The reviews are in

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117926368?categoryid=31&cs=1&s=h&p=0

If Sunday's showcase wasn't quite a Rock or Oscars for the ages, it was a smooth and appealing telecast -- and somehow the republic, red and blue states alike, seems destined to survive it. For all the hand-wringing about the awards descending into the muck, the 77th Academy Awards proved a classy affair, with precious little red meat to satiate Hollywood bashers. Even the potentially awkward decision to bring some nominees onstage had a salutary effect, investing the presentation with a rather collegial feel.
After all the tumult surrounding his selection as host, Chris RockChris Rock didn't live down to the hypehype, delivering a funny opening monologue complete with a few clever barbs directed at the Bush administration that didn't draw blood.

Rock's best bit of material, using the cadence of his stand-up act, saw him counseling Hollywood, "If you can't get a star, wait," which turned into an indictment of Jude LawJude Law's ubiquity last year (later drawing a retort from Sean PennSean Penn). Rock also appeared in an excellent taped piece from the Magic Johnson Theaters, where patrons expressed a preference for "Saw" and "The Chronicles of Riddick" over "Sideways" and "The Aviator."

Still, hoopla notwithstanding, Oscar hosts inevitably contribute only so much to the proceedings, and after the opening, Rock wasn't a major factor. This show benefited from several inspired moments, scripted and otherwise.

Those included a Johnny Carson tribute and Yo-Yo Ma's accompaniment to the annual necrology as well as the quiet nobility of several acceptance speeches, beginning with supporting actors Morgan FreemanMorgan Freeman and Cate BlanchettCate Blanchett and culminating with "Ray" star Jamie FoxxJamie Foxx's nod to his late grandmother.

Although initiated primarily to speed up the award-giving process, bringing onstage the nominees in documentary, special effects, costume design and art direction provided an opportunity to recognize them en masse, not just the winners. Wisely, producer Gil Cates and director Louis J. Horvitz didn't show anybody up, quickly zeroing in on the recipient.

The one thuddingly flat twist saw the best makeup and short films Oscars presented in the middle of the hall, as winners uncomfortably stood with their backs toward much of the audience. More than anything, it looked like something out of "Let's Make a Deal," minus Monty Hall.

"Next year they're gonna give out Oscars in the parking lot," Rock smartly quipped, after one long-winded honoree for documentary short was unceremoniously played off.

Beyond that, though, there was much to like scattered amid the back patting. Compared to past Oscarcasts, the evening moved briskly, a full half-hour shorter than last year's show.

One winner, cinematographer Robert RichardsonRobert Richardson, actually thanked those treating his hospitalized mother. Robin WilliamsRobin Williams delivered a sharp riff on animated characters being gay, and a radiant Beyonce belted out three nominated songs -- including one in French, which generated more heat within the Kodak than "The Ten Commandments'" pillar of fire.

Even the ebb and flow of the awards unfolded to the telecast's advantage, as "The Aviator's" early dominance began to quaver as "Million Dollar Baby" -- and the immensely popular Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood -- came on toward the end. And since the Oscars have become a marketing platform just short of the Super Bowl, kudos to Pepsi for a hilarious "Spartacus" spoof incorporating footage from that classic.

As for the arrival madness, reservoirs of fashion babble and fawning were dangerously depleted by concurrent coverage on E!, TV Guide Channel, and Los Angeles stations KABC and KTLA.

Despite the return of Joan and Melissa Rivers on TV Guide, E!'s Kathy Griffin proved even more annoying -- and unfunny -- with a litany of snarky and sometimes-crass gags that meshed uncomfortably with Star Jones Reynolds' gee-whiz red carpet persona.

The elder Rivers, however, yielded the biggest howler by asking Imelda Staunton if she had met the character she played in "Vera Drake," "or is she dead now?" An embarrassed Staunton had to explain that Drake was fictional.

ABC's pre-show moved so quickly virtually no one was able to complete a thought, a formula that mercifully rendered "Access Hollywood's" Billy Bush less obnoxious than usual. The honesty award, meanwhile, went to co-host Chris Connelly, who Warren BeattyWarren Beatty called "very kind" for referring to him as handsome.

"That's what I do for a living," Connelly responded.

So true. And for the Oscars this night, anyway, the living was easy.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59174-2005Feb28.html

Rock, Well . . . Didn't

By Tom Shales
Monday, February 28, 2005; Page C01

Chris Rock jokingly welcomed viewers to "the 77th, and last, Academy Awards" last night but this Oscar show, nervously televised from Hollywood on ABC, will more likely turn out to be the first, and last, to be hosted by Rock. Though a brilliant and caustic stand-up comedian, Rock's stint as an Oscar host was strangely lame and mean-spirited.

Since we are apparently still living in the aftermath of Janet Jackson's overexposure at the 2004 Super Bowl, and because Rock is a comic known for raw and risque material, there was much hullabaloo in the weeks leading up to the ceremony about whether Rock would misbehave, perhaps earning ABC a scolding and sanction from the Federal Communications.

But the only real controversy generated by Rock came during a so-so monologue in which he insulted several actors, Jude Law among them, as being small-timers who got parts only when better actors were unavailable. Rock had also pre-taped a peculiar bit of man-on-the-street comedy in which a collection of Hollywood moviegoers, most of them African American, said they hadn't seen or even heard of many of this year's nominated films. It was unclear if this routine was some sort of commentary on racism or a gratuitous slap at Hollywood, but either option is hardly encouraging.

The first half of the show was dominated by the film "The Aviator," about the life of Howard Hughes, but then the show was taken over by "Million Dollar Baby," a gritty drama about a woman who wants to be a professional boxer. "Aviator" won for art direction, costumes, supporting actress (Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn) and cinematography, but "Million Dollar Baby" won the million-dollar awards: Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Picture and best performance by an actress, the toothy Hilary Swank.

Swank also took dubious honors for one of the evening's most torturous and prolonged acceptance speeches, refusing to be cut off by the orchestra, which had managed to silence a few blabbermouths who preceded her. Few winners followed the sterling example set by Morgan Freeman, who was named Best Supporting Actor in the same film and whose speech was brilliantly brief.

