Oscars Recap

Just like Christmas, all the hype builds for months and in one night it was done. This year’s Oscar ceremony was quite the show! Seth MacFarlane did a wonderful job his first time as host of the ceremony. He brought a refreshing, sometimes offensive, comedic style to the show. Personally, I loved it. It was a huge turn around from last year’s dud. A few things stood out to me this year making the show great.

I really loved Seth’s opening. I think it would have been flawless if not for William Shatner’s appearance. MacFarlane is said to be a trekkie, so I guess he wanted to showcase the original James T. Kirk. I never knew Seth MacFarlane could sing and I instantly fell in love with him after his musical-filled opening. Overall the show paid homage to the great musicals.

John Travolta came out as the representation of the music revival in film with Saturday Night Fever. Since then, the Academy has recognized great musicals in the past decade.  I cannot believe Catherine Zeta-Jones can still move like that! She reprised her role of Velma Kelly in Chicago to do a live musical number. Followed by the always-stunning Jennifer Hudson who brought to the audience to their feet with her performance. She won the Oscar in 2007 for her role as Effie White. Then the cast of LesMiserable joined together to sing my favorite song from the film, “One Day More,” plus Anne Hathaway thrown in there as Fantine. Music played a huge part of this show.

I absolutely loved the James Bond tribute. For fifty years, Bond has made our hearts race. Dame Shirley Bassey sang “Goldfinger” as part of the tribute. I was really hoping she would sing “Diamonds Are Forever,” my favorite Bond song, at least until “Skyfall.” Adele continued the night of Bond with taking home the Oscar for Best Original Song. Though, it was no surprise she won.

The major awards were pretty predictable this year. Pixar continued its dominance of the Best Animated Feature category, beating out Wreck-It Ralph to take home the award for Brave. I still whole-heartedly believe that Ralph was a better-animated film with a much better story while still visually stunning. One thing that definitely did throw me was the tie for sound editing. From the gasps of the audience, I know I was not the only one taken aback by this news. This is only the fifth time in Oscar history that this has happened. It’s definitely something for the record books.

Jennifer Lawrence secured her spot as one of my favorite human beings with her fall on the stairs as she was accepting her award for Best Actress. As she took the mic, she joked with the audience about it, “You’re just standing up for me because I fell and that’s really embarrassing.” She is one of the classiest actresses in Hollywood and carries herself with the maturity of someone much older. The video of her falling is very funny but I do want to congratulate on winning.

Argo took home of the award for best picture. One of the producers, Grant Heslov, was not subtle about his displeasure for Ben Affleck’s snub. He continuously congratulated him on directing the show. Ben handled it with grace, as I’m sure he wanted to take the mic and shout “Argo fuck yourself.” I was glad to see Argo get the appreciation it deserved.

Overall, I thought this was one of the best shows in the recent years. The pacing was perfect. I didn’t notice the show was going so long. Seth MacFarlane certainly did with his numerous jokes about the time. However, it was worth waiting until the end to see his final musical number with the great Kristen Chenoweth consoling the losers of the night. He was an absolutely delightful host. I hope to see him host the Oscars again.