Let’s start at the very beginning… (meant to be sung, in the manner of Julie Andrews). This was not the best Oscar telecast in recent memory. I’ve made a resolution to be nicer this year, so I’ll say this: I don’t think Neil Patrick Harris did a bad job. He’s a song-and-dance man, not a stand-up comedian, and when he did make an off-the-cuff joke, it usually came off as either awkward or rather dark and biting. The best joke of the opening monologue was “Today we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest. Sorry, brightest.” #OscarsSoWhite.
From there, NPH moved swiftly to the Song & Dance Opening Number: It was one of the worst-kept secrets that Anna Kendrick was going to sing something and everyone know NPH would sing, but the shock was Jack Black. I didn’t hate the number, honestly. It set the tone for the long, tedious night we were facing. In any case, you can see the full list of Oscar winners here, and here are some of my notable moments (note: this recap is by no means comprehensive, these are just some of the moments I found interesting).
#AskHerMore: My Oscar Nerd Rage started long before the Oscars began when some idiot thought it would be a brilliant idea to not ask anyone which designer did their gowns/suits. So, we have a multi-billion-dollar red carpet industry based on branding and putting celebrities in (free) gowns and millions in jewelry with the understanding that those celebrities will publicly identify with those brands. But, but…feminism! Right? Nope. You can be a feminist and still give a shout-out to your dress designer. Believe it or not, I don’t think a crowded red carpet is the best venue to discuss “deeper” things. And here’s something else: if a lady doesn’t want to answer the question about who designed her FREE dress, she has the right to say “I don’t want to say.”
The Batch #1: Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t photo-bomb anyone, but he had several noteworthy (meme-worthy) moments. He was one of the first cut-aways of the night, doing a bit where he was drinking from a flask. YES!
Dear Oscars: thank you for bringing this GIF into our lives. http://t.co/mJJRlLbV6k pic.twitter.com/HZTcOWbz8W
— E! Online (@eonline) February 23, 2015
The Batch #2: Then the Cumberbomber got Travolta-bombed. This is amazing.
You in danger, gurl pic.twitter.com/uuXUBW6p45
— Gabriel Arana (@gabrielarana) February 23, 2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel: the film won many of the technical awards, like Costume, Production Design, and Hair & Makeup. Well deserved. In a perfect year, Ralph Fiennes would have been nominated for his wonderful performance too. I couldn’t believe TGBH didn’t win for Screenplay though – Wes Anderson lost to Birdman’s script, which SUCKED.
Notable snubs: Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater have never won Oscars. Ever.
Paweł Pawlikowski: The Polish director’s win for Best Foreign Film for Ida was great – he joyfully and unapologetically talked through the music playing him off. He told all of his Polish friends to keep drinking too.
NPH’s awkward moments: There were a lot of them, right? The bit with Octavia Spencer fell flat. The bit with David Oyelowo making an Annie joke? Eh. There were groans when he made a “treason” joke about Edward Snowden right after Citizenfour won Best Documentary.
Common & John Legend: their performance of “Glory” brought grown men to tears. David Oyelowo and Chris Pine were openly crying glorious man tears during the standing ovation and it was amazing!
Chris Pine, you have never been sexier #Oscars pic.twitter.com/4HozgyVOWw
— People magazine (@peoplemag) February 23, 2015
Everything Is Awesome: the trippy, crazy performance of the Oscar-nominated song “Everything Is Awesome” was pretty awesome – you can see the performance here.
Awkward pairings: Putting interesting people together to present awards is a fine art, but there were some bad calls last night. One of the major ones? Jennifer Aniston and David Oyelowo, because it created a false equivalency that they were “equally” snubbed for nominations. They were not. David should have been nominated legitimately for his extraordinary performance in Selma. Aniston should have been laughed out of town for trying to buy her way into the process.
Adele Dazeem lives! One of the best NPH jokes was this: “Benedict Cumberbatch: the name you get when you ask John Travolta to announce Ben Affleck.” Then Adele Dazeem herself came out (Idina Menzel) to jokingly mangle John Travolta’s name, and they presented together. It was cute, although Travolta is being criticized for awkwardly kissing and face-touching various ladies throughout the night.
Lady Gaga: Most of us forgot that Gaga can actually sing, and she did so rather flawlessly and beautifully last night during the tribute to the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music. She did a medley of songs from the film and while she’s no Julie Andrews, Gaga did very, very well. Truly. Plus Original Gangster Julie Andrews came out after Gaga and she got a standing ovation!! YES!!
Graham Moore: I had no idea The Imitation Game was written by a Yank! Moore won Best Adapted Screenplay for TIG and his speech was very moving – he spoke about a suicide attempt he made when he was just a kid, because he felt different – go here to see.
Sean Penn Is Awkward/Racist: Penn came out to present the final award, Best Picture, to Birdman. When he read the envelope, Penn quipped, “Who gave this son of a bitch his green card?” He was making a reference to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. It was taken as a racist moment. It bugged me too, but for what it’s worth, Penn and Inarritu have known each other for years, having worked together on 21 Grams. They are friends and Inarritu defended Penn’s comment as an “hilarious” joke.
