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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

LIVE WATCHING THE OSCARS!!!

You know, I love you all. But I’m pretty sure you can handle this. You’ve watched TV before and I believe you can get through this show without me.

If I am really stunned, maybe I’ll fire up the iPhone and tweet something, but probably not.

I think I’ll consider what I have seen and write something when I feel I have a little perspective. Old fashioned, but well… it was good enough for Abe Lincoln.

Feel free to use this entry as a place to chat amongst yourselves while I am doing pretty much what most of you are doing… sitting in front of a TV with friends, eating some comfort food, making fun of the bad dresses, not talking too much in front of my beautiful wife when some girl looks incredibly hot, praying for someone to do something (ANYTHING!) spontaneous, discussing the strategic methodology and spending habits of various studios (well, that may not be what all of you do) and hoping that Franco lights up a joint on camera as they pass the 3 hour mark.

See you on the other side…

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96 Responses to “LIVE WATCHING THE OSCARS!!!”

  1. LexG says:

    Every big movie awards show, I always wish I could LIVE-TWEET it or use it as a night to launch a new blog or something, but, yeah, I’ll be watching it w/friends and I can’t tweet from my 2002 burner that I got at 7-11 and have to TOP UP six times a month. So… enjoy.

    THE OFFICIAL LEX PREDICTIONS that are ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED:

    King’s Speech will win picture.
    Hooper director (ugh)
    Bening actress (UGH)
    Bardem actor (THIS WILL HAPPEN)
    LITTLE HAILEE supporting actress (YAAAAAAAY!)
    Bale supporting actor

  2. JKill says:

    For some reason I feel this year is less predictable than last. I know the previous year I guessed every single of the six main categories correctly as did many others. I think the only surprise was Fletcher over Reitman/Turner for adapted screenplay, if I’m remembering correctly. This year I feel a couple catergories could go in a couple of directions which is interesting, although obviously this is far from a science.

  3. NickF says:

    The surge from Kings Speech has soured me on tonights proceedings. Hopefully the Academy doesn’t come out of it looking foolish for rewarding that and not The Social Network.

  4. LexG says:

    Jesus Christ, ladies, can you stop shooting your face full of poison? Half these actresses look they’re “wearing” Johnny Handsome.

    Did Mandy Moore have a face transplant?

  5. IOv3 says:

    What makes TSN a more worthy winner than The King’s Speech? That just makes zero sense.

    Lex, at least Mila looks pretty.

  6. Krillian says:

    Advanced predictions:

    Speech
    Fincher
    Firth
    Portman
    Bale
    Leo (against all backlash odds!)
    Kings and TSN for screenplays
    Grit for cine
    Inception gets 3 of the lesser wins

  7. arisp says:

    Mila = perfection.

  8. IOv3 says:

    I have to go with Scarjo tonight. That’s a hell of a dress she’s wearing. Absolutely stunning.

  9. JKill says:

    Since no one has mentioned her I’ll throw out two words:

    Jennifer Lawrence.

  10. anghus says:

    Jennifer Lawrence looked fucking amazing. what a knock out.

  11. NickF says:

    She’s a beautiful girl.

  12. sanj says:

    wouldn’t this day be a good day getting like a dozen dp/30’s ..the actors are all in one place

    Jennifer Lawrence DP/30 for those who missed it

    http://www.viddler.com/explore/mcnvideos/videos/269/

    Lucy Walker DP/30 – Wasteland – one of my favorites

    http://www.viddler.com/explore/mcnvideos/videos/329/

    Natalie Portman DP/30 – which is super popular

    http://www.viddler.com/explore/mcnvideos/videos/280/

  13. anghus says:

    best comment i’ve seen so far

    Resse Witherspoon: Hair via 1969. Dress via 1991 Prom.

  14. sanj says:

    it’d be great if actors ask any of the people interviewing them if they have actually seen the movie they are in ..

    why aren’t the oscars on hbo ? you know where they play actual movies and not reality shows

  15. JPK says:

    James Franco looked baked in that interview.

  16. arisp says:

    I realize this manciewcz guy has a tough familial lineage to live up to, and he looked like he was gonna knock someone’s teeth out when they mentioned his grandfather, but he can still effing shave. he looks miserable for god’s sake. what a tool

  17. anghus says:

    JPK, my wife said the exact same thing.

  18. IOv3 says:

    You have to shave for the Oscars? Really? Curses.

    Here’s hoping Franco is baked because you know, we haven’t had a baked Oscars’ host since the 70s!

