Thank You Sean Penn and Thank You Academy.

John Vasko — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:23:32 +0000

This year’s Oscar ceremony was very different from the usual. I was glad that they skipped all of the cynical humor that usually comes with this evening. Given the current worldwide situation, jabs at Hollywood, any political administration or even banks would have been out of order. As always The Oscars are meant to take us back to the glamour and glitz of old Hollywood. They’re supposed to take us back to that Hollywood that really doesn’t exist any more and possibly never really did, except in people’s fantasies. The Swarovski crystals, the blue design, and the backdrop were truly fabulous and did evoke that Hollywood fantasy for me. And given our current situation, what’s wrong with fantasizing?

Hugh Jackman was suppose to bring back that old sense of Hollywood as well, I guess. He was very congenial and fun, for the most part. But is he supposed to be able to sing? Dance, yes… But sing? I really didn’t get the whole tribute to The Musical, especially when none of the nominees had anything to do with musicals. It seemed like it was more of a tribute to Broadway but the song and dance didn’t work for me, especially that scatterbrain medley with Beyonce.

I did like the way the actor and actress awards were presented. I thought it added a personal and human touch that the show needs. I was pretty much spot on with my Oscar predictions, with the exception of Original Screenplay, which went to Milk instead of In Bruges. I was thrilled at the Academy’s honoring of Milk and Sean Penn as much as I was that they gave Slumdog Millionaire as many awards as they did. It was one time when I thought they really got it all right.

Harvey Milk image courtesy of Queervoice.net

The highlight of the evening for me, however, was Sean Penn’s acceptance speech. After Proposition 8 passing in California, Obama choosing Rick Warren for his benediction and the gay bishop who was never broadcast at the inauguration, it was time that some public event went in the direction of equality and gay rights. Sean Penn‘s speech brought tears to my eyes and I agree with every word of it. Let’s just hope that enough straight people stop passively agreeing with him and start actively talking about how gay marriage is a right that is worth fighting for.

Here is Sean Penn‘s speech:

See www.oscar.com for a full list of award winners or the New York Times for its coverage of the event.

My Academy Award Predictions

My Academy Award Predictions

John Vasko — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:06:19 +0000

oscar

Not having seen all of this year’s Oscar nominees, I don’t know how well my predictions would fare in Vegas. But based on what I have seen, read, and the inevitible “it’s her/his year” academy political buzz, my predictions for the major nominees are below. The biggest disappointment and shock to me was that neither Leo nor Kate were nominated for Revoultionary Road in the actor/actress categories.

Nominee	Will	Should
Actor	Sean Penn	Sean Penn
Supporting Actor	Heath Ledger	Heath Ledger
Actress	Kate Winslet	Kate Winslet (for Revolutionary Road)
Supporting Actress	Penelope Cruz	Taraji P. Henson
Director	Danny Boyle	Danny Boyle
Original Screenplay	In Bruges	Happy-Go-Lucky
Adapted Screenplay	Slumdog Millionaire	Slumdog Millionaire
Best Picture	Slumdog Millionaire	Slumdog Millionaire

To get you in the mood, NBC’s LA affiliate put together this great video montage of the best Oscar moments. I don’t agree with all of them but it’s worth it just to see Cher’s Hat!

What are your predictions? Let me know by commenting!

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Thank You Sean Penn and Thank You Academy.

My Academy Award Predictions