Well, it seems like, while we disagree strongly on your middle points, we pretty much agree on the first and last: Sorkin's speech sucked, and the show was not particularly worse than usual. The only one of the middle points I would try to persuade you to change your mind on is Douglas, who I thought was hilarious and subversive, and sharper and with better timing than most of the younger people on the stage.
On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 1:38 AM, Dave Sikula <[email protected]> wrote: > If I may be the voice of sanity ... > > On Feb 27, 10:56 pm, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I only saw Social Network Friday, so it is fresh in my mind, but Sorkin's > > script kicked ass. I don't think any award was more clearly deserved > tonight > > than his (well, maybe Toy Story III as best animated film). Sadly his > speech > > sucked. > > I think my anti-Sorkin bona fides are well established here. I think > he's glib and smart, but with no ability to write for character, and I > thought his shout-out to Chaefsky,while heartfelt, was the acme of > hubris. > > > Maybe next year they will get Steve Carell to host > > the Oscars - this year the goal was not to be funny or even entertaining, > > but pleasant - and they succeeded. > > What the Oscars needs is a host who combines authority with humor, and > those figures are few. As much as I like Carell, he lacks that > combination. Who does? I have no idea, nor does the Academy. > > >I really liked the way The Dude addressed > > the Best Actress nominees - authoritative and affectionate at the same > > time. Sadly Bullock lacked any gravitas, and her comments seemed more > > trivializing than underlining. > > I felt exactly the opposite. As much as I hated the group hug of the > past two years, this was even worse. Bridges' material came off to me > as stuff a high school drama teacher would write in his students' > yearbooks, and Bullock, while too informal, at least came off as a > real person. > > > Highlight speech: The director of the short (was it doc or live action) > who > > had the "I should have got a hair cut" line, and Randy Newman, and of > > course, in a performance that I had trouble identifying the rehearsed and > ad > > libbed elements of, 94 year old Kirk Douglas. > > Douglas is a legend with a unquestioned history of great performances. > He has shown nothing but bravery and perseverance in recovering from > his stroke. It is also time for him to retire. > > All in all, it was a dreadful Oscarcast, but in the continuum of these > things, no worse than usual. > > --Dave Sikula > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
