Good morning, my sleepy Oscar-hangovered folks!
I’m pretty fired up about a few things today so let’s dive in…!
First off, thanks to those of you who sent me your blog links to add to my blogroll. Yeah, Search Engine Optimization! BTW if you have a non-VO blog I am still happy to add it to my blogroll. Good Karma is for everybody!
OK, let’s talk about the Oscars!
Usually I only make a passing reference to it but this time I’m gonna put in my fourteen cents. Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions based on a specific set of expectations I have. And we all know what opinions are like…
I don’t watch the red carpet stuff so I won’t comment on that except to say, if you’re gonna go to the Oscars just don’t embarrass yourself with a silly looking suit or dress unless you’re going for the laugh. (see my Bonus Quote of the Week)
One thing I like to do is see who ISN’T at the Oscars. Among the top-tier MIA’s were Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, and John Travolta. I assume they’re not there because they’re filming something. Or maybe they’re home on the couch waiting for Scorcese to appear so they can do a shot…
Billy Crystal was the host. I personally LOVE Billy Crystal. No, he hasn’t been “relevant” in movies or TV for a long time but he’s funny as hell, charming, and is a brilliant improvisor. He lends some class to the Oscars ala Bob Hope. If he and Steve Martin took turns hosting every year I would be thrilled. BTW the Justin Beiber scene cracked me up! It was spot-on…
The presenters. I loved Robert Downey Jr.! I also really liked Emma Stone. The best part of that bit was when she asked Jonah Hill to dance and he made the “cut it out” gesture!
Alright, here’s the deal with Chris Rock. For those voice talents who were put off by him saying that doing voiceovers was easy, get over yourselves! It had nothing to do with voiceovers. It was a joke. A black joke. A Chris Rock black joke. Get it?
My favorite part is always “In Memoriam”. I’m not a morbid person, I just enjoying reflecting on all the wonderful people we lost and how much of a part they were of my growing up.
The winners. I must admit that I was way behind on my movie-watching so I didn’t have a horse in the race. Curse you, audio book editing! I saw The Artist, The Iron Lady, all of the blockbusters like Harry Potter, and the only award that I actually fist-pumped to, “Rango”! I LOVE Rango!
I thought it was a pretty fast three hours. In all fairness, when most of the winners were giving their acceptance speech, I flipped over to “Zombieland”. Then it turned into a game to see if I could flip back at the right time for the next award presentation. By the end of the night I got the timing down pretty good! I did catch the Angelina Jolie leg thing. What the hell was that? BTW that guy who posed like her will be lucky if he can get a job working at a video store, and most of them are out of business!
Overall, I liked the Oscars this year. It was “clean”, there were very few of those insipid dance numbers & skits, and it had an almost tongue-and-cheek quality to it. Like Billy Crystal said, it’s a show about “millionaires giving each other golden statues.”
TIP OF THE WEEK: Let’s look at the four Best Actor winners: Octavia Spencer, Christopher Plummer, Meryl Streep, and Jean Dujardin. Not a young, scrawny, hip actor in sight! I really loved that two of the winners were unknowns. My point is: it doesn’t matter what you look like or how old your are, if you have the talent, the passion, and the determination, you can succeed!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. T. E. Lawrence from “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”
BONUS QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Interviewer: And Zach, what are you wearing? Zach Galifianakis: Um, Garanimals.
STUFF!: I think everyone, (including myself) takes the Oscars way too seriously. Why does it mean so much to us? I think it’s because we all want to be there in some capacity. EVERYBODY has dreamed of making an acceptance speech of some kind, and there is no shame in it. Dreaming is fun, isn’t it? Life would be no fun without it!
From Tom Dheere’s apartment (where I’m rehearsing my speech in front of a mirror), this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…