My favorite moment: when Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor. Seriously. I was genuinely surprised because I thought it would end up going to Keaton. And while I wouldn’t have been sad if Keaton had won, I was beyond thrilled that Redmayne won and it was one of the few genuine moments of surprise from the evening.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
What on earth was wrong with Travolta? He was too touchy feely. On the red carpet, he was all over Scarlett Johansson, then when he was presenting, he was way too touchy feely with Idina Menzel. The last time I saw people in that type of mood, at a party, was when they snorted a bit of white powder beforehand. Creepy.
I think the highlight performance of the night was Lady Gaga. It would have to be the best performance of her career to date, hopefully putting an end to the stupid costumes and ditzy songs. She doesn’t need the gimmicks.
I think he was definately medicated. God, poor Scarlett and Idina. He made me feel so uncomfortable and icky.
Also NPH went down like a lead balloon imo. That Snowdon joke was just bad taste and the predictions gag was tedious and didn’t pay off. And the seat filler bit was awkward as hell.
Agree about Lady Gaga, who finally did what I hoped she’d do — ditch the gimmicks and just sing her little heart out. Job well done, Gags!
Travolta made me feel like an enabler. He was inappropriately touching these women, and there was nothing I could do but sit and watch. It made me feel complicit and I STILL feel creepy 24 hours later.
Way to reduce Latinos to immigration jokes, you abuser.
What the?…Who was the rocket scientist who decided to let the notoriously unpredictable Sean Penn present the biggest award of the night in the first place?
His gruff & bizarrely inappropriate off the cuff remark made me think back fondly to the year that Jack Nicholson and our First lady-all silvery and backed by members of the armed forces at the White House-teamed up for a memorable Oscar moment to present Best Picture
Escape while you can, Charlize!
Yeah I didn’t find Sean Penn’s joke funny at all. Who cares if he’s worked with him before? The “joke” was still offensive. That type of reasoning reminds me of when people say “I have a black friend, I can’t be racist”
Being Latina, his joke didn’t offend me. My husband is an immigrant, and he didn’t get offended either.
Not everyone was offended.
Me too. None of the people I’ve spoken to feel offended either, so I’m guessing Americans are feeling offended because they would rather not talk about certain facts in such events.
But it was big event and that’s exactly where those issues should be brought up to bring awareness, and I think Sean Penn may have had that intention. He’s scum, but he’s also not your typical “There’s no discrimination, no issues and everything is perfectly fine in the world” kind of actor.
I wasn’t offended either! and I’m mexican and I’ve lived in Mexico all my life; I thought it was exactly what Inarritu said it was , a tough joke among old friends…and I’m trying hard to remember, last year? a couple of years ago? some presenter, or winner said something similar, about green cards…
Same here. I didn’t laugh, either, though. But dumb jokes should be taken as just that – bad jokes. It’s not something to waste energy on.
Apparently Sean Penn was the one that helped him get his green card hence the joke. Its poor timing because its kinda offensive and not everyone knows this fact. They are friends but the joke was ultimately in poor taste
Agree totally. THank you. I took it as a joke between two people who knew each other well enough. As someone whose job requires them to speak behind a podium with regularity and who uses humor and quips in doing so—I totally understand where it came from. It isn’t a joke I would have chosen to make however ….but I also don’t think it is anything other than humor and not offensive really. It was a green card joke people …..it wasn’t calling him a slur and minimizing him personally in any way. It was only really insulting if your mental model played chess with the rest of it…..and really if your mind does, then that’s on you. But there are those who just love to hate Sean Penn (with good reason) who look for any and every reason to snark on him. And those who look to make the entire world conform to their own definition of PC speak.
I am from South America and I laughed my ass off with his joke. I didn´t even remember they worked together and were friends, plus Penn has done “charity” things in Latam, and I took it as a joeke. I still don´t understand why people were upset about it. Seriously, it was a joke for crissake.
That John Travolta photobomb is amazing
Run, Cumby! RUN!
From 2014. Didn’t Cumberbatch wear a white dinner jacket this year?
Yeah, it’s from last year. It’s still funny, though!
Unpopular opinion – I think Aniston deserved a nomination, she was great in Cake.
Good but not great.
She looked soooo p*ssed off when she was presenting!!
IKR? She clearly didn’t take the joke too well. Not gonna lie… I felt a little bad for her.
@Zig, I actually read Aniston’s pained expression as irritation that she couldn’t walk in that stupid dress! I hated NPH putting her and David Oyelowo on the same level and I don’t care if she was pissed off about that.
I think so too. In a better year, no, but this years Best Actress race was ridiculously weak. Jennifer would have slotted in just fine.
What I kept wondering during the Oscars: Is Ben Affleck always this grumpy? He had the long face when he was shown in the audience and later he looked like he’s forced to present the award.
I’m happy with the outcome in general, but the ceremony was *yawn*.
I thought he looked awful too. Bloated face, sullen complexion, really red eyes when presenting. Not unusual for him lately but definitely worse than usual. He’s really seemed like a mess since Argo.
Okay, I get the crying now. I was wondering WHY. That’s so sweet.
Neil Patrick Harris bombed as a host. Way too many unfunny jokes which fell flat.
I thought BC was rather rude to tell the camera (or audience) to “go away”, even as a joke. Get over it with your privacy already.
