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Feb 23
2009
05:03 PM ET
Oscars '09 Readers Poll: What did you think?
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I actually enjoyed the opening number with Hugh and Anne. I thought that wasn’t bad. I did NOT like Beyonce there and thought that blew. I was also VERY disappointed that the cameras cut to Angie when Jennifer was speaking. I thought that was tacky and that the Oscars should have been far above that. I was also REALLY sad that Mickey Rourke didn’t win, but that’s not about production. Oh and Ben Stiller nailed it with his bit. It didn’t suck as bad as past shows. It would have been far better had Mickey won though because everyone loves a good comeback kid. It gives us hope.
Overall, a great telecast with Hugh Jackman as the host and the funniest moment had to be Ben Stiller doing his Joaquin Phoenix impersonation. I nearly was red in the face. The acceptance by Ledger’s family and seeing the faces of the celebrities in reaction was the moment of the night. The musical numbers may have been overdone but still in good style to celebrate a genre that once saved Hollywood.
I think I would have rather seen Anne Hathaway do the giant musical number with Hugh (et al) than Beyonce. She was so cute in the opening.
The memoriam segment was not great. I like Queen L, but singing over projections was distracting. Also…how the heck did they miss Harvey Korman? The production seemed disjointed.
I thought the telecast was one of the best in recent memory. It managed to be inclusive, honoring filmmaking and the tradition of filmmaking rather than the usual inside-joke exclusivity that I think is very off-putting to the audience at large. Hugh Jackman did a terrific job, the Judd Apatow short was hilarious, Tina Fey and Steve Marin were delightful, and I really enjoyed device of the five past winners in an acting category lauding each of the five current nominees. Even the scripted banter was funnier this year. Kudos to all involved.
Biggest complaint for all of us watching was the constant moving camera during the In Memoriam. Nobody was able to see the names or the their title, and sometimes the camera completely blocked access to the deceased person’s image. We would ask the Academy to fix this for next year so that we can see everything rather than the back of the wall and the performer. Treat it as a real In Memoriam.
Bring back Billy Crystal, Steve Martin even. Huge Jackman looked awkward and other than his performance with Beyonce he failed miserably.
I wish the Oscars schedule would have given more time for Hugh Jackman to loosely banter with members of the audience, academy, etc. It was jam-packed with so many scheduled productions and drawn-out nominee presentations that it left little room for improv, which Jackman excels at.
Hugh Jackman’s singing and dancing talents totally toook us by surprise. Who would’ve guessed Wolverine could kick up his heels and hold his own? Great job…worth tuning in to see his command of the stage.
Hugh Jackman’s singing and dancing talents totally toook us by surprise. Who would’ve guessed Wolverine could kick up his heels and hold his own? Great job…worth tuning in to see his command of the stage.
Ug, this was one of the worst Oscar presentations that I’ve seen. It felt like watching the Tonys. Hated the opening musical number, and really loathed the song and dance number that celebrated the comeback of the musical(do we really want to celebrate that?). Also missed seeing the clips of the nominated performances. Bring back Steve Martin as host! He and Tina Fey were the highlight of the show. Also, congratulations to Kate W. for a well-deserved win!
i cried when heath ledger won, but i turned off the oscars after i realized the totally overrated slumdog millionare was going to win everything (yes, i did see it)
It is frustrating to see just a few moview win everything. It makes one think the vote is very political.
Ben Stiller by a mile. Even those of us who didn’t see Mr. Phoenix on Letterman got the joke and Ben played it perfectly. I needed the laugh, too.
my 2 1/2 cents:
1) no! nooo! the musical is NOT alive. especially not when NONE OF THE NOMINATED FILMS THIS YEAR ARE MUSICALS. the number with beyonce was unnecessary, as was the attendance of zack efron and kid’s choice what’s her face. hugh, buddy, we know you can sing and dance. once is enough. ugh.
2) 5 former winners praising the nominees? really quit beautiful … and kind of intimate and personal… and kind of not necessary. i’d much rather have seen clips to be honest, so the PERFORMANCES were recognized over the actors.
3)the montages??? waste of time. what was the point, really, in having half secind cuts of films squished together. that time could have been better used on showcasing the best picture nominees, none of which we ever got to see clips of.
4) jennifer aniston???! really??? you guys HAD to go there? what a waste. tacky. tacky. tacky.
5) loved the category clumping together. loved not so much having to see sarah jessica parker on stage for that long