8 Reasons Why The 81st Academy Awards Rocked
February 23, 2009 by Rachel Segal
Filed under Hollywood Style
I’m in awe right now. When I first approached this evening, I had some concern over the length of the Academy Awards show – especially given how *ahem* boring the 
production has been in recent years. There is a great deal of tradition and ceremonial expectations around this event, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that the theatrics have gone stale and the whole performance had seriously lost that spark necessary to hold the attention of an international audience for several hours.
That was before tonight. I’m inspired and delighted to say that Hollywood glamour is back, and the staunch traditionalism has softened into a far more intimate and personable affair. In short – this was an emotional, amazing show.
I’m not sure exactly at what point I realized this was something different, but I did notice that I hadn’t hit my typical mid-show slump right when the big awards are starting to be presented. I was still paying attention, still interested in what was happening, and not just listening for the winners with half an ear. With that, I made up my mind that it only seemed fitting to consolidate the biggest reasons why this year’s Academy Awards completely and utterly rocked.
Hugh Jackman is hilarious. The opening number was far more interesting, hilarious, and honestly energetic than it has been in years. It was fun and lighthearted, without feeling as though there was any sense of pretension in the air.
Slinky, sparkly, cream colored dresses. The ladies looked lovely. There were only a few dresses that I turned up my nose at (Heidi, I’m looking at you.) – overall the look was elegant and shiny. The stars sporting the ’standard’ off-white sparkling look included Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Aniston, Tina Fey, Nicole Kidman, Rachel Evan Wood, and Marisa Tomei.
Color still popped. As for the ladies who defied this, Kate Winslet, Marianne Cotillard and Amy McAdams were absolutely radiant. Even Angelina Jolie brought out a pop of festive green jewelry.
The collective passing of the Oscar torch. The first time five previous winners stepped on stage to present the award for Best Supporting Actress, I gasped. Something different. The standard individual winner from the year before is a tradition. But this is so much more humbling. And the “toasting” between actors was just so refreshing. I hope they keep this for future years.
Best Supporting Actor. This was sad, this was real, and it was very well done. I admire Heath Ledger’s family for their strength. We’ve been predicting this for months now, before Ledger passed away even. It was wonderful to see the award go to such a stunning performance.
Slumdog! This was an absolutely incredible film. I’m so glad to see it be recognized on this scale for the many different ways in which the film excelled and ultimately dominated.
Great company, great competition. Almost all the categories (well, except animation – and there were some choice Jack Black jokes about that) were chock full of talent. The winners were well deserved, but they were in great company.I particularly enjoy it when you can genuinely tell that a group of actors/actresses are proud of the winner, even when it’s not them standing at the podium.
Kate Winslet’s dad whistled. This was brilliant. Combined with the choice words in Sean Penn’s acceptance speech, and the words “Domo arigato Mr Roboto” being uttered on stage, I’d say this was a ridiculously great year for speeches.
Images: Newscom
I switched over in time for the big 3 announcements and I’m sorry I didn’t tune in earlier. The show was immediately and powerfully much different than previous years. I’m sure the realization that more people than ever before would be watching the show in HD played heavily to the many changes I noticed even in the first few seconds of viewing. Nominees, their families and misc. glitterati seemed much much closer to the stage, allowing for some different camera opportunities. The stage decoration itself was heavily set in a sort of “Hollywood Golden Era” aesthetic. Reams of tinsel abound, lots of dark space and some serious attention to lighting work to keep the eye from picking up on anything the HD cameras could easily pass on but shouldn’t.
In the past plywood with a coat of black paint on it might only have been noticed by people in the audience close enough to see, and completely invisible to us at home. Without serious attention paid to the fidelity of this equipment, everyone at home gets to see all the gaffer tape and paint holding the stage together, broadcast in 1080 lines of uncompromising visual clarity. All in all one of the best HD broadcasts I’ve seen to date, and I only caught 1 musical number and the tail end of the show.
Lee – absolutely!! It was the most inspired Academy Awards I’ve probably seen in my lifetime. Before this, I believe they were expecting the #s to be super low…but if they can continue to reinvent the brand and attract a younger audience, then they might just get back to being the ‘must see’ event of the year.
Kate’s dad whistling across the audience like he was trying to hail a cab was one of my favorite moments, it was so funny and so normal, I loved it!
I also loved when Jack Black said he makes most of his money from animated movies because he goes to the Oscars and bets all his earnings on Pixar.
I like when Sean Penn acknowledged that he didn’t always make it easy for the Academy to like his work. A nice commentary on both the complicated characters he chooses to play and on his often controversial personal life.
I agree with you Rachel. Every year I pretend that I’m into the Oscars and prepare to watch the entire thing, and end up just never paying attention. But before I knew it, it was near the end! ‘Entertainment’ came first this year at the Oscars with awards on the side and I was totally alright with that! Loved it! Now I have a whole lot of movies to catch up on!
Sherry – that *was* a great joke! Such an obvious win; it’s nice that he had a sense of humour about it.
MJ – I loooved that – I also loved how Robin Wright Penn looked so proud of him while he was accepting the award. That stuff just melts my heart.
fschulte – every film (except maybe Doubt) really lived up to it and was amazing. Let me know if you want any recommendations – there’s some great stuff here!