Producer Gil Cates made a few brave tries at shortening the show. Some awards were handed out in the audience, eliminating a few of those agonizing long walks to the stage (which some shrewd winners always draw out by stopping to shake hands with everybody they met in Hollywood on their way to the top). Nominees and winners of craftsmanship and technical awards were already gathered onstage when their awards were announced.

That led Rock to joke that next year some Oscars will be presented in the parking lot, with winners taking advantage of a quickie drive-through lane.

This year's Oscars featured, for the most part, such a gloom-and-doomy array of nominees that it would have been very hard to turn the show into a funfest, or even a decently entertaining three hours of self-indulgence.

Fearing that the lackluster box-office performance of the nominated films would translate into low ratings for the Oscar special, Cates and other producers of the program hired hot comic Rock and then sent him on a publicity tour during which he repeatedly suggested he would not soften or homogenize his material. The promise appeared to be that this year's Oscars would be racy and sexy and a slap in the face of blue-nose pressure groups who have currently declared open season on TV and its allegedly offensive programming.

But the brave front was a sham. Robin Williams was scheduled to perform a song ridiculing censorious fringe groups, but according to news reports the song was deemed so inflammatory, and was so heavily edited by ABC censors, that its authors refused to let it be performed. When Williams stepped onstage, he'd affixed a piece of white tape over his mouth to symbolize the censorship.

His comedy routine included some of the material that had been in the song -- jokes about comic-book and fairy-tale characters having scandalous private lives -- but the song itself was gone, revealing ABC censors to be chickenhearted in the way that almost all censors are, and handing a victory to the pressure groups, one of which recently charged that the popular cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants was sending out secret pro-homosexual messages in his animated adventures.

"SquarePants is not gay," Williams jokes. "Tight Pants? Maybe. SpongeBob HotPants? You go, girl!" The cartoon, which airs daily on Nickelodeon, is one of the most popular programs of any kind on cable TV.

The annual Academy salute to motion picture figures who died during the previous year was movingly accompany by a Yo-Yo Ma cello solo. As was only fitting, the personality saved for last and given the most time during the tribute was Marlon Brando. Earlier, however, the Academy badly fumbled a chance to offer a tribute to Johnny Carson, who hosted the Academy Awards many times in the '70s and '80s, back when the show still had a vestige of energy and the nominated movies still had some glamour and pizzazz.

This year's Oscar show was certainly more ethnically diverse than ever, but so much attention was called to this that it made the program seem lopsided, a celebration only of films that qualify as politically correct. Actor Jamie Foxx, who won for playing the great singer Ray Charles in the film "Ray," seemed to be exploiting the racial angle by implying his victory was a victory for African Americans. He gave essentially the same speech he gave at the Golden Globes, replete with threats to break up in tears when he got to the part about his dear old grandma and her influence on little Jamie when he was a child.

That influence included "whippings," Foxx said, but he claimed to be grateful even for those. In the audience, Oprah Winfrey gave Foxx a big wave as if she somehow shared in the award for his acting talent and heartfelt performance in the movie.

The Oscars are losing their status as a big national party and turning instead into de facto political conventions -- and if there's anything TV and the nation don't need, it's more of those. Chances are the ratings for this year's Oscar show will not be especially high and might be especially low, unless Rock turns out to have been enough of a name to bring viewers back to their sets. More likely, the whole horrible mess will have to be rethought once again, and next year's Oscarcast will be preceded by a fresh wave of hype about how new and improved it all is.

Perhaps Billy Crystal will come riding in on a white horse again and rescue the show with a zippy performance as host.

There can't really be great Oscar shows, however, without great movies. The fault for this year's dry and dreary fiasco isn't Rock's or the windy speechmakers thanking half the population of North America. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in our motion pictures.


http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?id=2005022803560002975304&dt=20050228035600&w=RTR&coview=

TV review: The 77th annual Academy Awards

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It turns out that all that fretting and hand-wringing over the selection of Chris Rock as host of the Oscars was for naught. And more's the pity.

In a highly publicized interview before the telecast, Rock said that black men, at least the straight ones, don't bother to watch the Oscars. Based on his performance Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre, they were offered little enticement.

In one sense, Rock must have surprised Academy members who worried that his edgy humor might prove offensive in this context. Not only did he keep his monologue and subsequent comments free of blue language, he still managed to offend. It's one thing to praise Hollywood greats, as Rock did when he paid homage at the open to Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington. It's quite another to belittle the work of all other actors, including Tobey Maguire and Jude Law.

"There are only four real stars," Rock said, implying that many of those in the audience were . . . what -- pretenders? Later in the show, Sean Penn, who might not have made the shortlist, pointedly defended Law. Who knew the best comedy monologue of the evening would come from Robin Williams, presenter of the award for animated feature film?

To be fair, most of Rock's comments didn't rankle, nor did they resonate. Jabs at President Bush were well-aimed, but a taped piece in which moviegoers at a Magic Johnson Theatre in Los Angeles admitted they hadn't seen a single nominated film was of dubious value. When one segment opened with a clip of Johnny Carson performing host duties, the ensuing applause seemed as much an expression of wishful thinking as it was of nostalgia.

Perhaps there wouldn't have been such an emphasis on the host's performance if this year's contests had been less predictable. Or if any of the nominated films had cracked the $100 million box office mark.

However, given the lack of a blockbuster and the relative anonymity of many of the award recipients, the focus inevitably turned to Rock.

That, in turn, obscured several brilliant production changes instituted by Gil Cates. Awards in some categories, including costume design and documentary short subject, were presented with all the nominees onstage, saving precious time. Other categories with lower viewer interest were presented from the audience, which also helped to move the show along.

Although the overhead screens resembled something from a "Star Wars" set, the banks of monitors on the stage floor were particularly versatile and effective, offering up clips and titles in a unique style.

Particularly helpful for the millions of TV viewers were the clear graphics that identified each of the Oscar winners as they received their trophies.

Nominees had been repeatedly instructed beforehand to keep acceptance speeches brief, and nearly all complied. The short time provided, however, meant they could either read off a list of thank-yous or offer a memorable thought or anecdote. Few chose the latter.