Sean Penn was a disgrace.
I love the Ida director not giving a toss about the music playing him off and continue talking over it. There were so many flat segments and jokes which could be trimmed from the ceremony and the time used to give the winners their due in the spotlight.
Adam Levine sounded like a cat being skinned alive; way to butcher a beautiful song.
I am so, so chuffed for everything Whiplash won. Especially the Editing award, so richly deserved. And Big Hero 6! Would have preferred The Lego Movie, but at least How to Train a Dragon 2 didn’t win.
Boyhood is severely overrated to me and I’m glad it flopped big on Oscar night. Not a huge fan of Birdman either but at least it is a more interesting piece of filmmaking with some gorgeous techs and a story to tell.
Overall a pretty expected list of winners and I don’t have too many complaints, except Wes Anderson and Damien Chazelle not winning for the screenplay awards.
OMG YES boyhood is ridiculously overrated. Did you see the joke onlineabout how their gimmick wasn’t as of a big deal as they thought since it was done years ago by Harry Potter? LOL
I thought NPH was quite bad tbh and the whole show was so boring. The Octavia joke was one of the most unfunny things I’ve ever heard and I’m pretty sure they made David Oyelowo tell that rude Annie joke because he’s black and it wouldn’t seem as “offensive”. Why else would they choose him and not another Brit like Cumberbatch?
The white joke was alright but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. You guys make jokes and can find humour in your lack of diversity but don’t do anything to have more equal representation?
And I’m glad Patricia Arquette is a feminist but I found her comments after her win a bit problematic. She kind of implied that POC and gay people are treated equally and its only women who are treated unfairly. WOC and gay women do exist too so I wasn’t really feeling her comments. It made it seems like she doesn’t believe we should still be fighting for racial equality and equality for LGBT people because we already have it.
@Anna: Yes. To. Everything.
@Anna
I hated Boyhood. I came out of the theatre seething, especially after all the ridiculous critics’ wanking over this snoozefest. I wanted to walk out after 45 min but stayed out of spite to see if it would improve and unsurprisingly, it didn’t.
I can enjoy plotless movies that speak truth in vignettes (e.g., Tree of Life, Mr Turner), but Boyhood is just so awfully humdrum. Three hours of maddening minutiae, hackneyed pontification over meaning-of-life questions, lacklustre direction, bland acting… it’s like watching the self-made home videos of your boring neighbour. The 12 years process was a gimmick that couldn’t mask how unremarkable the whole thing was.
Maybe it’s cos I don’t live in the American suburbs and cannot understand the emotional resonance it struck in people. To me it was an overlong, meandering ode to nothingness.
@Anna: was Arquette supposed to stand up there and read a list of all the inequalities that need to be righted? She’s allowed to make a statement about an issue she feels passionate about and it doesn’t mean she’s belittling those she didn’t mention. And I don’t even like her and Boyhood!
@Bridjet it’s belittling BECAUSE of the way she mentioned other oppressed groups.
Anna, I agree with everything you said. I felt the EXACT same way while listening to Patricia Arquette’s speech. Glad I’m not the only one that found her words problematic.
I’m bothered by every celeb who can’t express thanks for being honored for a job they say they love..being confirmed as one of the best of this elite bunch isn’t enough? Must they ‘tell’ the world how awful people..outside Hollywood of course..are? Instruct us all to be better? There are a thousand places to take your platform to preach to the masses, you can always find an outlet, so can’t you leave one night to those who really do love movies and film history? Yeah for Eddie R..he was thrilled to be rewarded for his work, and realized it was for the work, not his opinions. Okay..done with the bitching…
Anna, yes. It was like “POC and LGBT people, we stood up for you, now you need to stand up for us (women).” Uh, hello, we are still fighting our own battles, thankyouverymuch. It’s not like POC and LGBT are treated so well in our society that ONLY women are struggling.
I hadnt seen her press room comments and thought you were saying something else. Yes, she’s ridiculous, but can we really expect more from her? I don’t think she even has a high school education, and she’s never exactly been the most well spoken person. It’s disappointing to see someone use such a big stage like this, but Patricia Arquette isn’t who I’m going to for am intellectual debate on feminism.
@Beth OMG I’m laughing at your description of Adam Levine because it just so happens my cat was sound asleep next to me and when he started wailing, she startled awake and ended up leaving the room while I muted the tv. So even cats couldn’t handle that.
@Ra
😀 That’s hilarious!
I cannot fathom why Levine has a singing career with the unbearably whiny voice he has. What gives?
Agree that Neil Patrick Harris bombed. As Whoopi said this morning, the first 15 minutes belong to the Host. After that, no one cares…they care about who won, who lost, etc. Neil Patrick Harris made it all about HIM. I’d love to return to the old-time Oscars where it was actually about the Oscars. So, so sick of Hollywood Narcissism.
+1
I have mixed feelings about the AskHerMore tag. I’m not sure celebrities are the people I would go to for “deeper questions,” but on the other hand, I do think male celebs should be getting more of the aesthetic treatment, too.
Race jokes are one of those things that you really need context for, which is more the problem with Sean Penn’s decision to use it at the Oscars. For them, it may just be ribald humor between friends, but in an awards show following a year as race-conscious as 2014, a massive public forum like the Oscars really isn’t the place for it.
