(Review originally written at 8 March 2010)
For me, "The 82nd Annual Academy Awards" will mostly remembered by because of two things; it was one of the ceremonies with the most predictable winners of all time and it was one of the worst Oscar shows ever televised.
I must say I'm really disappointed overall with the evening. I mean, this is the Oscar's, the biggest and most important movie award show of all time but however nothing about this evening felt big or important.
Because of the constant dropping number of viewers, the Academy once more decided on a different approach. This was most apparent with the fact that for the first time since 1944, 10 pictures got nominated for the best picture award. But also with the show itself they tried out some new things. Here is what they did; they got rid of of basically everything that was surrounding the actual handing out of the awards. No real musical intermezzo's and just one pathetic montage. Also the main host of the evening were given very little to do in between. They thought that in order to make the overall show better was by given it more pace, with basically trowing everything that made some the previous years shows so great to watch. It all felt extremely rushed, which also made it all very awkward and unpleasant to watch. In theory and on paper it of course all seemed like a good idea to get people involved who worked on faster paced and popular other award shows, also to connect more to the younger audiences. This only just seemed good in theory though.
To me it seemed like they had cut down the number of people being involved behind the screens of the show by halve. There is really no creativity with the show, also not with the writing. I'm sorry but the comical dialog for Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, the main presenters of the evening, were lame beyond the extreme. There also was nothing edgy or controversial about the whole evening because of the lack of any political jokes and statements made this year. It was a very safe show. I have also never seen so many things go wrong, directing-wise. I'm not even talking about the breaking down of the auto-cue at the beginning but more about the constant fact that you saw people who were working behind the scenes of the show walking around in basically every shot.
It also all really gave me the feeling that the show got put together by a bunch of people who aren't even too involved with movies and just don't care much about it. All they seemed interested in was to keep the show going, without any real respect to the movies of this year and that out of the past. Only one montage is far too less for the most important evening for movies and those who love movies. The montage was one that was supposed to pay homage to the horror genre but the montage, was like the entire evening, such a predictable and safe one. It was as if they said to a kid; find out what the 20 best known horror pictures are and the most iconic scenes within them. So all we have is the usual line-up, without the classic movies that truly influenced and changed the genre.
And well about the actual winners of the evening, it was nothing surprising. The acting categories all went to the winner that were predicted and expected. Best picture could had either gone to "Avatar" or the "The Hurt Locker" and best director to either James Cameron or his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow but either way it would had gone, it wouldn't had been a big surprise for anyone. I don't make a too big deal out of it that Bigelow is the first female to have won for best director and I also don't exactly see this as a turning point in cinematic history. Regardless of sex, political views, sexual preference or ethnicity, the best one should always win and in my opinion the Oscar's have always done this throughout the years.
Of course there were still some positive things, such as the king of B-movies, Roger Corman, receiving a lifetime Academy Award (though this got also REALLY pushed to the background) and the whole tribute part to John Hughes. In my opinion Hughes also really earned this, since he was one of the few, if not only directors, who could connect so well to teenagers and their real struggles with his movies and stories. One of the greatest and most underrated directors out of modern movie history and now that he is gone you start to actually realize this all the more.
So next year different presenters, different writers, a different director and some more creativity, humor and show element please. This year was quite bad and uninteresting not because as much because of its predictable wins but more because of the way the entire evening got presented as a rushed, disrespectful and not enjoyable or entertaining evening for the the overall movie industry itself and more importantly the lovers of it.
4/10
For me, "The 82nd Annual Academy Awards" will mostly remembered by because of two things; it was one of the ceremonies with the most predictable winners of all time and it was one of the worst Oscar shows ever televised.
I must say I'm really disappointed overall with the evening. I mean, this is the Oscar's, the biggest and most important movie award show of all time but however nothing about this evening felt big or important.
Because of the constant dropping number of viewers, the Academy once more decided on a different approach. This was most apparent with the fact that for the first time since 1944, 10 pictures got nominated for the best picture award. But also with the show itself they tried out some new things. Here is what they did; they got rid of of basically everything that was surrounding the actual handing out of the awards. No real musical intermezzo's and just one pathetic montage. Also the main host of the evening were given very little to do in between. They thought that in order to make the overall show better was by given it more pace, with basically trowing everything that made some the previous years shows so great to watch. It all felt extremely rushed, which also made it all very awkward and unpleasant to watch. In theory and on paper it of course all seemed like a good idea to get people involved who worked on faster paced and popular other award shows, also to connect more to the younger audiences. This only just seemed good in theory though.
To me it seemed like they had cut down the number of people being involved behind the screens of the show by halve. There is really no creativity with the show, also not with the writing. I'm sorry but the comical dialog for Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, the main presenters of the evening, were lame beyond the extreme. There also was nothing edgy or controversial about the whole evening because of the lack of any political jokes and statements made this year. It was a very safe show. I have also never seen so many things go wrong, directing-wise. I'm not even talking about the breaking down of the auto-cue at the beginning but more about the constant fact that you saw people who were working behind the scenes of the show walking around in basically every shot.
It also all really gave me the feeling that the show got put together by a bunch of people who aren't even too involved with movies and just don't care much about it. All they seemed interested in was to keep the show going, without any real respect to the movies of this year and that out of the past. Only one montage is far too less for the most important evening for movies and those who love movies. The montage was one that was supposed to pay homage to the horror genre but the montage, was like the entire evening, such a predictable and safe one. It was as if they said to a kid; find out what the 20 best known horror pictures are and the most iconic scenes within them. So all we have is the usual line-up, without the classic movies that truly influenced and changed the genre.
And well about the actual winners of the evening, it was nothing surprising. The acting categories all went to the winner that were predicted and expected. Best picture could had either gone to "Avatar" or the "The Hurt Locker" and best director to either James Cameron or his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow but either way it would had gone, it wouldn't had been a big surprise for anyone. I don't make a too big deal out of it that Bigelow is the first female to have won for best director and I also don't exactly see this as a turning point in cinematic history. Regardless of sex, political views, sexual preference or ethnicity, the best one should always win and in my opinion the Oscar's have always done this throughout the years.
Of course there were still some positive things, such as the king of B-movies, Roger Corman, receiving a lifetime Academy Award (though this got also REALLY pushed to the background) and the whole tribute part to John Hughes. In my opinion Hughes also really earned this, since he was one of the few, if not only directors, who could connect so well to teenagers and their real struggles with his movies and stories. One of the greatest and most underrated directors out of modern movie history and now that he is gone you start to actually realize this all the more.
So next year different presenters, different writers, a different director and some more creativity, humor and show element please. This year was quite bad and uninteresting not because as much because of its predictable wins but more because of the way the entire evening got presented as a rushed, disrespectful and not enjoyable or entertaining evening for the the overall movie industry itself and more importantly the lovers of it.
4/10
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