On the Soapbox

I think this is the first time I've watched an entire Oscars from start to end. There were a lot of funny moments, like the opening sequence with the guys in the tent, Steve Martin's children, and the host in bed with Clooney. And there was the Cheney joke. And shooting Tom Hanks with a tranquilizer after attacking him with a violin. And the montage where they showed scenes out of context from old Westerns so that they looked very gay. Etc.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see Crash win, although it's not because I have seen the movie (I haven't; though two people have personally recommended it before tonight, so it's definitely near the top of my to-watch list). It was simply nice to be surprised for the sake of surprise. That and the fact that there has been so much talk about Brokeback Mountain in the mainstream media that it was just nice to hear about something else for a change.

My only disappointment was that Good Night, and Good Luck didn't win anything in any of the categories. I personally thought that this movie was one of the best displays of political principles and values, and I was also rooting for David Strathairn, who often works with and who owes his film debut to John Sayles (I'm a fan of Sayles).

And then there were the not-so-well veiled attempts to get people back to the theatres, which included a couple of attacks against DVDs that were carried out with nary an ounce of finesse and a shameless plug for the theatre experience by the Academy president. Right. Most of the montages were not very entertaining (esp. since they omitted Doohan and Piller but included a number of technical support type people in the memorial montage; yea, I know, I'm a Trekkie, but it has nevertheless done its share in terms of cultural influence), and the time given to speeches seemed inconsistent. Reese Witherspoon rambled for a very long time, while a number of other speeches (including the surprise Best Picture speech) had the microphone abruptly cut off when the time was up, which was a bit annoying.

Best moment: when commenting on movie piracy, Jon Stewart points to the audience and says something to the effect that pirates are the reason why the female stars can't afford to buy dresses that have enough material to fully cover them up.