Any thoughts?
I believe it to be one of the better telecasts in recent years. Jon Stewart was pretty good.
I believe it to be one of the better telecasts in recent years. Jon Stewart was pretty good.
Last Night's Oscars...
Eh. Stewart didn't do much for me….he seemed pretty detatched from the whole thing. I watched about 90 min…..and then nighty night.
Originally posted by you be pickup:<img src="http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/sound_sorting/initial_consonants/y/images/yawn.jpg" alt=" - " />
Any thoughts?
Ditto, on all comments.
And let me add. Bring back Chris Rock.
And let me add. Bring back Chris Rock.
Originally posted by Chaz, Lover of all Beings:
Eh. Stewart didn't do much for me….he seemed pretty detatched from the whole thing. I watched about 90 min…..and then nighty night.
So what leading role was George Clooney "supporting" in Syriana?
Originally posted by Thom Foolerie:Ditto that.
<img src="http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/sound_sorting/initial_consonants/y/images/yawn.jpg" alt=" - " />
Seems like the producers had a pretty tight leash on Jon Stewart to keep him from teeing off on all the self-important Hollywood types. It has to be tough to make jokes in a room full of people who are incapable of laughing at themselves.
Isn't Jon Stewart himself "self-important"?
I haven't seen him much, but he strikes me as such.
I haven't seen him much, but he strikes me as such.
jon stewart's pretty self-deprecating always willing to poke fun at himself… you could tell the bits which he and his writers had a hand in and which were handed to him… i love the awe-shucks glimmer in stewarts eye which of course pure evil skwering lies behind. clooney and foxx are probably the only safe targets as they themselves come as a bit humbled by the whole process.
and brokeback mountain got the awards it deserved.. i personally thought Constant Gardener was better than it and Crash. other than michelle williams, the acting was nothing to get worked up over. kosmette has been raving about Hoffman's protrayal of Capote for months after seeing the movie on her own. we've been meaning to see again in greenbelt for a couple weeks now…
and brokeback mountain got the awards it deserved.. i personally thought Constant Gardener was better than it and Crash. other than michelle williams, the acting was nothing to get worked up over. kosmette has been raving about Hoffman's protrayal of Capote for months after seeing the movie on her own. we've been meaning to see again in greenbelt for a couple weeks now…
I haven't really sensed that, at least as far as celebrities go. He seems like a decent guy.
Compare him to Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, etc…It's all relative I suppose.
Compare him to Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, etc…It's all relative I suppose.
Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:Yup on both counts. Constant Gardener was great.
jon stewart's pretty self-deprecating always willing to poke fun at himself…
and brokeback mountain got the awards it deserved.. i personally thought Constant Gardener was better than it and Crash.
Given that Constant Gardener wasn't nominated, what movie do you feel should have won best picture among those nominated?
Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
jon stewart's pretty self-deprecating always willing to poke fun at himself… you could tell the bits which he and his writers had a hand in and which were handed to him… i love the awe-shucks glimmer in stewarts eye which of course pure evil skwering lies behind. clooney and foxx are probably the only safe targets as they themselves come as a bit humbled by the whole process.
and brokeback mountain got the awards it deserved.. i personally thought Constant Gardener was better than it and Crash. other than michelle williams, the acting was nothing to get worked up over. kosmette has been raving about Hoffman's protrayal of Capote for months after seeing the movie on her own. we've been meaning to see again in greenbelt for a couple weeks now…
i didn't watch the whole thing… but by far the best moment was when the guys from Wallace & Gromit came on stage complete with little bowties for the oscars..
did anyone see the BAFTA's when they had the actor who does Wallace's voice come on stage when it won in the UK? that was way cool…
did anyone see the BAFTA's when they had the actor who does Wallace's voice come on stage when it won in the UK? that was way cool…
well not having seen Capote or Munich… Good Night and Good Luck was more engaging than Crash
While I liked Stewart, I always felt he was going to have the Letterman experience hosting the Oscars. If you watch him often, you "get" him and you followed along quite nicely, probably even enjoyed him. Of course, if you don't watch the Daily Show a lot of his humor went right past you.
I doubt we see him do it again, but he did sneak a "laid" in there before 9 PM ET (6 PM PT)… liked that.
I doubt we see him do it again, but he did sneak a "laid" in there before 9 PM ET (6 PM PT)… liked that.
Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer:"Capote" or "Good Night and Good Luck" — I thought both were superb.
Given that Constant Gardener wasn't nominated, what movie do you feel should have won best picture among those nominated?
I didn't like "Crash," which I know puts me in a minority, but the "coincidental" overlapping of the stories came too fast and furious for me to stomach. Parts of it were fantastic, but the threads holding it together were weak, to me.
"Brokeback" was fine, compelling, but I didn't think best picture.
I didn't see "Munich" (sold out the time I tried), so my picks are based on four of the five.
