Notes on the Oscars

~
Watching the Oscars these days is not what I remember it being when I was kid. Somehow, a lot of the giltz seems to have worn off. Or maybe it's just that I'm missing LibraryGirl, who's my personal movie maven. Without her, it's not as much fun watching. But since we did watch, here's my take on the night of the star:

1. Oh Heath. In retrospect, considering the role he played in Brokeback Mountain, I suppose we should have seen the darkness in him but he players such a sunny character in so many other films that it's hard to comprehend. That's acting for you, I guess.

2. Ousmane Sembene's dead too and I never heard about it. If don't know who he is, you should. Start with God's Bits of Wood, which you should be able to find at any half-decent library. It is - hands down - the best strike novel ever written. I've read it a dozen times now, taught it at least thrice and it never fails to reduce me (and many of my students) to tears because of the intensity of hope it embodies.

3. What on earth was Jennifer Hudson thinking when she chose that dress?

4. What was that thing about the shout-out from the troops in the field all about? Has Hollywood deluded itself that it's so left-wing that it needs to pretend to such cheap tricks to convince middle-American that it's really not? Yeeesh.

5. Way to go, Sarah P. When I come home, yours is the first movie I'm going to watch.

6. Also, also, while Patrick Dempsey looked as delectable as ever, even his presence couldn't make the songs from Enchanted appear anything other than a sucrose overdose. So I was happy with the win for Glen Hansard's song (whose name escapes me now). I found Once - their little independent film - truly moving so I'm happy, if surprised, that it went all the way.

7. Mmm. Helen Mirren. Need I say more? She's my grandmother's age, exactly, and is still stunning. Also Johnny Depp. Mmmm-hmmm.

8. Daniel Day-Lewis. Clever, articulate, elegant and beautiful. What more can we expect of men? I need to go watch My Beautiful Laundrette again, for the *young* DDL on offer there.

9. I thought Jon Stewart was - again - too... sheathed... in his wit. If he's going to anchor the 4hr Oscar telecast, he ought to provide us with some Jon Stewartisms at least.

10. And finally, given that we all watch mostly to comment on the gowns, maybe it's time the men started to wear some bright colourful dresses too. I'm tired of the sea of black suits and bow ties. Or better year, perhaps we could actually have some women nominated for some of the non-acting roles. I think I counted three women getting awards for non-acting things but I might have been delirious by that point. And I did note that there weren't any women even nominated for the biggies such as Director, of course. Or even women appearing in the "past winners" montages.