For the first time in a very long time I watched the Oscars from the beginning to the end, EST 8:30 to a little past Midnight and I really liked it. Seth MacFarland was the sole host and he was great. Irreverent but on the mark. He got up to the edge of being distasteful but never went over the edge. He was funny, bright and even had fun poking some humor at himself with William Shatner's help.
All the girls, excuse me, women, looked beautiful and sexy without looking slutty. The one who showed the most poise was Jennifer Lawrence, who at the age of 22 has now won two Oscars As she was running up the stairs for this year's Oscar she stumbled and fell and yet she still gracefully recovered with grace and poise. What a sweetheart! Is it me or doesn't she look different every-time we see her? She was gorgeous in "Sliver Lining, Playbook" which I saw and fell in love with her, not really but you know what I mean, her character and her looks, but I wouldn't have recognized her last night. I mean she was still very pretty, but different. "Silver Lining" character would have had me in bed in a moment at the Oscars she reminded me of my Granddaughters. She is an amazing actor and hopefully won't sit on her laurels. Hopefully she will continue to study, improve, and just keep getting better and sexier.
Anne Hathaway looked very classy. She is such a beautiful woman and accomplished actress. She did a great job in "Les Mis" and deserved her Oscar. The fact is I thought "Les Mis" deserved the best picture award. The picture was flawless because it had some flaws that made it even greater than what it would have been if they, for example, lip synched instead of filming the singing live. They would have had a studio perfect recording perhaps but not the strain and sweat and full emotion of performers who were living the moment instead of acting it. All involved with this production, performers, technicians , director and producers did such a grand job in mounting a great, great motion picture in my mind which needed greater acclimation than they received. However, I was not dismayed by "Argo" winning best picture. Loved the fact that Ben Afflack snubbed as a Director by the Academy had his chance to shine if not gloat when as a Producer he accepted the best picture Oscar.
Daniel Day-Lewis deserved his third Oscar award for best actor, portraying Lincoln so well one got the feeling that the screen actually had Abraham Lincoln on the screen rather than an actor's portrayal. I thought Tommy Lee Jones should have won best supporting actor but I have to admit I didn't see "Django Unchained" so I can't comment intelligently on Christoph Waltz. I did like DeNero's portrayal in "Silver Lining" but he has been playing a lot of fathers lately and frankly I didn't see that much different from his other roles. DeNero is a great American artist but as he got older he gave a lot of boiler plate performances, drawing from past roles and I think he continues to do this even in "Silver Lining" but not as much. The young DeNero was so different from one role to another as the character changed so did he facially, in mannerisms in voice inflections but lately, to me anyway, he gives boiler plate performances. To me any way, he seems to be acting not living the moment. Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings, Playbook" main character on the other hand, who by the way is a graduate of The Actor's Studio in New York, really lived his role as did Jennifer Lawrence which made the picture so much better than the script. These two young actors tore up the screen by living the moment, by pulling truth out of fiction and bringing life to what was based on an emotional true story of a person who had a son with mental health problems. They were the heart and soul of this picture because they didn't act they lived the characters and made it all seem real and true.
Everything clicked for me as the show progressed. All the productions and performers were right on track. Barbara Streisand still has a magical presence and a golden voice. Shirley Bassey at 76 was beautiful with a voice as strong as ever as she celebrated one of the James Bond songs, her song. Michael Douglas looked great as he seems fully recovered from his serious bout with cancer. I personally loved Seth MacFarland's little ditty kidding the girls who went bare breasted in some of their films, called "I Saw Your Boobs".
For a long time I drifted away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood because I had some touch of it as an executive with the long gone American International Pictures and my brief stint as a performer, musician and actor. I guess as I aged I became jaded and a bit cynical. But lately, due to influences that have recently entered my life I have been exposed to the joy of a good picture, a wonderful acting performance, of being lifted to heights that only being immersed in a good all around artistic performance and production could lift me to. I have tossed off that cynical thought that only profits motivated the artist and have returned to that childlike acceptance that there is joy in living with expectations and believing that there is much more to life than dollars, cents and politics. I guess I have become child-like, ready to accept the wonders the world has to offer. This attitude has helped me to accept and enjoy shows like the Oscars which celebrates creativity and the joy of playing in the sandbox. It is much better to be back in the sandbox than out of it.
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