Junto Boys

LIVE BLOGGING THE OSCARS

I was tired after bike riding today. Let's see how long I can go.

OPENING NUMBER:
Hugh Jackman is surprisingly effective in the musical numbers. He’s funny, charming and he makes it look effortless. The songs aren't great, but he commits.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nice montage although they had a curtain malfunction. Why this group of actresses? Saint 1950s, Hawn 1960s, Huston 1980s, Goldberg 1980s and Swinton last year. Why not someone from the 1970s?

Penelope Cruz as expected. She is a lot harder to understand than in movies. It must be the time limit. Trish wonders why she isn’t married. I say she probably doesn’t want to be. Trish says all women want to be married.

BEST SCREEN PLAY

Former host Martin (he was decent) and Fey who is probably on the short list every year. They’re both writers and yet we know their faces.

Original Screenplay – MILK – Rules state that the speech must be about how tough it is to be ______ in America. Fill in the blank with whatever repressive issue your movie is about. Thank God he got out of Texas. Wait. He shouldn't have mentioned the proposition because it was defeated by minority voters. The speech failed to show sensitivity for diverse cultures. Put him on the DO NOT NOMINATE list.

Adapted Screenplay – Slumdog- The speech is about the movie and the people who made it. Screenwriter to be sanctioned by Academy. Ah, but it didn't actually happen in America. Second rule, even if the movie takes place in a literal hell hole, do not mention the fact if its not America's fault.

ANIMATION
Jennifer Aniston and Jack Black. Aniston still doesn't seem fun. Her father was best friends with Kojack, I recently read. Black makes a funny joke about Pixar always winning and Katzenberg laughs. Did he know it was coming? The cameras pick up Pitt/Jolie. That's in bad taste. Let Aniston get on with her life. We get another shot of the pair. They know they're on display. Brad seems to have his hand near his mouth. Bad taste from the producers. They must all be a little uncomfortable and this isn't a tabloid show.

SET DECORATION

Presenting, that’s why Sarah Jessica Parker gets to sit in the second row.

COSTUMES

The Duchess. Makes sense. Period piece is more sewing.

MAKEUP

It has to be Button. Not that it didn’t look like makeup.
Yeah, Button wins. The winner should be for whoever makes up Anne Hathaway. She is always a shade of eyeliner from beautiful to homely and vice versa.

MONTAGE OF LOVE FILMS
I haven’t seen but a few of these. Not earthshaking.

9:30pm Now:

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Portman and Stiller. Funny joke by Stiller as Jaquin Phoenix in beard. He looks like him too. Portman is equally charming. I would guess its Slumdog's night. Yeah, they're going to rack up a cart full of them.

9:42pm -Seth Rogan film. Kind of dull.
Now they are going to present. . . LIVE ACTION SHORT
These were on Sundance today, but I couldn't see them. The winner comes all the from the cheap seats, because you have to have Sarah Jessica Parker breathing down their necks. You love to see the regular people win things. They seem happy to be there. No grievances to air.

9:52pm More Jackman. He's likable in a way few American hosts are. No snarky comments. Amazing that the same guy plays such a hardass Wolverine. He really can act. Okay, I'm tired of the musical number after 60 seconds. Can't we use this time for Mickey Rourke to thank his dogs by name? Beyonce sings AT LAST, and I remember Etta James knocking her a few weeks ago for it. She sounds fine, but the song ends after two words. I still don't want to see MAMA MIA.

10:01pm - I like seeing highlights from old winners, especially the humble ones.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger is a mortal lock according to the rags. Let's build the suspense anyway. Hoffman is nominated again. An actor that continues to impress. He was so good in Charlie Wilson's war I wish the movie had been about his character. Josh Brolin suddenly gets work 20 years after Goonies. I wish Robert Downey would win. I'm so glad that he is back. Amazing in the Ben Stiller thing. Great in everything. Michael Shannon I don't know. Revolutionary Road looks like the typical tear the walls off quiet America and you find pain and misery.

LEDGER - - Who is going to accept? His Parents. That's nice. But they have to sit next to the exits. They have to start a second entrance song. The janitor is sweeping up by the time they reach the stage. His father speaks eloquently. His mother does too. The sister too. It makes you glad he won. Sarah Jessica Parker is scaring the band.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

BILL MAHER? Why because of that atheist movie that no one saw?
MAN ON WIRE was great. I haven't seen the Herzog. MAN ON WIRE makes sense. TROUBLE IN WATER would have won if McCain won the election.

