Live blog: 80th annual Academy Awards
7:30 p.m.: So, the cutesy opening sequence concept is ripped off from that commercial about the Heisman trophy, when all the college mascots are trying to catch the truck hauling the trophy. And let’s just note that half of the movie characters and stars represented in this fake chase never had a prayer of getting nominated for an Oscar.
7:33: Jon Stewart just referred to the Academy Awards ceremony as “makeup sex” for Hollywood after the writers’ strike. There’s a bizarre mental image I didn’t need. But he’s got a point, would it kill Vanity Fair to invite some writers to their Oscar party?
7:34: OK, Jon is delivering the goods in the monologue segment. (No surprise there.) He just asked if the town needs a hug because of all the psychopathic killers represented in the nominees. “Thank God for teen pregnancy.” Great line. Even better, the line about Hilary Clinton referring to “Away From Her” as the “feel-good movie of the year.”
7:37: Jon keeps hitting it: I love the line about Norbit’s noms. “Too often, the Oscars ignore movies that are bad.”
7:39: OK, wrap it up Jon. The lines are getting lamer, and we’re meandering into the politics arena. I can hear political drivel without even wanting to any time. And it’s going to take Hollywood hours to get these dozen or so awards given out and their winners chased off stage with obnoxious music.
7:41: Wow, we’re actually going to present awards now. Jennifer Garner is announcing the nominees for costume designer, which are:
“Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
“Atonement” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood
And the winner is:
Alexandra Byrne, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” getting her first Oscar on her fourth nom. And I vote we give her a bonus Oscar for her brief and to-the-point acceptance speech, probably the last one of those of the night.
However, I would have preferred that “Atonement” win; Keira Knightley’s green gown was a character unto itself.
7:48: Oh, boy, a montage already. As Brian Regan would say, “I was wishing for one of those; wishing on a star.” It was about what you would expect: Some of the moments were funny, some were weird, some were beautiful and some were just plain lame. But did we really need to hear once again the most overplayed song on planet Earth? (“My Heart Will Go On,” come on, keep up.)
7:52: Just seeing Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway together makes me laugh. It really makes me want to see “Get Smart.” And they’re really funny together. I love the tongue-in-cheek idea that these movies are actually serious documentaries, and Steve’s dry wit is perfect for delivering it. Great script, glad the writers are back. (And they managed to make my point about “Ratatouille”: Is this movie about egregious health code violations in rat-infested Paris restaurants?)
They’re here to announce best animated feature, and the noms are:
“Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
“Surf’s Up” (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
And the winner is: “Ratatouille.” No surprise, but I was rooting for “Surf’s Up.” I didn’t care much for “Ratatouille” when I saw it in theaters, but I rented it today because I promised some of my fellow critics I would give it another look.
No surprise, but not my fave.
7:56: Here comes Katherine Hiegl, looking fantastic in her red gown but very nervous, to give the best makeup award. Here are the noms:
“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
“Norbit” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
And the winner is Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for ”La Vie en Rose,” getting their first Oscar. Great choice. They did a great job in transforming Marion Cotillard into Edith Piaf. And thank heaven “Norbit” didn’t win, the Oscars have enough credibility issues after that “80 years of Oscar history” montage.
8: “Enchanted” star Amy Adams takes the stage to perform “Happy Working Song,” one of the three songs from the Disney fantasy to be nominated for best original song. I haven’t seen the movie, but the song was really cute and clever. And wow, Amy can really sing.
8:07: Dwayne “He’s not ‘The Rock’ anymore” Johnson is here to introduce the nominees for best visual effects. (None of which matches the feat of turning a pro wrestler into an actor that gets to present at the Oscars.)
Here’s the visual effects nominees:
“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza
And the winner is: “The Golden Compass,” Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood, getting their first Oscar. The speech was a bit hyper, but at least it was short.
8:10: Cate Blanchett is wearing a fabulous purple dress and announcing the noms for best art direction. Here they are:
“American Gangster” (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
“Atonement” (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
And the winner is:
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo both just got their second Oscars. And they are amazingly well deserved. Their work made that movie, without their gloomy, blood-spattered vision, it wouldn’t have captured even a portion of the play’s tone.
