Oscars 2013

[CensoredAlso]

I haven't seen Life of Pi yet, but I still can't believe that anything lost to The Hobbit. I thought the new technology would definetley pull in an Oscar. Especially part of the fact that the Lord of the Rings series got many awards, including effects, and even best picture! (What de hey?)

DrTooth and heralde were right! These things really are fixed.

Thanks. But I have to confess I was hoping The Hobbit wouldn't win anything. Its disregard for the book in favor of pointless CGI battles left me very disappointed. A silly little cartoon from 1977 was more accurate and more heartfelt than this movie ever could be.

The Lord of the Rings was a complete package and deserved most of its awards. The Hobbit did not, not in my opinion.

 

[jvcarroll]

 

[Drtooth]

The last few weren't?

If there's one thing Seth did right, it was to bring music back into the show. I hated that last year was Oscars express, and only 2 songs were nominated,... and quite clumsily I might add. There were two songs, and there wasn't time to perform one of them?! All but 2 songs were performed (don't see why they didn't have the time for that). Plus, at least he didn't do that tired old bit where he inserts himself in to every movie and makes obvious jokes about it. That stale chestnut was barely funny the last 3 years they did it.

Wh... why did Brave win Best Animated Feature?

Brave was an okay movie, but it really was the weakest of the bunch. Paranorman deserved that award for the visuals alone. All three stop motion films were nominated, actually. ANY of them deserved it over Brave. Even Frankenweenie.

I haven't seen Life of Pi yet, but I still can't believe that anything lost to The Hobbit. I thought the new technology would definetley pull in an Oscar. Especially part of the fact that the Lord of the Rings series got many awards, including effects, and even best picture! (What de hey?)

I haven't seen it, but I can tell Life of Pi is one of those annoying self-indulgent Oscar Bait films that come across pompous. Personally, I wanted Avengers to win that effects award just to stick in in Ang Lee's overrated face. A Movie with the Hulk in it people actually liked! Still, Afleck didn't deserve the snub for best director, Life of Pi didn't deserve to win half the stuff it did (OOOH! We have a CGI tiger on a CGI ocean! Thanos was more impressive visually, and he only popped up during the credits for 1 second).

But Life of Pi won those awards because, as TV Tropes says All True Art is Angsty.

That said, I HATE the fact I didn't see Django Unchained, and I actually wish I saw Argo. Skyfall maybe... No desire to see Pi or that foreign film about the old couple. Or as I like to cal it, the first 10 minutes of Up for 2 hours.

I gotta see

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I think Argo is till playing, if you want to see it. And it'll be on Blu-Ray in about a week or two.

The highlight of the night was definetley when Ted came out with Marc Wahlberg. I'm still trying to figure out how they did it!
(Theory: I think they have a transparent screen where Ted was projected on, and Wahlberg stood right in front of the screen. I've seen technology like that used in the past in an attraction in Universal Studios, I think that's what they did here.)

Seth was OK. And we'll leave it at that. I'll just say I enjoyed Billy Crystal a billion times more.

BRAVE did not deserve that Oscar! They should give it back!
Out of all the nominated films, it was by far the worst. They should've given it to one of the stop-motion films, if not Frankenweenie. Those films really deserve it more than the others.
I still think they just gave it becuase it's Pixar. There is no other explanation why an entire panel of judges would like that one the most out of the other great films there were this year.

 

[Drtooth]

Seth was OK. And we'll leave it at that. I'll just say I enjoyed Billy Crystal a billion times more.

Being the Oscar Host is like being president. I have NO idea why any sane, rational minded person would work to get such an honor since all it leads to is hate, overly critical criticism, and unfair comparisons. Seth was just above average for me (considering the hand he had in the musical comeback). Certainly not as bad as James Franco or David Letterman. And those guys are great outside the Oscars. I'm hearing criticism from "genius" entertainment types that didn't realize the Boobs number WAS supposed to be an over the top joke and a heaping helping of self satire as everyone pretty much figured out the guy with the offensive cartoons WOULD be the most offensive host. Though the brutally honest, bitingly satirical portrayal of Flight was genius. Family Guy cut scene-ish, yes... but probably the highlight of the night. Half the opening WAS jokes about how bad he was going to be. What the heck did anyone expect?

