Oscars in review
Posted by mipplet on Mon, 02/23/2009 - 00:49
Another Oscar night has come and gone. I eagerly anticipated what had been billed as a new and refreshing format to the Academy Awards ceremony, but for the most part, I found the changes extremely disappointing, and this year's telecast seemed like the longest and most tedious Oscars I've ever sat through. However, there are still Best Dressed and Worst Dressed lists to share, as well as general comments about the ceremony.
BEST DRESSED
- Kate Winslet. She chose a very unique dress for tonight, and she looked ravishing. I also loved her hairdo.
- Taraji Penda Henson. She may not have taken home an Oscar, but she was dressed like a winner.
- Sarah Jessica Parker looked like she stepped right out of the pages of a fairytale. (She could have done without the belt, though.)
- Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It's no surprise that they made my Best Dressed list, and also no surprise that they won my Hottest Couple award. Brad looked dapper in his tux, and Angie's black dress was stunning. Her emerald jewelry was so oversized that it almost looked like it was made of plastic, but I'm guessing that it wasn't. It also added a terrific splash of color to her outfit.
- Mickey Rourke definitely wasn't decked out in traditional Oscar attire, but I think he looked good. (He probably should have left the sunglasses at home, though, or at least not have worn them in the darkened theatre.)
- Robert Downey, Jr. He and his wife looked great.
- Viola Davis glittered in gold.
- Anne Hathaway. I'm not a big fan of hers, but I must admit that she looked a lot better than she usually does.
- Meryl Streep looked elegant, as always.
- Penelope Cruz looked like a Spanish princess. I was also surprised by her win...a bit of an upset, wasn't it?
- Marisa Tomei looked amazing in a Versace gown.
- Daniel Craig always looks yummy.
- Tina Fey sizzled in her swanky silver number.
- Jennifer Aniston looked good, but she also looked about 30 years old. It was SO obvious that she had some type of Botox-like procedure done in the past week or so...wrinkles just do not disappear like that overnight!
- Robert Pattinson. It is so obvious why all the girls have crushes on him.
- Natalie Portman. Wow, she is so beautiful!
- Sophia Loren looked great, but I think she was drunk out of her mind.
- Shirley MacLaine wore a rather masculine outfit, but it totally worked for her.
- Marion Cotillard looked amazing in deep blue.
- Halle Berry somehow manages to look better and better with age.
- Sean Penn was the classic man in black.
WORST DRESSED
- Amy Adams. Her dress was fine, but what was up with that necklace? It looks like she raided Elmhurst's Lizzadro Museum and wore every single precious stone she could find around her neck.
- Vanessa Hudgens. Her dress was hideous! Also, I am still unclear as to why she warranted an invitation to the Oscars at all.
- Miley Cyrus. She looked like Cinderella on crack.
- Jack Black. I cannot find a photo to link to, but he was wearing an awful navy tux and powder blue shirt, and he looked like he hadn't shaved or washed his hair in a week. Ick!
- Tilda Swinton. Oh dear god...there simply are no words to describe it...
- Whoopi Goldberg. Her dress just wasn't flattering AT ALL.
- Jessica Biel showed up wearing a white satin tablecloth.
- Christopher Walken. His tux was nice, but the man needs a haircut.
- Bill Maher. Again, I'm missing a photo, but the man wore a pleather tux. PLEATHER!!!
- Queen Latifah. Her flowing blue gown was very unflattering.
- Reese Witherspoon. I cannot believe she made my Worst Dressed list this year because she usually looks amazing. However, it looks like she went shopping with Queen latifah this time around.
- Nicole Kidman had a creepy swan thing going on.
- Michael Douglas wore a sparkly black tie from the 80's.
- Adrien Brody needs to cut his greasy hair, already!
MISCELLANEOUS
- Jennifer Aniston wasn't brave enough to walk the red carpet. HA! What a wuss.
- Even though he didn't win, I think it's awesome that Richard Jenkins was nominated for an Academy Award.
- WHERE WAS GEORGE CLOONEY?! I missed you, Georgie!
- Hugh Jackman's opening number was awesome. As for his second musical number with Beyonce...not so much.
- I enjoyed how the acting award presentations had five previous winners participate this year, but I hated all the warm and fuzzy, touchy-feely speeches that were made about each of the nominees. They didn't even show any acting clips this year, which are very helpful to viewers who haven't seen all the films. What a bummer!
- Ben Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix impersonation was hilarious!
- Heath Ledger won. Of course. Not that he didn't deserve it, but the Academy loves giving awards to dead people, and if Heath was still alive, I seriously doubt he even would have been nominated. The Oscars and Batman movies usually don't go together.
