Mar 5, 2011

Some post-Oscar sentiments 2011


Voilá, a more or less brief summary of the thoughts than ran through my mind in the Oscar Night.

(It turned out to be 'less brief'. So, if you're still dying to get inside my head, proceed by clicking below.)


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The Finnish commentators didn't piss me of as much as usually. I normally can hardly stand the sight of Maria Veitola and the 'experts' always have wrong opinions (in the scenario in which I have only right opinions), but I sat through those bits, too. They were really nothing compared to the Red Carpet people, the skeleton-like women and the fake-tanned, tight-faced men, and their false laughter and the "oh my god, you look GORGEOUS, girlfriend, you are so FABULOUS, the dress is AMAZING, my dear" comments. Ugh.

Some thoughts about the Red Carpet interviews and the dresses.
Russell Brand was a nice extra spice, I never really liked him much but he is pretty hilarious. "Helen Mirren and I appear in the film Arthur, which I believe to be (amused smile) A GOOD FILM." And how the interviewers try to keep a straight face, not sure if he's mocking them or not. Aww, the British.
Jesse Eisenberg is wonderfully awkward, so not where he belongs on the Red Carpet.
Kevin Spacey has had some work done, because that is not his natural face. No, Kevin, no.
Annette Bening and her husband Warren Beatty were close to tears. Aww.
Geoffrey and Colin! Aww.
Reese Witherspoon is a Barbie.
My very own Robert Downey Jr. is as awesome as ever. They should've just interviewed him for the whole two hours. Though he's not dressed as nicely as last year. No blue glasses or anything! But still, he's just smoking.
Gwyneth Paltrow is too thin. Eat a little, girl!
Christian Bale has a red beard.
Tom Hanks has put some powder on. You need not, man!


Here are the ladies who I thought had the loveliest dresses: Hailee Steinfeld (SO cute), Mila Kunis (disturbing neckline, but the colour is lovely, and I love her voice!), Cate Blanchett (wonderfully sci-fi), Anne Hathaway (the red one), Scarlett Johansson (maybe my favourite dress of the night), Jennifer Hudson (orange looks awesome with her skin), Helena Bonham Carter (she's just always so much fun) and Natalie Portman (though not as pretty as the Globes dress).


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Then the gala itself.



Pretty hilarious. I always like openings like this. Though yes, I WAS hoping for an epic musical number á la Hugh Jackman in 2009. Maybe again next year. (There was that little musical number later on, but it was all too brief and I think I could've lived without seeing James Franco dressed as Marilyn Monroe.)

Let's get the host thingy over and done with right away. For all of you (that's pretty much everyone else but me, I guess) who say Anne Hathaway and James Franco were terrible, stiff nerve-wracks... You're probably right. Maybe they're not naturals when it comes to hosting the Oscars and maybe they will not be invited back anytime soon. But heck, what can I say, I liked them! I actually thought it was pretty funny how Anne was hysterical all the time and James looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. I guess I belong to the target group, the young and hip, right? Oh well. Don't know about the other one. Anyway. I really prefered Anne and James to lasts year's host team Martin/Baldwin, I thought they were deadly boring...

("Winter's Bone. The Rabbit Hole. How to Train Your Dragon, that's disgusting!"
&
"This is a special moment for me, a chance to introd- uh... flub. Drink at home, sorry.")


The 'looking back at the greatest Oscar-winning movies' could've been awesome, but they didn't do it properly. I wanted to see more of those moments, because the little tributes were really nicely done and caused some serious goosebumps... Gone with the Wind, Titanic, Lord of The Rings... Ah!

And the tribute to this year's movie musicals. I don't know about you but I laughed.



I enjoyed the Im Memoriam part very much this year. Because they chose my very own funeral song! I bet they stole the idea from me. I thought of it first, just so you know.

For the big finale they brought some cute kids to the stage. Always a safe choice, right...? At least they 'sang' a nice song.

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Best presenters:


Kirk Douglas. That could've been so awkward, but the man is so very funny and charming. "You know..." Haha.
Justin Timberlake. "I'm Banksy."
Russell Brand & Helen Mirren. Haha. Just... haha. I think I need to see that movie, Arthur.
Cate Blanchett. Because she's so wonderful and there was the Shire theme playing in the background.
Kevin Spacey. (Even though he doesn't look as old as I'd like him to.) Because his voice is so pleasant to listen to. And because he sang a few lines of the Top Hat song.
Jake Gyllenhaal & Amy Adams. Only because she's such a sweetheart and I just loooooove to look at him.
Oprah. Because she's Oprah.
Billy Chrystal. Even I can see that he must've been a suberb Oscar host.
RDJ & Jude Law. Chemistry. Just... Chemistry. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, please get them to host. Please please please.
Sandra Bullock. Wording compliments to the best actor nominees. Choose your man more carefully next time, girl.


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Some sentiments about the winners and their speeches.

Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland - Mad-Hatter-ed Oscar.

Cinematography: Inception - Reading glasses. D'oh!

Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter) - The F-Bomb. Props for mentioning Kate. A very nice speech. Haven't seen The Fighter, but I believe she deserved the award. Was rooting for Helena, but sure, she's done much better things, so it would've been silly if she'd won for just standing and patting Colin Firth's back (though she did it beautifully). And young Hailee, she'll have loads of time to get hers.

