2012 Oscars Live Blog

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 07:26:36 PM EST
Tags: oscars 2012 (all tags)

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The Oscars are about to start. I'm really looking forward to Billy Crystal.

Here's a Cheat Sheet.

Update: Billy Crystal's best line:

“Nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic problems like millionaires handing each other gold statues.”

The skit was good, his singing not so much.

Update: Did Jennifer Lopez have a wardrobe malfunction? AreolaGate! (Added: She says no. Here's what I see: One, Two, Three. You decide.)

JLo's dress is by Zuhair Murad. Cameron Diaz wore Gucci and $800,000 of Tiffany jewelry.

The sound people should be fired, it's really awful. I thought it was my TV, but too many people on Twitter are saying the same thing.

If you loved Gwyneth Paltrow's hair and makeup, here's who did it. It looks better in the photos than it did on TV. I don't like the shoulder bumps on her dress.

An hour and 15 minutes in. Really boring so far. The young guys acting like frat boys who just accepted an award were mute-worthy. Which is probably why I missed their bleep. Did they get rushed off-stage after that or were they done?

In case you missed the Cirque de Soleil performance:

Update: In case you were wondering about the composition of voters for the Academy Awards, the LA Times has the breakdown of the 5,765 members with charts. Only 2% are under 40, 54% are over 60, 94% are white, 77% are male.

Final thoughts: That was a really boring Academy Awards show. I like Billy Crystal, but even he couldn't save it.

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2012 Oscars Live Blog | 48 comments (48 topical)

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Meryl Streep finally wins another Oscar. (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by caseyOR on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:35:29 PM EST

And, as usual, she gives a classy acceptance speech.

I was happy to see that (none / 0) (#15)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:44:47 PM EST

About time


I am in the library queue (none / 0) (#17)
by oculus on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:49:54 PM EST

for "Iron Lady."


I haven't seen it yet either (none / 0) (#19)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:53:03 PM EST

I'll have to see if it is still around here. I know Hugo is gone. sob. Really mad I did not get to it when it first came out.


: The Iron Lady is an okay movie (none / 0) (#22)
by caseyOR on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 11:06:34 PM EST

that features an extraordinary performance by Meryl Streep. That is part of what makes Meryl such a great actress. By virtue of her presence in the cast, a movie's quality is automatically elevated.
She is so very good as Maggie Thatcher that I teared up at one point in the movie. Yes, Meryl Streep made me feel sympathy for Thatcher. That is acting, my friends.
And I was delighted to see Roy Helland win the Oscar for his make-up work with Meryl on The Iron Lady. As Meryl noted in her speech, she and Helland have been together since Sophie's Choice.One of the reasons we find Streep's transformative performances so compelling and believable is the skill of Roy Helland.

As soon as I saw the first trailer for Iron Lady (none / 0) (#27)
by Farmboy on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 09:47:29 AM EST

last year, I thought: Meryl Streep doing an accent? Automatic Oscar nod. However, after all these years I didn't expect her to win.

What I didn't take into consideration was the attraction of prosthetics to the Academy. Just like Kidman's fake nose in 2002, and Close's fake nose nomination this year, evidently pairing an accent with a prosthetic is a plus for the voters.

*For the record, I do think Streep can act - but she has made a career of making the accent part of her role. Even when she plays an American, she plays the part with a voice that is not her own.


: And how fabulous is that! Real acting. (none / 0) (#34)
by rennies on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 12:11:06 PM EST

Not just De Niro as this, as that. A different persona.

It was long but much better than last year. (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by byteb on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:41:24 PM EST

: You mean you don't want James Franco and (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:49:37 PM EST

Anne Hathaway back as hosts?
I liked the stage decor a lot. and the scripting was better. Gotta say Billy Crystal got on my nerves though.

Once again, great disappointment! (5.00 / 2) (#25)
by KeysDan on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 09:36:15 AM EST

Last year Santorum found the Oscars to be a downer: he tuned in to see Franco only to find it was James, and not the General. And, this time around, he was giddy with enthusiastic in anticipation of hearing his favorite, Bill Kristol, only to see Billy Crystal. But he did watch long enough to be scandalized by Angelina's tarted-up gown that revealed not only her well-turned ankle, but also, a lot of leg. After all, sexy can led to sex which can lead to Satan It seemed, Santorum liked nothing he saw--he even found the beautiful Vera Wang confection worn by the lovely Viola Davis to be blah.

yeah! (none / 0) (#1)
by DFLer on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 07:48:33 PM EST

Hugo wins for cinematography and also art direction!

maybe they'll get best pic too....if so well deserved.

: I tried to see it last weekend (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:07:11 PM EST

but the projector broke at the theater so they canceled it. I was so disappointed. Didnt get another chance yet.

