Monday, February 25, 2008

Post Oscar, Posthaste

I saw two movies that were nominated for Oscars this year: "Ratatouille" and "No Country for Old Men." Both won. Gosh, I wish I had been in an Oscar pool!

All I have to say about last night's show is this:

1. I am so psyched Diablo Cody won for writing "Juno." She is the ultimate in outsider: a blogger who worked as a stripper to make money and gain life experience and I loved her speech. She looked like she had practiced that speech a million times, never expecting to actually use it and then when she did, she had nothing left to say and looked like she was going to puke on her way off the stage. That's the person you want to win.

2. I wish Cate Blanchett had won for either of the roles she was nominated for, as Dylan or Queen Elizabeth. She is one of my very favorite actresses (although I love Tilda Swinton too and am glad for her as well). I believe Cate was robbed of her gold statuette years ago when Gwyneth Paltrow took it for "Shakespeare in Love."

3. Jon Stewart is a funny guy but he ain't no Billy Crystal or Ellen DeGeneres. I would love to see Ellen back again. She is quick on her feet, clever, incisive without being offensive and very, very funny.


4. Yay, Daniel Day-Lewis!

and finally...

5. I wish the writers had ended their strike just a tad bit earlier so they could have gone to work on the Oscar show a little sooner. With so little time to put it all together, the jokes were kind of underdeveloped, the banter between the presenters undererhearsed and the producers relied on wayyyyy too many montages and vocal performances. In all, it was a pretty forgettable show.

For the complete list of winners, go here.

Your Hollywood connection,
Leigh