Oscarblogging, Year the Second, Part the Fifth: It's Okay

First things first: I didn't see Iwo Jima. I was planning to get it in on Sunday afternoon, but I was ill and tired and just not interested enough. And I'm feeling perfectly comfortable with that.

I don't have much to say about the Oscars, at least their results; overall I was perfectly content. It was a career win for Scorsese, and really that's okay. As frustrated as I was with Pan's Labyrinth in the end, I was pleased that it received those design awards, because the visuals were bloody stunning, and though I'm sick of Will Ferrell, I was definitely a fan of the little dance number that the three gentlemen of comedy put together. I was particularly a fan of their focus on how hot Helen Mirren is. I mean, go her—and it is noteworthy and lovely that three of the five Best Actress nominees were over the age of fifty.

Gotta say, though, I was disappointed in Ellen. I recognize that her schtick is being incredibly low-key, slipping jokes in casually even as they're the point, but I thought she was glad-handing with the audience a bit too much, to situate herself as the opposite of Jon Stewart. She was clearly softballing at all times, trying to make it light and cute and, while irreverent, also irrelevant. Because she can use that style to be incisive—I've definitely seen it—I was more than a little disappointed.

But, though I felt I had to do a closure post, I don't really have much to say about the Oscars. Except—Pilobolus? WTF?

Onwards to posts that have nothing to do with the Academy Awards.