But pretty much every red carpet I’ve seen, men get asked who they are wearing too.
The thing is – #askhermore doesn’t mean #dontaskher. The networks made it that way. It could just be not the first question asked of any lady. Talk about the work. Talk about upcoming projects. Talk about the crappy rain. But you can still comment on a dress and ask about it, right?
I thought #askhermore was a way for Reese to get some attention for herself. On her twitter, I #askedhermore: I asked her if she had a driver for the night so she and her hubby didn’t drive drunk again.
I despise Reese.
I believe #ask her more isn’t the same as #don’t ask about the dress (sorry, I’m too old to know how hashtags work.)
Ask everyone what they’re wearing, then ask about their performance / role / career. Equality isn’t that hard to understand.
Also, yay Gaga! Show them what u can do.
I think the red carpet should be about asking both men and women the same questions about clothes and then the same kind of questions about their movies not about banning all fashion related questions. There would be no red carpet without those free designer clothes. Have anyone watched the Buzzfeed video where men including Keaton, Redmayne and Nick Cave were asked the same things as women? They were all so surprised and some were even offended like they were never asked something like this before. I loved how Nick Cave of all people, politely agreed to twirl. I expected him to storm off or give them a death stare.
THANK YOU!!! (Re: Ask her more) It drove me nutbags. Patricia Arquette reading her awesome speech, yay feminism – putting women on the spot/shaming them for wearing pretty dresses? Not so much. I immediately thought the Benedict thing was hilarious (and pre-rehearsed?) If not it’s even more awesome. I feel bad for NPH getting so much flack, he was working with the material they gave him, he’s not a comedian by trade.
I could on and on about this. One, if the end-point of feminism is not being able to talk about fashion, then I want no part of feminism. Two, this is such a bulls–t first-world feminist problem. Seriously, THIS is where we should make our stand? By not talking about fashion?
No one is saying not to talk about fashion- absolutely talk about who made your dress. The hash tag isn’t “don’t ask me what I am wearing.” Its a protest against the additional questions – are you wearing spanx, what did you eat today, how do you get your skin ready, where are the kids tonight. Instead ask her more- like what did you love most about the movie, how are you feeling to be nominated tonight, what award are you most looking forward too. Ya know, the things they ask the men on the red carpet.
Also protesting “first world” feminism is such BS. Its a way for people to say shut up, you have enough. Is it the biggest problem in the world? No of course not. But marginalizing women actors to eye candy and dress models continues the cycle of not having women representation in Hollywood- and having women in Hollywood does mean something. The Bechel test is real, and we should be talking about it, we should be asking for more, and this is a way to do that.
cc, you might be my favorite person today.
Great post cc.
The key word is MORE. It’s a shame that someone at ABC misinterpreted it and took it to the extreme, but that doesn’t invalidate the movement. Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls has been promoting this all award season, and it was never about dismissing the fashion, but all about treating the women actors equal to the men, not just as walking mannequins.
It may be a “first world” problem, but it’s indicative of attitudes towards women and the focus on the physical, and you can’t deny that the entertainment industry has a lot of influence around the world. They always estimate a billion people around the world watch this awards show every year.
When a red carpet reporter first did this at the Golden Globes, you could see the actresses’ faces light up as they were asked something with some actual substance.
To be honest, celebrities are often horrible on junkets and red carpet interviews during their own film promotion tours. Interviewers only have a few minutes to get through their questions and get a good soundbite but the celebs are so tired of the same questions that they end up phoning it in. There are many A-listers who are critiqued for putting a ban on the most inane questions which is annoying because the interviewer will not have interesting material. Or celebs who are too tired to even show up or show up late for their interview or who walk out mid-way or even worse, demand the tape of the interviewer and kick them out when they feel they are not being put in a favourable light.
Then you have the Oscar red carpet which is even more shallow than aforementioned events and then they’re going to demand some deep questions? Everybody knows how much work goes into getting ready for the Oscars, most of them know they will lose so instead of having fun and accepting that 90% of the business is shallow and asinine work, no they’re going to demand ‘deeper conversations’. I’d prefer to talk about silly things and showing off my beautiful FREE dress then act all philosophical on a night that is meant to be all about excess and acting gracious when you lose. Oh and partying. Seriously, get over yourself, it’s not a big deal. Women’s fashion way more interesting then men’s. Nobody cares about the men and their suits, I want to see the fashion porn on the women, no need to elevate the Oscar’s when we all know it’s a joke anyway.
And it’s proven time and time again that when you do give them a serious platform, they fall flat on their face because they’re so used to being the centre of attention that the real world with real people eludes them. Especially people like Witherspoon, I would like for somebody to ask her more about her DUI and sense of entitlement 🙂 And let me add Patricia Arquette to that since she exhibited the pinnacle of white feminism.
Oh and one last note, men also get asked stupid questions. Press focuses more on reporting about it with the women.
