I usually get to excited about the Academy Awards – I organize pools, host or attend parties, see all the movies. But this year, I just haven’t been into it. I’ve only seen four of the movies nominated for Best Picture – Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Les Miserables. I liked them all, actually. But I wasn’t motivated to see the rest, and ended up not having much interest in the awards show this year. It didn’t help that I’m not a fan of the host, Seth MacFarlane.
The Fashion
The red carpet was equally underwhelming. I barely saw any dresses I liked, and I didn’t see any that really excited me. My favorites were Kerry Washington, Sandra Bullock and Stacy Kiebler.
I’m a huge Jennifer Lawrence fan, but I didn’t love this weird parachute dress.
A bigger tragedy, though, was Sally Field’s dress.
It fit weird, the sleeves were wrinkly, the ruffles were awful, her hair was messy. Just awful.
The Host
Seth MacFarlane started out strong, with a good crack about trying to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh. But it was all downhill from there. His jokes weren’t rude, they were just bad. William Shatner? That was stupid. The opening was saved by other celebrities – a dance by Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron, and a song and dance number featuring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe. Those people are too delightful to dislike.
The theme of the night was “Music of the movies”, which was a nice change up from the heavy-handed “To the movies!” theme of last (and every) year. That said, nothing could really save this boring show.
Indeed, the musical performances were my favorite moments. I’m a fan of Catherine Zeta Jones and really root for her, so it was lovely to see her knock “All That Jazz” out of the park as though she’d only been in the movie yesterday. Jennifer Hudson, no surprise here, killed her Dreamgirls performance.
The Awards
Awards wise, none of the acting wins surprised me but were all, you know, fine. Deserving. I’m happy for Anne Hathaway because I adored that performance. (I didn’t see Django Unchained or Lincoln, but knew Watlz and Lewis would win.) I love Jennifer Lawrence and I’m happy she won – and if anyone could handle falling up the stairs with such adorable, nerdy charm it’s her.
I’m a fan of Argo, so everything about Best Picture made me happy. Michelle Obama announced it! And her dress was amazing! (That’s who the best dressed of the night was.) I fully believe Ben Affleck should have won (and been nominated for to begin with) Best Directing, but I’m happy his movie won. His teary eyes and Jennifer Garner trying to hold back her tears made me so happy, you guys!