If anything, I think Seth was too safe! The most offensive jokes were the Chris Brown and Rhianna one and the one about Mel Gibson? Chris deserves every shred of ridicule he gets for what he did, and Rhianna deserves it too for going back to someone who beat her up in the first place. And Mel Gibson is a non-person in Hollywood. he was able to recover from the "All Jews are responsible for all the world's wars" comment, but the racist phone messages killed his career. Why not mock that? And seriously, coming from a show that's so over the top in trying to be offensive that they play rape off as a joke... that's nothing.

But as I always say, no one likes anyone to host the Oscars. Old standbys like Billy Christal are are too old and tired, new fresh faces are chided for trying to play up the youngsters and leaving old timers out. Such and such is TOOO offensive! EEEW! Now the comedy's too safe and bland! This chair's too hard. This chairs too soft. It's like Goldilocks of the Ma and Pa bear were dual income no kids. Nothing's perfect enough.

Then again, I love Billy, even though I think we were robbed of Eddie Murphy's Oscar Hostingdue to unfortunate events... and he barely saved last years stodgy, dull, flavorless Oscars Express. This Oscars, like it or not, brought back the old school feeling they long since dumped because something or other wasn't Green or P.C. enough. The lack of musical performances last year was inexcusable. I could go on about the slipshod nomination process for original song last year as well, but the Muppets won an Oscar because of it.

BRAVE did not deserve that Oscar! They should give it back!
Out of all the nominated films, it was by far the worst. They should've given it to one of the stop-motion films, if not Frankenweenie. Those films really deserve it more than the others.
I still think they just gave it becuase it's Pixar. There is no other explanation why an entire panel of judges would like that one the most out of the other great films there were this year.

I don't think Brave deserves the hate and the hype it gets. Brave got the award because it was partially directed by a woman... the first Pixar film to do so. it left something to be desired, sure... but then again, credit where credit is due, it successfully subverted and averted every sad little Princess movie stereotype and trope Disney shoved into their films. You know, the ones we loved in The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, but hated in all other subsequent films that Disney gets flack for not doing? Unfortunately, said tropes where why those two movies were hits... but Brave does had a strong female audience of teen and 2o year old girls that grew up to feel ambivalent about their favorite movies as little girls. The fact that Mereada ends up with no sexy prince Ken Doll at the end of the movie earns my respect. Still... out of the other films, it was kinda the weakest. Paranorman should have won for it's overall technical prowess and strong storyline. If they were going to give it to a legacy, they should've at least given it to Aardman for Pirates.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I only saw half of Pirates! Band of Misfits but no doubt it was a very fun movie, that also deserved it, I don't know about an Oscar, but it definetley deserves awards.

If anything, I think Seth was too safe! The most offensive jokes were the Chris Brown and Rhianna one and the one about Mel Gibson? Chris deserves every shred of ridicule he gets for what he did, and Rhianna deserves it too for going back to someone who beat her up in the first place. And Mel Gibson is a non-person in Hollywood. he was able to recover from the "All Jews are responsible for all the world's wars" comment, but the racist phone messages killed his career. Why not mock that? And seriously, coming from a show that's so over the top in trying to be offensive that they play rape off as a joke... that's nothing.

Wait..this happened last night? If that's the case, I'm glad he mocked Mel Gibson! I can't stand for the stupid @#%# guy. He's done and said disgusting and racist things. Glad his career is dead.

Seth was surprisingly very careful. I was expecting him to mock everyone and everything, kinda Ricky Gervais style. But he was very polite last night. He was defineltey better than Anne Hathaway and James Franco (Ha! Remember that?)
But he was still just terrible, a lot of the jokes were just plain bad, remember that song he sang last night? How was that not odd?

Billy still remains my favorite. He should host it every year!

 

[Drtooth]

The only thing I really disliked was how incredibly lame Melissa MacCarthy and Paul Rudd's animation award set up. That was terrible. I like a good sidetracked by mundane conversation joke as much as anyone else, but it was so poorly set up that it just came across like they actually forgot their lines. Actually... worse. if they did, it would be funnier. These are 2 genuinely funny people and they blew a great opportunity.

The Avengers, however, RAN with it. They were the best presenters of the night. Biased, but they had fun with the same exact joke of arguing and getting sidetracked. Too bad they didn't have the good CGI Hulk to mock Ang Lee's terrible looking Hulk film.

Billy still remains my favorite. He should host it every year!

