Pajiba

You go Christoph Waltz. ParaNorman deserved best animated feature over Brave for sure.

Sally Field was robbed.

I can't lie: I thought MacFarlane was a good host. Reverent of history, but not so reverent that he was afraid to say anything that could be construed as controversial. And he avoided Ricky Gevais's problem of being too vitriolic and basically berating the audience for the whole show. Some of his bits weren't great (I don't know whose idea it was to have William Shatner act through the opening monologue, but that person did a bad thing, and they should feel bad), but the ones that landed did so with aplomb. I'm still smiling about the "Sound of Music" bit when he introduced Christopher Plummer. And his intro of Meryl Streep? Classic.

As for the awards: All of the acting awards were great, and their speeches were terrific, while Searching For Sugar Man winning Best Documentary is proof that a great, uplifting story might not have the weight of history, but it's damned great cinema.

But otherwise, I was getting increasingly frustrated by the awards for Life of Pi and Argo. I can't think of a single reason for Zero Dark Thirty to not win for Editing, Sound Editing, or Screenplay that isn't political, and while I can see an argument for Argo being just as viable for Best Picture, it's disappointing that the Academy would fall so easily because of some Senate scare tactics. Technically, it was brilliant, and as a film, it was stunning.

Meanwhile, Argo was fun. I feel less animosity towards it than I still feel towards The King's Speech or Slumdog Millionaire. But you've got to wonder: If a film didn't have the best direction, the best acting, the best cinematography, the best score, the best sound, or the best special effects, how can you say it's the best picture? It's odd.

One more thing, how awesome was Shirley Bassey? I know young hepcats like Adele but Shirley Bassey should sing every Bond song IMHO.

I thought it was funny that Seth talked about what a record year it was for Hollywood at the Box Office and the first thought that came to my mind was that the movies being honored that night probably accounted for about 5% of that. The other 95% were from movies like The Avenger, Dark Knight Rises, etc, in other words movies that the Academy doesn't give a shit about.

He made that exact point seconds after pointing out that it was a record year.

Ahh did not catch it during the broadcast.

The best part for me was the theme from Jaws used to force people to hurry their acceptance speeches. I thought that was a genius. I hope they keep that as SOP from now on.

Too bad the Saturn Awards aren't televised so I can see the movies I actually care about recognized.

I have to say it: I'm tired of the Les Mis movie getting so much honkin' glory like Godtopus blessed the movie with Its Holy Tentacles. It was good, but it wasn't that good. It wasn't so good as to get all the press and rave reviews it's been getting. It certainly wasn't good enough to include in the tribute to musicals with the movie cast singing the songs. Can you be overwhelmed by mediocrity? The answer is yes. I also unexpectedly burst out laughing when Russell Crowe started singing. Goddamn it, Crowe, you sound good, but you're not a musical man. I'm also not seeing the hubbub about Hugh Jackman as a musical man, either. When you sing "One Day More," you go hard or you go home.

This is what equally concerns and disappoints me about seeing Les Mis. I missed the theatrical run and am waiting to see it on Netflix instead but if it is as bad as I've been hearing then maybe it's a no go.

It makes no sense whatsoever that someone who actually watched the movies would think that Jennifer Lawrence (who I like) was a better actress then Emmanuelle Riva in their respective films.

I highly doubt most of the Academy voters watched Amour.

Yeah, you could tell by the number of people who gasped when Riva was slapped in that clip from the film.

A computer would have called these winners if you punched in previous data points. How many of these winners have previous statues, and 'poor year for animation' and all but.... Brave? And fuck Seth MacFarlane right in the ear.

Huh. I didn't even have to read this list. I predicted all of this perfectly. I don't know what that says about the Academy. Oh wait I do - if a semi-braindead moron like me can call the results of this without ever adjusting his guesses, then, boy, what a redundant awards ceremony. ...Unless it's now uncool to rag on the Oscars like this; in which case I love how the Academy rewards obvious quality.

Really? You predicted the film with the longest odds for Best Production Design would win Best Production Design after not winning a single precursor and barely any nominations in that category? You're amazing.

'here are the winners in those categories you actually care about'
Yup.

You're so full of shi... ehrm... malarkey?

