The Show

Everyone seems to have weighed in already about this year's Academy Awards presentation. Sorry that I'm so behind, but here goes...

What I liked about the show itself:

• The presentations of the acting awards by five previous winners. It was touching and heartfelt, and I loved the way it felt like this year's winners were being welcomed into the sorority/fraternity by their colleagues. Bravo. And, besides, when Eva Marie Saint and Sophia Loren and Goldie Hawn and Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken are all a part of the Oscars, what's not to love?
• The wins by Kate Winslet and Sean Penn. Winslet was, by everyone's account, overdue, and her speech was the most gushingly beautiful of the night. Penn was uncharacteristically funny, and when he turned to his political commentary, I found myself ready to forgive him all of his past performances where he coasted on his actor's tics.
• The acceptance speech by Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter for Milk. I was in tears when he started talking about how Harvey Milk would have wanted him to "say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government, or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures who have value. And no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you." Just typing it again right now, my tears started up again. It was beautiful, and I was so glad it helped to set a tone for the entire evening.
• The order in which most of the awards were presented, starting with the item which must always come first in a movie: the script. Then we proceeded through pre-production (costume design, set design, etc.) to post-production (sound awards, visual effects, etc.). It took me a while to catch on that the order was deliberate. I mean, who gives the writing awards at the start of the show? After I realized what the producers were doing, I thought it was a brilliant idea. Kudos.

What I disliked about the show:

• Every production number. I know Hugh Jackman is talented, but I doubt anyone learned that from the show itself. The opening number was just silly. Who wants the Oscars to be scaled back, really? The one in the middle that managed to give one line each to about a million songs seemed incredibly pointless, and why drag these young stars (like the couple from Mamma Mia!) onto the stage if you aren't going to let them sing more than a couple of lines. And why must Beyonce be on every awards show? Well, at least, she didn't sing all of the nominated songs this year (as, you may recall, she did a few years ago). I thought the medley of the nominated songs was very disrespectful. As John Legend sang the song from Wall-E while Peter Gabriel, its writer/performer, sat in the audience, I kept having flashbacks to the year Ann Reinking sang "Separate Lives" while Phil Collins looked on in horror. Gabriel, at least, had the good sense to refuse to sing his song in a medley. Why can't we open the show with one of the nominated songs? Then halfway through we could present another one, and right before the announcement of the winner, we could do the last one. I'll even let you bring Debbie Allen back to choreograph the dancers for the production numbers. Please. Anything but this approach again.
• The montages. Oh, so many unnecessary montages. Last year, Jon Stewart and his team joked that if the writers' strike hadn't been resolved, the Academy Awards had planned a tribute to periscopes and telescopes in the movies. Were the montages this year much of an improvement over that joke's premise? A tribute to action in the movies? Is that so you can appease all of the fanboys who are still upset over the lack of respect shown The Dark Knight and Iron Man? Just give out the awards and stop trying to impress us with short clips of movies that aren't even nominated.
• The "In Memorium" number. I like Queen Latifah. I really do. However, she should not have to sing over a montage (here we go again) of those who have passed away. Are we supposed to watch her and pay attention to her vocal stylings, or are we supposed to note the film luminaries who are no longer with us? Simple, subdued music would be preferable. By the way, the montage this year seemed rather short. Were there really so few film people who died who had a connection to the Oscars? I know, why am I asking for a longer montage...

I still enjoy watching the Oscars each year. Despite my grumblings above, I would never say that I'll never watch them again. I enjoy them too much overall. There's still suspense even if we know who most of the winners will be (Departures? Really? Who had that one in the Oscar pool at work?). And where else do you get to see so many stars in one place?

Above all else, though, I will particularly treasure this year's awards because my friend J stopped by to watch them with me. He hasn't watched the awards in several years, mainly in protest over some of the stupid choices the Academy has made in the past. (Don't get him started on Marisa Tomei, for example.) I haven't watched the awards with anyone else since an ill-fated Oscar party years ago. No one was allowed to talk while the show was on, so we had to jam all of our commentary into the commercial breaks. Of course, I watched with Partner At The Time before the break-up, but that's been eight (gulp!) years now. It was so refreshing to have someone else to laugh with and to talk about past winners and to enjoy the magic that is the movies.