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This year SHOWBUZZDAILY live-blogged the ceremony. We’ll have round-up pieces later tonight and tomorrow, but read below for the minute-by-minute feel of the experience as it happened–
8:35PM: But the fun couldn’t last, and with the suspense so thin you could cut it with a straw, THE ARTIST takes its prize. And the friggin dog is up there too. He may not have a statuette, but Harvey Weinstein was the night’s MVP. And a show as uninspired as its victor has come to an end. Maybe next year…
8:30PM: One can’t help but feel bad for Viola Davis, who may have a steep climb to get back to being an Oscar frontrunner. But one also can’t begrudge Meryl Streep, not just the Best Actress of her generation but one who’s been due for the past few years. And one of the night’s best and most heartfelt speeches, too.
8:20PM: Here’s the question, not meant snarkily. In 5 years, will the name “Jean DuJardin” mean any more than the name “Roberto Benigni” meant 5 years after his win?
8:10PM: They’d better not keep running these pointless movie-star montages and then cut off the Actor/Actress/Picture winner for speaking too long.
8:05PM: It’s DEAD PEOPLE TIME! No offense, but isn’t using “What A Wonderful World” for bittersweet sentiment one of the all-time musical cliches at this point? (Along with “Hallelujah”). Of course LIz Taylor was the montage anchor. In any case, get ready for the angry tweets about who’s been overlooked.
7:55PM: The people from THE ARTIST are all so charming and likable that I just wish they’d made a better movie.
7:45PM: The Short categories are a good time to note that the show so far has been admirably brisk but completely unmemorable. And no one can accuse the Academy of pandering to the youth audience.
7:37PM: In that last montage, Adam Sandler looked like he was wearing a
tallis. I’m just saying.
7:35PM: The Woodman, still himself at 75. Play that clarinet, Woody.
7:30PM: If HUGO were going to shock anyone tonight, it needed to win Adapted Script. It didn’t, so probably things will go as preordained.
7:15PM: THE ARTIST takes award #2, not a surprise since by it’s nature, the picture is wall-to-wall music. Also, maybe time for Billy to retire that “What They’re Really Thinking” bit.
7:05PM: Christopher Plummer had months to craft a gracious, lovely acceptance speech, and that’s exactly what he delivered.
6:55PM: Wow, Ben Stiller is short. And by the way, that’s 5 Oscars for HUGO.
6:50PM: Very quietly, RANGO may be one of the most avant-garde films ever to win a major Oscar.
6:45PM: People fixate on THE ARTIST, but the real sign of how good Harfvey Weinstein is at this is in the smaller categories: he’s taken Make-Up for IRON LADY, and now Documentary for UNDEFEATED.. But that Downey/Paltrow bit must have sounded much funnier in the writers room.
6:40PM: THAT was the big Cirque du Soleil number? Take away the film clips in the background and it was a clip from any of their 5000 Vegas floor-shows.
6:30PM: HUGO takes its 3d and 4th Oscars–all below the line, but still a nice haul..
6:25PM: Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first genuine upset: nobody thought DRAGON TATTOO was going to win Best Editing. Does it mean anything? Probably not, but at least it’s not an ARTIST sweep.
6:20PM: The Chris Guest rep company sketch on focus groups is awfully inside baseball.
6:15PM: Standing ovation for Octavia Spencer, a feel-good winner who richly deserves the award.
6:07PM: Not all the Foreign Language nominees have opened in the US, but hard to believe any could be better than A SEPARATION. Classy speech, too.
6:05PM: They’re going to give out a major award at some point, right? Not that it isn’t nice to know that movie stars have gone to movies too. (It would be more fun if they talked about the last time they saw one that wasn’t in a private screening room.)
6PM: Consider the make-up award to THE IRON LADY a tutorial for whoever screwed up J EDGAR so badly.
5:55PM: THE ARTIST takes its first, order has been restored to the universe.
5:50PM (PST): No, the 1st 2 awards for HUGO probably don’t mean anything. But at least they’ll keep things interesting for a while.
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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