Aside from the fact that the 83rd Academy Awards’ opening scene took a while to register (I thought it was a commercial at first), and there have been numerous mentions across the internet of James Franco’s stoned appearance and Anne Hathaway’s overly-animated presence, perhaps the Oscars weren’t as altogether bad as people, at first glance, thought.
Since I DVR’d the show, I decided to, begrudgingly, watch it again—actually, I watched it again twice, once right after it was over and once more this morning. The second time through, I discovered a few more bits and pieces of humor, and during my third run, watching this year’s Oscars, I was able to distinguish not only the really bad parts, which you can read about on any number of other blogs and websites, but also the reasons this year’s Oscars didn’t suck.
1. Natalie Portman’s dress
While the compliment is not meant to take away from Natalie Portman’s glowing image of motherhood, this year’s Best Actress-winner somehow managed to look like she wasn’t pregnant (at least from a straight-on angle). And I thought the jewel-toned Rodarte gown looked fabulous on her.
2. Hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway get Inceptioned
Anne Hathaway performs her brown duck interpretation of Jim Carrey’s Black Swan (Spoiler alert: Natalie Portman’s nemesis in, you guessed it, Black Swan) rendition on SNL, and James Franco shows up in a leotard, to the delight of women across America.
3. James Franco’s grandma says, “I just saw Marky Mark!”
4. Melissa Leo’s F Bomb
In a town where all too often people hold back what they’re truly thinking, Melissa Leo should be applauded for saying what was on her mind. When accepting the award for Best Supporting Actress, Leo appeared to say, “when I watched Kate [Winslet] two years ago it looked so F***ing easy to her.”
5. Anne Hathaway’s singing was actually impressive
Although Gwyneth Paltrow seemed a bit nervous, Hathaway’s voice was more impressive than Paltrows–not that anyone’s keeping track. After all, it wasn’t American Idol.
6. Russell Brand and Helen Mirren
To uphold the young and hip vibe that was unofficially this year’s Oscars’ theme, Russell Brand translated Oscar-winner Helen Mirren’s beautiful French introduction of the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film into, “What Helen said was, ‘Yo, my Oscar-winning performance as a Queen was much more realistic than Colin Firth’s as a King.’”
And might I add, Mirren looked EFFing gorgeous!
7. Christian Bale hints to his F-Bomb Charlie Sheen moment
When Christian Bale accepted the award for best supporting actor, he ran down the list of people he wanted to thank, which included new Oscar-winner, Melissa Leo, who played his mom in the movie, The Fighter.
WhenBale said, “Melissa… I’m not going to drop the F Bomb like she did, um, I’ve done that plenty, uh, before,” he was most likely referring to his alleged tirade on the set of Terminator Salvation in 2009.
And, no, I don’t believe he forgot his wife’s name, it seemed more like Bale got choked up, and wanted to hold back the tears.
8. The year of the movie musical in Hollywood
When the autotuned music montage, set to a scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, sung by Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley first came on the screen, it seemed a bit confusing. What the heck is going on here? Then Woody from Toy Story 3 came on screen with the rest of his toy gang, and the video began to make more sense. But when Justin Timberlake (The Social Network) entered, a magnificent light shined on the entire skit that announced, Now, this is young and hip! The “one billion dollars” musical breakdown, which led into a Twilight number, “He Doesn’t Own a Shirt,” truly set this montage apart from the rest of the show: to infinity and beyond!
9. Billy Crystal and his introduction to Bob Hope
What can I say… Billy Crystal was one of the best Oscar hosts of all time!
In addition, the special effects presentation, which gave us a glimpse at what it would’ve been like witnessing Bob Hope as host of the Oscars, was, simply put, mar-ve-lous.
10. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law
Since the Oscars didn’t have Ricky Gervais to roast celebrities, writers relied on the presenters to roast each other.
Aside from Robert Downey Jr. being a witty, charming, and downright good sport, his presentation with Sherlock Holmes co-star Jude Law had me thinking they would’ve been great as hosts!
Law’s joke about Downey’s closest association with a superhero being “in 2001 when [Downey] got busted in a cheap hotel with a woman dressed as Batgirl,” was brilliant; and Downey’s response, pure genius. To put the rumors to rest, Downey told Law, the cheap hotel wasn’t so cheap, the antics happened in 2000, and the girl in question was dressed as Wonder Woman. Way to knock down the punches!
11. Sandra Bullock
And, last but definitely not least—I just had to add one more to my original 10 so I could include Sandra Bullock.
Who could forget the personal hardships she’s endured this past year after having won the Oscar in 2010? All of which I won’t go over because, in my opinion, she deserves better.
I will say that following Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law’s year of hosting the Oscars in 2012 (I’m crossing my fingers), Sandra Bullock should be up next! Not only is she a gutsy lady, but she’s also funny, beautiful, talented, and seems like the kind of person who—if she was your BFF—would have your back, as her Blind Side character Leigh Anne Tuohy might say.
Add her to any awards’ show, and it would automatically display built-in class!