: And both sound awards (none / 0) (#7)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:34:06 PM EST

Interesting....

Did Jennifer Lopez ? (none / 0) (#2)
by desertswine on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:03:36 PM EST

That's what I thought too. But I'm too lazy to re-wind to have a closer look.

: Kinda looked that way (none / 0) (#3)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:05:32 PM EST

: I'm a little nervous for Viola Davis (none / 0) (#5)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:09:05 PM EST

I urge limited arm movement there if she gets to accept an award.

: That's criminally lazy d'wine... (none / 0) (#28)
by kdog on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 09:48:11 AM EST

that's an Oscar worthy wardrobe malfunction;)

I haven't noticed a sound problem.... (none / 0) (#6)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:28:04 PM EST

Wow. Cirque du soleil (none / 0) (#8)
by byteb on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:41:17 PM EST

Amazing.

Emma Stone... (none / 0) (#9)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 08:59:22 PM EST

wouldn't have to ask me twice to dance with her.

My friend just texted me- he wants her to present (none / 0) (#18)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:51:37 PM EST

all the awards next year.


: All the awards might be overkill. (none / 0) (#29)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 10:12:46 AM EST

I just hope they don't pair her with a dud like Ben Stiller again.
If she's 5'6", Stiller must be Tom Cruise short.

Can they just leave the camera on (none / 0) (#10)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 09:11:09 PM EST

Branjelina for the rest of the show? Thank you.

Bret! (none / 0) (#11)
by ruffian on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 09:19:04 PM EST

Angelina is truly beautiful but (none / 0) (#12)
by byteb on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 09:28:50 PM EST

Her arms are so, so thin.

The Focus Group Skit (none / 0) (#20)
by shoephone on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 10:59:42 PM EST

with Christopher Guest and his merry band of pranksters was the funniest thing in the entire show, IMO.

And if Jean Du Jardin ever leaves his wife, I'm available.

: It was the funniest (none / 0) (#31)
by ruffian on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 10:45:07 AM EST

Billy Crystal's jokes were mostly lame, I thought.
I did think Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy playing the 'Scorsese' drinking game was pretty funny too.

Nagging question: (none / 0) (#21)
by shoephone on Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 11:05:30 PM EST

WTF was Tom Cruise doing presenting the best picture award? That choice seemed way out of left field to me. I can only assume Scientology threatened the producers of the broadcast.

The show spent a lot of time on commercials, (none / 0) (#23)
by scribe on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 05:14:02 AM EST

cutting away for this and that variety of consumer crap*.

But of all the commentary, I love this lede from the Sueddeutsche Zeitung:
Wieso nur müssen die wichtigsten Filmpreise der Welt in solch langweiligem Ambiente verliehen werden.

Why do the most important film prizes in world have to be awarded in such a boring environment?

* I don't know about your local broadcast, but mine had an ad that was just plain seriously wrong: some outfit selling bridal gowns inspired by the princesses of Disney movies.

I mean, by the time you're supposedly old enough to be married (even though the Rethugs would make things so married and pregnant by 16 returns to being the norm) you're supposed to be over fantasizing about being a Disney princess, right?

And, FWIW, who's going to buy the Little Mermaid line? Kinda hard to walk wearing a fishtail....

: Reminds me, I did not see any fishtail gowns (none / 0) (#24)
by ruffian on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 06:49:01 AM EST

last night. No wonder Capt Howdy was not commenting!
I didn't notice the Disney wedding dress ad here, but maybe I just missed it. there was a big story in the paper about it a few months ago though. Disney themed weddings are big in Orlando, as you can imagine. To me it just shows a lack of imagination - ironic given that you can't go to Disneyworld for 10 minutes without loudspeakers blasting about the 'power of imagination'. Now here, buy all our stuff.
I was thinking about the contrast to Super Bowl ads...not a beer ad in sight, and only a few cars. I prefer the consumer crap, as you call it! That said, one or two of the Ellen Degeneres ads were OK, but they really overkilled that.

Boring and stale (none / 0) (#26)
by jbindc on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 09:38:19 AM EST

They could seriously cut out most of the show and make it last only 2 hours.

The red carpet is all anyone really cares to see anyway.

I think it was stale too (5.00 / 1) (#30)
by ruffian on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 10:43:23 AM EST

Even the perfectly styled wardrobes are losing their appeal for me. Beautiful as they are, I found myself wishing for the 60's-70's shows when I was a kid, when individual style, sometimes horrendous, was more in evidence.


I found myself thinking (none / 0) (#32)
by CST on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 10:51:40 AM EST

The grammy's are so much more interesting.

The clothes, the performances, the unscripted moments, etc...

Hollywood has nothing on musicians for flair.