Hilary Swank, best actress winner, started by proclaiming, "I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream." The dream quickly evolved into round after round of thanks. Best actor Jamie Foxx delivered the most poignant acknowledgment, a tribute to his beloved, departed grandmother. "She still talks to me, only now she talks to me in my dreams," he said.

Overall, this Oscar telecast will go down as well-produced and thanks to the skill and experience of Louis J. Horvitz, well-directed, shows, if not one of the more eventful. That is, unless you count a few technical glitches, including a mike hastily handed to Rock at the start of one segment and a noise that sounded like gunfire during the presentation for best live-action short. "I hope they missed," came the quick ad lib from presenter Jeremy Irons.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050228/d_oscarbianco28.art.htm

Baby,' what a night
Alas, format did not do Oscar proud

Do the Oscar folks have rocks in their heads?

Apparently the academy thought using hipster favorite Chris Rock as host and giving short shrift to the lower-profile awards would re-energize the Oscar show, turning it from a dowdy matron into a hot, younger-demo hit. Instead, ABC's three-hour plus broadcast of the Academy Awards Sunday seemed tailor-made to bore the young, embarrass the old and chase away even the most dedicated Oscar fan.

Yes, it moved faster — but where exactly did it think it was going?

To be sure, Rock is one of the funniest, smartest, most talented comics in America. What he clearly wasn't, as the academy must surely now realize, was a smart choice to host the Oscars. His act may have worked in the hall (and to be fair, the crowd did seem to be with him), but it didn't work on TV.

Loud, snide and dismissive, he wasn't just a disappointment; he ranks up there with the worst hosts ever — particularly when you factor in the expectations. When the show ran a salute to Johnny Carson's years as host, the comparison was so painful, it made you think the academy would have been better off just letting a computer-generated Carson host again.

Perhaps someone should have told Rock that he wasn't just doing a stand-up gig, he was hosting the Oscars. At the minimum, that means you're kind of expected to act as if you have some interest in the proceedings. Instead, his monologue bypassed the nominated films entirely in favor of a few mild generalized jokes about movies and movie stars — praising Clint Eastwood, mocking Jude Law. It wasn't just pointless, it was dull (and apparently offensive to Sean Penn, who came to Law's defense).

Unfortunately, what many viewers are most likely to remember — particularly those who feel Hollywood is out of touch with many of its customers — is Rock's lengthy attack on George Bush.

It went over big with the crowd, and if you voted for John Kerry, you probably found it amusing. But that routine had nothing to do with the Oscars, either, and it very likely sent half the audience fleeing from what was otherwise a politics-free evening.

Later, as if to verify that he thought the show was a waste of time, Rock ran a pre-taped interview with people at a movie theater, none of whom had any interest in the nominated films. The bit was hardly shocking: We all knew there was no Lord of the Rings blockbuster in this year's lineup. On another night, on another show, it might even have been funny. On this night, at this event, it was alarmingly out of place.

Doesn't anyone have a sense of occasion anymore? It's one thing to make gentle fun of the nominees, as Billy Crystal does so well, and another to imply that no one outside of the hall cares about their work. Surely someone involved with last night's broadcast should have known the difference.

Luckily, like every other host, Rock made only limited appearances after the first half-hour. In this case, less was best.

Rock, however, can't take all the blame for an evening that was well-dressed but almost ceaselessly dreary. Among a host of awful ideas, the worst was the decision to make second-class citizens out of the nominees for the technical awards — otherwise known as those people who have the nerve to be nominated without being famous. If anyone should realize that these categories are as integral to a movie's success and as hard to pull off as a great acting performance, it should be the members of the movie academy.

Instead, they made the nominees for some of those awards, such as art direction and documentaries, stand together on stage while their names were read, like American Idol contestants at the results show. That meant the losers also had to stand there and clap, at least until the camera closed in on the winners. At that point, one assumes, the losers were whisked away, though for all we know they were dropped into a hole in the set.

Even so, they were treated like stars compared with the nominees for a few other categories, such as best action short, who had to accept their Oscars in the aisle. Wouldn't it have been even faster just to pitch the Oscars at their heads?

Does it really take that much more time to let a winner rise out of a seat and come up on stage? If being asked to give up a few extra viewing seconds so these people can have their proper due is that much of an imposition, then here's a radical idea: Every event on Earth is not about you. These people have just won the most important award in their field. For heaven's sake, let them enjoy it.

But then for years, the intent of the Oscar broadcast has seemed to be to take the focus away from the awards and put it on … well, what, exactly? The awards don't get in the way of the show; they are the show. If the producers think the acceptance speeches are boring, then by all means encourage the nominees to limit their thanks to those people to whom they are actually grateful. (That should cut the speeches down drastically.) But it's awfully hard to persuade an audience to watch an awards show when the people presenting the awards act like they're meaningless.

Of course, those lucky few winners who did get on stage immediately found themselves upstaged by the set, which did just about everything but talk. Note to the director: When you have Sidney Lumet accepting the lifetime achievement award with one of the evening's more eloquent addresses, it's not the best idea to have some giant Oscar lazy-susan spinning behind him. Yet there it was, rotating away behind every acceptance speech like some out-of-control carnival ride. Didn't that thing have a “stop” button?

Still, if Sunday's program went too far with its innovations, that doesn't mean the Oscar format couldn't use some tweaking. For one thing, the time has probably come to make the original-song category optional. Beyoncé is a lovely woman and a fine singer, but most of those songs not only shouldn't have been performed, they shouldn't have been nominated.

Ironically enough for a show that seemed ashamed of its own awards, it was the award winners who came to the rescue.

Hilary Swank gave a touching, graceful acceptance speech, thanking her husband and scaring off the orchestra. Jamie Foxx's win gave the show a long-awaited emotional boost. And Clint Eastwood added old-school, masculine class.

Clearly, the Oscars rock. What a shame the show didn't.

Most of these writers need to be shot. The more i think about how Rock hosted this show, the more i like it. It wasn't just the funny effect .. its how he took a few shots at the industry itself and i thought that was commendable.

The whole majic johnson thing may have had only blacks in it but i think a good point made over there is that critics (and hell, these writers) should clearly start realizing that the general audiences do not think like them. While i dont agree with spidey being nominated, i do think movies such as those deseve the limelight .. hell M$B may be great but are you telling me it entertained us more than spidey did!?!? I didn't even like spidey that much and still think it was more entertaining.