Animated Short Film: The Lost Thing - Have only seen Day & Night, so no opinion here. But go Suomi! Not every year you hear Finnish at the Oscars! That was so awesome, and Finland will talk about this for months.

Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3 - Well, duh. But it should've won the other Best Film award, too. Damn it. Learn to appreaciate animations, you people.

Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network - Hooray, go Aaron Sorkin! This award made me possibly the happiest this year. And good thing he kept his head and said all he had to say, even though they began to play that damn music over his words.


Original Screenplay - The King's Speech - Oooooh, well. Chris Nolan should've gotten at least this one, because he was snubbed the director nomination. But David Seidler's (the older person ever to win this award) 'writer's speech' was quite sweet. First, he couldn't find the microphone. Then, "My father always said to me I would be a late bloomer".

Foreign Film: In a Better World - Go, Nordic countries!

Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter) - Again, haven't seen The Fighter, so... So. And I don't know, I never really liked Bale much. I guess I would've given it to Geoffrey, but well, if it was ALL up to me, Andrew Garfield would've just scored his first Oscar.

Original Score: The Social Network - Another big YAY! This went right where it belonged. (Also, I loved the introduction. Chaplin and Star Wars, aaaah!)

Sound Mixing: Inception - Good thing Inception got at least most of the technical awards...

Sound Editing: Inception - See: Sound Mixing.

Make Up: The Wolfman - "That's gross." Right there with you, Cate.

Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland - Didn't expect this! But cool.

Documentary, Short Subject: Strangers No More - I should do what Jake says and watch more short films, because I have nothing to say here.

Live Action Short Film: God of Love - "Should've gotten a haircut."


Documentary: Inside Job - All I'm thinking is, "Damn, now we don't get to see the disguised Banksy!".

Special Effects: Inception - Yes. Oh yes. ("Feels like that top is still spinning.")

Editing: The Social Network - Yes. Thank you. (The hug! Aw.)

Original Song: Toy Story 3 - We Belong Together! Randy Newman! Yay! So right! Not only because I'm extremely biased, but also because the rest of the nominees were quite forgettable. And Randy... "My percentages aren't great." Aw, he's awesome. I bet he finds the Oscars pretty boring by now, twenty nominations and now two wins.

 Directing: Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) - Um, WHA...? I might have yelped a little, when they called a name that wasn't David Fincher. Excuse me but... excuse me. No. No no no. My night wasn't as fun anymore after this. (Okay, okay. I guess The King's Speech was very well directed. Hooper also spoke very nicely about his mum. So go ahead and enjoy your golden statue while I try to swallow my bitterness.) (I guess Fincher himself is only relieved that he didn't have to go up there and pretend he actually gives a damn.)

Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman (Black Swan) - I won't see Black Swan until this Sunday, but yeah, I can quite comfortably say that she deserved it. She's fabulous.

Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth (The King's Speech) - Aw, darling, darling. Again, if it was up to me, I would've given Colin his Oscar last year for A Single Man, and this year the honour could've been granted to Jesse Eisenberg or James Franco. But I choose to be happy for Colin Firth, because, quite frankly, why wouldn't I be? "I have a feeling my career just peeked."

Best Picture: The King's Speech - Nah. It wasn't. It was good. It was sweet. And was funny. It wasn't the best. Toy Story 3 was good, sweet, funny and the best! Aw, okay, I give it a rest. So, as you might already have guessed, I was rooting for The Social Network. Because it is the film I wanted to be remembered as the best of 2010, because it's current, because at first no one believed 'a Facebook movie' could stand a chance to be nearly as insanely brilliant as it turned out to be.

I'm not happy. In protest, I will refuse to buy The King's Speech on DVD (until it's a bit cheaper, I mean). That'll show them.

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In summary, I enjoyed the Oscars this year. More or less than usually? I don't know, but the six hours ran by as fast as always, and it was not only because of my great company and the good food. One thing is, I actually like most of the nominated films (those that I've seen), unlike, say, last year, when Inglorious Basterds was the only Best Picture nominee I've bothered to see again. Anyway, it was once again one of the best nights of the year, and I'm already looking forward to next year's Oscars.

4 comments:

Reta Anna Maria said...

Mua niin harmittaa etten pysynyt hereillä kun vain viiteen asti, ja nelosen tiivistelmästä ehdin katsoa vain aivan lopun, koska olisin halunnut nähdä RDJ:n ja Jude Lawin jakamassa palkintoa. No, onneksi loppuvuodesta tulee uusin Holmes, jossa voi sitten katsoa heidän kemiaansa. )
Oli kuitenkin mukava gaala, tosin punaista mattoa oli todella paljon, siinä tiivistyi amerikkalaisuus: tekonaurua, toistoa (haastateltiin samoja tyyppejä uudestaan!) ja hokemista siitä kuinka upea ilta taas on meneillään.

Eeva said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTWI33cOMF0

Enjoy! ;)

Anonymous said...

OOooh, well done Eeva, this was the best Oscar-ramble I've read this year! I feel like I was there, though I totally missed the whole night. Thank you~!

And... I still can't get over Hooper beating Fincher. That's lame :/ But Randy! And Reznor & Ross! Yay! Loving all the comments and dresses (Anne lookjs GORGEOUS!)!

Eeva said...

Aw, thank you, you! :)

And yes, that makes two of us. So unfair. And lame. I mean, come ON!! Oh well. Let's concentrate on the positive things. ;) Like Randy!