8:15: Jon’s quip about Cate Blanchett playing a bulldog in “No Country” and playing him right now was great. But seeing Cuba Gooding Jr. winning his Oscar was sad when you think that last year his big role was in “Daddy Day Camp.” Anyway, here comes Jennifer Hudson with the noms for supporting actor:
Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
And the winner is: Javier Bardem. He was the favorite for a reason: Just watching the clip of his performance in “No Country for Old Men” gave me chills. His speech was funny and classy: He thanked the Coens for putting one of the worst haircuts in movie history on him, shared the award with Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and the oft-overlooked Kelly Macdonald and thanked his cute little ol’ mom in Spanish.
8:22: Jon just joked that the Oscars would have featured even more montages if the writers’ strike hadn’t ended. That’s even scarier than Javier’s “No Country” cut. But then they had to show one!! Arrggh!
8:23: OK, stop it with the stupid montages. Or I’m going to start begging for a new writers’ strike.
8:25: Keri Russell, who has a pretty face and lovely silver dress but a toothpick figure, is introducing a Harlem choir to perform “Raise It Up” from “August Rush.” It’s one of the original song noms and it’s the official “inspirational” entry for the year. But it’s a good song, great performance, especially by that young soloist.
8:29: It’s great to see Owen Wilson whole and healthy; he’s here to present best live-action short. The noms are:
“At Night” A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production: Andrea Jublin
“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films) A Karé Production: Philippe Pollet-Villard
“Tanghi Argentini” (Premium Films) An Another Dimension of an Idea Production: Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
“The Tonto Woman” A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production: Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown
And the winner is: “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets).” Philippe Pollet-Villard won on his first try and gave a very gracious speech even though he doesn’t really speak English.
8:32: OK, I enjoyed “Bee Movie,” but enough already. I’m tired of seeing that smart-alecky, Jerry Seinfeld-voiced bee everywhere. And is he introducing another stinking montage?
Oh, he’s also introducing the noms for animated short. Doesn’t excuse it, but at least it’s not totally pointless.
So, the noms are:
“I Met the Walrus” A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin
“Madame Tutli-Putli” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
“Même les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov
“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
And the winner is: “Peter & the Wolf.” Suzie Templeton (carrying on the red trend) and Hugh Welchman won on their first try, too.
8:35: After a montage — good grief — of clips from past winners, Alan Arkin, looking amazingly young and fit, is introducing the supporting actress nominees:
Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
And the Oscar goes to:
Tilda Swinton for “Michael Clayton.” I can’t believe she looks surprised, though, because she was fantastic in that movie. She wasn’t my pick — I thought Amy Ryan was tops for “Gone Baby Gone,” even though the clip they showed wasn’t her best work in the film — but Tilda was amazing.
And her speech: Um, well, that was the most hilarious and bizarre speech of the last few years. Did she really just promise to give her statuette to her American agent not only because he helped her break through in the USA but also because his face and buttocks resemble Oscar? Waaay too much info. I’m not even sure exactly what that means, and I don’t want to know.
But I loved her crack at George Clooney, praising his dedication to wearing the rubber Batman suit with the nipples under his suit every day on the set. Priceless, and of course, George was a good sport about it.
8:44: Geez, Jessica Alba. You’re pregnant; you haven’t been transformed into a blue whale. That plum-colored dress is the size of a Boy Scout tent. But, beautiful plumage, nothing says sophisticated like a violet feather boa sewn to the top of your dress. She says she gave the technical Oscars at a separate ceremony. I bet some of the movie nerds at that ceremony fused several synapses getting their awards from her.
8:46: Josh Brolin and James McAvoy are quite cute together, very handsome in black and white. At least Josh Brolin had the guts to admit his Nicholson impression stunk.
They’re introducing the noms for adapted screenplay. Here’s the list:
“Atonement” (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
“Away from Her” (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
The winner: Joel and Ethan Coen. No surprise there. That will match nicely with their best original screenplay for “Fargo.” And I bet they’re not done tonight. Plus, bonus points for a short speech, including some nice praise for Cormac McCarthy.
8:50: And the award for lamest montage goes to the behind-the-scenes look into the voting process. And the competition was fierce.
8:53: Preteen superheroine Miley Cyrus just introduced Tony Award-winning Oklahoma native Kristin Chenoweth and singer Marlon Saunders to sing “That’s How You Know,” another original song nominee from “Enchanted.” Kristin, who hails from Broken Arrow, sounds terrific, and her big voice and perky attitude are a perfect match for the chipper song. But what is she wearing? Is her off-white dress covered with wadded up Kleenexes or is just me? And capes are never a good idea unless you’re Superman.