For the broadcast portion,I think a lot could be solved with better hosts. I know individual reporters are going to ask whatever they want, but the majority of people are watching the televised version of the RC and ceremony. The red carpet teams suck so hard that the fashions seems to be all they are really capable of talking about. Do they even know who was in what or anything like that? And even that seems to be out of their grasp in the case of last night. Do we really think Khloe K. can handle a real-ish sort of interview? I think a lot of this issue could be solved by demanding a better broadcast. Why not have ACTUAL journalists do some corresponding? (I nominate the Fug Girls for red carpet) How about a real fashion writer and an actual host not Eonline’s reality TV brigade and a sorta funny actor? I’d watch the heck out of that. Maybe that would help get the ball rolling?
Invader, I agree that the red carpet hosts are part of the problem, at least on the big coverage shows like E. It’s kind of telling how they’ve shoved everyone but Seacrest into a separate booth, and they don’t even get to interact with the attendees anymore.
Artemis, it’s not about demanding super deep conversation, but some conversation beyond simply the woman’s physical appearance. One of the reporters who’s been doing this all season has been asking questions sent in by fans, and some of them are deeper, about the role the actress did or a cause they support, and others are lighter, like their favorite thing to do during time off or what makes them happy. All of the women who answered those seemed delighted to do and answered well – none of them fell flat on their faces.
Press junkets seem like they’d be horrible, asked the same few questions over and over for hours, but it’s part of the job. The red carpet seems like a condensed version of that, with almost every question being about the dress or jewelry. If this idea helps break that up a little, and ask some different questions in addition to the fashion stuff, I think that’s a good thing for both the audience and the actors.
Agree a hundred fold — I am a feminist, and I do find the way women are represented in the media and entertainment industries to be harmful to our society’s perceptions of women as people.
That said, THIS “cause” is ludicrous, especially from Miss American Citizen. The Oscars are primarily the entertainment juggernaut they are because of the fashion. We like to see entertainers who we know and who get paid heartily wear beautiful gowns so we can have fun with them. In turn, they are entertainers by trade, who get to wear free, beautiful gowns and go home with lavish gift “bags” full of more free luxuries including extravagant vacations from their oh-so-taxing lifestyles. The red carpet is not the place I want to hear actors, most of whom are neither well-educated or articulate without a good script, spout off their personal feelings on social justice. When people want that, they will read and watch more substantial things with more informed people. Women and men are mostly asked silly things when there are people like Rancic doing the questioning. Yes, women are asked more about their appearance. If they don’t want to be, than don’t take the free gowns, the lucrative designer contracts, the ass-kissing fashion show front row seats. Wear black, blend in with the publicists and handlers and move on — or don’t even do the red carpet. How about that? Doubt many would forgo the attention.
NPH was beyond horrid. Yes, he used the material they gave him but hey – so does Ellen. So does Billy Crystal. Honestly, they do have input. As soon as they did the bit with the briefcase I thought it was going to be like the stupid North Korea joke at the Globes – a bit that goes on and on and on and on…….
Yes! @Kaiser and all of this @Artemis. The red carpet is not for “soap boxing”. It’s not. All of the seats needs to be had by Patricia Arquette. Saddown.
That Travolta photobomb is from a couple of years ago.
I am very happy for Paweł Pawlikowski but I hope he will stay in USA for a little longer to celebrate and feel good about himself because he won’t be celebrated back in Poland. People are super offended by his comments about drinking as if he purposely wanted to show Polish people in a bad light in front of a wide international audience and most of the critics hated Ida with a passion.
I thought his speech was one of the best of the night, and the comment was funny. I’m not Polish, but I don’t think I would mind if a person from my country did the same comment about us.
Huh? Where are you getting that information from? What people? Everybody is pretty much ecstastic about this Oscar win. If you’re getting this from some conservative commentators it doesn’t really count – they’re like Fox News, they get offended by just about anything. Any normal, thinking person sees this as a great success for the Polish film industry.
Filmweb, onet, wp, basically all the comment sections on the most read sites, Twitter, facebook. The journalists seem ecstatic but then the comment sections are just awful. I woke up to the happy news and thought I would read only ecstatic reactions but site after site, all I’ve read was whining how offensive his speech was, portraying Polish people as drunks and how Pawlikowski is not Polish because he lived in England since he was 14 and how Ida is an awful movie. Filmweb is basically a Polish imdb and all the pages concerning his win are now filled with rage over his win. There are threads as: “His speech was pathetic”, “A sad day for Poland” and “Pawlikowski sold out” with +100 comments. My friend summed it up that reading various forums this morning filled in her Vitamin H(ate) deficiency for an entire year. I was happy to see positive comments about him here.
Ah, but that is why people generally should stay away from comment sections. They’re full of stupid, hateful, anonymous morons whose opinions do not matter. 🙂
I see a pattern, though, I will admit. Nobody hates successful Poles more than other, less successful Poles. It’s depressing. But I’d still say that the majority of people who genuinely care about movies is happy for him.
I’m Polish (3rd generation, born and raised in US, and yeah my last name ends in SKI too) and I thought his speech was funny. I make Polish jokes about myself, because it’s funny, and if you can’t make fun of or laugh at yourself then you can’t make fun of or laugh at anyone else either and I like to do both. I do not live in Poland though, so if you do @Norman Bates then I believe you.
But to be honest, Polish people are probably too drunk to be offended anyway…. 🙂
NPH, I love you. It’s all Bruce Vilanch’s fault.
