A swift affair
I have to say, a lot of this morning's poo-pooing of the Oscar ceremony last night is a bit hyperbolic for my taste. The mixed critical reactions, that is. I found the night to be rather swift and host Jon Stewart to be at the top of his game. Sure, there were a number of montages that should have been nixed. The Best Picture bit that Jack Nicholson presented comes to mind as considerably unnecessary. But by my watch, the thing was over in less than four hours, something around three and a half...and that's ALWAYS a good thing. Right?But let's get into it. The season has come to a close and the Coen brothers, Scott Rudin and "No Country for Old Men" had their day to shine. Good for all involved. It's the most un-Academy win since "The Silence of the Lambs," but that's the way things go sometimes.
There were surprises in store for some. Such as Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton taking the leading and supporting actress trophies, swooping in at the last minute to steal away the thunder of the night's frontrunners. Personally, I saw this coming, but no one could deny the possibility was there and the situations were ripe for upsets. Both speeches, by the way, were quite good. Cotillard was appropriately emotional (as was Diablo Cody, who even choked me up with her teary acceptance). Swinton, meanwhile, offered that Tilda charm and sass that has become something of a staple this season for the "Michael Clayton" star.
The biggest shocks of the night for me came in the craft races, where "The Bourne Ultimatum" snuck in and grabbed the sound editing and sound mixing statuettes. The latter category had been primed as a race between "Transformers" and "No Country for Old Men," a considerable media concentration given the nominations tally of Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell. Sadly, they missed yet again and this was their last shot at getting it together. They'll go off and, obviously, churn out great work separately, so this isn't the end of days. But it would have been a nice bow on their partnership, to be sure.
I think the best moments of the evening both involved the film "Once." The first was Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's performance of "Falling Slowy," which elicited a huge cheer from the crowd. The second was Jon Stewart's insistence that Irglova come back out and be given her moment to offer what ultimately was, let's face it, the bes speech of the evening. Trigger happy bands really piss me off and someone needs to key them into the fact that some people you just don't scoot away like that. This was a songwriting DUO, the two STARs of the film, for Pete's sake. Give them both their moment, please.
The "Enchanted" numbers became a bit tedious after a while, and I couldn't help but wish Eddie Vedder had been there to mix things up. There are no two ways about it. The music branch embarassed itself this year. That's my opinion, in any case.
Apparently the ratings were the lowest ever, which it is foolish to attribute (as some have) to the actual show. I would say one need only look at the slate of rather unpopular Best Picture nominees to find out why the public at large wasn't very interested. Personally, I thought it was the best year for movies in a long while. But just look at the box office rankings to see what people preferred. It's not in line with Oscar.
Anyway, now we look ahead to next year, right? RIGHT? Well, those of us who are nuts, in any case. Scott Rudin and the Coens will be back, for different projects. Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, Frank Langella, Russell Crowe, George Clooney -- all heading back to the race. Returning filmmakers include Ridley Scott, Joe Wright and David Fincher, while Paramount Pictures once again has the glut of product to consider. And there'll be a "titanic" reunion in store for the nostalgic romantics in the crowd.
But we'll get there. For now, let's just all enjoy the release of another Oscar year in the rear view mirror. It's been a blast contributing here at variety this season,a nd I hope you've all enjoyed reading. We'll weather the fallout in the coming days and call it quits at the end of the week.
Happy Monday.
Red Carpet District is Variety contributor Kristopher Tapley's attempt at making sense of the ever-expanding glut of film awards coverage. He's been on the beat for six years. Email 
I like the montages. I wish there were more of them. But not at the expense of the acceptance speeches. I may be mistaken but I remember when the nominated performers names were accompanied by clips of highlights. Some of us don't get a chance to see every movie but when I had a chance to see why they were nominated, I often wanted to see the movie afterward. I understand that Whoopi Goldberg was offended that her hosting role was left off the montage of hosts, and I too wondered why. Most of all, I am offended that Brad Renfro was left off the Memoriam list. The Client? Bully? Sleepers was a classic film in every regard. How could they leave Brad Renfro out. How a person dies and what causes it is such an outdated standard. But all in all, I enjoyed Jon Stewart's hosting this year. Although the songs seem tedious, I think the scores should be nominated and performed. Imagine Sophies Choice, This Boys Life or Cider House Rules without the haunting scores! Maybe there should be more categories and a longer show.
Posted by: Janeykins | 2/28/2008 6:14:42 AM
I thought it was very boring. Jon Stewart got in a few laughs but overall I wanted Ellen DeGeneres back or Billy Crystal! There was just no excitement and no big stars. Last year was a much better show all round. But at least the Academy got it right for Best Actress. I also hate that damn music altho sometimes it''s good to get rid of silly people who can''t make speeches and ramble, so it''s a necessary evil. I hope next years'' show is way, way better.
Posted by: Gloria Goodman | 2/28/2008 3:58:15 AM
Again, I don't think 2005 had anything to do with box office. I think it's just a general trend that had a small upward blip of interest last year thanks to Martin Scorsese. But there's nothing particularly special about the Oscars anymore. It's still the best and brightest movie award show but aside from the host and the song routines, it doesn't offer anything you couldn't have seen already somewhere else this year.
Posted by: Chad | 2/26/2008 2:01:43 PM
Why aren't Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell working together any more?
Posted by: actionman | 2/26/2008 12:40:49 PM
Actually, I don't think it has anything to do with the glut of awards shows. You think joblo watches the CAS awards? Come on. It's clearly about the lack of popularity of the films this year, just like 2005, which was full of box office slackers (and, coincidentally, was the second lowest rated Oscar show before this one).
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley | 2/26/2008 11:34:44 AM
Stop blaming the show or the movies or the strike for the ratings. The one and only reason that people are no longer tuning in is the glut of other award shows preceding the Oscars. What's the point of watching when you've already seen the same actors win the same awards over the same other nominees and give the same speech three other times in the past two months? It's ridiculous.
Posted by: Chad | 2/26/2008 10:41:55 AM
How about more time for the winners speeches and less time for the montages?
Posted by: Jeff | 2/25/2008 4:37:56 PM
I agree with what you said. This year was one of the best ceremony movie-wise. And I thought Jon Stewart adopted just the right tone. He did a good job. As for the winners, the Academy couldn't have been righter this year. Actors/Actresses races were tight but all winners highly deserved it. I'm not really surprised that Marion Cotillard stole the oscar. Her performance was nothing but ordinary and anyone who saw the movie will understand why she was the right choice. As for movies, maybe there weren't popular at the US box office but most of them were really good movies: psychological, subtle, powerful, witty, funny. I'm not sure No country was my favorite of them all but it still was a great movie. Artists won this year over $$$ performances
Posted by: Jennyfer | 2/25/2008 3:56:50 PM
I wish that the Oscar''s recipients were given sufficient time to say more than ''thank you''. . .It was embarassing watching the disrespect given the Oscar winners even on television. It was these genuine moments I want to see more of and not montages of past Oscar winners!
Posted by: mizz terri | 2/25/2008 3:52:00 PM