.com

http://www.donnaleasimpson.com

[Lynda X]

I thought Franco was simply dreadful and that Hathaway overcompensated with giggles, flirting, etc. I also thought the song about Hugh Jackman not singing with her was pointless, but I loved hearing the melody from "Les Miz," and Hathaway sure has a fabulous voice.

I personally loved Melissa Leo's dress, but it was cited as one of the worst on E network. What did you all think? I thought Kate Blanchett must be fashion-disabled to wear such a thing. Best dress, IMO, was worn by Reese Witherspoon . And I liked Oprah's dress.

I also thought the past references to famous movies, GWTW, for example, were poorly integrated and pointless. This whole production seemed particularly hodgepodge this year.

The Oscars would be much better if: 1. it were limited to about an hour or an hour and a half. The program is slow, slow, slow. 2. recipients would be removed bodily (and violently) if they named even one person to say "thank you" to, beheaded if they listed everyone in their professional life. 3. Presenters, unless witty, should be allowed to say a four-word intro. (By the way, I loved Speilberg's saying that the winner of best picture would be joining other great winners (can't remember even one he cited,), and the losers would be joining "Citizen Kane," etc.

[merryweather]