That he did. He could be cool, but I think people are sick of him (See: Man of the Year).

What about Seinfeld? I loved his bit while presenting Documentary.

Steve Carell would be awesome. He's one of the few film comedians working today that can probably do stand-up. ANd he seems like the kind of guy that can be likable and do biting comedy at the same time.

Or they could do a Night with the Brat Pack, if they want to keep chasing the tricky Male 18-34 demo.

JUST saw that.

I think that would still indicate 40M+ viewers though, some that only Football can still pull off. Drudge is just being bitchy (See their choice of headlines).

ETA: Okay, it's only up a percent or two from last year (Which got 39M), so 40M will be close.

I would flat out REFUSE to watch that show if they ever did it, even if my favorite movie of all time was up for big big Oscars.

They should get Conesy (that's Conan O'Brien to the rest of you!)

Anyone notice the similarities with the 2001 ceremony (in 2002, when A Beautiful Mind won and the first time the Kodak theatre was used).

- The characters from animated film nominees in the audience. Even Cameron Diaz used the same joke Nathan Lane did (If you are an animated character please remain seated!).

- The shadow figures/acrobats - reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil (sp?)

- The choir doing Sound Effects, kind of like Cirque interpreting Visual Effects in cinema.

- Presentation of Screenplay nominees (reading off an actual excerpt of the screenplay - which I think they should do every year).

- Extensive use of monitors on the stage, the font used for the text, etc.

- The interview clip in the beginning (in 2001, it was why they like going to the movies and the experiences and memories associated with movies).

Not too surprising, since they both had the same producer.

39.48 million viewers. Up from last year, down from all the others sans 2003. But Babs got almost 20M, her highest in years!

It's what we get for wanting a competitive year. Weird how that happens. Catch 22?

Also, I wonder if the Academy will try honoring a blockbuster this year. The numbers have been down since ROTK year, mainly because the only outright hit they've nommed since was The Departed. The thing is, most of the non-franchise Hollywood blockbusters since 2003 have blown chunks or were disappointments (War of the Worlds? Da Vinci Code?) or been out of the Academy's league (The Incredibles, Batman Begins). The days of Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, and Chicago are over. Sad.

No wonder!

Sweet, the ratings are up from last year, if only a bit. I just didn't want them to fall.

I would definitely love to have Steve Martin back, but Ellen was so much better than our last 2 years (Stewart, who alienated the audience and created a tension; and Rock, who has a high pitched annoying voice and insulted them), that it was so refreshing to have someone who had loosened up the audience better than anyone I've seen. The night felt relaxed, and the audience was actually "apart" of the show in a sense. Plus she actually made me laugh out loud, and still kept the focus on the evening rather than doing her usual stand up routine. The black, jews and gays bit, and the vacuuming, and making fun of the shows length, and the Al Gore jokes, and the "I wouldn't want to follow that" lines, all of the stuff in the audience (especially the script to Scorsese bit), the backstage bit, etc.

Peace,
Mike.

Another funny part: Meryl Streep's stare (isn't she always hilarious! Every awards show she has something - too bad she was sick this show)

The Black Jack/Will Ferrell bit (thought it was going to be lame, but it ended up being great)

The dancing silhouettes (quite nifty actually - and they honoured Snakes on a Plane this way!! Hilarious)

The kids presenting awards (Abigail Breslin and that Smith kid)

And so on..

Peace,
Mike.

Meryl Streep's staredown to Hathaway and Blunt was priceless.

I still find it tacky that the producers insist on using presenters that are involved in a nominated picture in the category. Emily Blunt sounded REALLY disappointed when she read Canonero's name for Best Costume Design.

Yeah, I found it weird that they were to present that award, when that was 1 of only 2 nominations their film (Prada) received, and it was the only award they had any chance of winning.

I keep watching Marty's win on YouTube, and it makes me want to break down and cry. Did it really happen? He's FINALLY won an Oscar? My god. Great speech too. Humble and the usual Scorsese-ness.

Oh, and after seeing video of Forest Whitaker's wife and her comments of being so proud of Forest, I am so glad O'Toole didn't upset. That would have been kind of heartbreaking, now that I think about it (for Forest to have lost).

And Jennifer Hudson had BY FAR the best acting winner speech. Forest and Arkin both read from paper, and Mirren's speech was just plain baffling/weird. Hudson was humble, gracious, emotional, etc, etc.

Peace,
Mike.

That was really awkward. I don't know why on Earth they would do that.

Anyway, overall, I am happy for The Departed's wins for Best Pic, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director.

Well something could come along and surprise people. I don't think people saw Titanic or Gladiator coming. The only upcoming movie that I could think of that could pull something close to ROTK is Harry Potter book 7 but I have my doubts that will get more than just nominations in the technical areas unless the movie is truly amazing. There is nothing else in terms of blockbuster status coming up that I can think of.

Not a bad show overall baring the CoM cinematography snub which was plain nuts. I'm glad Scorsese got acknowledged even if the Departed was very bland compared to some of his past efforts.

I don't know. In my opinion, there's just no way Harry Potter 7 will hit anywhere in the big categories at the Oscars. I just can't see it, at all. I don't think it will happen, no matter who is attached.

Peace,
Mike.

Here's a question: for the "In Memoriam" part of the show, they included James Doohan. I just checked his IMDb, and it says he died in July 2005. Did they honor him a year and a half too late, or is IMDb wrong?

It was a boring show, but the winners are okay. Just three things, which really pissed me off: Happy Feet win over Cars, Pan's lost in foreign, that's insane, and that Santaolalla got another for his crap nothing, music is a wrong word for it. I don't know why it's called original score, because the best soundtracks usually don't get any nonds, a win is out of question. There are lot of genious out there without Oscar win, or having just one, while this nothing gets two for his guitra play without having any melody in it, that's really bad, the cat. name is best music for a best picture nominee, not original score. But we had a great year, and Departed was a great movie, so it's okay.

Am I the only one who hated the kids presenting? Little Smith stumbled even more with his few lines than Clint Eastwood without his reading glasses...

That's pretty much the sole reason why it was so good. lol. I love how the little smith kid droned off and even tried to recover. So funny.





Too true.

Peace,
Mike.

He probably shot Letters on japanese because that way he didn't have to pretend he could actually read the script

Ah yes, Kong. Just came about $100M short of being a contender.

And if it's not too complicated/depressing/boring, I could see Charlie Wilson's War making a pretty penny. A Beowulf nom would be awesome though.

I read that Clint was actually reading the translation off the teleprompter.

But still.

It's a good question.

And how old is Clintwood's wife? She looks like 30-40 years younger. lol.

Peace,
Mike.