I haven't watched the show yet (I tivo'd it, but was at B&S so I just fast-forwarded to the big 6 awards when I got home), but Tom Shales thought it was a dude. Indicates little as to whether I enjoy it or not, but it may be the phenomenon Vansmack is talking about – folks who've built a relationship with Stewart and his approach get him, but the rest don't. Also, his humor may be just too dry and subtle for an event like this. That's why Rock was great, but, you know, he made fun of Jude Law!!!!!
Memo to Jon Stewart: Keep Your 'Daily' Job
By Tom Shales
Monday, March 6, 2006; C01
The Washington Post
"Crash" was not only the film chosen Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards last night; it was also the sound made by the show itself as, metaphorically speaking, it drove into a wall.
It's hard to believe that professional entertainers could have put together a show less entertaining than this year's Oscars, hosted with a smug humorlessness by comic Jon Stewart, a sad and pale shadow of great hosts gone by.
The movie "Munich" was represented in one category, musical score, by a clip in which suspense built over a bomb that didn't go off. The Oscar show on ABC, televised live from Los Angeles, was a bomb that did.
Film buffs and the politically minded, meanwhile, will be arguing this morning about whether the Best Picture Oscar to "Crash" was really for the film's merit or just a cop-out by the Motion Picture Academy so it wouldn't have to give the prize to "Brokeback Mountain," a movie about two cowboys who fall reluctantly but passionately in love.
"Mountain" won two of the major awards leading up to Best Picture: Best Screenplay Adaptation (co-winner Larry McMurtry wore baggy jeans with his tuxedo jacket) and Best Director, for Ang Lee. In his acceptance speech, Lee said the movie was not just about a homosexual affair but about "the greatness of love itself."
But the Academy ran out of love for the film at that point, making "Crash" the surprise winner. To its credit, "Crash" (which won two other Oscars) deals with important social issues too, especially racism in American society.
Among the more beguiling acceptance speeches was that given by Reese Witherspoon, who won for playing country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line," the story of Johnny Cash. "I never thought I'd be up here in my whole life," she said with ingenuous charm. She also quoted June Carter's succinct philosophy of life: "I'm just trying to matter."
The program looked gorgeous in high-definition television from the Kodak Theatre, but it was filled with so many clips – piles and piles and miles and miles of clips from films present and past – that the visual luster was squandered. The audience at home does not want to look at clips. It wants to look at big-time movie stars.
Unfortunately, those are in increasingly short supply. When Jack Nicholson strode out to give the Best Picture prize at the evening's end, there was not only an ovation but a huge sigh of relief in the audience – a sense of the whole crowd saying, "Oh yes, we still have giants in the business."
This point was made earlier as well when Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin did a masterly, breathless impression of a film by special honoree Robert Altman, replete with overlapping dialogue, half-finished thoughts and constant interruptions. This was a piece of presentation that must have taken weeks to master in rehearsal; it was a double virtuoso performance.
Stewart began the show drearily, loping through a monologue that lacked a single hilarious joke with the possible exception of "Bjork couldn't be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."
That was about it – and Stewart had five months, working with his legions of writers from the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central, to come up with good material. It goes to prove that there's still a big, big difference between basic cable and big-time network television after all.
The liveliest moment of the night was contributed by the hip-hop ensemble Three 6 Mafia performing a nominated song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from the film "Hustle & Flow." The group practically brought the house down, leading Stewart to ask, following the riotous performance, "How come they're the most excited people here tonight?" He said more Oscar acceptance speeches should be as rollicking. But it's the host's job to generate excitement, too, and Stewart generated none.
There was a cute taped bit before he appeared in which past hosts turned the job down. Billy Crystal and Chris Rock said no because they were sharing a tent a la "Brokeback." Even David Letterman, who has joked for years about flopping as an Oscar host, made a gracious reappearance as if to say "no hard feelings."
Letterman's hosting gig, however, was better than Stewart's by far.
For some strange reason, ABC decided to play music under most of the acceptance speeches, instead of just having music interrupt winners when it was time for them to walk off. Perhaps the music was there to facilitate the use of a 10- or 15-second delay, part of the new morality inflicted on TV by the FCC, which levies fines for naughty words even when they are spoken spontaneously and with no malice aforethought on shows like this.
Among other highlights: Jessica Alba's dress; Jessica Alba; a handsome Plexiglas lectern that facilitated some dramatic shots from just in front of the stage; the usual tastefully done "in memoriam" montage for film figures who died since the last Oscarcast; and Jennifer Lopez looking particularly attractive.
Winners of Best Documentary Feature for the film "March of the Penguins" had the clunky bad taste to bring stuffed penguins onto the stage with them. It was a joke that laid a penguin-size egg.
The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.
Memo to Jon Stewart: Keep Your 'Daily' Job
By Tom Shales
Monday, March 6, 2006; C01
The Washington Post
"Crash" was not only the film chosen Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards last night; it was also the sound made by the show itself as, metaphorically speaking, it drove into a wall.