The shots at the smaller actors ... i liked that too .. the whole exploitation of whats in and whats not. Most newcomers will just fade away .. Cruise though young stood the test of time. Jude Law still hasn't and his whole point of those remarks were to tell you to wait ... wait for these actors to blossom before bestoying the laurels on them like we do the minute we see one role where they are a hit.

Sorry, I have to agree in some ways with those bashing Rocks. I found him funny, yes. But that he spends more time bashing Bush in his opening monologue than discussing the nominated movies was pathetic...

These reviewers are morons. A bunch of old geezers who can't laugh at a black man making fun of himself on stage.

My own personal review: The new format for awarding some categories wasn't quite as awful as I expected to be, but I still think they should definitely stick to walking up to the stage. Some of the most memorable moments happen that way..and I like it better.

The show overall was good, not great, but huge improvement over last year, which was a complete bore.

Rock, again, was good. Not great, just good. I thought his opening monologue was pretty funny, for the most part...if slightly predictable. After that he was OK, it wasn't his show but he blended in nicely. Compared to other hosts I'd say he was slightly above the others.

Now we need ELLEN.

Next to Rock, Ellen would be my next choice. But I feel Rock did well enough to do it again next year. Don't forget the ratings were the highest since 2000 so Rock has fans out there that tuned in (it certainly wasn't due to the movies).

Yeah, Rock brought up the ratings. The movies nominated for Best Picture this year were not any blockbuster-type movies, so a lot of people wouldn't normally have interest, but Rock brought in the viewers because they can expect a good time with Rock.

Making fun of himself by.....comparing himself with the likes of Colin Farrell and Jude Law?

Yeah, he managed to do both. Imagine that, a clever comedian.

http://www.oscarwatch.com/Ed_Sez/

"Just a Girl from a Trailer Park with a Dream!"
And other embarrassing moments from last night's Oscar telecast.

But first, what was great about it.

1) Morgan Freeman and Charlie Kaufman finally winning Oscars. Yes, they were career Oscars but both are so beloved it made the evening very nearly worth it.

2) Chris Rock's no holds barred monologue. Although it seemed far more like his live show, it was the most interesting part of the whole boring, rushed, pointless show.

3) Julia Roberts appearing a surprise guest. Gotta love a girl showing up like that after her milk's come in.

4) Clint Eastwood winning yet another handful of Oscars. Who doesn't love him? He's wonderful, even if he needs another Oscar like he needs another woman bearing yet more children. Is he a monument to verility or what? People want to know, did he deserve it? Did he make the most popular film of Oscar season, yes. Did he win the press, absolutely. Is he amazing at this age to making his best work, definitely. Was this his best film? I didn't think so. I liked the characters a lot - but thought it hackneyed and black and white in terms of its characters. Nonetheless, I have always loved Clint, and hope to bear his twenty-fifth child someday. Viagra here we come! (so to speak)

Every Aviator winner thanking Marty most enthusiastically. Indeed, at this point, it's better that the Academy stop nominating Marty. Please stop, I beg you.

But let's get down to the bummers, because, frankly, they're far more fun to talk about than the good things - the Oscars as of this morning, have lost all meaning and importance to me - which is kind of a fun place to be in. It makes being catty all the more satisfying. Besides, Desperate Housewives wasn't on and missing it has put me in a very very bad mood.

Beautiful Losers--
Tecchies standing on stage to either win or lose - great for the winner, horrible for the losers - that was a very very bad idea. But now, because the ratings are good, they'll stick with the format. Good lord, if this continues, they may rope in the Punk'd generation but they are going to alienate their bread and butter. Make it stop, make it stop!

Rushing people off stage for the sake of time- it's starting to seem pointless to give out these awards. Poor Charlie Kaufman!

Sidney Lumet's honorary Oscars proved that short, schlubby directors, no matter how brilliant, rarely win Oscars, unless they're Peter Jackson and only then because they had no other choice in the matter. Please, Marty, refuse the honorary Oscar those cowardly bastards throw at you in a decade or two. It's so beneath you at this point.

Just a girl from a trailer park with a dream - the only good that comes out of this is that it will likely replace Sally Field's, another undeserving two time winner's hilarious, infamous "you like me, you really like me." I hope all of the hipper than thou critics who went overboard praising this film (after they discarded Sideways like a used up whore) cringed in unison.

Sean Penn - in the words of my brother-in-law, sit down and shut up. What is it in someone like that who feels it's his job to correct the entire universe? Chris Rock's Jude Law joke was funny. Rock is not an ass-kisser and so he feels no need to kiss ass. Get a sense of humor. Law WAS in every film last year and DID suffer from overexposure. Sure, he probably felt bad for Law, but there are better ways to get your point across than to humiliate the host.

The Black Oscars - okay, enough is enough already. We get it, WE GET IT, you're not racists, YOU'RE NOT RACISTS, you don't have to invite every black musician who ever sang at the Grammys to prove your point. You gave out two Oscars to two different black people. Great job! And you even had a black host. We get it, we GET it. Even a majority of elderly white males can get jiggy wid' it. Calgon, take me away.

And with that, we close another (uber-lame) season. Other than Return of the King, which is nestled in its own category, what was the last really good film that won Best Picture? For the life of me, I can't remember. I've watched year after year as the best films take a backseat to the most accessible films. I know this is a constant with the Academy. I have always known it - and yet, I torment myself year after year by getting my hopes up. A lot of people out there loved Million Dollar Baby, and Chicago, and Gladiator. Perhaps they ought to be running Oscarwatch. To them, this was a great moment in Oscar history. To me, it was yet another depressing letdown.

Oscarwatch had some interesting commentary.

http://www.oscarwatch.com/Articles/dashiell.html

Wrap Up
By Kris Dashiell
The Academy apparently tried to appeal to a younger demographic this year. What they succeeded in doing was presenting an even duller show than usual.

The program opened with a montage of film clips, Dustin Hoffman's voice-over narration telling us that films make us feel nervous or terrific, etc. I always tune these banalities out instinctively, just because they're empty rhetoric. On reflection, I realize they represent an attitude towards film that takes the point of view of passivity as essential. Film makes us feel this or that -- no sense of an engagement in which the viewer thinks, argues with the material, grows into or away from it -- we're just a kind of receptacle for the product.
The end of the clip has Shrek walking off into the distance with Chaplin. Oh please.

