Argo.
Argo.
Argo.
If you haven't seen this movie yet, shame on you. The masterpiece of Ben Affleck's career (up until this point at least) got the biggest compliment last night at the Academy Awards. Oh by the way, it's not called that anymore. Officially it is just "The Oscars". I disagree with this choice but oh well. I'll live.
I'm going to back and do this show in order:
Opening Monologue- I knew Seth Macfarlane would do a solid job. He's a charming if not self-deprecating person who can sing and dance. I have no problem with his humor (except for Family Guy, I just don't like it.) and I would bring him back on one condition: cut the sketch by about 10 minutes. Just do the song and dance and end with some jokes. We don't need 3 sketches that could easily have been web exclusive content to get people excited about him hosting.
Best Supporting Actor: Don't get me wrong, Christoph Waltz is a genius. I loved his in Inglorious Basterds and he was one of the only things I enjoyed about Django Unchained besides Leonardo DiCaprio, who in my and many other industry vets opinion, was robbed the nomination. I just believe that Tommy Lee Jones of Lincoln and Robert DeNiro of Silver Linings Playbook, showed more range and more emotion than is normal to their roles. DeNiro was my pick for his emotional turn as a helpless father.
The Musical Numbers: I am biased and I freely admit it but the celebration of musicals at the Oscars was phenomenal. Catherine Zeta-Jones nailed every line and every dance move with flawless execution and agility of a woman much younger. You go CTJ. Up next was Jennifer Hudson who showed you why she won her Best Supporting Actress a couple of years ago. Again, why people don't enjoy musicals astounds me. And then came the performance of the night and was anyone surprised that it brought the house down? (Sorry Adele and Babs.) The main cast of Les Miserables stunned and blew the other performances out of our memories and made me wish I could watch these people sing live forever. (I can! Thanks Entertainment Weekly! http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/02/25/oscars-2013-performances/5/ #5) Nothing made my heart swell more than when Aaron Tveit triumphantly strode onstage only to be followed my new favorite Russell Crowe. Say what you will about his singing voice, but this is the moment I fell in love with and the crowd clearly agreed as a single cheer rose up for him alone. I could gush more but you will probably hate me.
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway is finally the Princess she once played in a Disney movie. Looking very much the demure young woman she is, Anne was the one sure thing about this evening that everybody agreed on.
Best Actor: Ok, Daniel Day Lewis is a genius. I'm not disagreeing with his abilities but I just don't think he was the best compared to the other actors in the category. Personally my choice would have been Hugh Jackman or Bradley Cooper.
Best Actress: This was one of the hardest races in my recent history. Naomi Watts from The Impossible made me feel so many emotions in the span of two hours than most actresses do on a yearly basis. Jessica Chastain was truly gut-wrenching in Zero Dark Thirty but no one compared to Jennifer Lawrence's complete transformation and tour-de-force performance in Silver Linings Playbook.
Best Picture: My past two Saturday's have been spent watching the nine movies nominated for the coveted award. Most of them received a 7 or 8 out of 10. Only two got 10 out of 10's in my book: Silver Linings Playbook and Argo. But Argo delivered on every front: action, comedy, suspense, and I'm gonna get sappy but the American in all of us. (My official rankings of all the movies are as follows: Amour: 4/10 Les Miserables: 8/10 Argo: 10/10 Django Unchained: 6/10Beasts of the Southern Wild: 7/10 Life of Pi: 6/10 Lincoln: 8/10 Silver Linings Playbook: 10/10 Zero Dark Thirty: 7/10)
Most are worthy of the nomination but there are two movies that were not nominated and I believe it was an oversight on the Academy's behalf. The Impossible and Perks of Being A Wallflower deserved to be among those up for the award.
Overall, I picked correctly who I thought was going to win over who I wanted to win. It was a good show, that some people will say was too long, but guess what: this isn't new. Make actual changes next year and maybe start earlier.
All I can really say is that I can't wait until I am up there. I can only hope if I fall on my way to the stage, Hugh Jackman rushes to my aide.
i still don't forgive him for what he did to Daredevil or the fact that he made gigi.
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