9: All hail the Apatow crowd! Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill probably would be funnier just on their own than with the goofy script. They’re presenting the award for sound editing; here are the noms:
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood
“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
And the hardware goes to:
“The Bourne Ultimatum.” It’s good to see this movie get an award, even if as an action-adventure-spy thriller, it obviously is too bourgeois to compete for an actual storytelling award. Well, to be fair, 2007 was a very competitive year.
9:06: Hooray, more with Seth and Jonah. Now, they’re giving the sound mixing award. Here are the options:
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate): Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
And hooray again, another award for “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
9:08: OK, I get it. It’s a round-number anniversary for the Oscars. But do we need a montage of all the past winners before every major award?
9:10: Forest Whitaker is introducing the clips for the best actress prize, and just the little tidbits we’re getting confirm that these are all amazing actresses. It’s such a tough field this year. Here are the noms:
Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)
Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in “Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)
And the winner is:
Marion Cotillard for “La Vie en Rose.”
Wow, this is probably the first real upset of the night, although she certainly earned it. She was the engine that drove that movie. But Julie Christie seemed like a sentimental favorite, and her performance also was just heartbreaking.
Is it just me or did Cate Blanchett seem more excited than Marion did when the news was announced? But Marion let the joy spill over with her acceptance speech: “Thank you life, thank you love. It is true there is some angels in this city.” She is beautiful and those are beautiful sentiments.
9:19: Hollywood insists that Colin Farrell be associated with everything related to Ireland, so he is introducing Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard performing “Falling Slowly” from their movie “Once.” It is the fourth nom for original song, and my absolute favorite.
9:21: Wow, Glen and Marketa are even better live. Sorry Kristin Chenoweth, but all the fancy production values of the other performances can’t hold a candle to these two consummate musicians playing an old guitar and a grand piano together. Breathtaking. Highlight of the show so far.
9:23: Jack finally took his sunglasses off, and he’s giving a half-hearted intro of yet another montage. Actually, this one is pretty good and sort of useful. It’s just showing a quick clip from all the best picture winners in Oscar history, with some fine orchestral music. (No Celine Dion or windy acceptance speeches, thanks very much.) So it’s kind of nice.
9:25: Of course, they’re not going to actually give that award right now. They’re just reminding you that there is a light at the end of this very loooong tunnel.
Anyway, Renee Zellwegger, looking elegant as usual in sparkling silver, with the incredibly diverse nominees for film editing:
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal): Christopher Rouse
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling
“Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor
And the winner is:
“The Bourne Ultimatum.” According to my count, it is now leading the winners. Maybe good movies do finish first, even if they are actioners.
9:30: Nicole Kidman — I’m loving her black dress with all the long sparkling necklaces — is to present the Honorary Oscar, which is going to 98-year-old Robert Boyle, a production designer on many great movies such as “The Birds” and “North by Northwest.” Great line from Boyle (I should look as young as him at 98): “That’s the good part of getting old; I don’t recommend the other.” But he just demonstrated some other advantages, besides awards, to becoming aged: He’s been around so long that he gets to refer to Alfred Hitchcock as “Hitch.” Plus, you don’t hear that annoying get-off-the-stage music forcing him to wrap up his ramblings, do you?
9:42: Penelope Cruz, apparently because she is beautiful and not from America, is introducing the foreign language film nominees. There should be a separate Oscar awarded to anyone who can explain how these five films were chosen as the nominees in 100 words or less. The winner should get their own Oscar, swag bag, custom-made Versace outfit and $1 million.
Anyway, “Lust, Caution,” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” aren’t on the list, but here are the noms (none of which I’ve ever seen):
“Beaufort” Israel
“The Counterfeiters” Austria
“Katyn” Poland
“Mongol” Kazakhstan
“12″ Russia
The winner: “The Counterfeiters,” Austria
9:47: Patrick Dempsey is prepping us for the performance of the fifth song nominee and third from his movie “Enchanted.” It’s called “So Close,” and singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin is crooning it. He’s doing a great job, and this is fantastic exposure for an up-and-coming singer of his caliber. I recommend his album “Indiana” if you’re into the singer-songwriter sound.
9:49: Now, John Travolta is announcing the best song noms and winner. Hey Academy, why don’t you just rub it in that the effervescent remake of “Hairspray” got completely snubbed?
Here’s the song noms:
“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
“Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
“Raise It Up” from “August Rush” (Warner Bros.): Music and Lyric by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas
“So Close” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
“That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
And the winner is: “Falling Slowly.”
