Meryl
Streep
With the multiple strands of mismatched beads and frumpy, oversized black dress,
Streep looked like a homeless gypsy.
Runner-up Nicole Kidman
Though the flaming red color was refreshing, Kidman's dress made her look like a
giant red tube with a huge bow on it. Not unlike a Christmas present.
Best Dressed
Helen Mirren
Mirren looked fabulous in her properly-fitting (and age-appropriate) gown,
putting the majority of the ridiculously-dressed women to shame.
Runner-up Jodie Foster
Looking lovely in her steely blue dress and matching earrings, Foster sends a
clear message to all the women who think they have to look like clowns at the
Oscars: matching accessories to your clothes is a good thing.
Worst Accessory
Rachael Weisz's necklace
On a thin, barely-there chain, Weisz's giant pendant made it appear that she had
a plaque stuck to her chest. I don't know what it was, but it was ugleeeee.
Best Accessory
Kate Blanchett's earrings
Blanchett's earrings had the most interesting design of all earrings of the
evening. And, like Jodie Foster, they matched her dress (ugly as it was).
Worst Hair
Philip Seymour Hoffman
One word: comb.
Best Hair
Reese Witherspoon
Witherspoon is one of the few women that can get away with having super-straight
hair and bangs.
Least Charming
Leonardo DiCaprio
The frozen-faced DiCaprio appeared both arrogant and bored (though he seems to
be neither). Does he even have a single facial expression when he's not acting?
Runner-Up Jaden Smith
Though still just a young kid, the sullen and scowling Smith came across as a
snotty brat that's just too cool to be there. With such charming show business
parents, you'd think they would've taught him a couple of basic things about
public appearances.
Most Charming
For the first time, I didn't find anyone particularly
charming.
Worst Acceptance Speech
Ari Sandel (Live Action Short
Film, West Bank Story)
Instead of thanking anyone, Sandel offered a whole lot of spew on Israelis vs.
Palestinians. I guess he made the film single-handedly.
Best Acceptance Speech
George Miller (Animated Feature
Film: Happy Feet)
I'm always partial to Oscar winners that thank "everyone that worked on the
film", rather than reeling off a lot of names no one recognizes (nor cares
about).
Worst Song Presentation
Melissa Etheridge ("I Need to
Wake Up", An Inconvenient Truth)
Though the song sounded great, the stupid directives and platitudes about global
warming that appeared on a giant screen behind Etheridge made me gag.
Best Song Presentation
James Taylor and Randy Newman
("Our Town", Cars)
I wish all Oscar songs were presented this way: on an unadorned stage with two
legends playing acoustic instruments. It sounded great, too.
Worst Shout-Out
Ellen Degeneres' babble about Jack Nicholson being backstage,
doing something. Or something...I wasn't really paying attention by this time.
Best Shout-Out
Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Riley professing their
lust for Helen Mirren. In song.
Least
Deserving of an Oscar Nomination
Click (Makeup)
Making actors fat and old in movies is nothing new or innovative. Not to mention
comedies never win Oscars.
Most Deserving of an Oscar Nomination
Jackie Earle Haley (Supporting
Actor, Little Children)
Doesn't everybody love a come-back story? His is especially charming.
Least Deserving of an Oscar
An Inconvenient Truth
(Documentary Feature)
It only won because a) it's about the cause-of-the-minute and b) Al Gore was in
it.
Most Deserving of an Oscar
Martin Scorsese (Director,
The Departed)
About time.
Least Surprising Winner
Helen Mirren (Actress, The
Queen)
I don't think anyone was surprised by this...not even Mirren.
Most Surprising Winner
Alan Arkin (Supporting Actor,
Little Miss Sunshine)
Not that Arkin didn't deserve it, but I thought it would be either Eddie Murphy
or Mark Wahlberg that would win it.
Worst Presenters
Cameron Diaz
With her perky, head-bopping "aren't I just soooo cute?" antics, Diaz was just
plain annoying.
Best Presenters
Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola
Dispensing with the hackneyed "it's an honor just to be nominated", Coppola and
Spielberg gushed about how winning an Oscar was the high point of their careers,
while Lucas stood in the middle, Oscarless.
Worst Reaction of a Winner
Alan Arkin (Supporting Actor,
Little Miss Sunshine)
Looking decidedly uninterested on his walk to the stage, then simply reading his
acceptance speech, Arkin looked anything but honored. He redeemed himself
somewhat by getting a little emotional, but still...
Best Reaction of a Winner
Jennifer Hudson (Supporting
Actress, Dreamgirls)
Looking genuinely shocked (though pre-Oscar buzz said she was a shoe-in), Hudson
held her own and avoided the blubbery mess thing so common in this category (and
if I was her, I wouldn't have been able to resist shouting "nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah" to Simon Cowell).
Biggest Loser
Dreamgirls
Winning just 2 of the 8 awards for which it was nominated, Dreamgirls
ended up being anything but dreamy.
At a butt-numbing 4-plus hours, I have only one word for this Oscar telecast:
borrrrrrrring! I found many of the changes to the broadcast just plain stupid:
the silly gospel choir serenading the nominees, the lack of a podium (forcing
many to put the Oscar on the floor while retrieving their notes), the stupid
costume tableaus (I would've rather seen clips from the actual movie)...it was
just all so uninspiring. First-time host Ellen Degeneres did little to spice
things up (though her interaction with Clint Eastwood was cute). I usually like
Degeneres, but I couldn't help thinking "blah, blah, blah" whenever she talked.
Two and half hours in and I was wishing the whole damn thing was over already.
There were some bright spots: The introductory short film showing the
nominees speaking against a plain white background was charming and funny.
Though my initial reaction to the word "interpretive dance" was something akin
to horror, I was pleasantly surprised by the innovative troupe that used their
bodies to create silhouettes. And Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Riley,
singing about how comedies never win Oscars was spot-on. These delights couldn't
save the stultifyingly dull broadcast, however.
There's nothing I despise more than opportunistic political and social spew
during the Oscar broadcast. This year was the worst ever, with all the
incessant, condescending "blah, blah" about global warming. I know it's the
cause-of-the-minute, but for heaven's sake, there are other issues affecting the
world! Why was global warming the Oscar theme? Because Al Gore was there?
Because the media can't shut the hell up about it? Because a movie on it was
nominated? Enough, already! The evening was supposed to honor excellence in
movie making, not be a platform for whatever issue is popular at the moment.
Such nonsense should be banned outright from the Oscar broadcast.
For those who missed them:
Picture: The Departed, Graham King
Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others (Germany), Florian Henckel von
Donnersmarck
Cinematography: Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Navarro
Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine, Michael Arndt
Adapted Screenplay: The Departed, William Monahan
Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth, Davis Guggenheim
Documentary Short Subject: The Blood of Yingzhou District, Ruby Yang,
Thomas Lennon
Live Action Short Film: West Bank Story, Ari Sandel
Film Editing: The Departed, Thelma Schoonmaker
Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth, David Marti, Montse Ribe
Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth, Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta
Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls, Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, Willie Burton
Sound Editing: Letters From Iwo Jima, Alan Robert Murray, Bud Asman
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, John Knoll,
Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, Allen Hall
Costume Design: Marie Antoinette, Milena Canonero
Original Score: Babel, Gustavo Santaolalla
Original Song: "I Need to Wake Up", An Inconvenient Truth, Melissa
Etheridge
Animated Feature Film: Happy Feet, George Miller
Animated Short Film: The Danish Poet, Torill Kove
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Sherry Lansing
Honorary Oscar: Ennio Morricone
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8th
Annual Oskerbites