The new host this year is Chris Rock. There's been a lot of talk about what an edgy choice that is. There's even been some controversy around joking remarks he made to the effect that no straight man willingly watches the Oscars. I don't know what kind of pressures he was under, but the show was as far from edgy as you could get. The opening monologue had its moments, but overall Rock seemed tentative, maybe even uncomfortable, definitely inconsequential. Hosting this show is generally a lose/lose: if the host takes up too much time, it annoys people who just want to see the awards. If they play it really safe, like Rock did, you have to wonder why the show even bothers with a host.

He begins by saying, "Welcome to the last Academy Awards." (Having him host will finish them off?) He does a riff about how nobody acts at the Oscars (as opposed to people singing at the Grammys and so on) which goes nowhere. Then there's a bit about waiting to get a star instead of just settling for anyone. This includes a short rant about Jude Law being in every movie that was made last year (which seems true -- the man was overexposed).

His one venture into edginess comes when he says he really liked Fahrenheit 9/11, and that Michael Moore's probably wishing he just made Super Size Me, since he did the research. But Bush is a genius because he got elected even though there was a movie playing everywhere telling what a lousy job he was doing. He compares Bush's position to being a clerk at the Gap, and how you would get fired if there were 70 million dollars missing from the till. Then into Iraq -- the Gap analogy again, with a war on Banana Republic resulting in the discovery that there were no tank tops there after all.

He barely touches on Passion of the Christ, using it as a way to talk about stupid titles for black movies -- Barbershop, Car Wash, etc. These aren't movies, these are locations. Next up, we're sure to see Laundromat, followed by Cash-Checking Place.

Rock's delivery is good enough to elicit some laughs, but the material is very weak. Why get Rock to host your show, and then have him play it safe? Hollywood is scared of the wingnuts, like the rest of us who are sane are, and that's nothing new, but you're never going to reach your younger demographic by playing safe.

Halle Berry is very sexy, even with her hair longer, which doesn't work as well for her. Sexy greyish dress. She is here for the Art Direction award. Here they reveal a new thing where all the nominees are actually up on stage. Then when the winner's names are called, they come forward and make their acceptance speeches. Well, the nice thing about this is that everyone gets to be seen on TV. The real purpose is to cut down on the precious time it usually takes for people to get up on stage. In terms of the effectiveness of the show, I'm not sure it makes any difference.

The Aviator wins.

Renee Zellweger has short black hair (not good for her) and her usual squinty-eyed sucking-on-a-lemon look. Well, her taste in dresses is great. The long red number is quite beautiful.

Supporting Actor goes to Morgan Freeman, looking both relaxed and magisterial in his tux-scarf combo. His speech is very brief, thanking everyone on the picture without naming them, and especially Clint Eastwood. He seems like a real class act to me.

One of the nameless female assistant presenters appears to be about nine feet tall. Weird movement at the lower part of her dress. Is there a midget in there or something?

There's a terrible commercial that uses a clip from Spartacus to sell Pepsi. I hate it when commercials appropriate old movies like that.

Robin Williams comes out with tape over his mouth. I guess this symbolizes the mood of the evening as well as anything. His jokes seem tired. Animated characters are the opposite of Botox. Then a thing about SpongeBob being accused of being gay -- sqare pants aren't gay, tight pants are. How about Donald Duck -- wearing a litle vest, but no pants, hello? (funny). Then Marlon Brando doing Elmer Fudd, Fudd doing Brando.
Overall, just weak. Not very funny. He's there to award the animated features and The Incredibles wins.

Cate Blanchett to award Makeup. Another innovation: she's out in the audience area instead of on stage, and then the nominees (purposely arranged in consecutive seating) are shown on camera as their names are read. This serves the same purpose as the previous innovation, and it's a bit of a mystery why some categories get this treatment, while others get to be onstage. Lemony Snicket wins.

Blanchett disproves the idea that yellow is automatically wrong for someone with light hair. Her yellow dress is absolutely gorgeous, and she is definitely among the best-looking of the night. (I don't just say this because I have a crush on her, either. I didn't like the look she had the night she was up for Elizabeth, f'rinstance.)

I don't usually find Drew Barrymore good looking, but the black number she wears is perfect for her, and she looks better than I've ever seen her, despite the slight "raccoon" makeup effect.

She introduces the first nominated song, from a French film called La Choriste. Beyonce in a rainbow-colored dress with a children's choir. I find the song dirge-like.

There follows a bit in which Chris Rock interviews some (mostly) black folks outside a theater about what their favorite movies of last year were.

Of course they mention such titles as Saw, Chronicles of Riddick, and White Chicks, while admitting that they haven't seen any of the nominated films. This is actually a little funny. Not hilarious, but a humorous enough take on the difference between box office and Oscar prestige. When one guy is asked if he saw The Aviator, he says, "Didn't that star the guy from The Beach?" Finally there's a shot of Martin Lawrence holding an Oscar saying, "So you didn't think I could win one of these? You can kiss my black a--" (well, it was bleeped).

Scarlett Johansson now appears on one of the balconies (this seems a silly extension of this whole retooling attempt) to announce the technical awards. Her black dress looks like someone went at it with some scissors.

In the clips, she is wearing her hair up (not good) and, like most of the people who have signed on for the duty of hosting the techie Oscars (why are they always women?) looks like she'd rather be anywhere else.

Pierce Brosnan to give the Costumes award, joined by the Edna Mold character (who looks like Edith Head) from The Incredibles. I have never liked this gimmick of having a cartoon character share the stage with a live actor. At least this time the character isn't excessively cute.

The Aviator wins for Costumes.

Introducing Tim Robbins, Chris Rock says that he's always loved his performances, but is bored to death by his politics (I'm paraphrasing, as usual). This is just plain stupid. Politics are not supposed to entertain us. This sounds like the same old nonsense that actors should shut up and not express political opinions.

