“I should have seen Hugo.” That was the resounding moan heard around the table at my Oscar viewing party last night as Hugo swept away award after award in the first couple hours of the telecast. The evening rounded out, however, with The Artist picking up Best Picture and performers from four different films winning their own coveted trophies in each respective acting category. Other than the Hugo pride parade, the 84th annual Academy Awards was enjoyable because there actually was some competition. There were no real giveaway categories and some legitimate toss-ups. I for one was surprised to see Meryl Streep take home the gold but maybe that was just because she was wearing too much of it to begin with.
The evening’s ceremony was more fun than in recent memory (note to the Academy: please make sure a Jack Russell terrier makes at least one appearance onstage from here on out. Even if this means throwing a nom to Hotel for Dogs). Then again, this year’s program did not have much to live up to. Billy Crystal could have told knock-knock jokes all night and it still would not have been as bad as the awkward “how’d we get this job?” chemistry between Anne Hathaway and James Franco. The program played with some nostalgic movie montages (never enough for me) and some funny pre-produced segments with Justin Bieber and Christopher Guest. There was also a Cirque du Soleil acrobatic act that seemed like a strange afterthought thought up one night in some drunken haze at the Chateau Marmont – “I’ve got it! Let’s get contortionists!”
It might be a good idea from now on to audition for the role of Oscar presenter. Gwyneth Paltrow was so unbelievably awkward and uncomfortable during Robert Downey Jr.’s unfunny documentary filmmaking gag that I forgot she actually has an Oscar. Emma Stone was supposed to play the part of the overzealous presenter but just looked weird and lobster-like in a poofy-necked red dress. In fact some guy named Carl who has been seat filling at the Oscars for like ninety-five years stole the show from all of them. He was wearing a suit from one of The Wizard of Oz munchkins or something like that and was so sweet and wonderful that I liked him a whole lot more than the patronizing millionaires gallivanting onstage. Join the campaign, Carl as 2013 Oscar Host.
Last night’s Academy Awards featured a beautiful in memoriam segment that could have given a slightly longer tribute to Elizabeth Taylor. Producers are so insistent on honing in on a younger audience (cough Justin Beiber cameo cough) that they forget that even young audiences might want to see a little more time given to @DameElizabeth, but maybe that’s just me. I imagine that when Elizabeth Taylor accepted her Oscar all those years ago, she never expected she might share the stage with the cast of Bridesmaids who spent a good portion of time last night making sexual euphemisms. Thank goodness that best-dressed Penelope Cruz looked so effortlessly classy and glamorous that she could offset the acceptance speech cursing and, again, a Bridesmaids clip that showed nothing but bathroom humor. And in maintaining some semblance of class that the Oscars were once known for, the dapper Captain Von Trapp, I mean Christopher Plummer, gave an engaging and truly gracious acceptance speech. As the oldest man to ever win the Academy Award, I believe that the night is dedicated to Mr. Plummer, a man who climbed every mountain, followed every rainbow and found his dream. And that does seem to be very reflective of the age-old American tradition of movie stardom. One hopes Justin Bieber may follow a similar path.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Syracuse chapter.