Oscar Wrap-up 2005

Chris Rock hosts the 77th annual Academy Awards.

Eric:
First time host, Chris Rock opened the show with a few Bush bashing jokes. He called Tim Robbins’s politics boring, John Travolta, "Oprah’s favorite white man." and Jeremy Irons a "comedy superstar." Although, my favorite line of his was, "Sit your asses down." However, the joke with him and Adam Sandler pretending Catherine Zeta Jones is a no show fell flat.

What really impressed me was the quickness of the show. Having the nominees already gathered on the stage during the presentation was a great idea. As was having some presenters stand in the aisle. Eliminating some walks to the stage seemed to move things along at a brisker pace than usual.

Blanchet’s acceptance speech was emotional as well as historical. She thanked her husband as well as Katharine Hepburn. She noted that it was an honor to get an award from the academy for playing a person whom the academy knew well. Referring to the fact that Hepburn has won 4 Oscar wins.

Scott:
Poor Martin Scorsese! Not to take anything away from Clint Eastwood, whose Million Dollar Baby was deserving of awards, but Marty just can't catch a break. After a lifetime of achievement, Scorsese still can't snag the golden statue. In fact, it's starting to look as if the only Oscar he might ever get will be for lifetime achievement.

Chris Rock as host was funny, but too political. Yes, Hollywood is liberal, and I'm sure they enjoyed the Bush bashing, but the jokes felt out of place. However, sanctimonious Sean Penn needs to have a sense of humor transplant so that he can learn to laugh, since he made pointed remarks to Rock about who Jude Law was, in response to Rock's earlier jokes about Law appearing in every movie.

Personally, I thought it was insulting to give some awards away in the audience. If they're giving you an Oscar, the very least they can do is give you the honor of appearing on stage. Gather the nominees on stage if you want to save time, but at least allow the winners a chance to give their acceptance speech on stage.

And speaking of time savers, why do they still insist upon performing all of the nominated songs? They cut the clips of the Best Picture nominees this year, which was good, so why not cut the songs as well? All that was accomplished with their performance this year was to show how hot Beyonce is right now.

Patrick:
I agree that Chris Rock was funny. He brought a sense of the new millenium but also kept the proper sense of Oscar Tradition. A good first time job that hopefully won't be his last.

Unlike Scott I actually missed the Best Picture nominee clips. But then I am one of the few people who never minds when the show runs long. I mean it is the Oscars after all and it only happens once a year.

The tribute to Johnny Carson was nicely done, as was the annual In Memoriam montage. As a sucker for old time Hollywood it was nice to see Mickey Rooney in attendance. He won a special Oscar way back in 1940 and has probably attended more ceremonies than any other star.

The highlight of the evening, of course, was seeing Mr. and Mrs. Focker present the Best Picture Award. Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand were a delight. They reminded us just how much chemistry they have together and hopefully they will reunite for another movie soon.

All in all a memorable night at the Oscars.