Lady Gaga, I love you. Come back, all is forgiven.
I actually liked NPH as a host a lot! I think he was funny and kind and old-school glamorous and seemed thrilled to be there.
And here I thought I was the only one! I really enjoyed him as a host. He’s no Amy & Tina, but he seemed very comfortable as host, even when made to go out in his tighty whities. I’m also a sucker for a corny joke, so maybe that has something to do with it!
#Askhermore isn’t don’t ask about the dress or ask deep questions but to ask her more. A lot of women get asked about clothing, kids, etc and to do stupid things like twirl and shoe cam. Questions for males are usually more based on the film and nominations.
Usually I watch the Oscars but this year it was so boring I was channel surfing. NPH was a horrible choice. There were so many bad jokes and skits.
Good to see some people did get what it was about.
I agree. It was about ask more since it is ridiculous with the crap they had women doing better. Remember the mani cam and the glam cam. I still laugh at Cate Blanchett calling out E by saying do they do that to the men too.
My favorite questions are always, which movie/performance of the year was your favorite and who are you excited to meet tonight? Not gender specific and gives them room to extrapolate.
The over emphasis on fashion can be irritating yes. But designers give these people free clothes and jewelry. They should at least be acknowledged. And I have heard men being asked about who designed their tuxes, so, it is not just women.
Not a fan of these shows in general and I don’t go with the “snubbing”, but Oyelowo at least deserved a nomination. This is also one of those times where being laid back fell short. I think Keaton thought he had it in the bag and did not try, but Redmayne did the charming, humble Brit and came out a winner.
And let’s not forget the $160,000 gift bags these millionaires are given. When they turn down the clothes and the gifts, then they can #askhermore.
Hats off to all of you who can sit through this show. I usually try and fail. So long, so tortured, so canned, so stiff. I enjoy reading about it the next day and reading your comments, so thanks for watching it.
The secret is to record it, start watching way late, and fast forward through all the nonsense, which is about 90% of the broadcast.
Ooohhhh…pretty smart, Lucy2!
I did this so I could switch to Downton Abbey for the past two years, and I found I LOVED being able to fast forward my “lost” hour. 🙂
Really don’t understand why the Travolta Cumberbatch pic took off so much. It was all over myy twitterfeed, but it was a screencap/joke from last years show.
Was NPH not being able to pronounce David Oyelowo’s name a running gag or just him being lazy and not having practised it? Because it fell really flat the 2nd/3rd time that Neil flubbed his name. And while the “best and whitest” was funny at the time, it’s a bit #%^* when you think about it. “Oh hahha, there’s totally a problem but will we do anything about it and acknowledge there’s some serious issues that need to be addressed? Nope! But we’ll totally joke about it”
It seems like there are a million award shows. Do these people need so many pats on the back? Isn’t all the money enough? I don’t watch the show, just Fashion Police
yes, they need it. but you should listen to them. its not about narcism, its about celebrating art 😀
Yes, movie actors feed off of the praise and adoration.
The irony is that they, for the most part, shun television as a lesser art form until it suits their self-aggrandizing purposes.
So disappointed with NPH! I didn’t like the opening sequence- I prefer the funnier, not so serious ones because those award shows are already taking themselves too serious. You don’t need ah “lalala, films change the world, lalala” stuff.
I like NPH but I thought he sucked last night – sorry. The WORST part (it was hard to chose) was the “locked outta my dressing room so I’ve got to come out here in my undies” bit. So, so thirsty and undignified – you’re better than that Neil!!!
That Travolta / Cummerbatch tweet is hilarious!
The undies bit was a tribute to Birdman.
The underwear, the long shot and the drum were all beacuse of Birdman. It was great.
I thought his “predictions” skit went on a bit long. But overall I thought he was solid. The opening number was entertaining, he was quick on his feet and I liked the Birdman homage. I was expecting maybe another skit or musical number, he seemed to rely on one-liners a bit too much, but I found him entertaining.
That’s great that they got rid of the insipid Mani Cam and the stiletto cam on E!, but I agree that its ridiculous to expect to answer questions of any substance on the red carpet. And I think it’s ridiculous to expect substance from some of these women, they can’t all be Emma Stone.
I came back at what I thought was almost the end (10:30 PM), but it lasted at least an hour and a half longer.
A few nice things to say:
Citizenfour win for Dirk Wilutzky, Laura Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald made me really happy. These people put their lives and liberty at risk for exposing the government spy operations, ditto for Snowden.
Lady Gaga wowed me again, first at the Stevie Wonder tribute, and now singing Sound Of Music songs. She has pipes and she has incredible range, for variety of genres.
John Legend and Common’s performance made tuning back in worthwhile. Common’s speech was the BEST Thing of the night, at least of what I caught, and the most articulate and moving speech at the Oscars, IN YEARS. It was inclusive, it was powerful.
I was glad for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s win, but his speeches weren’t as magical for me, this time. He should have thanked Michael Keaton, for crisssakes.
Some other, not as nice things:
The underwear skit looked like those nightmares you have where you end up naked in inappropriate places and feel vulnerable.
John Travolta looked like a Liberace animatron. Strange movement. And what’s with all the weird Joe-Biden-creepy-uncle-touching all of a sudden?