YES! OK, I just screamed for joy. Anyone else can win from here on out. I’m happy.
Glen Hansard’s acceptance speech was really ebullient and sincere and not very long, so c’mon Oscar producers, could you not give Marketa Irglova two seconds to thank her mom or something? Good grief. It’s a four-hour ceremony. Cut out the crap about male menopause that Steven Spielberg is currently spewing and give her a chance to bask a bit.
9:57: Way to go, Oscar producers and Jon Stewart. They just came back from commercial and let Marketa give her acceptance speech. It was very inspiring, with her encouraging struggling artists to dare to dream. Fair play to the Oscars for letting her have her moment. Very classy of them.
9:59: Apparently, the sudden realization that she’s wearing a bedsheet has tongue-tied Cameron Diaz because she can’t say “cinematography.” But she’s going to give the award to one of these folks:
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins
“Atonement” (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit
And the winner is: Robert Elswit of “There Will Be Blood.” It’s his first Oscar, coming off his second nom. And I’m betting more people from that movie make it to the podium tonight.
10:02: As the Monty Python boys say, “Bring out your dead.” Here’s the in memoriam montage, featuring the directors, actors and other movie makers who died in the past year. Several of them never got a better view of the Oscars than I’ve got right now, but now that they’re dead, the Academy will give them their second or so in the sun.
10:07: Amy Adams, who earlier tonight showed her singing chops, introduces the noms for best original score. Here’s the list:
“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
“The Kite Runner” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami
And the winner: Dario Marianelli, for that awesomely imaginative score for “Atonement,” which paired the sounds of an old typewriter with lushly romantic music. He was the favorite and certainly earned the prize.
10:12: As Jon just jokingly pointed out, it just ain’t the Oscars without a Tom Hanks appearance. He’s introducing a group of military men and women introducing the best documentary short noms via satellite from Bagdad. Here’s the list:
“Freeheld” A Lieutenant Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
“La Corona (The Crown)” A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
“Salim Baba” A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
“Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley
The winner is: “Freeheld,” and the recipients are very excited to win with their first nom.
10:15: OK, I take it back. I’m not going to be happy about the winner of documentary feature film. That’s because the best doc made in 2007 – “The King of Kong” – isn’t nominated. Even though it was the best movie and story, one that got even my mother interested in classic video games, it didn’t get a nod, apparently because it doesn’t deal with an important social issue. “My Kid Could Paint That,” which only dealt with issues such as the meaning of art and the realities of children who make big bucks, isn’t recognized here either.
Anyway, here are the movies that are nominated:
“No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins
“Sicko” (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara
“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
“War/Dance” (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
The winner: “Taxi to the Dark Side.” I think this one is a real surprise. “No End in Sight” seemed to be the clear favorite, but doesn’t get the statuette.
10:20: Question: If this is what’s known as the “Super Bowl for women,” why am I not seeing a bunch of really good or at least somewhat innovative new commercials? I wasn’t exactly on the edge of my seat to find out which person with a video camera and too much time on their hands created the winning Dove Cream Oil Body Wash ad.
And what does that mean anyway? The “Super Bowl for women”? I heard somewhere that 50 percent of the audience for the Super Bowl is women. Makes no sense.
Neither do most of these commercials, although I like hearing the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss track on the JC Penney ads.
10:24: Where’s Indy’s bullwhip when you need it? Did Jon really just say that Harrison Ford was either a movie star or a car dealership? Gag.
Anyway, the ever-handsome Harrison is presenting the best original screenplay award. Here are the choices:
“Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody
“Lars and the Real Girl” (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
“The Savages” (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins
And the winner is: Diablo Cody, “Juno.”
I love it that she won, because that script and movie just flat rock. Her speech was very gracious, and she even choked up at the end but held it together. But she does know she’s not a stripper any more, right? I mean, she was wearing a nearly see-through, short, leopard-print dress, with heart/skull and crossbone earrings bigger than my dining room chandelier. Class.
10:30: The queenly Helen Mirren is gliding onto the stage to introduce the best actor nominees. She looks wonderful in her ruby red gown with the jewel-encrusted sleeves.
Here are the best actor noms. They’re showing the clips now, and all of the performances are great. But I think only one guy has a shot among them:
George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)
The winner of the Oscar and the ultimate milkshake: Daniel Day-Lewis. I don’t even think the envelope was sealed on that one, it was so obvious. I love how gracious he was to give George Clooney a kiss on the cheek; any other year, and George would be holding that statue. Daniel is just so articulate and his performance so huge that you can’t not be pleased.