    ETA: OH GOODNESS… MONTAGE TIME!

  19. anghus says:

    that opening was fucking painful.

  20. IOv3 says:

    That opening was wonderful and the DeLorean being there is good times. This monologue is pretty fucking weird though.

  21. sanj says:

    the orchestral music makes this oscars for old people ..
    .,..people will clap at anything

    ,,,the winners aren’t shocking if you watch the DP/30’s –

  22. NickF says:

    Shock #1

  23. IOv3 says:

    Inception won over True Grit. HUZZAH!

  24. Joe Leydon says:

    Looks like it’s the same here as it’s shaping up on Twitter: The people who set out WANTING to hate the Oscarcast are seeking and finding reasons to do so. Yawn.

  25. christian says:

    Melissa Leo defies the “wisdom” again. Nice curtsy to Hollywood royalty too.

  26. IOv3 says:

    Leo winning is just awesome. She overcame all of that nonsense and won anyway. Steinfeld will hopefully be back… a lot.

  27. NickF says:

    Bombs away Leo.

  28. Joe Leydon says:

    You just knew Leo would drop the F-bomb, didn’t you? LOL.

  29. Kim Voynar says:

    Leo: From deep curtsy to dropping the F-Bomb. I heart her.

  30. Joe Leydon says:

    I wonder if “You know” will be a running gag all evening?

  31. NickF says:

    Why are they focusing on movies from the past and not the 10 they selected?

  32. sanj says:

    the oscars need something super exclusive like an Avatar 2 trailer

  33. anghus says:

    dear award show producers.

    please stop using kirk douglas.

    that is all.

  34. IOv3 says:

    Nick F, I believe they are trying to establish some sense of SCOPE for the Oscars tonight. I have no idea why the Oscars need a sense of SCOPE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE FUCKING OSCARS!

  35. Tim DeGroot says:

    When did Javier Bardem turn into Horatio Sanz?

  36. christian says:

    Kirk was great. Anghus, you’re really unhappy.

  37. arisp says:

    Joe, some are haters, I suspect, b/c the producers give winners 30 seconds (you know, the winners – the reason we all watch this shit, the only spontaneous part of this show), while we have to watch awful over-rehearsed jokes, and nonsense like the host wearing a pink dress and making Charlie Sheen jokes.

  38. NickF says:

    The free plug didn’t go over well.

  39. aframe says:

    Gotta love how the gag of Brolin & Bardem dressed as Hollywood Roosevelt waiters fell flat and/or flew over everyone’s heads.

  40. anghus says:

    yes. he was “great”, in a “hey look at grandpa struggle as he tries to figure out the remote control” kind of way.

    there are those who find it heartwarming. there are those who equate it to a circus sideshow. i’m firmly in the second category.

    and why does everyone in here make statements as to the perceived level of happiness of a person based on a post?

    i thought the opening bit was mediocre. i thought kirk douglas was entertaining for 30 seconds, and then i spent 3 minutes praying for a cane to come out and yank him offstage.

    how does any of that make me ‘unhappy’?

  41. Joe Leydon says:

    OK, am I the only one who’ll admit to mostly enjoying this Oscarcast?

  42. sanj says:

    how many actors are looking at their twitter feed on their iphones ?

  43. IOv3 says:

    Anghus, you come across as angry. Sorry. I do agree Kirk Douglas thing had a side show quality to it that ERNIE BORGNINE WOULD NOT HAVE BROUGHT TO THIS CEREMONY! They have a 90 something Oscar winner that’s in great shape and they don’t use him. Shame on the Oscars.

    Again, I don’t get why this OSCARS is being treated like A PILOT as if THE OSCARS NEED AN EXPLANATION!

  44. anghus says:

    hooray for Trent Reznor. The best score won.

  45. Joe Leydon says:

    Go, Trent Reznor!

  46. IOv3 says:

    Desplat needs to win an Oscar at some point but here’s to Trent Reznor being an Oscar winner.

    ETA: So let me get this right… Inception is an astounding technical movie but the direction is for shit? Really Academy? Really?

  47. NickF says:

    The comedy has been bad, Joe. I love the pace of tonights. Pair the awards and movie it along briskly.

  48. Joe Leydon says:

    Hey, I’m laughing. Well, I wasn’t laughing at the faux musical bit — until Twilight got what it deserved.

  49. anghus says:

    yeah, the comedy is forced. really forced.

    oh man, randy newman. his constant nominations are at the heart of everything i find wrong with the Oscars. That mangled mess of a song is one of the best 5 of the year? seriously?

