Thoughts on the Oscars

I know that this is a few days late, but I'm only now getting my thoughts together on the Oscars.

So I sat through the entire show and here's what I think, for what it's worth:

1.  It is still WAY too long.  You have to get rid of the short films, documentary films, foreign films, and technical awards.  Do those on another night.  Also you need to limit your song/dance numbers to one at the beginning.  I thought the live Les Miserables was touching an beautiful.  But the other songs dragged it down.  And this was after that long Bond tribute.

2.  I actually like Seth MacFarland as a host.  He won't do it again, but he was witty and had real showmanship.  I noticed online that I was in the minority with this opinion, but I liked most of his jokes.  The jab at red staters was needless, but I wasn't offended.  It was simply a useless annoyance.  I had Whoopi Goldberg flashbacks.

3.  I think people misunderstood the point of the "boobs" song.  A lot of actresses think that they will be taken seriously if they do an "adult" role and appear naked.  Right after Twilight, Kristen Steward took off her clothes in On the Road.  Anne Hathaway broke from The Princess Diaries mold and took her top off for Havoc.  The point of the song was that even though even though these actresses think that this will cause them to be taken more seriously, the matter of fact is that all it does is further objectify them.  The average male viewer is not impressed with the "bravery" of an actress to be naked on film.  All they remember is that they fueled their lusts.  MacFarland was pointing out how silly it is for women to be naked on camera.  I particularly liked how Jennifer Lawrence pumped her first in the air when he mentioned that she hasn't done nudity.  She has class.

4.  I was surprised by how much love Life of Pi (or as I call it Boating Tiger, Hidden Shoreline) received.  I have not seen the movie, but it beat out Lincoln at most every turn where I thought Spielberg's movie would win.  Someone wrote that Hollywood secretly hates Spielberg.  I hope that's not the case.

5.  People seem almost sick of the fact that Anne Hathaway was a shoe-in.  But I think that diminishes her.  That performance as Fantine was harrowing and truly Oscar-worthy.

6.  I was happy Jennifer Lawrence won.  I love how she tripped, not because I liked seeing her look foolish, but it made her seem very human.  She is a fantastic actress and her performance in Silver Linings Playbook is the best thing in that movie.

7.  Though I think Les Miserables the best movie of the year, I am satisfied with Argo.  I thought Ben Affleck's speech was the best of the night.  I was glad I stayed up to see it.  It was a fantastic way to close the show.

8.  Any award show with Captain Kirk is better than a show without.

9.  Even though I said they should cut the shorts, I'm glad Paperman won.  It is one of the best movies I've seen in a while.  If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and look it up online.  It is less that 8 minutes.  And it has a fantastic little score.

10.  I was really excited that there was a tie.  Of course it was in a category that I have very little interest in, but still, I thought it was cool.

So those are my thoughts.  Yours?