- Speaking of Heath Ledger, he was completely omitted from the death montage! WTF?! The only explanation I can think of for this is that perhaps he was in LAST YEAR'S montage, but I can't remember.
- Hooray for Kate Winslet! I am thrilled that she finally won an Oscar, but I am still upset that she wasn't nominated for her performance in "Revolutionary Road," which even surpassed her performance in "The Reader." (Also, her little whistling shout-out to her dad during her acceptance speech was so adorable!)
- I cannot believe Sean Penn won his second Oscar! Major upset! I really thought Mickey Rourke was going to win, even though Penn probably deserved it more.
- I love that the cameras panned over to Brangelina TWICE when Jennifer Aniston was on stage, and both times showed Brad and Angie laughing and smiling. However, when Sean Penn won the award for Best Actor, Jennifer Aniston was sitting directly behind him, and she broke out into a HUGE grin. You know she was thinking, "Yes! Brad and Angie are two-time losers! HA!"
So there you have it, folks! What were your most and least favorite Oscar outfits this year, or your favorite Oscar moments?
What a load of nonsense! Some points I'd like to pick apart:
The Academy loves giving awards to dead people? This has happened only once in their history - even James Dean was overlooked twice. If this was the case why didn't they give Best Picture to The Reader after TWO of it's producers died last year? There's that little theory out of the water.
Although far from a forgone conclusion, Penelope Cruz was the slight favourite to win so it's hardly an upset now is it?
How exactly was Jennifer Aniston a wuss? Most of the presenters (Tina Fey, Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon to name a few) did not walk the main red carpet at the request of the organisers who wanted suprises to boost ratings. This was well publisised leading up to the Oscars so I'm surprised a "Showbiz Reporter" would not have been aware of this.
I'm also going to give Jen a little but more credit than you and assume she was grinning when Sean Penn won as she is a vocal supporter of the gay and lesbian community, even receiving the Vanguard Award from GLAAD, and was pleased to see his performance being acknowledged. But hey, let's not allow the facts to get in the way of a little Jen bashing eh?
Not a fan of Vanessa Hudgeons myself but she was performing in the bloody show so of course she would be invited and on the red carpet with Zac Efron.
And yes Heath was in last years montage.
Refuting your points, in order:
1. You are incorrect. Only one other ACTING award has been given to a dead person. A lot of other people have won posthumously in other categories, and there have been a large number of posthumous nominees.
2. Maybe Penelope Cruz was a sure thing to you, but a lot of critics thought differently, including Chicago's own Roger Ebert.
3. Everyone knew for the past few weeks that Jennifer Aniston was scheduled to present at the Oscars. There were no surprises there, so the idea that the Academy specifically asked her not to walk the red carpet is pretty ridiculous.
4. Obviously, you are on Team Jen, and that's fine. However, reports state that when Jen was on stage presenting and the lights began to dim, she shot Brad Pitt a warm smile but wouldn't even look at Angelina, who was sitting right next to him. AND she obviously had Botox or some other facial enhancement done in the past several weeks leading up to the big Angelina encounter...but she's not a wuss, right?
5. The fact that a talentless nobody like Vanessa Hudgens was asked to perform at the Academy Awards is ten times more insulting than the fact she even warranted an invitation. Is that seriously the best musical entertainment the Academy could come up with? Why not have Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan up there, too, if that's the standard of quality? Sheesh.
1. Apologies I should have specified Acting. However, you say a lot of other people been winners in other categories but again this is misleading. About 15 awards in 81 award years with almost all of these being more than 30 years ago. I didn't say it didn't happen but I don't accept that the Academy loves giving awards to dead people as was stated. I'll again use The Reader as an example of this. I agree there's been many posthumous nominations but the original point was winners so this is irrelevant.
2. Penelope Cruz wasn't just a sure thing to me. I read many critics predictions who though were thinking the same. However I concede we obviously were checking different critics.
3 & 4. I realise the stage was very close to the stage this year but even from that distance how on earth does one tell a warm smile being directed towards one person whilst purposely not looking at the person right next to them? But if "reports state" then I guess case closed. I only saw photo's of Jennifer so I'll take your word for it about the botox. I didn't mention it in my original point anyhow. To be honest I still don't see how this makes her a wuss but whatever. For what it's worth, I am on no team but I found the critisism being directed at her slightly unfair, especially the part about her grinning when Penn won. And none of the presenters were actually confirmed so I don't find it ridiculous for the Academy to have asked her not to walk the red carpet.
5. Vanessa Hudgeons is dreadful. However the very same can be said for Zac Efron and the two from Mama Mia. If they are entitled to invitations then I would have to say so is she.
...Zac Efron had no business being there, either!
...it would have been an awful oversight if that wasn't the case!
Heath Ledger was definitely in last year's montage. A lot of people forgot that and got pissed off.