    And the whole tone of the show… it’s just odd. Kirk Douglas? Oprah? Auto-Tune musical gags.

    The show lacks gravitas.

  50. IOv3 says:

    Yes, he does look good without a shirt.

    Anghus, they just lack the ability to figure out what to do with the show when not giving out awards. Which is just weird but once again, let us look to the KEYS, and BRING THE KEYS BACK IN 2011!

  51. anghus says:

    so they roll out the corpse of kirk douglas and the ghost of bob hope…

    interesting choices.

  52. Hallick says:

    It is as if the producers of the show had said to themselves, “You know what I really love about the Oscars? The awkward and laughless banter that presenters read off the prompter before giving out an award. Why can’t we make that the whole hosting job this year?”

  53. IOv3 says:

    Hal, that nailed it, but luckily Anne Hathaway has enough charisma for both herself and James Franco! Seriously, so far, TSN and INCEPTION are the most rewarded movies of the night, and The King’s Speech not winning editing could be setting things up for a possible upset.

  54. Hallick says:

    Why does Franco looked a black and white movie that got Ted Turner’d from the neck up?

  55. IOv3 says:

    Randy Newman just earned that Oscar with that speech.

  56. Hallick says:

    Randy Newman just earned himself the MVP award for tonight’s show too. Why the fuck wasn’t HE the host?!?

  57. Joe Leydon says:

    I think Country Strong (and Gwyneth Paltrow) would have done better if they’d nominated “Shake That Thing” for Best Song instead.

  58. anghus says:

    Randy Newman the musician makes me mental. Randy Newman the speech giver is 8 kinds of awesome.

  59. IOv3 says:

    Seriously folks, it’s 10:52 on the East Coast and now it’s DEATH MONTAGE TIME? REALLY? Talk about bad placement.

  60. anghus says:

    so how long does this show go over?

    feels like an eternity already.

  61. IOv3 says:

    WE have the big four coming up, so they can get accomplished in 30 minutes. UNLESS THE WE SPEAK YOUR NAMES section of the ceremony comes back then this thing is going til 11:45 est!

  62. Joe Leydon says:

    Tom Hooper, eh? Somewhere, IO is cheering. Somewhere else, Jeff Wells is wailing. Such is life.

  63. NickF says:

    Oscar you have disappointed me.

  64. IOv3 says:

    Joe, he’s one of the best directors of the current crop (Ever is a stretch). I love the way the guy sees the world. It’s awesome and askewed. Sorry some of you folks do not.

  65. arisp says:

    I would DEFINITELY rather watch the Governor’s Award… DeNiro, Coppola, Wexler. Legends discussing their craft and the importance of film in their lives. Yup

  66. Joe Leydon says:

    Er, IO: Think you might wanna edit that one, buddy.

  67. IOv3 says:

    Joe of course I did but again, I dig the guy, I love the Damned United and John Adams. ALRIGHT! THE “WE SPEAK YOUR NAME” part of nominations has been replaced with one guy/lady giving dap to the actor/actress noms. Which is still a bit silly.

  68. christian says:

    I bet the voters did this just to piss off Wells. Maybe he’ll compare this loss to being trapped in a Libyan neighborhood, twittering agony while the squads close in…

  69. Joe Leydon says:

    Is it too early to ask Sandra Bullock to host the Oscarcast next year?

  70. IOv3 says:

    Joe, we are BRINGING BACK MC KEYS! DON’T GET IN THE WAY OF IT! DON’T YOU DO IT!

  71. anghus says:

    anne hathaway has a likability problem. she could take some lessons from sandy bullock.

  72. IOv3 says:

    Anne Hathaway is wonderful. She’s saved this show with her beauty and grace.

    Joe, seriously man, you have been posting her for years, and you don’t remember MC KEYS aka PETER COYOTE? Come on, man. Come on.

    ETA: Inception and the King’s Speech win the most? TSN loses, True Grit gets nothing, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND IS AN OSCAR WINNING FILM!

    SAY IT WITH ME… JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  73. anghus says:

    oh man. this wrap up is just painful. the internet sensation kids choir? who the hell produced this?

  74. NickF says:

    To forget about the poor ending to that ceremony, I’ll congratulate the iPad for been a satisfactory laptop replacement for tonights viewing session. I’ve have this things since day one of the MLB playoffs and tonight was the best experience with it.

    I was able to keep multiple browser pages open and post to various locations tonight without any crashes or pages reloading randomly.

