Greetings again from the darkness. Well the 84th Academy Awards came and went with very few surprises, a plodding 
pace, and (mostly) safe show from Billy Crystal, back for his 9th time as host. The ceremony began with the expected video montage/mash-up/spoof with Crystal appearing in key scenes from the year’s top films … including a hospital bed kiss from George Clooney (as his character from The Descendants). That opening would have been fine, but then we were subjected to another Crystal tradition – the musical medley of all nine Best Picture nominations. Additionally, the opening provided the first of at least three cracks about the removal of Kodak’s naming rights to the theatre (“Ch. 11 Theatre”).
Two things became clear as the evening progressed: there was a concerted effort to “sell” the magic of movies, and the shuffled order of awards did not work so well. The “talking head” shots played throughout had numerous actors (and moms) talking about the impact of movies on their lives; an obvious reaction to the down year at the box office in 2011. The funniest part of these interludes was the multiple appearances by Adam Sandler the day after he received a record 11 Razzies nominations. He has made plenty of big box office movies, but has never been what you would call an Oscar favorite.
The Artist and Hugo were the top winners of the evening with 5 Oscars each. As expected, the black & white silent film won the biggies: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor. The wins for Hugo were more technical: cinematography, sound, visual effects. There were only a couple of winners that could be termed a surprise, and what many thought would be the closest race (Best Actress) went to 17 time nominee, and now 3 time winner, Meryl Streep, for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. As for my personal pre-Oscar predictions, I got 18 of 24 categories correct.
In no particular order, here are some of my random observations and thoughts:
Christopher Plummer became the oldest Oscar winner at age 82 (for Beginners), and I wish he had pulled out a guitar and sang “Edelweiss”
Meryl Streep is an amazing actress … maybe the best ever …but her acceptance speeches are wretched.
Did anyone ever imagine that P Diddy (producer of Undefeated) would win an Oscar before Viola Davis or Glenn Close?
The Academy Awards technical team could not, given 3 hours, fix the audio problem on the stage microphones?
Chris Rock was very funny talking about voice acting. Now that is comedy talent. He should be hosting.
Emma Stone brought energy and goofiness to an evening in need of life-support. Were she and Ben Stiller riffing on James Franco and Anne Hathaway or was that just my imagination?
Iran, Pakistan and France were all winners. There has to be a punchline there somewhere.
The Scorcese drinking game has gone viral thanks to Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy.
The Worst Precedent: allowing Sacha Baron Cohen to walk the red carpet as the character from his upcoming movie. At future Oscar ceremonies, should we expect super heroes, cartoon characters and movie dogs … maybe studio-sponsored gowns?
Christopher Guest’s band of comedy misfits was pretty funny in the “Focus Group” bit revolving around The Wizard of Oz and flying monkeys.
Cirque du Soleil performers are incredibly talented and athletic … much more daring than Angelina Jolie’s exposed right leg.
You know how you can tell things aren’t all bad … Flight of the Conchords got some recognition! Congratulations to Bret McKenzie for his “Man or Muppet” Oscar.
Winner I would have liked to have seen: God is the Bigger Elvis for Short Documentary. That would have given actress-turned-nun Dolores Hart her moment on stage
Interesting red carpet moment: Prince Albert of Monaco attended as a guest of Disney. He is the son of Grace Kelly, who died 30 years ago.
Most Inspirational: breast cancer survivors Robin Roberts and Giuliana Rancic were working the red carpet for ABC and E! Network, respectively.
This year’s Academy Awards will receive some of the same criticism it receives every year. However, it should be remembered that, at its core, this is an awards ceremony. That means announcing nominees, handing out trophies, and giving the winners a chance to say thanks. Some of those winners are as humble and touched as Octavia Spencer, and that’s good enough for me. So whether you love or hate the Oscars, don’t confuse that with the magic of the movies. It seemed appropriate to end on a sales pitch for movies!
Movie Reviews from the Dark 
A few years ago, Morgan Freeman was in a terrible car wreck and subsequently lost the use of his right hand. It’s not a well-known fact, but that is the reason for the glove. When he works they film around the hand, as in REDS. You may notice it if you re-watch the movie.
I meant to type That it is his left hand that is disabled
Thanks Lauren. I knew about his car wreck but was not aware of the damage to his hand.
Poor Martin Scorsese. He makes a movie homage to a great film maker of the black and white silent era only to lose Best Picture to a black and white silent movie.
Haha … certainly some irony in that, Bruce. My guess is that there will never be a drinking game called Hazanavicius.
What would be your suggestions to make the Oscar telecast better?
Well I am not one who believes the ceremony should be a cutting edge laugh-fest. The focus still should be on the key categories, but there should also be a balance of entertainment with dignity. Personally I would like to see a tribute to the history of movies each year. Maybe focus on one influential movie or director or genre. Just have that as one segment in the ceremony. Also, I understand that I am different than most viewers who really don’t care much who wins Art Direction or Sound Editing. The more technical awards could be off of the main telecast (possibly on E! Network) thereby shortening the broadcast. Seems to me most people want to see the “big” awards and check out the celebrities. Maybe even include a condensed, edited version of the Meet the Press portion that occurs backstage with winners. It seems to me that the broadcast has turned into an open invitation for people to criticize and find things wrong … how they dress, how long the speeches last, etc. The Academy either needs to accept this or tweak the production to appeal to a wider audience. I am not sure which is the best decision.
If you want to shorten the telecast to 90 minutes, I agree the best way to go would be to eliminate the technical categories and award only the 4 acting categories, director and picture, score and song, and cinematography. They would never go below 90 minutes, IMO. The downside is that you have far fewer presenters, and I have to think the “stars” want to get up there on that stage, even if the script sucks. Your idea about annually celebrating a great movie of the past … the problem would be would the current films look too bad in comparison?
Even two hours would be acceptable. Three hours is too long and provides an easy target for critics. Your point about stars on stage is cruical because I also believe that’s what viewers want to see. I’m cracking up about the classic films making the new ones look weak. Exploring the long-lasting impact of, say, To Kill a Mockingbird, seems to make the point of movie magic better than Gabby Sidibe saying when she sees herself on screen, she knows she exists. WTH???
I believe that while the public wants to see the stars (esp see what the women are wearing), the public for the most part doesnt give a hoot about what they “think”.
I have never understood the Streep phenomena. Yes, she is a good actress, but it seems to me that if she is worthy of being nominated so many times she would have won more often.
I fall into the other camp, and think Hollywood went through a Streep backlash for a few years. Definitely think she should have won for Ironweed, and could make the argument on two others. The wide range of characters she has played is really unmatched by any other film actress, including Katherine Hepburn, who is the only actress to win more Oscars than Streep.