Well, we survived another year of the Oscars. I’ve been watching the show with the same group of friends for the past eighteen years, so it’s become one of my most enjoyable and anticipated LA traditions. We eat delicious food (the ravioli this year was incredible), consume copious amounts of champagne (or is that just me?), and fill out Oscar ballots to predict all of the winners – right down to Best Sound Mixing. (Congrats on the win for HUGO, Tom Fleischman and John Midgley.)
Needless to say, I was very pleased to see THE ARTIST claim some golden statuettes. I thought that TREE OF LIFE might squeak out an oh-so deserved win for Best Cinematography, but it was not meant to be. And I feel like I need to see HUGO again – I had a whole new appreciation for the art direction of that film while watching the clips from it on my friends’ gorgeous, huge LCD television. Perhaps the Director’s Guild in New York – where I originally saw the film – needs to update their theater system?
I should have seen it in *this* theater.
I admit I was surprised by Meryl Streep’s win for THE IRON LADY since Viola Davis seemed to be the favorite. But Streep won me over with the opening of her acceptance speech: “When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, ‘Oh no. Oh, come on. Why her? Again?’” Probably because I felt the same way at the end of the night when I emerged victorious with the most correct picks (15) on my ballot. I swear, friends, most of it is sheer luck! Do you think I have any clue what film should win Best Documentary Short? (And I didn’t even know that one! I got it wrong!)
In any case, it was a fun-filled evening where my friends and I could, as Billy Crystal noted, “watch millionaires present each other with golden statues.” (One of his only funny lines of the evening. Bring back Jon Stewart, please!!!)
"Here's to annoying the bejeesus out of people, DLB!"