Barbra Streisand's see-thru suit 1969 Oscars (none / 0) (#35)
by shoephone on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 12:31:35 PM EST

I will never forget that. Such a gasp went up from the crowd when she got on stage to receive her award. My sister and I looked at each other and cracked up. "What the he[[ is that she's wearing??"


: And remember Cher's Oscar outfits? (5.00 / 1) (#47)
by byteb on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 03:37:26 PM EST

The Crystal joke that sums it up for me: (none / 0) (#36)
by jondee on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 02:05:11 PM EST

why, these days, do people wanna watch millionaires give each other golden statues?

And my vote against Streep was a decidedly a vote against that overrated witch Thatcher - not, as Meryl seemed to think, because people are tired of seeing her win awards.

As a lad I delivered a speech by Herbert Hoover (5.00 / 0) (#42)
by Farmboy on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 03:03:38 PM EST

at a high school speech contest. Herbie being an Iowa boy and all, it seemed at the time that choosing a native son for a source rather than the dime-a-dozen Shakespeare monologues others were using was an innovative approach.

All three of the judges wrote in their reviews that I had delivered the speech well. One older woman, however, used the entire front of the review form - and continued onto the back - to castigate me for using a speech by Hoover. My selection had evidently caused her a certain degree of distress by reminding her of what a dreadful man he had been. And while he wasn't an easy target for her displeasure, what with being dead and all, I was readily available as proxy.

I did not advance to the next round of the competition.


Ah, well (none / 0) (#48)
by Zorba on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 04:17:42 PM EST

Some people apparently cannot separate the (interpreted or reconstructed) message from the originator of that speech and/or action. Another case of "shoot the messenger," I suppose.


Treason. pure and simple. (none / 0) (#50)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 06:16:12 PM EST

That's like saying Johnny Carson wasn't funny, John Wayne was a draft dodging wingnut (never mind that he was), Bix Beiderbecke was a lousy musician or Grant Wood couldn't paint.

She should have been tarred and feather on put on a Rock Island freight car headed for Nebraska!

BTW, are your Cyclones going to make the big dance?


: If the 'clones stay close in the last couple games (5.00 / 1) (#52)
by Farmboy on Tue Feb 28, 2012 at 09:49:14 AM EST

- or win 'em - and end up at least second or third in the Big 12 tourney I'd say yes. Their greatest asset is momentum.
However, they aren't nationally ranked, the computer doesn't like them, and they're only fourth in conference rankings. Any missteps and the answer is no.
So at this point I have to say that they're about as bubble as it gets.

You do read and think about (none / 0) (#41)
by jondee on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 02:53:09 PM EST

what someone's attempting to communicate before your hair trigger is tripped right?

I love what Strrep does, but I DO summarily dismiss the idea of wasting money making a movie about and further mythologizing that hack Thatcher. I've seen ironing ladies who had more "iron" in them.


Meryl does seem to (none / 0) (#43)
by jondee on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 03:03:39 PM EST

to be entering a new phase of her career though: playing conservative-authoritarian battle axe types..

Who's next, Jeanne Kirkpatrick? Ilsa Koch?


Riiight. Because if there is one thing (none / 0) (#44)
by caseyOR on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 03:11:26 PM EST

Mama Mia brings instantly to mind it's the phrase "conservative-authoritarian battle axe".


Manchurian Candidate.. (none / 0) (#45)
by jondee on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 03:24:13 PM EST

Lions for Lambs..that Mother Superior role wth Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis (can't think of the film title..)

Mama Mia was just an attempt to immortalize terrible music. Immortalizing mediocrity: maybe that's what connects Mama Mia to the Iron Lady..


: Oh, of god's sake. (5.00 / 0) (#49)
by caseyOR on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 05:14:42 PM EST

A Prairie Home Companion, Adaptation, The Hours, Evening, Julie and Julia, It's Complicated. Not a single conservative authoritarian harpy in the bunch.
By the way, she played a reporter in Lions for Lambs, not a conservative authoritarian harpy.
Over the course of her career, which now spans 5 decades, Meryl Streep has played a broad variety of characters. The only common denominator are that they are women. Many kinds of women from many walks of life.

I haven't seen a single one of these movies (none / 0) (#38)
by CST on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 02:17:18 PM EST

but I was rooting for Michelle Williams. I love that she brought her Dawson's Creek co-star as her date. Yes that was a terrible show, but at this point it's a nostalgic terrible show.

No doubt her day will come though if she keeps picking these roles.

I thought Meryl Streep was both shocked and a little disappointed that she won at first. Like she wanted it for Viola more than herself. Classy lady through and through though.

Um (none / 0) (#46)
by Socraticsilence on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 03:25:38 PM EST

So.....blackface is cool now?!

Gawd Crystal sucked. (none / 0) (#51)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 06:35:22 PM EST