Okay, so last night while watching the Oscar pre-show (something that requires a great deal of patience as you flip around through the various broadcasts and try to catch everyone without repeats, but only have to listen to the really insipid hosts for a short period of time) I happened to catch Ryan Seacrest talking to the kids from Slumdog. The actual kids, not just Dev Patel and Freida Pinto. He was being nice (for Seacrest) when he said that he didn’t have time to sound out all their names, so he just held up the card with the kids’ names on them to the camera. Jesus. What a douche. Video after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BkDC1u9nTY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Seriously. What a jerk. I’m so GLAD that a few of those kids didn’t speak English so they didn’t have to get the whole ‘Seacrest Experience’. To be fair, they were at the Oscars so whatever that guy said probably didn’t particularly diminish the experience, but really, for the rest of us, it’s just embarrassing. For him.
Worse yet? If you check out the Video Source link below, you’ll head over to /Film where people are actually DEFENDING this guy in the comments. I’m not going to ring in on that, but I will say this: Even if his producer should have prepped him he could have handled the whole thing better. “You speak pretty good English, we’ll talk to you…” That’s not a producer issue, that’s a personality issue.
And then – AND THEN – I found this headline while I was surfing for Oscar news this afternoon:
“Angelina Snubs Ryan Seacrest Again”
Well, why the hell not? I know I would. Isn’t it nice that they ousted Kathy Griffin for this Red Carpet pariah?
(Photo Source) (Video Source)
var addthis_pub=”nameitbob”;
It should have been Milk. But that was always unrealistic. I’m glad Slumdog won (especially since I just couldn’t stomach Ben Button taking it home…). But I’m glad because it’s just a good movie, about how you can still find good things in the bad. And because sometimes, a good story is just a good story.
I loved everything about this movie: the music, the cast, the visuals, the story.
So, while I really wish that Hollywood could have chosen to make a statement with the Best Picture for this year, but I suppose that Original Screenplay and Actor will just have to do.
Great work and congrats Mr. Boyle and crew!
(Photo Source)
var addthis_pub=”nameitbob”;
As previously mentioned, I had some personal reasons for loving Milk the way I did. Unfortunately, they are the kind of stories that sound pretentious and self-aggrandizing in writing. As a result, the speech that Dustin Lance Black gave when he accepted his Oscar for Best Original Screenplay last night left me weeping like a little girl.
An excerpt of his speech (the whole thing can be found here at Oscars.org):
“When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married….I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to…. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.”
Lookit that. I’m crying again. After hearing about his life – this wee, tiny glimpse into his life – I understand why Milk was such a beautiful movie, filled with moments that can drive home what hate can do to a world and what a few people who are willing to stand – literally – on a soapbox and scream into a megaphone can do. Sometimes it really does take only one person.
(Photo Source)
var addthis_pub=”nameitbob”;
First he lost his dog, then he lost his Oscar. This hasn’t been a very good week for Mickey Rourke. I really wanted Sean Penn to get this award, but I have to say, when they said Penn’s name in place of Rourke’s…. I was a little sad.
I didn’t like The Wrestler and I know I’ve been very vocal about the issues I’ve had with the movie (although, I did get served by Ebert last week). But I think I kind of wanted him to get it. So, yes, after all my bluster, in the end I bought in with the rest of you.
To be fair to me isn’t this exactly what I was talking about thought? I kinda think that Penn knew it too:
“And this is in great due respect to all the nominees, but courageous artists, who despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge, Mickey Rourke rises again and he is my brother.”
Rourke didn’t win the Oscar and soon his time in the sun will fade. He’ll go back to being just another actor who was once a newsbit and they’ll forget all about a brilliant performance. Maybe not and I’d like to think that, but honestly, it’s probably what’s gonna happen.
That said, however, I do think that the most deserving man won. Sean Penn really became Harvey Milk and, in doing so, played a very important role. I applaud his humility in his speech and congratulate him on job well done. I wouldn’t have loved the movie if the main character had been unlovable. Isn’t that was acting’s all about?
(Photo Source – Penn)
(Photo Source – Rourke, Just Jared)
var addthis_pub=”nameitbob”;
I’ve been writing a lot lately about film being a collaborative medium that builds on itself and I think that last night, more than most awards shows really showcased that for the world.
You see, it’s very easy to marginalize Hollywood – to say that they’re all money hungry bastards who want nothing more than to make a buck, even at the sacrifice of story and art. I’m the very first to step up and admit that sometimes this is true, but last night it was refreshing to see the other side: The human side of Hollywood and to remember that people tend not to get into acting because they want the money. Stop your laughing, it’s true. So many people I know have sacrificed so much to work on stage in Canadian theatres and so, when some of those people make the leap to the screen – for professional or for profit reasons – I applaud it. All acting is difficult, but film acting moreso than most. So often they’re talking to a stand-in, weeping into a phone that has no one on the other end. So often they have no idea if what they’re doing will ring true to an audience and, so – SO – often, projects that people have poured their hearts into are panned by the critics or, worse yet, simply overlooked. Please save your comments and emails about how much they get paid and that it’s more than enough compensation in all cases. Art is hard no matter how you do it and to write it off due to salary is wrong.
And now that I’m off my soapbox….
It was so nice to see them all up there last night, celebrating each other. Sometimes it’s nice to see that people are people everywhere, and that we really do all need each other in order to do what we do.
And what a tearjerker! When they gave out that Best Actress award there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Including mine.
(I can’t seem to find a press room pic of all the Best Actress presenters. If someone wants to send me a link to one, that would be great…. WireImage doesn’t have one, so I’m assuming they didn’t do one….)
(Photo Source)
var addthis_pub=”nameitbob”;
