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Just like the winners, the Oscar ceremony was just "meh"
ABC really needs to stage an intervention with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It really does. Because, year in and year out, the Academy puts on an Oscars ceremony that not only runs far longer than the network intends, it just ends up boring the crap out of viewers, many of whom are asleep by the time the real categories are decided.
This year's ceremony ran from 8:30 PM ET (after a Road to the Oscars red-carpet special that was just pointless and dull) to about 12:15 AM. That's 3 hours and 45 minutes of speeches, montages, and musical numbers. My god; even the Grammys aren't that bloated, and it's nothing but musical numbers.
Yes, I know, the Oscars are long and boring every year. But this year seemed a little more boring than most. Much of it may have had to do with Ellen DeGeneres' easy-breezy hosting job. Don't get me wrong; I like Ellen a lot, and I think she was relaxed and personable in her first Oscars hosting stint. But usually a host says at least one or two things that sticks in the viewers' brains for a few weeks after the ceremony, either some good-natured slam against the industry or Jack Nicholson or some other star. But Ellen's jokes, especially in the monologue, were safe and unmemorable. The most controversial thing she said was that Penelope Cruz was Mexican instead of Spanish, which she corrected later on in the broadcast.
Ellen did have a few funny bits during the show, that played up her absurdist skills a bit; she roamed the audience and spoke to Martin Scorsese, casually handing him a screenplay for him to consider. She had Steven Spielberg take a photo of her and Clint Eastwood. And, late in the show, started vacuuming the front row, grumbling that she didn't realize she had to do so much as host. But by the time most of those funny moments happened, my eyes were already half-closed due to the top-heavy nature of this year's ceremony.
For some strange reason, the producers didn't try to hold the audience by announcing a supporting-actor award at the top of the show, which they had been doing in the recent past. By the time Alan Arkin reached the stage to get his Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, there were enough awards for set design, sound editing, and costume design to make even the most ardent film fans want to throw a shoe at the screen.
And what's amazing to me is that the Academy tried to keep the speeches moving along, the orchestra starting to play after about 90 seconds or so. They even had the temerity to play Jennifer Hudson off the stage as she made her acceptance speech. And they kept the montages to a minimum, only showing three on top of the usual ones for the humanitarian award, the lifetime achievement award, and the "In Memoriam" popularity contest. But the ceremony was still almost four hours. This means one thing: too many categories. Yes, I know, everyone deserves their chance to shine on the big stage. But, to be honest, most fans don't care about the behind-the-scenes winners; those should be given out either before the ceremony or during the commercial breaks. Cutting the number of televised categories in half would be the biggest step the Academy can make to keep the ceremony under three hours.
Oh, and starting it at 7 might help. But that's ABC's problem... they need to pay off Barbara Walters and have her show her cloying interview special on Thursday, after Grey's Anatomy. If it's good enough for Oprah, it's good enough for Barbara.
A few good moments:
- John C. Reilly, Jack Black, and Will Ferrell doing a song-and-dance number about how comedic actors can get Academy attention by playing dramatic roles. The best lines were directed towards sexy sexagenarian (and eventual Best Actress winner) Helen Mirren.
- Martin Scorsese, who finally won a Best Director award for The Departed, asking presenters and pals George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Spielberg to check the envelope and make sure his name was on the card.
- Jennifer Hudson -- who I'm starting to think is completely adorable -- showing genuine emotion when she won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
- The Dreamgirls song medley. Hudson and Beyonce both threw their hearts and lungs into the performance.
- Al Gore being interrupted by the band when he started to "announce" his "big news."
- Robert Downey Jr., in presenting a special effects award, described the odd visual landscapes the FX folks create, including monsters, toads, etc. He then added the line, "Which for me was just a typical weeknight in the mid-'90s."
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