I bet you are able to "predict" a lot of things after they happen, you seem like that kind a guy.

my biggest problem here is the Cinematography going to Life of Pi. So much of it was CGI that it winning makes me start to ask questions about what cinematography is supposed to be? Stuff shot on green-screen and then made pretty with VFX? If you give the cinematography award to this then surely movies like Brave, who does have very beautiful animation, can also compete in the category? Where is the line? If you have more than 80% CGI does it become and animated feature? What if one of the main characters (the tiger) is completely animated? I just think this a problem they have to think about in the future.
Also, even though I didnt like Skyfall that much, the cinematography for that movie was astoundingly good.

Why "good for Argo?"

I was thrilled the adorable and masterful Ang Lee was recognized, even if I was happy more for him being awarded for his past work than for Life of Pi. No, I'm not referring to The Hulk..

Ride With the Devil!!

I'm glad it wasn't Spielberg who won because i was wondering if the topic of his movie would give him a push. Lincoln was well-made, but was weakened by a lot of Spielberg's tendency to go for melodrama.

Ang Lee really is a master. So versatile. Very happy for the guy.

Er, really? I thought the crowd loved McFarlane.

The crowd laughed at most of his jokes. I counted all of two groaners and one was scripted into the opening monologue. They also responded well to his stupid song and dance routines.

So, yes, the crowd did love Seth MacFarlane. A lot of Oscar bloggers did not. Then again, the people who are ranting and railing today that Amour should have swept are not the people who tune into American Dad every week.

Same here. He got two of the best laughs you can get: the loud explosive kind and the delayed, slow build as everyone gets on board with the joke at different times.

I wanna Channing all over your Tatummmmm!

I like Jennifer Lawrence, so I'm glad she got the recognition. I was underwhelmed by Silver Linings Playbook as a film though, so I'm glad that didn't get the win.

Super happy about all the love for Life of Pi. My film of the year!

Argo. winning is a total joke.

It won because it featured Hollywood saving hostages and gave them a chance to back slap for an event more that was about as based on actual events as U-57

It's nowhere near a Crash-level joke. I really don't have a big problem with it winning because I thought it was good, just not great (though catch me in the right mood and I'll give a dissertation on why The Dark Knight Rises or even The Avengers are far superior). But I find it hard to ignore the Hollywood correlation. And let's be honest, who wouldn't be a bit self-involved if they had John Goodman making them look awesome.

You went off the rails a little at the end there . . .

This

It was OK for me. MacFarlane was a lot better than I expected,and I agree with the main awards. Altough I'm still puzzled how they ruined an presentation with Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy. Seriously,how?

That was the worst part of the whole thing for me. How could Paul Rudd (my absolute favorite/top of the freebies list today, tomorrow, forever) and Melissa McCarthy, who I quite like, bomb so damn hard??

Makes no sense. No sense, I tell ya.

A huge part of it was the sound. It was so hard to hear what they were saying! The mixing throughout the whole show was a mess.

Ben Affleck's Meltdown, ladies and gentlemen! That's gonna be a tense ride home in the limo.

I didn't see it as a meltdown. I thought it was genuine (the antiWinslet) as was JLaw's. compared to Anne Hathaway's overly speeches, these two were much more touching.

I was referring only to Affleck thanking his wife for his marriage, saying it was hard work as he realised how awful what he was saying sounded, frantically back peddling and saying the work was worth it, and then manically adding there was no one else he'd rather work with. The poor guy.

I totally don't think that's how it went down. It sounded like he was building to a point. It didn't sound like he was scrambling to "undo" some mistake; it sounded like he was trying to say exactly what he said, that marriage is hard work but it's worth it, and he's happy to make it work because he loves his wife. I think you're reading way too much into it.

I blame the long-winded co-producer who would . . . not . . . shut . . . up. Ben had to race through his part and the Oscar showrunners kept it classy by giving him extra time, which I think he realized about 2/3 of the way through his speech.

I know. I'd rather Clooney spoke then the silent partner, ie..partner who should remain silent. Ben's speech was heartfelt and showed a lot of maturity about some of his past mistakes... hint, hint Gigli, JLo...

Glad that JLaw won but was actually hoping for Naomi Watts or Jessica Chastain. She's too young and probably has many great roles ahead of her.

Could have done without the dancing bits at the beginning, kinda lame and time consuming and didn't bring much to the party. Also Mrs Prez. At that point you just want the show to be over and she kinda droned on and on...

Jack Nicholson looked like Mr. Moto. I wonder if he can still get it up.

