The dust has settled, and all that remains is an unbelievable comeback, the best actor of his generation, the next great actress and a couple other notable moments. The 85th Academy Awards were less about the mediocre, first-time host-at-anything Seth MacFarlane, and more about the worthy and likeable award winners.
The opening monologue by the Family Guy and Ted creator was just not funny. The inclusion of William Shatner was awkward and didn’t fit with the prestige of the event. Sure, some of the jokes were not bad but they weren’t exactly biting or satirical. Too
much of MacFarlane’s monologue focused on actors and dancing, when the attention should’ve been placed on the nominated films. Instead, in an appeal to make the show better, MacFarlane brought out several stars to dance on stage to different songs. It was
interesting to see the pairings, like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe, but this is a movie awards show. Furthermore, some of the jokes bordered on sexism and much of the humor seemed to be in poor taste.
Luckily, the actual awards and acceptances were simultaneously humorous, humbling, spontaneous, and emotional. Christoph Waltz started it all off, graciously accepting Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” by heaping love and respect for his director. Later in the night, Tarantino, winning Best Original Screenplay, returned the favor and declared that the actors makes his movies what they are. It was wonderful seeing two well-deserving, hard-working nominees win for the fantastic movie “Django Unchained.”
Other worthwhile speeches were given by the Best Actress and Best Actor winners, Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln,” respectively. Lawrence, clearly overwhelmed, actually tripped on her way up to the stage and exasperatedly reminded everybody just how awesome she is with an endearing and funny speech. Conversely, known for his method acting, Day-Lewis contributed to some of the best laughs of the night, surprising everyone with his on point comicality. Even better, both Lawrence and Day-Lewis were highly deserving of their awards.
And yet, arguably, the night was Ben Affleck’s. Snubbed in the Best Director category and ridiculed daily just half a decade ago, he took the stage with his co-producers to accept Best Picture for “Argo” and gave a speech that contained self-deprecation, love for his family, support for his coworkers, and worldly advice; it had it all.
Unfortunately, for me at least, much of the broadcast was marred by the insistence on featuring musicals. I understand that “Les Misérables” is a popular film, but anytime a comedy is somehow nominated, the Oscars is not dedicated to showcasing comedies that year. Why did the audience have to get middling performances from “Chicago” and “Dreamgirls?” At least “Chicago” won some Academy Awards. Some may prefer this format. However, I, for one, do not wish to see the Oscars become the Tony’s.
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