It's hard to believe that professional entertainers could have put together a show less entertaining than this year's Oscars, hosted with a smug humorlessness by comic Jon Stewart, a sad and pale shadow of great hosts gone by.
The movie "Munich" was represented in one category, musical score, by a clip in which suspense built over a bomb that didn't go off. The Oscar show on ABC, televised live from Los Angeles, was a bomb that did.
Film buffs and the politically minded, meanwhile, will be arguing this morning about whether the Best Picture Oscar to "Crash" was really for the film's merit or just a cop-out by the Motion Picture Academy so it wouldn't have to give the prize to "Brokeback Mountain," a movie about two cowboys who fall reluctantly but passionately in love.
"Mountain" won two of the major awards leading up to Best Picture: Best Screenplay Adaptation (co-winner Larry McMurtry wore baggy jeans with his tuxedo jacket) and Best Director, for Ang Lee. In his acceptance speech, Lee said the movie was not just about a homosexual affair but about "the greatness of love itself."
But the Academy ran out of love for the film at that point, making "Crash" the surprise winner. To its credit, "Crash" (which won two other Oscars) deals with important social issues too, especially racism in American society.
Among the more beguiling acceptance speeches was that given by Reese Witherspoon, who won for playing country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line," the story of Johnny Cash. "I never thought I'd be up here in my whole life," she said with ingenuous charm. She also quoted June Carter's succinct philosophy of life: "I'm just trying to matter."
The program looked gorgeous in high-definition television from the Kodak Theatre, but it was filled with so many clips – piles and piles and miles and miles of clips from films present and past – that the visual luster was squandered. The audience at home does not want to look at clips. It wants to look at big-time movie stars.
Unfortunately, those are in increasingly short supply. When Jack Nicholson strode out to give the Best Picture prize at the evening's end, there was not only an ovation but a huge sigh of relief in the audience – a sense of the whole crowd saying, "Oh yes, we still have giants in the business."
This point was made earlier as well when Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin did a masterly, breathless impression of a film by special honoree Robert Altman, replete with overlapping dialogue, half-finished thoughts and constant interruptions. This was a piece of presentation that must have taken weeks to master in rehearsal; it was a double virtuoso performance.
Stewart began the show drearily, loping through a monologue that lacked a single hilarious joke with the possible exception of "Bjork couldn't be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."
That was about it – and Stewart had five months, working with his legions of writers from the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central, to come up with good material. It goes to prove that there's still a big, big difference between basic cable and big-time network television after all.
The liveliest moment of the night was contributed by the hip-hop ensemble Three 6 Mafia performing a nominated song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from the film "Hustle & Flow." The group practically brought the house down, leading Stewart to ask, following the riotous performance, "How come they're the most excited people here tonight?" He said more Oscar acceptance speeches should be as rollicking. But it's the host's job to generate excitement, too, and Stewart generated none.
There was a cute taped bit before he appeared in which past hosts turned the job down. Billy Crystal and Chris Rock said no because they were sharing a tent a la "Brokeback." Even David Letterman, who has joked for years about flopping as an Oscar host, made a gracious reappearance as if to say "no hard feelings."
Letterman's hosting gig, however, was better than Stewart's by far.
For some strange reason, ABC decided to play music under most of the acceptance speeches, instead of just having music interrupt winners when it was time for them to walk off. Perhaps the music was there to facilitate the use of a 10- or 15-second delay, part of the new morality inflicted on TV by the FCC, which levies fines for naughty words even when they are spoken spontaneously and with no malice aforethought on shows like this.
Among other highlights: Jessica Alba's dress; Jessica Alba; a handsome Plexiglas lectern that facilitated some dramatic shots from just in front of the stage; the usual tastefully done "in memoriam" montage for film figures who died since the last Oscarcast; and Jennifer Lopez looking particularly attractive.
Winners of Best Documentary Feature for the film "March of the Penguins" had the clunky bad taste to bring stuffed penguins onto the stage with them. It was a joke that laid a penguin-size egg.
The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.
Originally posted by Bags:I haven't missed an Oscars in over 25 years, and last night's was not nearly this bad.
The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.
Like I said, either you get him or you don't. Clearly, this guy didn't get him, but he can't be blamed for producing a boring show. He killed the actual producers for showing too many clips much better than this guy did!
Originally posted by vansmack:yeah, he wasn't that bad. i cracked up at the "scorsese: 0 oscars, 3-6 mafia: 1 oscar" bit. (i'm still laughing about it)
Originally posted by Bags:I haven't missed an Oscars in over 25 years, and last night's was not nearly this bad.
The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.
Like I said, either you get him or you don't. Clearly, this guy didn't get him, but he can't be blamed for producing a boring show. He killed the actual producers for showing too many clips much better than this guy did!