Post-Oscar Thoughts

By on February 23, 2015
oscar-jk-simmons

J.K. Simmons, Best Supporting Actor, “Whiplash”

I’m congratulating myself over my self-control for not throwing my TV out the window when Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor over Michael Keaton but I’m glad the wealth was spread; all but one of the Best Picture nominees won at least one Oscar.  I’m not going to comment on the winners except to say, in the Everybody-vs.-“The Grand Budapest Hotel” contest, the winner was potency over scope and the wins for “Birdman” and “Whiplash” were well deserved.  “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was sent home crying with “only” four Oscars (Costume, Makeup, Original Score, Production Design).

Lucky Edward Norton got to go onstage if either “Birdman” or “The Grand Budapest Hotel” won Best Picture.  He was in both.

Birdman oscar directorComing from a country that needs good news, Mexican directors have now won Best Director two years in a row.  Alfonso Cuarón won last year for “Gravity” (he also won for Editing).  It was nice to see Alejandro González Iñárritu (right, who also won for Original Screenplay and Best Picture) lighten up after his hopelessness-themed “Amores Perros”, “21 Grams”, “Babel” and “Biutiful.”

Franco Oscar dressI never put any demands on the host of the show and I generally don’t notice unless they’re exceptionally good (Billy Crystal) or exceptionally bad (James Franco, left with Anne Hathaway).  My focus is the awards, although I like the song performances.  I thought NPH did fine with what the writers gave him.

Good acceptance speeches by Graham Moore (Adapted Screenplay for “The Imitation Game”), Common (Song for “Selma”), and Patricia Arquette (Supporting Actress, the only Oscar for “Boyhood”, so we can finally stop hearing about that movie).  Pawel Pawlikowski’s acceptance speech (Foreign Language for “Ida”, which I recommend highly) was hilarious in how he ignored the clock and the “get off the stage” music.

I feel relieved now that Julianne Moore (Best Actress for “Still Alice”) finally has her Oscar.  Next up, Michelle Pfeiffer.

graham moore oscar speech with textThe “weird and different” point Graham Moore (right) was making was NOT about being gay.  Look at this article:   http://defamer.gawker.com/oscar-winning-imitation-game-writer-graham-moore-im-n-1687449330

Not that there’s anything wrong with it.

The Documentary Feature win for “CitizenFour”, which is about Edward Snowden, doesn’t sit well with me.  Way to glorify and award treason and domestic terrorism.  I appreciated when NPH said “Edward Snowden couldn’t be here for some treason.”

gaga and andrewsLady Gaga’s tribute to “The Sound of Music” was surprising and impressive. It was another welcome surprise to have Julie Andrews (left, with Gaga) come onstage afterward.  “The Sound of Music” was one of the first movies I remember seeing on the big screen.  A great, well-rounded film.

Despite everything I’ve said about “Selma”, I’m going to see it when it releases on DVD.  It occurred to me when I saw a tear streaming down Chris Pine’s face after the performance of “Glory” that not everybody grew up watching those events in the news as they unfolded.  I never meant to trivialize what happened and it’s definitely a part of the country’s history everyone should know about.  Ava DuVernay, the film’s director, appears in the Roger Ebert documentary “Life Itself”.  Here’s an touching excerpt:  http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/watch-ava-duvernay-remembers-roger-ebert-in-life-itself-exclusive-clip-20141208

joan-rivers-copyIt was surprising that Joan Rivers was left out of the “In Memoriam” segment.  It’s also ironic because the Oscar red carpet was a big event for her to cover.  She wrote and directed 1978’s “Rabbit Test” starring Billy Crystal and acted in several films, including the 1968 Frank Perry/Sydney Pollack film “The Swimmer” (right, with Burt Lancaster).  She also did voice work in Mel Brooks’ 1987 “Space Balls” and “Shrek 2.”  If you don’t find her as offensive as the Academy seems to, watch the 2010 documentary “Joan Rivers:  A Piece of Work.”  A pretty amazing career and a very driven person.

The_Lego_Movie_makes_sure_Everything_Is_Awesome_at_the_OscarsI can’t get the song or performance of “Everything is Awesome” (left) out of my head.  I liked the inclusion of Questlove, Will Arnett and Andy Samberg’s comedy-music troupe The Lonely Island (who were co-writers) but it’s not a song anybody over the age of 12 should ever hear.  Maroon 5’s overdone rendition of “Lost Stars” stripped the song of all its cool.  I liked Glen Campbell’s pop-country crossover songs when I was a kid and found Tim McGraw’s performance of the Alzheimer-themed “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” to be very moving.  Anything I say about the performance of Common and John Legend (and the massive choir) of “Glory” will be obvious or redundant by now.

sean-penn-alejandro-g-inarrituI was momentarily taken aback by Sean Penn’s “green card” comment when he announced Best Picture then remembered Iñárritu directed Penn in his 2003 “21 Grams” and figured that was their relationship.  Actually, it was nice seeing Penn show a little personality.  It’s like the barber shop scene in Clint Eastwood’s 2008 “Gran Torino”, where his character and the barber exchange friendly “dago” and “Polack” jabs.  It was their way of acknowledging their friendship and Eastwood’s way of saying we’ve become much too politically correct.  Eastwood directed Penn to his first Best Actor Oscar for 2003’s “Mystic River.”

I’m now anticipating the DVD releases of the movies I enjoyed and the good ones I missed.  It’s always after the Oscar frenzy has passed that I find out about independent movies that end up being among my favorites for the year (like 2011′s “Take Shelter” and “Martha Mary May Marlene”).  I’m also looking forward to another year of film makers proving Hollywood is not out of ideas.

DPW

February 23, 2015

About Dan Walker

As part of an Air Force family, I went to elementary school in Great Falls, MT, junior high in Cheyenne, WY and high school and college in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in business. I was fortunate to have worked for great companies in Silicon Valley (Oracle Corp) and Hollywood (Miramax Films). I also lived and worked (primarily in financial services, which has no great companies) for eight years in Manhattan, New York City. I now reside in New York's beautiful Hudson Valley.

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