Glitzy 81st Oscars Are a Ceremony to Remember

I came into the 2008 Oscars having seen only three of the nominees: WALL-E, The Dark Knight and Doubt. I almost saw Slumdog Millionaire, but the theater was sold out and we never made it back; I have no excuse for Man on Wire, since not only does Netflix have it, it's available for instant viewing. But that will have to be my first post-Oscar pick. Anyway, though I hadn't seen most of the movies involved, I was fairly well-informed about most of them, and I found myself especially rooting for The Little Movie That Could, which came close to pulling off a Return of the King-style sweep.

Last year's ceremony was pretty short on frills. By contrast, this year's was showy, from the gorgeous crystal curtain hanging over the stage to the song-and-dance antics of host Hugh Jackman. I thought the ensemble tribute to musical theater featuring him, Beyonce, Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron was entertaining, albeit rather chaotic. But the opening number, where he so energetically and hilariously honored the Best Picture nominees (and The Dark Knight), was brilliant. Clever lyrics, great way of matching the music to the mood of the movies, and man, can that guy sing! And Anne Hathaway was a nice surprise. They looked - and sounded - great together.

I liked the structure of taking us through the movie-making process, which put more focus on the amount of work that goes into the more technical aspects of movie production. I was a little disappointed that WALL-E won in none of these categories, but at least it took home the big award for Best Animated Picture. (As if there was any doubt; I loved Jack Black's line about starring in Dreamworks movies and then betting all his money on Pixar winning the Oscar.) The WALL-E-centric ode to 2008's animated features was fun, as were his appearances in the romance montage.

One of the most memorable moments from the technical awards came with Best Cinematography, when Ben Stiller did a killer Joaquin Phoenix impression while Natalie Portman played it straight. It was hilarious, but it did seem a bit disrespectful; then again, perhaps the movie community feels like Phoenix has been thumbing his nose at them lately. What was really disrespectful was the fact that Stiller went on goofing around while the nominees were being read, so it didn't seem like anyone was paying attention to those names. I think he let the gag go on too long and detracted from their big moment. The Slumdog cinematographer gave a great speech, though, gracious and funny.

I was a little surprised that some presenters stayed on stage so long, but it seemed to streamline the process a bit, and I don't think anyone was complaining too much about seeing Will Smith presenting four awards in a row. The rising through the floor bit was fun, as was his comment, the fourth time around, that Hugh was napping. Probably the most memorable of that batch of speeches was for Sound Mixing. He really seemed to appreciate it, and taking it as a victory for his whole country was nice. And going back to Best Make-Up (one of several presented rather blandly by Daniel Craig and Sarah Jessica Parker), that was an impressive list of names to spit out in such a short time. Made for a somewhat dull speech, but I'm sure the folks who were mentioned appreciated it.

The one low point in the evening for me was when Bill Maher presented the documentary awards. I groaned when I saw him step out because I knew he'd have something inflammatory to say. As somebody who's generally more involved in television than movies, he felt rather out of place anyway, and instead of acting grateful for the opportunity, he seemed to be bent on deriding everybody. And plugging his movie. From his "silly little gods" comment to his dismissive remark after the Man on Wire guys made their speech, he just oozed contempt for the whole thing. I don't know if Maher's beef with them was the documentary itself or the speech, but I loved that they invited their subject up to the stage. He was among the giddiest people we saw all night, and I got a kick out of his Oscar-balancing and disappearing coin trick.

I expected that Prop 8 would come up at some point during the night, and it did. Sean Penn got a little heated with his remarks, but I enjoyed his speech overall, especially the shout-out to Mickey Rourke. Still, I preferred the emotional acceptance speech of Milk's incredibly young-looking screenwriter, and it was moving to see him getting choked up all over again as Penn accepted his award. His profound gratitude lessened the blow of WALL-E failing to get top screenplay honors. I still think it should have been nominated for Best Picture. I thought Tina Fey and Steve Martin were a great presenting team, by the way, and I was quite content to watch them banter their way through two awards.

Speaking of banter, Seth Rogen and James Franco's video was a hoot. As an ode to comedy it was rather strange, since half the featured movies were only funny because those two were laughing at wildly inappropriate times, but I thought it worked. I also found the promo for Jimmy Kimmel with Tom Cruise hilarious, and the only ad aside from the inspirational True North commercials that really got my attention. (I actually stayed up for Kimmel because of it and was rewarded with not only more silliness with Cruise but also deliciously ridiculous previews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Batman and The Colonel, a Civil War epic starring Mel Gibson. As Colonel Sanders.)

I found Queen Latifah's live song accompanying the memorial tribute classy, though I'm not sure if it was such a good idea not to fill the screen with the clips of the deceased. I found it rather hard to see what was happening, and I missed a few of the names. I liked Eddie Murphy's presentation of Jerry Lewis's honorary award, as well as the video (especially the clip of Mattie Stepanek), and I thought that Lewis was very gracious. He also looked like he was in good health. Anyway, he could have taken a moment to grouse about never being recognized for his work in the years when he was in so many movies, but instead he just seemed thankful.

One thing that I really liked this year was the way the acting awards were presented. It felt so much more meaningful to have five past winners stand up there and speak directly to the nominees than just showing a little clip of the movie. Each of the nominees really seemed to appreciate those words of praise; it was like they all got a prize. I especially got a kick out of Whoopi Goldberg's riff on nuns to Amy Adams (who I was hoping, but not really expecting, to win). I can't believe Alan Arkin flubbed Philip Seymour Hoffman's name, but it was a nice speech otherwise. All 20 of those mini-speeches were beautifully done, I thought. The Oscars didn't seem so concerned with speed this time around. There was time for reflection and big showy musical numbers, and nobody got played off the stage.

