Even though it probably was the least suspenseful Academy Awards ceremony in many years, I stayed up far too long to watch it. I’ll join in the bandwagon:
• I like Alec Baldwin and I like Steve Martin, but they sucked as hosts last night. They were unfunny, and almost made we wish for David Letterman.
• I’m glad for Jeff Bridges, one of the most underrated actors around. I think he was the best movie president ever in “The Contender,” and I’m sure he’s fine in “Crazy Heart,” but I feel like I’ve seen this before: old, down and out country-western singer finds love. Besides not liking country music, wasn’t that the same scenario for Robert Duvall in “Tender Mercies?” How about Clint Eastwood in “Honky-tonk Man?” Been there; done that; got a copy of the t-shirt.
• Think Mo’nique was pissed? How about her comment about being glad academy members voted for the performance, not the politics? I guess she hasn’t been going glad handing all over Hollywood and elsewhere (like Bridges, who was omnipresent over the past few weeks), and why should she (or anyone else for that matter)? The performance is the performance and if it’s good, it should get recognized, especially if it has been nominated already.
• Speaking of lobbying, the producer of Best Picture winner “The Hurt Locker” was banned from last night’s ceremony because he sent out e-mails lobbying for his film over “Avatar.” I’m 1,000% certain that he isn’t the first person to go out and lobby for an Academy Award, I think it’s just that he got caught. You need cooperation from phone companies to get records of phone calls, but e-mails leave a trail.
• I have the blu-ray of “The Hurt Locker,” but I haven’t seen it yet. I did see “Avatar” and the story was “Dances with the N’avi” but the spectacle was tremendous. And of course, director James Cameron and Hurt Locker director Katheryn Bigelow were married at one time. I’m happy for her – she made some very good films like “Near Dark” before falling out of the Hollywood mix, and I’m sure that Cameron (who has his “Titanic” Oscar) would rather have the $1 billion in ticket sales for his movie.
• I don’t wish to see the Best Documentary “The Cove” about Japanese fishermen slaughtering dolphins. It may be a more important film, but since I was at the world Premiere of “The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” and got to meet and speak with Dr. Ellsberg, I was rooting for that film.