  75. IOv3 says:

    Did everyone head over to HE to read a meltdown?

  76. christian says:

    Anybody who suffers actual depression because their team oscar didn’t win is, well (or should I say Wells), is an idiot.

  77. IOv3 says:

    Christian, like in most things on here, you are too harsh. Apparently some people found amazing profundity in The Social Network and are shocked, shocked, that the movie that defines our times apparently didn’t win the Oscar.

    They can get pissed all the want, all I want is for them to explain to me how that movie is so damn profound and important. Really good movie but it’s going to be dated sooner than later, and it’s characters aren’t exactly the best characters to watch repeatedly.

  78. samguy says:

    If nothing else, I think we saw a bunch of fine looking Jews there tonight: Franco, Portman, Kunis, Johansen, Garfield (if only in the audience), Gylenhaal…now why doesn’t my congregation look more like that?

    Was a real horse race with TSN & TKS each winning their respective screenplay awards, but when TSN won editing I thought that was the bellringer for Fincher & Picture. Alas, the show itself moved at a glacial pace that what little mystery came from that bordered on tedium.

    I wish Speilberg had mentioned his own Best Pic nominees among the losers! True classics: “Jaws,” “Close Encounters,” “E.T.” et al.

  79. christian says:

    No, too harsh is comparing an awards show that historically measures little and often gets it “wrong” with global strife and soul depression.

  80. IOv3 says:

    Sam g, the Beard should have brought up his films, and I felt the same way about TSN and editing. I am sort of shocked that Inception has more Oscars than The Social Network. Seriously, did anyone out there see that coming?

    ETA: Christian, did someone really bring up Global Strife and depression because TSN didn’t win?

  81. christian says:

    Do you read HE, IO?

  82. SamLowry says:

    So when is the Twitter movie coming out?

  83. IOv3 says:

    The twitter movie will feature two friends that get rich together. Much better film and a lot shorter.

    Christian, no I do not.

  84. SamLowry says:

    As I asked on the previous Oscar page:

    So if, during looping, Fincher decided as a joke to replace every “Mark” with “Bill” and every “Facebook” with “Microsoft”, would people still be gaga over “The Operating System” even though it’s still the same movie?

  85. Joe Leydon says:

    A sobering thought: The guy who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay is even older than I am. Wow.

  86. IOv3 says:

    Sam, probably not, but it would have been a weird ass movie. A fun, weird ass movie.

    Joe, that means there’s still hope!

  87. Tofu says:

    They ended before midnight? Like… Twenty minutes before midnight? Color me impressed. No clapping over the memorial montage was a WISE DECISION.

    Franco didn’t even show up. This was the Hathaway show, and she rocked it.

  88. IOv3 says:

    Tofu, HIGH FUCKING FIVE ON THE HATHAWAY LOVE! Seriously, guys like Knowles and others slamming her, sort of blows my mind. She came across as a true and genuine lady all night. I am more of a fan now than I was before and look forward to her stealing TDK-R!

    I also loved how they streamlined the awards. Seriously, that should become standard place over the next few years, but they also have to stop the weirdness with the actor/actress presentation. They still SPEAK THEIR NAMES and it’s a bit weird.

  89. yancyskancy says:

    I’m a Hathaway fan in general, but I thought she came off a bit like a high school theater geek hosting talent night or something. Maybe she was just trying too hard to sell that subpar material. Franco eventually seemed to take the opposite approach — let’s say the lines and get this over with.

    anghus: I can see someone getting tired of Pixar Randy Newman, but recording artist Randy Newman is a stone cold genius, or at least he was through the 60s, 70s and most of the 80s (I haven’t heard his more recent albums).

  90. SamLowry says:

    IO, that’s what I thought.

    People seem to be projecting a lot into that movie that’s not really there. Ending suffering, toppling governments? Umm…this is “Hot or Not” v2.0 you’re talking about, right?

  91. samguy says:

    Still bummed that “The Social Network” didn’t score a Costume Design nomination for dressing Eisenberg in sweats & shower shoes. Reminiscent of “Ghandi” winning said award

  92. IOv3 says:

    Ghandi won that award because of the bitchin hat Martin Sheen wore in that movie. Seriously. It was an amazing hat.

    Sam L: it’s the whole what caused what to happened. Facebook and Twitter helped those revolutions but people had to go into the streets to make that change happened.

    What people really seem to ignore about facebook, is that it made the Zynga folks richer than they have any right to be!

  93. LexG says:

    Seriously, did Wells and Sasha pull a Romeo + Juliet?

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon