I am not surprised to be in the minority on this, but a little push-back against the Compact Majority:
1. Marin is repeating a complaint on Twitter that simply is not true. They did have clips for; they never have clips for all or even most categories. I guess the biggest difference was for the acting categories, which they sometimes, but not always have. 2. It’s odd to hear people criticize it for being too small; COVID restrictions are such that I would have thought the main critique would be it was too big. The comparison should be with the Zoom based award shows of the last 4 months, not the traditional shows of the past. A live band was precluded by health safeguards, for example, which did not dictate but added to the decision to move the songs to the pre-show (I think most of them pre-recorded). Again, I thin keeping in mind the many limitations, they did a fantastic job. 3. I’m surprised people seem to miss the big production numbers and lame presenter patter, since for me this is always the worst part of the show. Clearly the worst part of last night was the one comedy bit they did try. 4. Award shows are about the acceptance speeches, that’s what they are about, thats what I like about them. If you don’t like them then yes, I can see why you don’t like the Oscars. I think Soderbergh thought it would be a good idea to have the presenters comments be a way of sharing something personal about each nominee, which does sound good in the abstract, but in principle was longish and kind of boring. I would do less of that, and bring back the style where they have 3 professional comics come out and do 3 min each through the show to add some humor. 5. I like the movies. I like in particular Oscar type movies, which is to say middle brow films that are not quite art but aim for artistic entertainment. (I also watch my share of higher brow films, but rarely enjoy them as much, and lower brow films, but rarely enjoy thinking about them after as much. I grew up in Southern California, and while not connected to the film industry I grew up with the children of lots of famous and not so famous actors, and hair stylists and editors and whatever, and I am interested in what they do, the people who do it with them, and the end result. I don’t watch the Oscars for a production that resembles is a bad movie version of itself, but to appreciate and celebrate the craft of movie making. On Mon, 26 Apr 2021 at 11:44 AM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > From Marc Maron’s WTF email newsletter: > > I will say that this year’s Oscars seemed like the most honest ceremony in > years. Because of the limitations and the choices that were made by the > producer Stephen Soderbergh to make it intimate and sparse it came off as > small. It felt like an in-house corporate awards ceremony that could be > taking place at a hotel ballroom. It looked like the people who were there > stopped by before they were going somewhere else. There was nothing on the > tables, no real audience, no clips, no comedy, no songs, no dancing, no > pomp and circumstance or big celebrity presence. It seemed egalitarian and > boring but human. This year’s Oscars make the argument to never televise > them again. > > Maybe what we have learned during this last year is that some > institutions need to be salvaged and saved and some no longer serve the > common good or interest or they just need to be what they are. It seemed > that the scope and tone of this years Oscars matched their cultural > relevance. Though I was happy to see diversity on all levels was being > recognized. Attempted egalitarianism. Humanity sans the pomp and song and > dance. > > On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 9:05 AM Melissa P <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I agree with just about everything Dave said. >> >> I tuned in at 8 pm ET, the start of the show, only to discover that the >> recordings of the 5 nominated songs were broadcast before 8 pm. If I want >> to see that footage, I guess I'll have to search for it online. >> >> That was what I found most annoying. >> >> The endless, bad, humorless speeches are a close second. Why were >> the winners and others allowed to talk so long? >> >> Everyone on camera was just plain dull. >> >> Questlove was not the right person for the job. >> >> Not only did the In Memoriam move too fast, the speed changed throughout >> the piece (Why? Are some more worthy than others of being remembered?), >> and the background song, whatever it was, was a poor choice. >> >> My only compliment goes to the setting. Having spent time at Union >> Station (train trips to Santa Barbara and to the East Coast), it made an >> impressive backdrop. >> >> >> >> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 6:50 AM 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> In an opinion that I'm sure will shock no one, I thought it was one of >>> the most inept and pointless spectacles I've ever witnessed, and will, >>> hopefully, kill the Oscarcast for the future. >>> >>> There was almost nothing to recommend it. The format was dull, the >>> speeches too long, and -- even moreso than usual -- had no reason to exist. >>> While I certainly don't want the return of the Billy Crystal years, with >>> lousy renditions of mediocre songs, forced banter, and skits, I also don't >>> want a spectacle that has all the panache and verve of a presidential >>> funeral. >>> >>> Probably the most baffling part of the whole farrago was the music quiz, >>> which would have been bad enough in any telecast, but really entered sore >>> thumb territory because of its timing (2:40 into an interminable >>> broadcast), and the decision to suddenly decide to do written material (And >>> then it was -that-?). >>> >>> Obviously, fate -- and the voters -- didn't play along with the intended >>> finale, but there should have been a contingency plan. If Hopkins's >>> presence was verboten because -- like any sensible octogenarian, he didn't >>> want to sit in a London theatre in the middle of the night on the off >>> chance he might win -- then there should have been a Plan B that went >>> beyond Phoenix's more-baffled-by-life-than-usual signoff. (One of the many, >>> many things that prove the ineptitude of the Oscars -- other than, yet >>> again, choosing a mediocre-at-best film as the "best" -- is that Phoenix >>> has one.) >>> >>> While I did like the set design and attempt to keep things intimate, the >>> processed video (described by Harry Shearer as looking like VHS) was >>> pointless and ruined most of the effects. >>> >>> I'm trying to somehow end this on a positive note, but I'll be damned if >>> I can think of anything in the whole twelve hours of the telecast that >>> worked. >>> >>> --Dave Sikula >>> >>> On Sunday, April 25, 2021 at 9:10:30 PM UTC-7 PGage wrote: >>> >>>> I thought they did a great job on this show. Union Station is a great >>>> space (nice to have Harrison Ford reference Blade Runner there), and would >>>> be great to retain some sense of the grouped tables even when they return >>>> to the big auditorium, which is a call back to the Oscar origins. >>>> >>>> Mostly though, I loved that they did not place such a hard limit on the >>>> speeches. They saved time with shorter walk ups to the podiums, and moving >>>> the songs to the pre-show, and not having any opening monologue or >>>> production number (besides that long walking shot), bit still went over >>>> about 17 min, but for me very worth it. A number of the speeches were >>>> heartfelt and interesting, and the very first one would have no doubt been >>>> interrupted by playoff music just as the guy started talking about his dead >>>> daughter. >>>> >>>> Even the cheesy “game show” had a pretty good pay off with Glen Close >>>> (I saw on the after show that they did set that up with her in advance, but >>>> did not expect her to actually do the dance). >>>> >>>> Nice to see our friend Jon Batiste get his Oscar moment, and he briefly >>>> shared the stage with QuestLove. >>>> >>>> I saw on Twitter a lot of complaining about a seemingly rushed In >>>> Memoriam, and especially the decision to move Best Picture ahead of Best >>>> Actress and Actor. It did kind of seem like they were anticipating closing >>>> on an emotional note of Chadwick Bozeman winning posthumously, instead >>>> ending with a bit of an anticlimax. >>>> >>>> Still, overall I thought it was a good show, with mostly great >>>> nominated films and performances, even if it will inevitably be the lowest >>>> rated Oscars in history. >>>> -- >>>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/23c91d78-37c8-460a-b179-e962b654148fn%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/23c91d78-37c8-460a-b179-e962b654148fn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CA%2B_fQPzsPYym7kriSG0gzbZxY%3D2boCGzihrDFOQD98%3DU4RYMYA%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CA%2B_fQPzsPYym7kriSG0gzbZxY%3D2boCGzihrDFOQD98%3DU4RYMYA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4CZdPr488JZJygxVN%3DEWy1wxwNWLnQc3VWGExS9Q-313Q%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4CZdPr488JZJygxVN%3DEWy1wxwNWLnQc3VWGExS9Q-313Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYK_O4o4iF-7EBGSYZZXF9oTs9DcVQbux%3Du01q9mcF7GRg%40mail.gmail.com.
