Oscars 2019

[cjlasky7]

Random thoughts:

* Adam Lambert is not a bad interpreter of Queen's music. He's not bad at all. And yet, Q+AL doesn't feel right to me, and it probably never will. (Audience seemed to enjoy it, though.)

* Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler should be the hosts next year. But they probably don't need the grief.

* Black Panther won for costumes, score and production design, all well deserved. Michael B. Jordan should have at least been nominated.

* If Fey, Rudolph, and Poehler pass, can John Mulaney and Awkwafina host? They were adorable.

* Awright! Into the Spiderverse won best animated feature! It took huge swings, and connected almost every time. A landmark animated movie.

* For all the jokes people make about Mexican movies, Mexican directors have dominated the Oscars for most of the decade.

* Does anybody else want a Spike Lee/Barbara Streisand collaboration? (Samuel L. Jackson is a disgraced ex-cop turned Baptist minister; Mandy Patinkin is the cantor of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. They fight crime.)

* I feel I watched all of "A Star Is Born" with that one song. I heard Sam Elliott kicked ass, but does anything in that movie top "Shallow"?

* Olivia Colman! Woooooo! I'm ambivalent about The Favourite in general, but Colman's performance makes it work.

What's especially satisfying is that it's NOT your typical Colman performance, where she's this unstoppable force of nature, and you'd better get the hell out of her way. Her Anne is extremely fragile and vulnerable while still being regal--and it's that vulnerability combined with her power that's a trap for the other characters. Very interesting.

* Sorry, Glenn. Love you. Next time?

* Even though I know Bale was better, I can live with Rami Malek. I guess.

* Green Book: the Driving Miss Daisy of 2018. Yeesh.

Some truly baffling choices mixed in with truly welcome and surprising ones. "Are you not entertained?!"

Yes, I was.

Comments

[shadowkat]

Hee, agree mostly. Although I was exceedingly pleased that there was not an Oscar host present -- made it move faster, and was less cringe-inducing.
Less is more.

*Adam Lambert is not a bad interpreter of Queen's music. He's not bad at all. And yet, Q+AL doesn't feel right to me, and it probably never will. (Audience seemed to enjoy it, though.)

Lambert doesn't know how to strut and is a stiff performer. Those songs require someone who knows how to strut like Mick Jagger or ...Freddy Mercury. You need someone who can strut like a cat upon the stage and swagger. Also his voice isn't quite throaty enough.

Black Panther won for costumes, score and production design, all well deserved. Michael B. Jordan should have at least been nominated.

Agreed. I would have nominated Jordan over Viggo. But that's just me.

Awright! Into the Spiderverse won best animated feature! It took huge swings, and connected almost every time. A landmark animated movie.

Hee Hee. I called that one! You thought the Incredibles would win -- I knew Spiderverse would, and I hadn't even seen it.

Mexican directors have dominated the Oscars for most of the decade.

I think you may be confusing Spanish directors with Mexican Directors...?

Does anybody else want a Spike Lee/Barbara Streisand collaboration? (Samuel L. Jackson is a disgraced ex-cop turned Baptist minister; Mandy Patinkin is the cantor of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. They fight crime.)

Uhm no...they'd kill each other. Seriously, they would. Patinkin is impossible to get along with.

I feel I watched all of "A Star Is Born" with that one song. I heard Sam Elliott kicked ass, but does anything in that movie top "Shallow"?

Unfortunately no. And yes, you saw the whole of the film in that one song. Notably, both the Streisand and the Gaga versions only won the song. Streisand was "Evergreen" and Gaga was "Shallow". And neither film quite works for the same reason -- it's hard to buy that the female singer wouldn't be picked up based slowly on her big nose. I honestly think the Gaga version would have been more interesting if they flipped the genders -- and had Gaga play the Cooper role and Cooper play the wannabe. It would have been subversive and interesting.

If you feel an overwhelming need to see -- rent the Judy Garland/James Mason version instead.

Although Sam Elliot's tears and twitching eyebrows are worth a look -- but he's only in about 20% of it?

Even though I know Bale was better, I can live with Rami Malek. I guess.

I sort of knew Malek would win it after the Bale's faux pas at the Globes, and well...the fact that Malek's impression of Mercury and the Queen music is the only reason to watch Bohemian.

I'd have nominated Michael Jordan instead and given the award to him or Bale.

I did have fun trying to predict it -- but the best actress oscar and the best movie did surprise me. But they are also the only two I hadn't seen of the movies nominated. (I also haven't seen The Wife, but was told that Close is amazing in it, unfortunately the movie wasn't well liked.)

[cjlasky7]

Cuaron (Roma, Gravity), Innaritu (Birdman, The Revenant) and del Toro (Shape of Water) have won five out of the last six director Oscars. All are from Mexico.

[shadowkat]

Hmm.. I thought Del Toro was Spanish.