The New York Post
This Oscar’s Grouchy
Liz Smith
Feb 24, 2009
‘IT’S A grand and glorious feeling, but I’ll be wearing the same size hat tomorrow,” said Clark Gable after winning an Oscar back in 1935.
Hmmm, maybe that’s what was missing from the Academy Awards on Sunday night – A galaxy of r-e-a-l-l-y big stars. Many of the still living and most celebrated were missing – Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Annette Bening, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, Cher, Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Cate Blanchett, Warren Beatty, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Sean Connery, Jessica Lange, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Clint Eastwood – these are just a few of the truly famous off the top of my head. (And, of course, still no Lifetime Achievement for the biggest earner, most underrated film star of the ’50s – Doris Day!)
But I did like having five famous presenters who had won the Oscar do the Best Supporting and Best Acting awards. That was interesting. And it gave us something to think about, trying to remember what role each had won for in the past. (And how they looked, of course.)
It is impossible to resist Hugh Jackman, but his very informal offhand nature may have thrown things off a bit in the beginning. It was a little too silly and awkward. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the white tie and tails number choreographed by Baz Luhrmann starring Jackman and Beyoncé.
Also, I think: (1) They should begin at 7 p.m. no matter what time it is in California. (2) Technical award people and everybody else should be warned on pain of death not to recite lists of names of which nobody has ever heard. This is a big moment: Can’t you think of something creative and interesting to say? (3) Bring back the full-screen simple presentation when showing us the dear departed. It was terrible – all that technical montage stuff that appeared as if they were intent on showing you how small they could make the pictures. At times I couldn’t even tell who the person was who had gone on to that great movie theater in the sky.
And, oh yes, the camerawork was generally atrocious. During the “dear departed” sequence they kept cutting away to show you Queen Latifah’s dress. And when Sean Penn is going to be embraced by his five famous peers after he wins, they cut away and show you a mass shot of the theater again.
I agree with this … I have seen so many comments about how great the show was this year. I thought it was less than a great show. There seems to be less and less attention paid to the work, and more about publicizing upcoming films…anyone else get that?