Post Oscar Thoughts

The 86th Academy Awards are now history.  My thoughts and comments.....

• If you go by the numbers, "Gravity", with seven Oscars, was the big winner, but those were all in technical categories but for one, Alphonso Cuaron for Best Director.  The BIG winner, any way you slice it, was "12 Years a Slave" which won for Best Picture, Supporting Actress, and Adapted Screenplay.
• I have not seen "12 Years a Slave", and I am not sure that I have the fortitude to sit through what I know is a very intense and disturbing story.  I suppose that I will make the effort to see this on DVD at some point, but seeing man's inhumanity to man is not my cup of tea.
• I do look forward to seeing "Dallas Buyers Club" to catch the Oscar winning performances of Matthew McConaughey and Jarred Leto.
• One of the big stories of the night was the complete shutout tossed at "American Hustle".  That was a "wow", in my opinion.
• For the most part, the acceptance speeches were short and gracious. One big exception - the performance by the husband-and-wife songwriters who won for Best Original Song.  Talk about an ego driven hey-look-at-us moment.
• I loved Ellen DeGeneres as hostess of the show.  She was funny and transitioned between presenters well.  I even liked her shtick - taking selfies and having pizza delivered - although that no doubt rankled people who take these things way too seriously.
• I thought the show itself moved quickly enough and was entertaining. 
• Enjoyed all four performances of the Best Song nominees.
• I am no fan of the movie "Wizard of Oz", but the song from it, Over the Rainbow, is simply the best song from a movie ever, and Pink's rendition during the Wizard Tribute was great.
• Always enjoy, if that's the right word for it, the "In Memoriam" feature that they do.  I had it wrong.  I figured the last person to be featured, and thus get the long lingering shot, would be Shirley Temple.  Instead, it was Philip Seymour Hoffman, and I have no problem with that.
• Anybody else note how many of The Grandstander's Absent Friends were included on that tribute?
• Loved the shout out that Bill Murray snuck in for Harold Ramis when he was presenting.  Well deserved, but he'll probably get his wrist slapped by the Academy for going off script and doing it.
• The there was an interesting Oscar-contest-within-the-contest-award for Most Horrifying Plastic Surgery.  Despite strong efforts from Goldie Hawn and John Travolta, the Award went easily to 81 year old Kim Novak, and it wasn't even a fair fight.
• It's always neat to see so many big movie stars in one place, but I was also struck by who was NOT there last night.  Perennial stars and attendees - and past Oscar winners - Jack Nicholson, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, and Michael Douglas weren't there, but the two biggest absences were George Clooney and Tom Hanks.  What do you think the deal was with that?  
• In the case of Hanks, I can hazard a guess as to why he decided not to be there.
• Non-winners Martin Scorsese and Sandra Bullock seemed to take their losses the hardest judging by the looks on their faces.

As for my predictions, I had a not-good-not-bad record of 6-4.  I got all four acting awards and the Best Director right, but I missed on the song, both screenplay awards, and Best Picture.  When you miss on the Best Picture, you can't say you had a good night.

I will frame this whole thing by saying that in warming up for the Oscar show, I spent yesterday afternoon watching "Bridge on the River Kwai" on Turner Classic Movies".  This movie won seven Oscars in 1957 including Oscars for Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay.  I don't know how many times I have watched this movie over the years, and yesterday afternoon, I found it to be as compelling, suspenseful, and entertaining, if not more so, than it was the very first time I saw it.  I wonder if, fifty-seven years from now, movie watchers will be able to say the same thing about "12 Years a Slave", "Gravity", or any of the other seven movies nominated for Best Picture last night.