10:40: Surprise, surprise, surprise. The Oscar ceremony is running long. Who could have predicted such a thing?
10:41: I think this montage of directors getting their awards is an original and subtle way of telling us that the best director award is coming up. Here’s Martin Scorcese and the nominees:
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel
“Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Jason Reitman
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson
The winner(s): Joel and Ethan Coen. Scorcese maybe tipped the hand by saying that the award would go to the artist or artists. But they were the favorites, and their stunningly bleak “No Country for Old Men” certainly is worthy of praise.
Ethan gives one of the best acceptance speeches in Oscar history: “I don’t have much to add to what I said earlier: Thank you.”
10:45: Denzel Washington is at the podium to announce best picture. Even with his bald head and goatee (please tell me he’s wearing that look for a role, and not having a mid-life crisis, but he’s always great to look at.) Here are the best picture nominees:
“Atonement” (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
“Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
And it’s a good thing the Coen brothers didn’t go far because the winner is “No Country for Old Men.” I couldn’t take my eyes off it, and apparently, the Academy couldn’t, either. They deserve it not only for this movie but for their long, illustrious career.
10:48: Jon Stewart just told everyone to get home safe, so I guess that’s it. Just before my laptop battery scorched a hole through my jeans.
Stick around and I’ll post my Oscar scorecard in just a sec.
-BAM
Live blog: Oscars red carpet
7 p.m.: So I’m in the recliner, snacks at the ready, and here’s my thought: “Regis Philbin? Hosting the Oscars red carpet? Yeah, he’s a fashion icon.” But he just said he invented red carpet coverage. I guess that’s who we get to thank for that brilliant idea.
7:03: OK, it’s going to be tough to top George Clooney for line of the night. Reeg commented that people used to want to be Cary Grant and now they want to be George Clooney. George’s response: “That’s because he’s dead, and they don’t want to be dead.” Nice delivery. And he looks fabulous in a tux.
7:05: Wow, Marion Cotillard is so much more gorgeous when she isn’t being Edith Piaf. (Yeah, George, Edith is dead, so of course, Marion looks better than that.) That cream-colored Gaultier dress with the scallop design and gold trim is just beautiful.
7:06: As Reeg just noted, John Travolta isn’t wearing a dress on the red carpet. That’s because there’s a difference between movies and real life. The red carpet is real life. Well, OK, not really.
7:08: Also in the looks-better-when-not-acting category: Javier Bardem. The tux, the closely cropped, slightly touseled hair, the sexy stubble. Very nice. And he just confirmed that his Moe Howard haircut from “No Country” was Joel and Ethan Coen’s idea. No joke. It’s hard to imagine how any person would volunteer to wear such a moronic, scary ‘do.
7:10: Miley Cyrus is at the Oscars. She really gets around. No wonder she needs a body double.
7:13: Red seems to be the it color this year. Miley Cyrus, Helen Mirren and Anne Hathaway are all wearing it. But Jennifer Garner looks amazingly elegant in basic black. She also got in a good line. When asked why she thought “Juno” was such a phenomenom, her answer was she didn’t think you could really explain a phenomenom. I guess that’s sort of the point of calling it a phenomenom.
7:15: The list keeps getting longer. Daniel Day-Lewis looks so much better as a tuxedoed actor than as an unhinged oil baron drilling in the desert.
7:16: Is Cameron Diaz wearing a pale pink bedsheet?
7:18: So the other red carpet reporter, Shaun Robinson, just reminded Amy Adams that she will be performing in front of millions of people when she sings one of the nominated songs from “Enchanted.” I’m sure she appreciates the psych-out, Shaun.
7:22: Ellen Page just looks radiant in that layered black gown and her hair in a casual updo. She looks lovely but not overdone. When Shaun asked why she thought people have connected to “Juno,” she said she thought it was because the movie is very sincere and geniune. Good call, Ellen.
7:23: Hilary Swank is wearing black Versace. Can’t go wrong with Versace. And basic black, as usual, is proving very popular among the ladies.
7:27: Reeg just called the best supporting actor fave Xavier Bardem. I guess he also invented the dumb reporter who doesn’t know who the newsmakers are concept.