Tim needs to buy a comb. The winner is Cate Blanchett. She doesn't go on too long with the thank yous, and in the end says that she hopes her son marries Martin Scorsese's daughter. Hmm. How young is his daughter?

Now someone (I forget who) introduces a clip paying tribute to Johnny Carson, specifically focusing on Carson's stint as the Oscar host in the late 70s and early 80s.

Hey, I like Carson, but this was dumb. We get a few clips from Carson's hosting of the show, intercut with Whoopi Goldberg telling us how great he was (as if we didn't know). It feels half-assed.

Maybe they didn't want him in the death clip because he wasn't a movie person, but they felt they had to do something?

Leonardo DiCaprio looks good. He awards the Documentary Oscar to Born Into Brothels.

Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom for editing. Dunst is pretty, but I'm not yet among the believers in her as a good actress. The Aviator wins. Thelma Schoonmaker's speech is rather emotional -- mostly just thanking Scorsese, and that seems to bring some tears to his eyes in the audience.

Mike Myers quotes (or perhaps misquotes) Bazin and Godard in order to lead into a fart joke. He's there to introduce the Counting Crows doing the song from Shrek 2.
This is one of the few times I've heard an actual rock song performed at the Oscars. It's nothing special -- kind of a country- rock flavored thing, but I liked it better than any of the others.

Adam Sandler comes on, and supposedly Catherine Zeta-Jones was to have appeared with him, but she's not there, so Chris Rock fills in for her. Of course it's a set-up, in this case for a routine that makes fun of the forced banter scripted for presenters. If only it were funnier.

Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Sideways. It's bizarre how the screenplay awards often go to non-winners in the more publicized categories, as if screenplay was a sort of consolation category.

I mean, good writing is so basic to a film's success that this split seems odd.

Jake Gyllenhall and Zhang Ziyi for visual effects. Spiderman 2 wins. One of the effusive speech-makers says that he's glad there wasn't a 4th episode of Lord of the Rings.

The President of the Academy, Frank Pierson, comes out to give his annual blah blah blah. At one point he refers to "this tabernacle of talent." Who writes this crap? Then it's all about supporting the troops, and so on, fighting for freedom (oh yeah, that's what they're fighting for). Yeah, we get it. Hollywood is patriotic too. Get fucked.

Al Pacino looks a little under the weather. Like he just got off the plan, had a scotch and soda and can't focus his eyes too well.

He makes a rather long and unmemorable speech about Sidney Lumet, this year's honorary Oscar winner. Then there's a clip from Lumet's movies, and it's really rather exhaustive, which I like. Lumet comes on and makes a very smart and eloquent speech, saying that when he was young he imagined saying something smart-aleck like "I thank myself, because I did it alone." Then he talks about a bunch of directors including Jean Vigo (!), Carl Dreyer (!!), William Wyler, and Buster Keaton. "And I'm not mentioning the ones I really stole from." He's just grateful to play a part in the movies.

This is a good informal speech. I like Lumet and I've been mentioning him as a possible honoree for years, so I feel a little vindicated.

Emmy Rossum (from The Phantom musical) looks quite lovely, I think. She introduces the song from her movie -- Beyonce again, in a new outfit (covered with jewels, she looks like a walking chandelier) and accompanied by Andrew Lloyd Weber. This is a song written just for the movie, so it could qualify for "Best Song."

When's the last time a song really mattered in a movie, to the degree that the public actually identitifed a certain song with a film? Well, Titanic and that Celine Dion thing. That was a sort of fluke, though. It's been years since this category really made any sense.

Jeremy Irons (why?) in the audience area, for short subject. There's a shot-like sound during his presentation and he quips, "Hope they missed."

Laura Linney, also in the audience area, for animated short. She's quite pretty, actually, but the light dress doesn't work too well for her.

Kate Winslet would look good in almost anything. Her bright blue dress is a welcome relief from the usual black. She awards the Cinematography Oscar to Robert Richardson for The Aviator. Richardson is very soft-spoken, and dedicates the award to his mother in the hospital. Awww.

Chris Rock brings out the two accountants for Price- Waterhouse, who turn out to be huge, black bodyguard types. Lame.

Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayak to give the Sound awards. They're two Latina women, so they're lumped together? Salma, I must say, knows how to look good. Not only the dress, which is great, but the perfect hair. Yow. I am assured (yes, I asked) that the boobs are real.

Ray wins for Sound Mixing, and The Incredibles for Sound Editing.

Salms then introduces the song from Motorcycle Diaries, going on and on about how meaningful it is, and translating some of the lyrics into English. It seems a little excessive
-- none of the other songs got this kind of a build-up. Anyway, it's performed by Antonio Banderas, with Carlos Santana on guitar. I love Santana, and Banderas has an ok voice, but the song sounds like a mess. It seems ridiculous to me to have Santana up there paying tribute to Che by wearing a beret and dark glasses -- at the Oscars. Hey, I think Che would have burned down the fucking Oscars.

Natalie Portman's neckline goes right down to her navel. Well, she's quite lovely. One of the winners of the Best Documentary short goes on for quite a while, and sounds like he's loaded.

Rock: We'll be giving Oscars out in the parking lot next. There'll be an Oscar drive-through lane.

John Travolta (why does he present every year?) for musical score which goes to Jan Kaczmarek for Finding Neverland.

Martin Scorsese gives the Jean Hersholt award to Richard Mayer, whose rousing little speech makes it evident that he is a practiced public speaker.

One thing they got rid of this year was having presenters introduce a clip from each film nominated for Best Picture. Good riddance. I don't miss this, since it never really made much of an impression.

Annette Bening is up there talking about the importance of music in the movies. What the hell? We already did musical score. Turns out that she's introducing Yo-Yo Ma, who performs a bit of a Bach requiem for the Death Clip.

The clip wasn't any better or worse than usual, although I believe they forgot Nino Manfredi. Brando got several shots at the end, which is fitting since he was one of the most influential movie actors who ever lived.

Sean Combs (P Diddy) to introduce the song from The Polar Express. (How high is he? I wonder.) For the third time, Beyonce is performing (this time with Josh Groban). They couldn't find any other performers? It's the typical, forgettable power ballad called "Believe."

Johnny Depp, in the audience, looks rather eccentric, with his glasses and goatee, and what looks like a sort of bolo tie.

