Oscars 2010: Kind of Weird

Last night I dreamt that I wrote a quick Oscar recap. It began, "The evening was full of young stars just starting out and old stars we were relieved to know were still alive." of course, in my dream, the show had featured Todd Bridges and Art Garfunkel, as opposes to the higher-profile (but still strangely chosen) celebrities the real show featured.

Last night, why did Kathy Bates, Keanu Reeves, and Ryan Reynolds each come out to talk about one of the Best Picture nominees? Why did James Taylor sing a Beatles song? I'm not complaining, the choices just seem a little odd. Maybe names were drawn from a hat?

I am, of course, ignoring the biggest shock of the evening. I'm not talking about the thrills of awarding the first screenwriting Oscar ever won by an African American (Geoffrey Forrester for Precious) and the first directing award won by a woman (Kathryn Bigelow of The Hurt Locker ;) and the odd speeches that followed. No, I don't mean the lady from "Music by Prudence" weirdly interrupting the first guy's speech with an insult before taking over. Or the fact that hosts Baldwin and Martin (really a funny duo, why didn't they do two hosts sooner?) getting away with calling Sarah Jessica Parker a "whore" and a "horse" simultaneously (it was a TelePrompTer gag surrounding the term "clothes horse". For me, the shock of the evening was that I suddenly LOVE Sandra Bullock. She gave a speech that included jokes, kudos, and a few tears all at once. It was kind of the highlight of the evening.

Weird, right?!

Comments

[Eitan]

All of the Best Picture presenters had some unique connection to the film, filmmaker, or the actors in the film. Kathy Bates presented Avatar because she was in Titanic. Keanu Reeves presented The Hurt Locker because he was in Point Break. And Ryan Reynolds presented The Blind Side because he was Sandra Bullock's co-star in The Proposal. One of the best parts of the night for me was pinpointing the rationale behind each pick. Probably the most obscure one was Colin Firth presenting An Education... because he was in another Nick Hornby movie, Fever Pitch. Weird! I also like the fact that they dragged out Charlize Theron out to talk about District 9, simply because she's South African. Well played, Academy!

[Marissa]

Wow, what a great observation! I'm willing to believe, cynically, that it WAS totally random, and that those similarities are just a result of the whole Six-Degrees/Kevin Bacon phenomenon, BUT... you are probably right. I was so distracted by the deadpan delivery most of them applie to their speeches that I didn't even stop to think about those details. :)

[Eitan]

Inglourious Basterds was presented by John Travolta, who was in Pulp Fiction.
Up was presented by Samuel L. Jackson, who was in The Incredibles.
Up in the Air was presented by Jason Bateman, who was, uh, in the movie.
A Serious Man was presented by Jeff Bridges, who was in The Big Lebowski.
District 9 was actually presented by Chris Pine, who was in the other big summer sci-fi blockbuster.
and Precious was presented by Charlize Theron, for some reason, god knows what. Now that I'm remembering them all right, that was clearly the only stumper of the night.