7:29: Does Jack Nicholson ever NOT wear sunglasses? He’s sitting in the front row of the Kodak Theater, it’s not like it’s sunny, unless you count the glare from all the egos.
-BAM
Book bargains
For the eighth year, my hubbie and I browsed table after table of tomes, novels and volumes at the Friends of the Metropolitan Library System Booksale.
It’s the 29th year for the annual event, where thousands of used books, videos and magazines are sold off to raise money for the library system’s support organization. Bargains literally cover dozens of tables at Oklahoma Expo Hall at State Fair Park.
Attending the sale is a family tradition for us, and we met my sis, brother-in-law and his mom at the event. I bought six recent barely used hardcovers for $15, and my hub got a stack for himself. We also picked several books for our teenager and toddler. Don’t you just love it when you can get a great deal for everyone? Plus, it’s for a good cause.
It seemed that the tables were clearing quickly this year as people snatched up the bargains.
If you want to catch the sale, it continues from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Oklahoma Expo Hall.
-BAM
“Oh, say can you see”
Kyle Ensley of Valliant, a contender on “American Idol” earlier this season, will get his chance to judge singing hopefuls in his home state next month.
Ensley will be on the final judging panel for this year’s Oklahoma RedHawks National Anthem auditions. The tryouts will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 8 at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
The last audition will be heard at 6 p.m., and performers will be taken in the order they arrive.
“We will cut it off at 6, so the earlier people arrive, the better chance they have of getting to sing,” said Holly McGowen, public relations director for the RedHawks.
Singers and instrumentalists of all ages are invited to audition. Singers and instrumentalists can audition solo or in groups, but singers must perform a cappella, or without musical accompaniment.
People auditioning should enter the stadium through the Cool Zone located directly beneath Coach’s on Mickey Mantle Drive.
Participants will be asked to sing a portion of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to a panel of preliminary judges in the Cool Zone.
Those selected to advance will perform the entire National Anthem on the baseball field in front of a final panel of judges, which will include Ensley.
The RedHawks are looking for people to perform the National Anthem before about 65 home games.
“We’re just opening our doors to give hopefuls across the state the chance to be a part of a RedHawks game,” McGowen said. “It’s a big privilege, and we’re happy to extend that opportunity to people from across the state.”
Ensley will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the RedHawks’ season opener April 3 versus the Memphis Redbirds. The game starts at 7:05 p.m.; Ensley will perform at about 6:55.
For more information on the auditions, call 218-1000 or go online to www.oklahomaredhawks.com.
-BAM
More Oscars coverage
Listen to Entertainment Editor Gene Triplett, Assistant Entertainment Editor George Lang and me share our Oscar predictions in this NewsOK podcast.
Or, if you’re a visual learner, watch our Oscar predictions video here.
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Again, this should just whet your appetite to devour every smart-alecky morsel of my live-blog of Sunday night’s Oscars.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
The song that has been on my brain the most this week:
- “Falling Slowly,” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, from the movie “Once.”
This achingly lovely ballad should be a shoo-in for best song at Sunday’s Academy Awards, but Oscar sometimes shows questionable taste in music. If it doesn’t nab the golden statuette, expect protests here on BAM’s Blog. (And since I’m live-blogging the Oscars, you can experience my outrage as it occurs.)
The modern-day Irish musical, which tells the deceptively simple story of a guy (Hansard) and a girl (Irglova) who meet on the streets of Dublin, includes several richly beautiful songs, but “Falling Slowing” gives “Once” its haunting heart.
-BAM
Kristin singing at the Oscars
Broadway star and Broken Arrow native Kristin Chenoweth will be singing during Sunday night’s Academy Awards.
She and singer Marlon Saunders will be performing “That’s How You Know” from the movie “Enchanted.” (The movie stars another Oklahoma native, James Marsden.)
“That’s How You Know” is one of three songs from “Enchanted” competing for the best original song Oscar. The other two are “Happy Working Song” and “So Close.”
If any of the three songs should win, the Oscar will go to co-writers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.
Chenoweth told the Associated Press in an interview that she was invited just a few weeks ago to perform the song at the ceremony and had to learn it in a hurry. Menken and Schwartz are colleagues of hers from Broadway.
“I’m trying to think of it like another gig, even though I know it’s not the Met or Carnegie Hall. It’s the Oscars and it’s several billion people,” she told the AP, pretending to gag at the overwhelmingness of it all.
“I’m really excited about my dress and I’m really excited about the whole night. Of course I’m rooting for anything from ‘Enchanted’ to win.”