Eddie Redmayne is a frightening insect. What was that sound it emitted, the mating squeal on a hot Summer night? I know that is very mean, but he gives me a serious case of the shudders.
Alejandro’s speech was really meaningful for us Mexicans and his comments have caused a big uproar here. Mexican government keeps dissapearing students, putting in jail people who fight for our rights, doesn’t really care about our violence issues, etc. we are going through difficult times and what Alejandro said reminded us to not lose hope and keep on fighting to save our country. I know this might sound dramatic but that’s how his speech was taken here.
You’re right. THAT part of his speech was really good, I had completely forgotten about it. My bad.
And don’t get me wrong, my crush is still intact. I just felt it was awkward and a huge oversight, given that the film won best picture and directing with no win for Keaton, that during his speech he should have taken the opportunity to acknowledge Keaton’s role in the win. He asked Michael if he wanted to speak, but it would have been better to say he shared the award with Keaton, KWIM?
I’m pretty sure he acknowledged Keaton and the rest of the cast *i think* every time he went up there. And really, it was an ensemble piece. As great as Keaton was, literally everyone else in that movie was just as good.
It was an ensemble cast, but Keaton was the lead, who was up for an award. Maybe he gave props to Keaton and I missed it. I heard him shout out to Ed Norton. Keaton looked incredibly uncomfortable when they were all on stage.
I liked the underwear part, because it was one of the several parts of Birdman I liked a lot! And man, NHP has a lean body!
“Glory” gave me a lump in my chest and reduced my grandma to tears. Then again, she went to segregated schools in Selma, Alabama so her emotion was understandable.
“Everything is awesome” made me happy. I might have to watch the “Lego Movie”.
Holy crap, Lady Gaga can actually sing when she drops all her stunt queen, meat dress, egg hatching shenanigans.
Also the Rock and Chris Evans yes. Yes all day.
THIS. (except for the Rock lol)
My husband’s family is Polish. So, yay for Poland and the win! I LOVED how he kept talking and they actually stopped the music. I understand that they don’t want the speeches to go on too long. But really, I think the Academy should rethink how they organize the show so that people can actually give a speech longer than 30 seconds. And the Cumberbatch jokes and memes were the best!
The show went on way too long as always, ready much all of the jokes fell flat, and NPH tried but it will probably go down as a failure. At least he’s in good company, almost every Oscars host gets panned.
Glory was great, and it was nice to see Gaga actually using her voice for a change, instead of forcing a spectacle.
The Happy: Big Hero 6’s win; Eddy Redmayne’s win; Boyhood losing best director and best picture; Patricia Arquette and Juliane Moore’s win; Glory performance (so moving and so glad it won original song); Gaga’s performance (girl can sing her ass off); JK Simmons’ win;
The sad: All of NPH (he was just not good enough); Selma losing best picture; David Oyelowo’s snub; The Grand Budapest Hotel’s loses.
Keaton was chewing Gum with open mouth most of the night until somebody gave him a napkin to spit it out! Yuck.
Glory song excellent, made lot of people cry. Lady GAGA surprised me too,looked and sang beautiful and her engagement bling was fabulous, Thank God she changed and got rid of her dish washing loose red gloves she was wearing on red carpet.
Thank you! Keaton’s hardcore gum chewing was so tacky, and I can’t believe there weren’t more mentions of it in recaps. It reminded me of Norm McDonald as Burt Reynolds in SNL’s “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketch.
I think penn’s comment was in reference to the gop & opponents of obama’s immigration bill.
Boyhood was robbed of best movie of the year.
I’m wearing eBay.
I will like to see a picture of Wes Anderson and Tilda Swinton in the same room. I am not kidding.
Love John Legend and Common. David’s tears, then Chris’s tears and then Common and Legend’s speech and Jessica’s tears. The Academy got the winner right.
Can’t say I was impressed with NPH, but the inherent stuffiness of the Oscars makes it a difficult hosting gig. Ellen really impressed me last year
I loved Jack Black’s ‘interruption’ of the opening number–his Into The Woods inspired rap was hilarious!
Thrilled to see that my lord and savior, Julie Andrews, also came out to give props to the 50th Anniversary of The Sound of Music.
i never thought me and John Travolta would have the same taste in men.
OK, if you’re gonna do “AskHerMore,” then have the girls wear jeans and t-shirts next year. Shaming women for liking pretty dresses and shaming the fashion industry (which I consider to be an art form) is its own version of sexism. Trust me: When Anna Kendrick or Jennifer Aniston are being pampered like pageant princesses and slid into perfectly-tailored-to-their-bodies couture gowns by a team of stylists treating them like goddesses, I doubt they’re thinking, “WOE IS ME! WHEN WILL THIS OPPRESSION END?!” You can talk about a gown that a team of artists slaved over for months AND talk about the performers’ work as well. Jeeeeeeeze. Let’s be feminists, but let’s not be irrational.
Well said!
At least NPH didn’t sing anything as cringeworthy as “we saw your boobs”
all I got.
I’m not as keen to watch the Oscars as I am to watch the fashion on the red carpet. With this stupid #askhermore movement – no more desire to watch any of it. The ceremony needs edited by about two hours and the dresses were a sea of beige boredom. I will stick with the Walking Dead next year thanks. But I have to snicker at Adam Levine’s “rock star” moment on stage. I act like that when I need to pee and I’m not at a bathroom.