Jessica Chastain wins for best dressed. Perfection

I loved the " I saw your boobs" song. It might have been skeevy if it wasn't funny but it was.

Anne Hathaway's dress was hideous and pointy. Those looked like some razor sharp nips.

Melissa McCarthy really needs fashion advice from the Queen. Miz Latifah NEVER looks bad and she is a big woman.

Didn't think Seth MacFarlane was horrible but Tina and Amy have raised the bar to unreachable. Pole Vaulting will now be required of all future hosts.

Kristen Stewart needs a new gig. I can really see her as a bored Target employee who hates her job. Pretty sure Target would require her to use a comb though, unlike the biggest awards show in the world.
Leave Russell alone.....I'm warning you....

D'aw, I loved his speech. But I was dying for him to thank Matt Damon.

I thought it was the best speech of the night. I mean, at least it was not a robotic list of names. I kind of loved it.

Choking up on his kids' names? It's getting dusty in here!!

Did I miss something? I mean, he cried and it was cute, but MELTDOWN?

My love for J Law has fully solidified.

I keep thinking that I can't love her more. She fell in front of everyone and laughed it off and I couldn't love her more. Then this morning I saw a clip of her seeing her family after the ceremony and her brothers tackled her and everybody yelled and NOW I can't love her more.

This is what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I. mean.

I like Jennifer Lawrence, but there is no way she deserved that award more than Emmanuelle Riva.

YES. Someone else who thinks Brave was garbage.

Men in tuxes = Lady boner fuel
The face JGL is making = Lady boner killer

I can't resolve this.

It looks like the O face his character from Looper would make.

And good for Tarantino, and the Academy for actually having the balls to vote for him.

I would have voted for Beasts of the Southern Wild (because it's f***ing poetry) or Zero Dark Thirty (which I think would have been the REALLY ballsy choice, apparently, since the Academy is too chickenshit to give it anything else), but if it had to be anything else, I'm glad it was for Django. That movie was more fun than it had any right to be.

Yeah, liking Tatantino is so edgy these days! It's a huge leap to think America would embrace racial epithet-spewing lowest-common denominator garbage, based on the wholesome classy music on their charts right now.

The cab's waiting for you outside. I have your car keys.

Are you kidding??? That movie was nearly unwatchable ....... and I am a Tarantino fan.

hahahahaSHUTUP!!

Go home. You're drunk.

Why the rage for Brave?
Sure, you preferred another movie win that category, but Brave was a good kids movie.

It's not "Best Kids Movie." It's "Best Animated Film." Unfortunately, the Academy has refused to acknowledge there's a difference since Spirited Away won.

I thought it could've been better. Knowing that the original screenwriter wanted to go darker (the stuff with the Prince, mainly) made me yearn for a better, longer movie. The fact that they invented a new program for Merida's hair must've been the "Best Animated" clencher, though.

It could have been better, but it really got to my 13-year-old. Breaking through that teen nonchalance makes it aces in my book.

I really loved the mother-daughter relationship in that movie. It's pretty rare that these animated movies explore that.

It was okay. But it nowhere near the level that Paranorman and the others reached, so it felt like they were just tossing an Oscar at Pixar because it's Pixar without actually watching any of the nominees.

I hate when people call that a Pixar movie because it absolutely 100% was Disney through and through, and had nothing to do with Pixar's previous themes or quality. Brave was a huge disappointment for me, and with this string of sequels they have lined up I can only see them being driven into the ground by Disney's overbearing moneygrubbing.

As a "KIDS" movie i have to say that Brave was the best of the bunch. I know thats not what the award was for but the other movies either freaked my kids out or bored them. Throwing a huge amount of pop culture references in (WIR and Pirates) to keep the grown-ups entertained does not necessarily keep the kids entertained and neither does edgy stuff that is bound to scare them. My kids loved Brave, they have the book, the poster, the ipad app. Did I enjoy it that much? To be frank no, but any disney movie where the heroine does not get saved by the great prince with blue eyes and wavy hair is good in my opinion. Were some of the opinion movies better than Brave? Yes? Was it the best animated movie. Debatable.

But Paranorman is a great movie

Wait, were we supposed to be pulling for Paranorman? I was on the Wreck-It Ralph bandwagon.

Paranorman scared the ever-living shit out of my kid. It lost because it was too intense.

We had to leave that one midway, and I don't have terribly sensitive kids.