Weird. That’s how the show felt to me watching on TV. Now I’m a HUGE fan of sexy Hugh Jackman but I want to see him in films, half-naked, not on stage running about looking out of breath. The stage dripped with white sparkle, on chandeliers, around the stage, and glowing light from the floor. But this elegant and sophisticated set would be chopped up for the home-spun opening number and various behind-the-scenes moments where exposed rafters and shabby backstage dressing could be seen. And they also stepped the stage right down into the audience with a center circle section of elite celebs seemingly a sub-leveled tier of the main stage. Hugh and performers would often come out into the audience as if this were a production of Hair or Lion King. Strange contrast to the glitzy setting and slick style when introduction acting categories with long scenes hiding hidden guests. So was this a compromise with the high-brow and low-brow production staff? The result was a mixed mash of lovely Hollywood glamor forced into a shotgun marriage with the community theater guy, a sort of theatrical Green Acres of mayhem. Hugh started out with a musical medley tribute to the films nominated made sillier with stage props last ween at P.S. 124's end-of-school parent's pageant. Sure, the little Frost/Nixon song with Anne Hathaway. To contrast this Hyde vignette with it's Jekyll counterpart, they solicited Baz Luhrmann to design and choreograph an over-the-top Busby Berkeley number. Was that train-wreck set up merely to appease Baz for not nominating his bloated but beautiful Australia for anything? Or was it to include a horrible Beyonce performance (never thought I’d say those words together) and the two High School Musical kids to bring in the younger audience? Since the Academy never announced presenters or performers, it would be bad marketing to include youth-appealing talent without promoting such inclusion beforehand. Luckily Queen Latifah was able to bring back some sophistication and talent back when she sang I'll Be Seeing You during the obligatory In Memoriam montage. Now she can sing!
I miss the humor. Yes, there was the fabulous Ben Stiller impression of Joaquin Phoenix but when we could hear the audience laughter we couldn't see what he was doing - drifting aimlessly around the stage as Natalie Portman read the nominees. I chuckled, barely, at the basement commentary during the Comedy montage, but why all the montages? They wouldn’t give poor Peter Gabriel even a minute for his Wall-E song so he bowed out. Instead we got bloated musical dance wreckage, blabbering Hugh getting into the audience and sitting on Frank Langella’s lap, and Jack Black making fun of Dreamworks vs. Pixar films. Not even Tina Fey and Steve Martin were funny! So sad.
I guess in a small way I could enjoy the strangeness. Like what the hell was up with Sophia Loren? She was posed, right hand on hip, as if she were a Madame Tussauds figure. At least her wax version would have looked more alive. And I could hear the production folks barking to open the curtains while Meryl Streep's work was splashed on curtains for a sustained duration. And during the 'passed away' clips, the camera gusy didn't know whether to focus on the screens or Ms. Latifah singing so many of the deceased's names went by, unreadable since the projections were background or too small in camera frame to be understandable. Was the production booth high? Were the camera folks drunk?
During the whole show, I only noticed one truly smart camera and production choice - the shot moving from a focused frame of a teary-eyed Robin Wright-Penn pulling focus back to a right-sided profile of Sean at the podium right before his acceptance. Beautiful. Now if they'd only hire me, they'd get more emotion and humanity out of the show instead of just one shot of it.
So after sitting through all 5+ hours, was it worth it? No. But at least I heard DeNiro’s touching remarks about Sean Penn and Sean’s wonderful acceptance speech. Thank god the more rebellious spirits, harking back to Marlon, Tim and Susan, still are alive in Holleywood and not afraid to use the podium for a good cause. Thank you commie, homo-loving sons of guns Academy members. You got one vote right.
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