The XX Factor: What women really think.



  • « Prev | Main | Next »

    In Praise of the Oscars

    Posted Sunday, February 22, 2009 11:19 PM | By Willa Paskin
    OK, I'm just going to take the plunge: This was the most entertaining Academy Awards I've ever seen. That is sort of damning with faint praise, since watching the Oscars is usually about as exciting as watching a really slow person run every minute of an entire marathon—kind of thrilling at the beginning and end but mostly endless, and you're just trying to find a way to sneak off to the bathroom the whole time. This, too, felt never-ending at points, especially between the best supporting actor award (how poised was Heath Ledger's family? Unbelievably restrained and touching) and the big awards at the end, but, in general, I thought it was much, much better than usual.

    Hugh Jackman's energetic willingness to do even the shlockiest thing with a convincing smile single-handedly put over the opening musical number, which didn't have nearly as good lyrics as it should have but was executed with breathy exuberance and set a fun tone. Changing the order of the awards, so that interesting ones for screenplay and supporting actor and actress were mixed in with the boring stuff, helped the pacing. Even though the musical number was an incoherent mess (just let Beyoncé sing!), it broke the monotony and staved off serious boredom for about 15 minutes. The speeches (even though I'm super bummed we'll never get to hear Mickey's) by Penélope Cruz, Danny Boyle, Dustin Lance Black, and Sean Penn were thoughtful and well-delivered (even Kate Winslet did much better than her usual histrionics). Even some of the presenters, like Tina Fey and Steve Martin, were actually, well, funny. And though having former Oscar winners laud each one of this year's nominees personally got a little awkward and long at points, it was more interesting than usual, very sweet, and an excuse to bring out awesome old-timers like Christopher Walken and his crazy hair, Whoopi and her crazy leopard-print dress, and Sophia Loren and her crazy tan. OK, now you can all tell me whether I'm crazy: What did you think?
    Filed under: ,
0 Comments
<February 2009>
SMTWTFS
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
1234567
Print This ArticlePRINT Discuss in the FrayDISCUSS

Syndication