The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the 2008 Oscars

This year's Academy Awards were thankfully full of more good than bad and ugly put together. My roomful of Oscar viewers discussed our favorite outfits and moments during commercial breaks, and we were pretty much in agreement on most things.

THE GOOD:

Anne Hathaway's flowy red dress: She should always wear red, and her dress had nice details without being over the top.

Amy Adams: Green was definitely a good call for her, and her hair was a nice change from all the complicated updos. She also wins a special prize for being the very busiest non-nominated person of the night, with the possible exception of Jon Stewart, participating in two musical numbers and presenting, to boot.

Jessica Alba: She looked great and I loved the color of her dress, but I did think it could have done without the rack plumage. Those things are big enough as it is.

Nicole Kidman: I actually didn't think her look was anything special. Sure, she looked good, but she always does, so it's not all that remarkable. But she was my sister's favorite, and I guess she does deserve some recognition for being consistently fabulous.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova winning for Best Original Song from Once: I was SO rooting for this, and I didn't think it had a chance against the Enchanted juggernaut. I clapped and shouted, "Yay!" when it was announced, but that was partly because I was all hopped up on Dots and Whoppers. I was going to put the orchestra in the bad column for playing them off before Irglova got to make her speech, but Jon Stewart saved the day by bringing her back out and letting her talk. I think the whole episode was one of my favorite Oscar moments ever.

Non-native English speakers giving acceptance speeches: From Marketa Irglova's belated acceptance speech for Best Original Song to Marion Cotillard's for Best Actress, they've schooled the Americans and Brits in giving simple, gracious speeches.

THE BAD:

Tilda Swinton's whole look: She has that whole too-cool-to-be-glam thing going on, like Frances McDormand does, but I swear when they first showed her on camera I thought it was Eric Stoltz wearing a black satin tablecloth. (She does get props for drawing a comparison between Oscar's butt and the butt of her agent.)

Daniel Day-Lewis's old lady earrings: What is the deal with those? Did they belong to his grandmother? (While we're at it, why was his wife holding her dress up with lots and lots of AIDS ribbons?)

Penelope Cruz: I didn't think it was possible to wreck a black strapless gown, but apparently it is. And again with the rack plumage. What's with that? It seems like it would be...tickly.

The UGLY:

E!'s unbelievably awkward red carpet coverage: First Gary Busey verbally assaulted Ryan Seacrest, and then he practically sexually assaulted Jennifer Garner while Laura Linney looked on uncomfortably. Did you see that? It was beyond weird. What is Gary Busey doing at the Oscars and not in Celebrity Rehab, anyway? Maybe Ryan was flustered from that experience, because shortly thereafter he asked Jessica Alba if she was planning to breastfeed. Who does that?

Brad Renfro getting left out of the dead people montage: It's true he hadn't made much lately, but his death was every bit as tragic and untimely as Heath Ledger's, and I think it's a shame that he didn't get recognized.

All in all, it was one of the better Oscar nights in recent memory, and I'm glad to say that my party was a rousing success. Although I have to report in case you're in the market to buy some retro candy any time soon: Good 'N Plentys are better than you remember, but Jujubes are much, much worse. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go brush my teeth.

* * *

Amy Kane spends as much quality time with her television as possible, when she's not busy at her day job as a cube dweller.

Recommend (0) |

Comments (0) |

Email  |

Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us