Then we can hear everyone whine about "Aw... him again?" Seriously, they put too much pressure on these people and act surprised when they're too afraid to deliver. Seth clearly had a nervous air about him half the night. That's why he lampshade hung every joke. That's a very polarizing situation right there. I agree. He didn't quite keep up the momentum from the opening. Maybe he should have been more offensive. Then everyone would hate him for being offensive. He was polite to most of the actors they routinely mock on his shows. Imagine if he made a gay joke when introducing John Travolta. Everyone would be up in arms, for the same joke they've done on his show already several years ago.

I propose NO Oscar host. Just the presenters. Then everyone can be equally disappointed.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Maybe he should have been more offensive. Then everyone would hate him for being offensive.

The biggest myth around is that he ever was offensive. He plays it safe like most liberal celebrities do. (No I'm not particularly conservative, but celebraties are particularly liberal and it often hinders their sense of humor, lol).

 

[jvcarroll]

I don't really care whether or not Seth was tasteless. His greatest offense was he was just NOT FUNNY! Not at all and he knew it. You could see it on his face all night. I've stuck up for MacFarlane many times, but not here. He was out of his depth and he deserves every last bit of lampooning coming his way. Yes, he was worse than James Franco! Much worse.

As for the movies, I really didn't love this year's crop. Argo was alright. Maybe Lincoln should have gotten it. Unfortunately, I have yet to see that.

The acting winners were all good choices. Jennifer Lawrence's appeal alludes me, but she seemed to put in a solid performance.

Brave winning Best Animated Picture confirmed to me that the voters either don't see the pictures or that they don't really care about what makes a good animated movie. I rate Brave below Bug's Life and Cars 2. Story-wise, it's a mess. Even the character development left much to be desired. I will say the theme was sweet and the effects were stunning. That does not make a great film. Frankenweenie had a very thin script too and didn't really offer more than its live action predecessor. I guess Wreck-it Ralph was too commercially-centered for the Academy's taste. ParaNorman was my pick. It was light on story, yet what it did have was creepy, new and refreshing. Great message! I loved the characters too. Above all, it has to be the most beautiful stop-motion animated film I've ever seen. It deserved the win. The politics behind Brave won it the Oscar. It's just one of those rare Pixar films that I'll never own on Blu-ray.

Adelle's Skyfall theme...that was the best moment of last night. Amazing performance and well-deserved win!

 

[Drtooth]

I don't really care whether or not Seth was tasteless. His greatest offense was he was just NOT FUNNY! Not at all and he knew it. You could see it on his face all night. I've stuck up for MacFarlane many times, but not here. He was out of his depth and he deserves every last bit of lampooning coming his way. Yes, he was worse than James Franco! Much worse.

Maybe he was too safe. The best bit was the lambasting of Flight as sock puppets. I agree he second guessed things and was a little too nervous, but when he's being that safe and people still call him tasteless... you know something's off. I give him a lot of credit for the opening skit. Especially for not doing the dreadfully tired "insert host into clips of movies from that year" joke. I mean, yeah... we get it. You can digitally insert someone into film with technological crap that was revolutionary in the 90's. Getting Shatner to play Kirk alone was a feat that was far more impressive. But that momentum. He just couldn't keep it up. Somehow after the Chris Brown joke bombed, he played it too safe the rest of the night.

But then again, last year had a great host, but the rest of the ceremony was flat and robotic. I HATE how apologetic the Oscars has become. This whole "we need to be low key and fast and almost ashamed of out big spectacular" bit that followed them around last decade... it's UNbecoming. As "unfunny" as Seth was, at least we got musical performances back. There was something nostalgic and bold about this ceremony.

However, there was one thing dreadfully missing. The presenters weren't that good. Except the Avengers, Streep, and the first lady that is. No Jack Black, No Will Ferrel, no Robin Williams. The only comedians were Rudd and McCarthy and they were a million times less funny than Seth was. And where was the Lifetime Achievement award? No one got it this year?

The politics behind Brave won it the Oscar. It's just one of those rare Pixar films that I'll never own on Blu-ray.

That's my thought too. The film should have had an extra year in gestation, and something tells me the outtakes made the movie better than it was. Still, I'm not too upset about it. Remember, Happy Feet won in 2006. And Shark Tale was nominated period. I liked Ratatouille, but there's no way it deserved it over Persepolis. And Surfs Up didn't even deserve to be in the running. They always have one WTHeck nominee in that category. Lord knows why. They do indeed need a better team for picking the Oscar for Animated film. Brave shouldn't be the catalyst for that complaint. Not a single Satashi Kon film ever got the nod. THAT is injustice.