That’s what my daughter said. She looked at me, shook her head and said “does he have to go to the bathroom or something?” I’m proud of her… a teenage girl who finds Adam Levine repugnant.
Two things: I agree with asking women better questions but the red carpet should be a place where you can talk about jewelry, etc. and support the people who provided them to you…or is that a stupid p.o.v?
I’m worried about Charlie and Sean raising a black child. Charlize has made questionable comments before and Sean is a piece of trash so I fear that the kid will grow up to be an Uncle Tom or self hating
Sean has at least got off his arse and actually done relief work in Haiti where lots of the people affected are black. Hardly the mark of a rascist. Not saying the guy’s a role model, but he does stuff.
I understand the ask her more thing, however, I still think it’s a bit ridiculous. You don’t spend weeks, maybe even months, looking for a dress for one of the biggest nights only to not talk about it and discuss your ‘craft’ to Mario Lopez of extra. This isn’t an in dept article for vanity fair about acting, you have two minutes talking to some reporter (who probably doesn’t want to ask you these dumb ass questions either- but it’s their job), so just do it. Say the designers name for one minute then talk later. Quite the woe is me thing, Jesus, it’s ridiculous. You can still be a feminist while answering a question that you feel is evidently beneath you, even though it really isn’t.
and its not like the “interviews” are soley about fashion either. Its usually a quick “who are you wearing”? and then right on to asking them about what it was like to work with so and so etc. And then they’re gone after like 3 questions.
“Its usually a quick “who are you wearing”? and then right on to asking them about what it was like to work with so and so etc”
From what I have seen, it isn’t right on to asking them about their work. It is who are you wearing, followed by the spanx/undergarment question, whether you have problems sitting in that gown, followed by questions about weight management and motherhood, etc.
“You don’t spend weeks, maybe even months, looking for a dress for one of the biggest nights only to not talk about it and discuss your ‘craft’ to Mario Lopez of extra. ”
Are you kidding? Why do you think they are wearing the dress to the event in the first place? Because their CRAFT got them in the door! They might have spent weeks on the outfit, but no doubt spent MANY months working on the project which got them a nomination!
Why do they even have the opportunity to explore their “craft?” Because their “craft” is funded for the purpose of entertaining people and making $ for the industry so that it can continue to fund arts and entertainment. If they want to stay so authentically “all-about-that-craft,” then they need to forgo the free jewelry loans and designer gowns, wear all plain black formal attire, and see how many viewers enjoy hearing their extrapolations on their self-importance.
At the core, this is an industry awards ceremony like many people have in their own industries. Those are neither interesting or publicised to the world because they are by definition, self-inclusive. What makes the Academy awards, GGs, et al entertaining is getting to see the spectacle of celebrities who have been made wealthy or famous by the masses who chose to give them money or attention in order to get to that position. Film junkies (and I am one) go to the festivals. This is about celebrity and self-congratulation.
Yes I understand your point of view there, but like I said, you’re just doing a quick three minute interview on a red carpet, so of course you aren’t going to have in depth conversations about your work. Is it fair? Often at times it’s not, but for extra and e! the type of audience they serve don’t expect to hear that type of stuff. If it was at a press conference, a round table, a televised show, or film festival, than I totally get that and expect questions with far more substance in those type of settings. But on a red carpet it’s a little show you put on for x amount of time and then you go about your business.
Perhaps our red carpet viewing experiences are just different? Because I’m used to a minute or two talking about an outfit, jewellery, and then on to the film or who you’re excited to see.
Re #AskHerMore: for awhile now I’ve saying that by only having to wear suits the men get off too easily and don’t get put under the same level of scrutiny for their fashion choices as the women do. I think part of the solution is to change the men’s dress requirements to smart casual rather than formal.
I thought the set design for the Oscars this year was amazing. Good job on that.
I honestly thought Beyonce was going to do a surprise performance because I say Solange in the audience. I know Solange did some Cheerleading movie years ago but would that merit an invite to the Oscars? Is her husband an actor/director or something?
You can also go if you pay. Don Cheadle said this the other day on Letterman.
What? I always thought it was invite only. She had a really good seat too.
I think someone posted that she DJ’d the after party.
Wes won an Oscar for The Royal Tenenbaums screenplay, with Owen Wilson.
Looks like this was the lowest watched Oscars in years. Guess lack of diversity equals less viewers? The Shadenfreude is sweet. 🙂 Couldn’t have happened to a better bunch of a-holes with their lame “celebrating the whitest” humor, and “diverse” presenters. The show was a major fail all around and made the Oscar people seem like dinosaurs.
Yeah, they absolutely need to scrap the Best Foreign Language Film award and just open up the Best Picture award to the best films of the year worldwide. Most progressively minded people would applaud the move.
Oscar host is really an impossible job……the show itself is a lumbering dinosaur put on for people with 60 second attention spans……
The oscars are where the fantasy world of the movies and the very human people who make them meet…..that’s why I don’t mind the message acceptance speeches, it is their few minutes so let them ramble, joke or try to make a plea for peace peace…..