The Party's Over: Recapping the 2012 Oscars (February 27, 2012)

Since the Academy Awards telecast is considered the gay Super Bowl, naturally there will be every type of post-event scrutiny from the LGBT ranks, and ZeitGAYst is no exception.  My accolades and withering criticisms of the 84th Oscars ceremony (broadcast on Feb. 27, 2012) begin below:

 

 

 

• Let's start with a big hug and kiss to Christopher Plummer for his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  In the movie Beginners he was a gay father who waited until he was in his 70s to come out (pictured below).  The last time an Oscar went to an actor playing a gay role was three years ago when Sean Penn won Best Actor for portraying Harvey Milk in Milk.  Additionally, at age 82 Plummer became the oldest person to ever win an Oscar.

 

 

• As usual, Meryl Streep looked like someone called a few hours before the ceremony to remind her about it and she quickly threw on something found in a JC Penney shopping bag at the bottom of her closet.  Still, her school-marm frumpiness is part of Meryl's charm (although I was rooting for Viola Davis).

 

 

• Melissa McCarthy obviously decided on the Scarlett O'Hara curtains option when choosing her gown.  Also, since the skit she did with Billy Crystal was a take off on Bridesmaids' airplane lavatory scene, the show's producers shouldn't have chosen that scene when her clip for supporting actress was shown.

 

 

• Jonah Hill has got to be the most "mature" looking 28-year-old I've ever seen (but kudos to him for slimming down!).  Then there was 39-year-old Octavia Spencer who slowly ambled onto the stage to accept her Best Supporting Actress Oscar as if she was 70 years old.  Since she was the favorite in her category, whoever advised her on her choice of gown did Octavia a disservice by not suggesting a style that would allow her to easily walk up the steps to the stage.

 

    

 

• Couldn't the show's producers have chosen a different clip of Viola Davis'  performance from The Help?  The crying scene was similar to her scene from Doubt that was shown when she was nominated a few years earlier.  I would have picked the scene in which she tells the little girl she looks after, "You is kind, you is smart, you is important".

 

 

• For the second year in a row Melissa Leo appeared on stage in a supremely unflattering gown, very similar to last year's.  Perhaps it was?   

• Demian Bichir looked genuinely touched by Natalie Portman's comments about his Best Actor nomination for A Better Life, comments she was reading from cue cards.  He looked so adorable.  It was a pity this was the only time he was shown on camera.

 

 

• I found the Cirque de Soliel segment silly but as I fast forwarded through it I stopped when I saw one of the male gymnasts take off his shirt while doing a handstand.

 

• Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise both looked more handsome than usual.  Hanks' face was less white and puffy while Cruise looked less boyish and more manly.  Billy Crystal, on the other hand, looked like a preserved basketball.

 

 

 

 

• During his acceptance speech I didn 't understand why the director of The Artist, Michel Hazanavicious, made a disparaging remark about the movie's dog star, Uggie.

 

• Loved the Wizard of Oz focus group skit but was disappointed that Parker Posey and Jane Lynch weren't part of the Christopher Guest troupe.  I also enjoyed Will Farrell and Zach Galafianakis' appearance with the cymbals.  Chris Rock was funny too.  However, I'm not a fan of Billy Crystal.  His humor is too "Borscht Belt" for my taste.  And this is how the Academy expects to attract younger viewers?

 

 

 

• Emma Stone was a delight when she presented with Ben Stiller.  (It took attention away from the huge, cumbersome bow around her neck.)   I also got a kick out of Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's banter about their length and width preferences of movies (wink, wink).

 

 

• Sandra Bullock came on stage with such a somber demeanor that at first I thought she was doing the "In Memoriam" tribute.  

 

• I was somewhat disappointed that the Pakistani woman who won for her documentary Saving Face didn't make a more strident comment about misogyny in Muslim society.

 

• With the exception of Nick Nolte, all the men looked great.  Take your pick - George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman - all so debonair and classy.  The lead actor from Best Foreign film, A Separation, exuded Persian animal magnetism.  And People Magazine's Sexiest Man of 2011, Bradley Cooper, was looking good too with those devilishly sparkling eyes of his!

 

 

 

 

• The montage of stars reminiscing about their favorite movie going experiences was not flattering to those chosen.  Barbra Streisand and Warren Beatty looked especially dissipated.  Even the much younger Julia Roberts didn't look that great.