Prince to announce the Song winner. Why Prince? If this is another attempt to reach a certain demographic, they're off by at least a decade. Which is not to say that Prince doesn't still make good music, but he hasn't been involved in movies since Purple Rain, I don't think.

The song from Motorcyle Diaries wins. The winner sings a little song in Spanish instead of an acceptance speech, which is a welcome variation.

Sean Penn comes on and makes some statement in defense of Jude Law, and then ties it in somehow to the idea that there shouldn't be a separate word for female actor. At least that's how I interpreted it. It's hard to tell with Penn.

Hilary Swank wins Best Actress. She's wearing a dark blue dress where you can see most of her back. It's nice, but I don't think she looks that great in it. You can see the sandwich she ate for lunch through it.

Her speech is a long, rambling affair in which she says that she's just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream. Then she thanks everyone, including her lawyers. When the music starts, she says, "You can't do that. I haven't got to Clint yet." After she thanks Clint, the music starts again and she remembers someone else she wants to thank, and tries to talk over the music.

Not one of the night's better speeches. To be honest, I was rooting for Bening, but I don't dislike Swank.

Rock: Introducing the first person to breast-feed an apple. Oh, please. (Gwyneth Paltrow's baby is named Apple.) Anyway, I think Gwyneth looks much more beautiful as a presenter than she did as a nominee. She looks good with her hair long, I think. She presents the Foreign Language Oscar to The Sea Inside.

Samuel L. Jackson (why?) for Original Screenplay. Charlie Kaufman wins for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (See what I mean about the Screenplay awards?) Kaufman is shy and funny as he gets distracted by the clock telling him how long he has to speak.

Charlize Theron. A lot of men thinks she's the beautiful thing alive. She looks more like an ice queen to me. (No accounting for different perceptions of beauty.)

Jamie Foxx wins Best Actor. His speech is neither nervous nor super controlled, but heartfelt. He starts to lose it when he talks about his grandmother, who would tell him to "act like you got some sense." This is probably the most likable speech of the night.
The cynic in me wants to believe that the old "play a handicapped person and win an Oscar" rule is still at work:

Foxx playing a blind man, and Swank playing...well, I won't say.

Julia Roberts walks awkwardly across the stage, still looking a little big after her delivery of twins. "Happy birthday, Marva." Isn't there a rule against presenters using their time for private messages?

Anyway, the Director Oscar goes to Clint Eastwood, who is gracious and charming (like you would expect) and says that when he saw Sidney Lumet up there, he thought "I'm just a kid."

Although I like Eastwood and his film, I felt a pang of disappointment that Scorsese has been denied once again.

The Aviator is a better film, I think. However, I would bet this hurts Scorsese's fans more than it really hurst Scorsese himself. He seems to be the sort that lives for the work, and doesn't focus too much on awards.

Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand, who has seriously blimped out, present Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby.

Once again, sentiment wins over style.

The score: The Aviator wins 5 statues, Million Dollar Baby 4, Ray and The Incredibles 2 apiece, with the rest spread out. The big winner is Million Dollar Baby, because all four of their wins were in "prestige" categories. No big losers, but I guess if you had to pick one, it would be Hotel Rwanda.

I didn't like the show much this year. It seemed perfunctory, even joyless. Part of my reaction, I must confess, springs from a basic discomfort. It seems ridiculous to watch these people in their beautiful expensive clothes, when things are so particularly bad in the world. So my heart wasn't in it this year, and this may be the last time I bother to do a write-up.

Lately there's been a thread on the film discussion lists I'm a part of: Do the Oscars matter? For me, right now, the answer is quite simply No. The good part is that I spent a weekend partying with friends and watching movies, including Jean Vigo's L'Atalante.

I actually agree with the "Ed Sez" one you posted, loyal, but the rest... freakin' gag me. What a bunch of morons. If I had to read another sentence about pining for Johnny Carson, I was gonna throw my monitor at my head. That's right, at my head. Chris Rock was hilarious, and was the only good thing about the night other then Charlie Kaufman's win.

Some viewer reactions from Oscarwatch.com's front page

http://www.oscarwatch.com

From James:
Forget about the PGA the WGA even the DGA and almost everything ending with an A, the Oscars taught us a lesson we know for a long time, the only thing that matters is this: do they REALLY like you ? Well in the case or Marty the answer is pretty obvious, in the case of Clint it's another story. By the way i love Clint's movies and Sideways was my favorite but I think The Aviator had the scope required and would beat M$B at least for Best Picture, but I couldn't have been more wrong given what i've just said.

Remember what a critic said about Scorsese? "He's making pictures you don't want to see about people you don't want to know." I would add this .....in a style you won't even notice - if only his Hughes had been more friendly, if only its biopic had shown more of Beverly Hills plane crash more footage of his "Hell's Angels" shooting and less self-destruction ....it would have been quite different as a movie......and someone else as a director.

What makes Marty such a great director is precisely what prevents members of the academy to honor him. Thanks again to Mr. Goldman being such a great prognosticator, even though I still think that was a piece of cake this year: Mr Scorsese was up for the top honors, so anyone else (including Mike Leigh) would have been a great choice according to his standards. Will Marty have another shot at the Oscars ? Frankly i doubt, if he lost while he was leading the pack (11 nominations no less no more for its last, quite something for a loser) , he could lose for almost any future project he has! He'll have to wait until the Academy gives him an honorary Oscar, let's say around year 2015 like Mr Lumet this year, who knows for a long time what it means to lose to a boxing flick.

I would add that, when most mainstream, respectable media outlets like the New York Times and the LA Times give such a big push to the other movie, there is no stopping it, even the legendary status Scorsese has (rightly) attained. You're right; he doesn't make movies about people we want to know; he makes movies about people we DO know - he makes movies about the things we can't or won't talk about. He makes movies that don't glorify the nobility of humanity but rather reveal its darker, sicker twin. The Oscars reward films that are kind to us, make us look better than we are, braver than we are, prettier than we are. Finally, it rewards films that make Hollywood think it's still in touch with girls from trailer parks with dreams. Sadly, hearing Hilary Swank utter those words on stage on the Kodak or in the comfort of the multiplex is about as close as they'll ever get. But they feel good about themselves in the morning.