SHORT SUBJECT

Smile Pinky. You figure she must have spent every dime on the dress. Another regular person. She doesn't get invited to the after parties or if she does she sits on the couch next to Flounder.

10:23pm - Post Production -- Car chase montage

Will Smith gets to present alone. VISUAL EFFECTS

They all look impressive. Button, I bet. Yeah, I'm right. They take the subway to the stage. He thanks his wife Roma and his kids. The other winner's kids miss out because of the time limit.

SOUND EDITING
Dark Knight beats Slumdog. What's the difference between Sound Editing and Sound? Doesn't good sound include good sound editing?

SOUND MIXING
Ah they changed the name of SOUND to SOUND MIXING to address that complaint. It still seems like the same thing really. Slumdog back on top. The moral of the Oscar story is do technical work on a film that captures the public imagination. You never hear anyone say, "I was going to vote for Bejamin Button for best picture but they blew the sound mixing. Slumdog all the way." I liked Slumdog, but does it really have the best sound mixing of any film from 2008?

FILM EDITING
Now slumdog did a good job here. Editing was a big part of it. The way they revealed all the clues in between his beatings. Will Smith picks up co-hosting credit on this section.

10:41 - Eddie Murphy with the "Entertainer" playing in the background.
Jerry Lewis receives Jean Hershholt Award and it's well deserved. I thought Jerry Lewis was funny when I was a kid, but I can't really watch it anymore. John and I use to try and stay up with Jerry, but we never made it past 3am and then we paid for it all week at school. Jerry Lewis was such a jerk in KING OF COMEDY, he should have won the Oscar for that. Ah, the Nutty Professor is the link that binds Murphy to Lewis. Standing O. Nice Speech. He should have won this award 20 years ago. What took so long?

10:50pm - Zach Effron and Alicia Keyes. Who are they? Trish says that I show my age. I have heard of Keyes, but I have never seen her. Effron turns out to be a High School musical actor.
SCORE - Slumdog Millionaire. Obama Administration passes luxury tax on any movie that wins more than two Oscars. He hopes it will pay for limos to get the rest of the people to the Vanity Fair party.

BEST SONG
Will the two Slumdog songs cancel each other out? Doesn't Bruce Spingsteen have a song in the Wrestler that won a Golden Globe? Didn't they use to have 5 nominees? Maybe they grew tired of having to present that many. Okay, I hope the third song wins from Slumdog. I remember it from the movie. It wins. Obama Administration sending in peacekeeping troops.

11:05pm - Hugh Jackman has class
Liam Neeson and the beautiful girl from Slumdog
FOREIGN FILM - Departures. Adding it to the Netflix cue. Nice speech that got the point across despite the language barrier.

11:11 Queen Latifah singing "I'll be seeing you" over the obit montage. She does a nice job, but I would rather see the montage full screen. Heston and Newman in one year. I didn't know some of the character actors had died. Pat Hingle was a surprise. I don't think I heard about James Whitmore either. He was great in Shawshank, but I always think of Miracle Grow.

11:17pm Reece Witherspoon cute as usual. The perpetual teenager.
DIRECTING - Will Danny Boyle win them both or will there be a surprise? No surprise. The British speak better than we do. They seem to say more with fewer words. Nice speech without all the phony emotion that we're use to.

Only drama left is whether Rourke or Penn wins Best Actor. I can't imagine Kate Winslet not winning.

11:24pm
BEST ACTRESS - It's always good to see Sophia Loren. Shirley McClain is another legend. I read online that they did the multiple preseters because they didn't think last year's winners were glamorous enough on their own. Cotaird and Berry and Kidman all won for looking less beautiful than normal. Yeah, Winslet wins. No surprises tonight. She spoke well.

BEST ACTOR - Deniro, Kingsley, Hopkins, Brody, Douglas - No Daniel Day Lewis -
Penn is a surprise. He just won a few years ago. Rourke's dogs turn off the TV. Penn is funny about his image. He saves the grandstanding until the end. A nice shout out for Rourke. Penn won the award for being a Dixie Chick, didn't he? Even he knows it and feels bad for Rourke.

SPIELBERG ON FOR BEST PICTURE - No Commercial for 30 minutes
AMC had all 5 movies showing yesterday for $30. A few years ago I would have done it. I have only seen Slumdog. . . and it wins as expected.

Overall, Jackman is fine. I like the idea of having a regular actor instead of a typical host.

I have a lot of movies to catch up on.

Oh, yeah they didn't have a lifetime achievement award. Has Redford ever won for lifetime achievement?