Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

I think this article gets it right.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31583257

Bottom line is, the material tried to make Neil Patrick Harris into something he's not, and it was a terrible fit. He deserves much better than what he got, and he wasn't able to work around all the awkwardness. Those who haven't watched his other awards hosting gigs must be wondering why people have been saying for years that he should be hosting the Oscars, since this felt more like another Jon Stewart gig.

The good - none of he presenters hammed it up and none embarrassed themselves. The Sound of Music tribute, which could have been cheesy but wasn't thanks to Lady Gaga and the surprise appearance of Julie Andrews looking smashing in her 80th year. Travolta and Menzel. The many heartfelt acceptance speeches. The classy In Memoriam segment in which all were treated equally.

The bad - the lame opening number, the silly magic trick with NPH's "predictions", most of NPH's jokes. The post-In Memoriam song.

The ugly - nothing really, but NPH came close a couple of times which is a shame because he could have been great with better material.

Lots of worthy winners tonight. I'm a big fan of Birdman, so I was perfectly happy with its awards haul. Alexandre Desplat finally got his long-overdue trophy (and for the right film, no less, in my opinion). After years of suffering through close-but-no-cigar Oscar ceremonies for films as tremendously photographed as Children of Men and The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki nabs a fully-deserved back-to-back set of prizes. And, of course, Julianne Moore got the one award that has eluded her for years, much to the great joy of fans like myself.

On the disappointment side, it was a bit hard to watch Linklater and Anderson go home empty-handed; for such a tight race, I wish the awards among the top candidates could have been spread out a little bit.

Betting a straight-ticket on the DGA winner once again proved to be the best way to bet, even in such a tight race. The prediction I'm most proud of, though, was getting Birdman in Original Screenplay. I didn't have time to comment on the thread dws started this morning, but my reasoning (which proved to be correct) was that Eddie Redmayne's string of recent prizes made him a stronger candidate for Best Actor (and the bio/disability factor REALLY goes a long way with this crowd) than Keaton. And once I made that prediction, I saw I only had Birdman down for Picture, Director, and Cinematography, which just didn't seem to me like a realistic haul for a Best Picture winner. So I threw in Screenplay, wondering if perhaps if Birdman HAD been eligible for the WGA, it might have had both this prize AND the Globe in its corner, and been much more of an odds-on favorite than Grand Budapest (especially given that Anderson's film never really got enough momentum to emerge as a solid Best Picture threat.)

Of course, I missed the other Screenplay category -- the only Top 8 prize I predicted incorrectly -- and the Adapted Screenplay for Graham Moore meant that, as I thought was possible a while back, every Best Picture nominee went home with something.

Another thing I failed to predict -- just how much of a bum night Boyhood would have. That was one reason I went with it in Film Editing, figuring that a movie that many thought would still win some combo of Picture & Director would be strong enough to get at least one more prize even if it lost those two. I don't think voters necessarily adored Budapest or Whiplash -- both of which had pretty decent nights -- sizably better, but it just worked out that there weren't that many categories Boyhood conceivably could have won, and when it (likely narrowly) missed out on both the top categories, Supporting Actress ended up being the only consolation.

And clearly I should have listened to all of those people telling me Grand Budapest Hotel was the frontrunner in Makeup.

As for the ceremony, I thought most of the jokes were fairly dumb. And I found the opening number surprisingly wan. The Idina Menzel/John Travolta bit, though, was priceless. Other great unscripted moments: Meryl Streep cheering on Patricia Arquette, and Oprah holding the LEGO Oscar.

Oh, and I found much of the ways the films themselves were presented during each category fairly terrible. During the presentation of the sound categories, don't we need to HEAR the sounds being rewarded? Is a clapboard with the director's name on it really the best way to showcase the nominated directors? Are graphics with random shots from the nominated Foreign Language Films in odd corners the most compelling way to highlight films many in the audience might not have seen? Seems to me that years past have done a much better job of highlighting the movies on display than the graphics presented this year.

The movie that best fit the tone of the show is Birdman, a big ol' stunt about the quest to get something important out into the world. Well, the difference between the movie and the show is these winners had something to say. When they spoke, it felt charged, honest, and moving. And it never felt repetitive.

Neil Patrick Harris did everything in his power to undercut this honesty. His balls joke after the documentary short winner spoke of her son's suicide was mind-blowing, and eventually he just seemed adrift. I will cut him this much slack: these aren't an easy group of films to mock AND this was a weird ass show! It began with a jokey musical number about the magical power of movies and then jumped into a live performance of "Everything is Awesome", which is the silliest goddamn thing I've ever seen at the Academy Awards and concluded with everybody in the auditorium getting a lego Oscar. By the film's end, John Legend and Common received three standing ovations, a crying David Oyelowo was being comforted by Oprah Winfrey, and ALS, Alzheimer's, suicide, civil rights, and immigration among other causes were centerstage. Honestly, who could host that show? Billy Crystal? Of course not. Maybe Steve Martin or Ellen DeGeneres. Or Jon Stewart. The mix of outrage and irreverence isn't unlike The Daily Show.

My chief pleasure came from having no idea what was going to win next. If it's impossible to get the Oscars totally right (last year's came close), if there's a strong competition between good films it's hard to get it totally wrong.

Okay, so.... Keaton, then Moore, then Birdman, then good night, everybody! Right?

I can't imagine all the Facebook 'memes' that'll result from this broadcast.

rolotomasi99 wrote:

Okri wrote:

nightwingnova wrote:There's a wave for Budapest, which we didn't quite sense up to this evening.

I predicted it for best picture. I DEMAND CREDIT (I kid. a little.)

With BIRDMAN winning Original Screenplay, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL's road to Best Picture ends. Now the race is back to just BOYHOOD and BIRDMAN.

Do not think so... That race was over too when Boyhood lost editing.

rolotomasi99 wrote:

Okri wrote:

nightwingnova wrote:There's a wave for Budapest, which we didn't quite sense up to this evening.

I predicted it for best picture. I DEMAND CREDIT (I kid. a little.)

With BIRDMAN winning Original Screenplay, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL's road to Best Picture ends. Now the race is back to just BOYHOOD and BIRDMAN.

I refuse to give up hope.

well, the second half of the show is getting much better

Okri wrote:

nightwingnova wrote:There's a wave for Budapest, which we didn't quite sense up to this evening.

I predicted it for best picture. I DEMAND CREDIT (I kid. a little.)

With BIRDMAN winning Original Screenplay, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL's road to Best Picture ends. Now the race is back to just BOYHOOD and BIRDMAN.

nightwingnova wrote:There's a wave for Budapest, which we didn't quite sense up to this evening.

It ends now.

nightwingnova wrote:There's a wave for Budapest, which we didn't quite sense up to this evening.

I predicted it for best picture. I DEMAND CREDIT (I kid. a little.)

mlrg wrote:Well, Lady Gaga has a great voice and Julie Andrews appearence was amazing. Remember that this is an entertainment show and that was entertainment

As someone who's no fan of Sound of Music, I loved the segment. I'm sorry we don't have Damien watching with us.

Well, Lady Gaga has a great voice and Julie Andrews appearence was amazing. Remember that this is an entertainment show and that was entertainment

The clock strikes eleven and the show suddenly gets much, much better.

There's a wave for Budapest, which we didn't quite sense up to this evening.