The other nominations for best song are “Falling Slowly” from “Once” (music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) and “Raise It Up” from “August Rush” (music and lyrics by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas).
- BAM
Jack Black is an album kind of guy
At a recent roundtable interview at the Four Seasons Hotel in LA, Jack Black talked about his new film, “Be Kind Rewind,” his upcoming movie projects and his plans with Tenacious D, the comic-rock-folk band he plays in with Kyle “Rage Cage” Gass.
It turns out that Jack Black is into albums, not singles. He said the duo has already penned a “very powerful jam” called “Death Star,” but they’re not stopping there.
“That’s going to be a hit, but we need to surround it with about 13 more equally powerful songs. So around 2012 I think you’ll see another album,” he said.
He said he doesn’t understand the mindset behind releasing just one song and questioned whether that was the future of the industry.
“Maybe it’s good. Maybe it’s good,” he said with raised eyebrows. ”So do you think directors will start releasing scenes instead of whole movies? You sell it for a dollar?”
-BAM
“Rewind” with Jack Black
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. To listen to an audio clip of Jack Black, click here.
‘Rewind’ recalls actor’s youthful creativity
LOS ANGELES — Comic actor Jack Black believes his lunch choices — on this particular day, a Cobb salad with ranch dressing — indicate he is becoming more sensible with age. “I’m getting more mature because now, when I order lunch, I just think about how I feel after I eat it. That was never a consideration in my youth,” he said, giving an assistant his lunch order as he entered a small room full of reporters last month at the Four Seasons Hotel. “I want to feel good. If I eat a cheeseburger and fries, it tastes so good at the time. Then afterward, I feel like, ‘Oh, what did I do. Why?’”
Known for his manic energy and raucous sense of humor, Black, 38, comes across as surprisingly mellow. But he got to channel his frenetic humor and childhood habit of playing make-believe into his new movie, “Be Kind Rewind.”
Written and directed by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), “Be Kind Rewind” centers on best pals Jerry (Black) and Mike (Mos Def). Mike works for his surrogate father, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), in his dilapidated video rental/junk store named Be Kind Rewind. The Passaic, N.J., store, which Mr. Fletcher claims is the birthplace of jazz legend Fats Waller, offers only VHS tapes and is suffering in the DVD era.
When Mr. Fletcher goes on a trip, he leaves Mike in charge, with a warning: Keep Jerry out of the store.
The klutzy local oddball, Jerry works as a mechanic and lives in the junkyard next to the power plant, which he believes is killing him with microwaves. When Jerry tries to sabotage the plant, he ends up with a magnetized brain.
Slipping into the store to visit Mike, Jerry accidentally erases all the VHS tapes with his magnetized mind. Desperate to keep the few loyal customers coming, the friends begin remaking, or “sweding,” many of the erased films, from “Ghostbusters” to “RoboCop” and “Driving Miss Daisy” to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The remakes, with their homemade costumes and ramshackle sets, become local hits.
Making the “sweded” films for the movie captured some of Black’s childhood creativity.
“I did little plays. I did little performances but never on film. That was never my medium as a child. I had a tape recorder. I did a lot of radio plays. But yeah, it definitely reminded me of childhood. … It’s just pretending,” said Black, sporting spiky blond hair left over from filming the upcoming comedy “Tropic Thunder.”
The actor has gained a large following starring in comedies such as “School of Rock,” “High Fidelity” and “Nacho Libre” and as lead singer of the comic-folk-rock band Tenacious D. But he has branched out in the past few years to more dramatic roles in “Margot at the Wedding” and “King Kong”; the latter gets a hilarious low-budget makeover in “Be Kind Rewind.”
Black thinks his high-energy shenanigans are a good fit with Gondry’s singularly surrealistic story and style.
“(He’s) more inventive I’d say than any director I’ve worked with. If he wasn’t directing films, he’d be in a laboratory inventing, you know, crazy animatronic dolls or something. He’s super-creative,” Black said.
The French filmmaker designed the homespun costumes for the remade movies, including tinfoil clothes for the “Ghostbusters” sequences and the heavy “RoboCop” uniform crafted from car parts.
“He said don’t rewatch any of the films, and I said, ‘But I haven’t even seen … some of these films ever. I never saw “Driving Miss Daisy.” I should watch it once just to get ready to re-create it.’ And he said, ‘No, even better,’” Black said, imitating a French accent. “He liked it better when it was really half-a–ed and not even close to the original. I think that was the point. … We were remaking them, but then they were different movies after we were done.”