From Pocajm:
Marty's acceptance (or inability to say no) of Weinstein dirty tricks and techniques in 2003 campaign + the resentment from the jealous ones "best living american director" = Scorsese will NEVER win a competitive Oscar (and I began to doubt if they will giving him a honorary).. It just me or Vin Diesel resembles quite a lot, again, a lot, Andrew Dice Clay with his looks for the new Sidney Lumet film?

Indeed, the Vin Diesel clip didn't play very well with the Academy. Hollywood is trying desperately to fill the gap between what the public likes (The Grudge, Meet the Fockers) and what the Academy likes. So far, the equation adds up to not a lot of millions, baby. In the end, if they don't move the date back to March, Oscar movies will suffer the fate of being low performers at the box office. There simply isn't time to see all of the movies and take other things into consideration like box office, which was the ultimate aim of the now high falutin' Academy; to make money for the movie industry. It doesn't need to do that anymore, of course, because all of the money is going to (mostly) crap. So, there you have it - Vin Diesel and other box office draws of his ilk will be getting the good parts.

L'Ebert summed it up best in a little seen but brilliant documentary by Roseanna Arquette called "Searching for Debra Winger," in which he explains that the big spenders these days are tweens. And appealing to them means putting out crap - in fact, it seems, the crappier the better. A vote for Eastwood and Million Dollar Baby is Hollywood's futile attempt to reward traditional drama as it fights to stay afloat in this brave new world. And yes, I agree - not only will they never give Scorsese an Oscar but if I were him I would withdraw my name from all competition in the future. It just seems unusually cruel to do that every time - give him so many nominations only to see him lose every time, while other overdue performers win because they're, simply, overdue. Do they secretly enjoy watching him lose? Why invite him to the party?

And from Dan Conley:
I convinced myself that I didn't care about this year's Oscars, but the early good showing for The Aviator tricked me into getting excited for Marty. Now I can't believe how mad I am. I feel cheated out of seeing him onstage, getting his long overdue standing ovation. Best Picture didn't matter to me. In fact, I was relieved that The Aviator didn't win after Marty lost -- that would have been unbearable. I guess the Academy just doesn't like being reminded of all the times they've screwed up in the past. If they never reward Marty, they never need to acknowledge past mistakes. In their self-enclosed universe, "Ordinary People" will always be better than "Raging Bull", "Dances With Wolves" always better than "GoodFellas." I suppose "How Green Was My Valley" will always be better than "Citizen Kane" too.

Marty joins Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock in the academy hall of infamy. At least he's in good company.

Rock made the night, there was no real sense of joy otherwise.

More upbeat and universally enjoyable Best Picture nominees were needed.

Oh well, bring on March 5th, 2006. \:D/

I think the biggest problem of the night was the two films that dominated don't really have that "this is a classic film" feel to them. I mean, at least last year we had one film people will still be talking about in twenty years. I think the one film that was released this year that will be looked back on as a classic was completely ignored, and that was Eternal Sunshine.

Just watching the morning shows, The View, The Today Show, etc, there really was no ground swelling of support for the winners. It was more about Rock or Marty not winning, very little if any mention about the quality of the films.

That says a lot IMO.

They criticize Rock a lot but whether he was the ideal host isn't so important as that he was just a younger generation. Not a kid, I assume he's around 40, but I mean everyone praises Crystal but Crystal did his best work when he was not that far from Rock's current age.

So next year they should either choose Rock again or someone similar age like Jon Stewart. I'm sure you guys can think of even more examples of possible good hosts around that age.

I completely agree. 'Twas not a good year for "oscar type" films.

I'm a huge Stewart fan (Naked Pictures of Famous People is one of the funniest books ever) but if some people were complaining about Rock being limited to black jokes and jabs at Bush, Stewart is cut from the same cloth.

Rock, Stewart, Degeneres, they would all do great. I prefer Rock's stand up out the 3 though.

The Today show that I watched certainly was very supportive, as well as Good Morning America. In fact, before the Oscars, all of those shows were going on and on about how good Million Dollar Baby is.

TOTALLY AGREE WITH THIS. THANK YOU USA TODAY.

Quote:

Among a host of awful ideas, the worst was the decision to make second-class citizens out of the nominees for the technical awards — otherwise known as those people who have the nerve to be nominated without being famous. If anyone should realize that these categories are as integral to a movie's success and as hard to pull off as a great acting performance, it should be the members of the movie academy.

Instead, they made the nominees for some of those awards, such as art direction and documentaries, stand together on stage while their names were read, like American Idol contestants at the results show. That meant the losers also had to stand there and clap, at least until the camera closed in on the winners. At that point, one assumes, the losers were whisked away, though for all we know they were dropped into a hole in the set.

Even so, they were treated like stars compared with the nominees for a few other categories, such as best action short, who had to accept their Oscars in the aisle. Wouldn't it have been even faster just to pitch the Oscars at their heads?

Does it really take that much more time to let a winner rise out of a seat and come up on stage? If being asked to give up a few extra viewing seconds so these people can have their proper due is that much of an imposition, then here's a radical idea: Every event on Earth is not about you. These people have just won the most important award in their field. For heaven's sake, let them enjoy it.

PEACE, Mike

Yeah pretty much saying how its great for Clint Eastwood and such, Whenever I heard someone mention Marty the phrases " Not as good as he used to be " always came up.

2nd rate awards get 2nd rate treatment :wink: Nobody watching at home gives a damn about those awards and want them to get it over with as soon as possible, who wants to see the winner for best short film come all the way down from the last row to accept some award nobody cares about :???:

Announcing the winners isn't the same, unless we were watching different versions of The Today Show.

Did you catch the "expert" interviews by Katie? They certainly didn't echo your sediment. There's no way to misinterpret this. As for GMA, I can't comment because I didn't watch it.

We aren't talking about "before the Oscars" unless I'm mistaken. The morning after is the topic at hand.

And lest anyone be mistaken, had Sideways won, the situation would have been even more dire. Imagine a film less "popular" than The Aviator and M$B winning.

I don't see room for arguments when the most popular topics following the show are the new radical design, the host, winners race, and Marty's snub.

Best Picture is an afterthought.