Gondry said he allowed the actors to express their ideas, and Black even ad-libbed the word “sweding,” which becomes the film’s term for the remade movies. In “Be Kind Rewind,” Jerry tells customers the tapes are custom-made in Sweden to explain the increased wait time and cost.
“The word ’sweding,’ I came up with the word, but I was thinking of like the (blue) suede shoes,” Gondry said. “I think it translated into sweding, like the country, or maybe I misspelled it and he (Black) talked about the country. That was improvisation.”
Working with Gondry, including deciphering his thick French accent, was a challenge, Black said. Sometimes the director would stand perfectly still, and the actors could almost see a new idea or approach to a scene formulating in his mind.
“The images in his mind that he conveys, I don’t even need to really know what he’s talking about until I’m in the middle of it sometimes,” Black said, replaying both parts of a conversation between him and Gondry that approximates what took place during their sweding of “Rush Hour 2.”
“(It’s) like, ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Just go up onto the monkey bars. Climb on the monkey bars as if you are fighting.’ And I’m like, OK, and I do it, and then only later do I realize, oh, there’s a miniature world underneath me. That’s what that was, (when I was) like, ‘Why are there toys underneath the monkey bars?’ And then I see the playback … and oh, I see.”
Black, who shared that he and his wife are expecting their second child, considered what movies he would like to swede.
“When I was a kid, I loved the sci-fi/action genre the most, so I would’ve gone further into those kind of movies. Like I would have wanted to do “The Terminator” as the naked (Arnold) Schwarzenegger. Da da dum dum dum,” he said, imitating the film’s theme music. “I would have wanted to do ‘The Shining.’ That’s not sci-fi, but I like all the old (Jack) Nicholson movies — ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ to get my sweded Oscar.”
Travel and accommodations were paid for by New Line Cinema.
-BAM
Movie review: “Be Kind Rewind”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Imagination takes flight in Michel Gondry’s ‘Be Kind Rewind’
French writer-director Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) takes audiences on a sweetly nostalgic and wildly imaginative flight of fancy with his new film, “Be Kind Rewind.”
The surreal setup requires serious suspension of disbelief, but the payoff is a cheery affirmation of the power of community and creativity.
Set and filmed on location in Passaic, N.J., the film focuses on a rundown video rental/junk store called Be Kind Rewind, where VHS tapes, not DVDs, line the shelves. The store’s owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), loves the store, which is purported to be the birthplace of his hero, jazz legend Fats Waller.
The city is less than infatuated with the dilapidated building and plans to raze it if Mr. Fletcher can’t come up with the money for massive improvements.
When Mr. Fletcher makes a pilgrimage to Kansas City to a Fats Waller festival, he goes with a plan to scope out big rental chain outlets for money-making ideas. He leaves his assistant, Mike (Mos Def), in charge of the store, and Mike, who regards Mr. Fletcher as a surrogate father, takes the responsibility seriously.
But the situation at the store becomes chaotic when Mike’s best friend, the oddball Jerry (Jack Black), tries to sabotage the local power plant. Jerry lives next to the plant and believes it is killing him with microwaves.
Jerry gets an electromagnetic jolt and a magnetized brain in his sabotage attempt. When he visits Mike at the store, his magnetized brain erases all the VHS tapes.
When the store’s most loyal customer, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow) shows up to rent “Ghostbusters,” which she has never seen, Mike and Jerry desperately remake a 20-minute version at the local library, using an old video camera, tinfoil costumes and a few cheap props.
Miss Falewicz doesn’t know the difference, but local teens who see the tape think it’s funny and want to rent more titles. Jerry and Mike recruit sharp-tongued Alma (Melonie Diaz), who works at the dry cleaners, to help them remake “The Lion King,” “RoboCop” and other films. They dub the movies “sweded,” as in from Sweden, to justify the added costs and wait times.
Soon, the entire neighborhood is involved in sweding films.
Gondry’s fanciful story gets high points for its unbridled originality and feel-good message about the power of art. The stellar cast gets able assistance from local extras, and their efforts to make the sweded films are hilarious. (Jerry’s directing work on the sweded version of “King Kong” is particularly fun.)
“Be Kind Rewind” isn’t for everyone, but those yearning for a whimsical fantasy set in the real world will be kind to Gondry’s vision.
-BAM