I was rooting for Meryl Streep for Best Actress, but Kate Winslet sure was tickled with her win. I kept forgetting she was up there for The Reader and not Revolutionary Road. It's been a big year for her. I liked her acceptance speech, especially the part about practicing this moment with a shampoo bottle in front of the mirror when she was eight, and thanking Peter Jackson for her first big break. Asking her dad to whistle so she knew where he was also was great. Of course, perhaps no other award of the night had generated more interest than Best Supporting Actor. I wasn't surprised in the least to see Heath Ledger receive the award (though it's slightly disturbing that the winning role has been a homicidal sociopath two years running). I thought both Kevin Kline and the members of Ledger's immediate family paid him nice tribute, and I thought it was appropriate that the cameras spent so much time panning through the audience for reactions to this particular award. It seemed like a cathartic moment for everyone there.

Of course, the king of the night was Slumdog Millionaire, and they must've cut to the ecstatically grinning Danny Boyle about a dozen times. I loved his speech, especially the bouncing up and down before announcing that he was receiving the award in the spirit of Tigger and his shout-out to the people of Mumbai. I wasn't all that interested in the music categories this year, but I thought A. R. Rahman seemed very touched. At first, he just seemed shell-shocked, but he recovered by the second award, and I liked what he had to say about the power of hope and choosing love over hate. After it won so many other awards, I would have been pretty surprised to see Slumdog not take top honors, so the Best Picture award wasn't a shocker, but it was a great moment with everybody, especially the kids, up on stage. What a night for them!

I took a stab at guessing in each of the categories, though I was completely clueless about a few of them. I managed to guess 14 correctly, which was slightly better than last year, when I had seen much more of the nominees. What does that tell you? Of course, I have Slumdog to thank for some of that. Now that it's been so richly rewarded, I'm even more determined to see if I think it lives up to the accolades. In any case, this Cinderella story provided an uplifting tone for the evening that was most welcome. And Hugh, if you're not too busy filming New Zealand (the musical! with hobbits!), I'd be more than glad to see you back next year. The Oscars seem to be expanding more and more beyond America every year, but if this night is any indication, that's not a bad thing.

It's a Jolly Holiday With Cameron, Kate, Jude and Jack

A couple years ago, I read Tara Road, a book by Irish author Maeve Binchy about a pair of middle-aged women, one from Ireland and one from America, who find themselves in the midst of personal crises and spontaneously decide to swap houses for the month. The premise of last year's The Holiday, starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black, is similar enough that I immediately thought of the book when I saw the trailers, even wondering briefly if this was an adaptation of that novel. It's not - and actually that book has been made into a film of the same name, though it wasn't released in American theaters. But the basic idea is that two women in their late twenties or early thirties, one from America and one from England, switch homes for two weeks, during which they try to escape from the misery of two failed relationships, little knowing that far better romances await them in their new surroundings.

The American is fabulously rich but emotionally empty Amanda (Diaz). She makes her millions in L.A. producing movie trailers and is so wrapped up in her work that wherever she goes, she hears the distinct, rumbling tones of renowned movie trailer narrator Hal Douglas, offering cinematic commentary on the story of her life. After her latest break-up with a putz who cheats on her and blames it on her workaholism, Amanda, disturbed that she can't muster a single tear for her sad situation, decides she needs a vacation.

A Google search leads her to Iris (Winslet), a lowly journalist in Surrey who listed her charming cottage in the middle of nowhere on a home exchange site. The timing couldn't be better, since Iris has just learned that Jasper (Rufus Sewell), the rakish co-worker with whom she's been smitten for the past three years, has gotten engaged and never bothered to tell her; in fact, moments before the engagement was announced at the office Christmas party, he was busy flirting with her, inspiring hope that their on-again, off-again relationship might be headed in a positive direction. Now she just wants to get away from him.

It's perhaps a little too convenient how easily these women with sordid romantic pasts stumble upon the men of their dreams, but such is the stuff of Hollywood, and anyway, profound relationships can develop quickly when people are thrown into unfamiliar circumstances. Amanda meets Graham (Law), Iris's brother, when he comes pounding on her door in the middle of the night a scant six hours after her traumatic arrival, drunkenly demanding a bathroom and a place to crash for the night. Equally startled at the sight of each other, both are stricken with an immediate attraction that leads them to plunge recklessly into what both believe will be a one-night stand.

For Iris, the process is more gradual. Her first introduction to Miles (Black), a film composer and acquaintance of Amanda, is brief and awkward, and they don't meet again for a few days, by which point Iris has managed to establish a firm friendship with Amanda's 90-year-old neighbor, feisty screenwriting legend Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach). Her kinship with Miles develops as an outgrowth of that, and as he already has a girlfriend, they enjoy one another's company but don't outwardly acknowledge any romantic attraction; the kisses Miles plants on her cheek seem more indicative of an old-fashioned gentility than an attempt to woo her. But when Miles learns his darling Maggie (Shannyn Sassamon), supposedly out of state working on a movie, has been back in town for days and shacking up with another man, the game changes a bit...

Although I was rather put off by the way Amanda and Graham's relationship turns physical minutes after meeting each other, there's an undeniable sweetness to the way it progresses from there. In another actor's hands, our first impression could be that Graham is little better than a lecherous drunk. But the devilishly handsome Law is so irresistible in the role, his indiscretions are swiftly forgiven, particularly since it is technically Amanda who puts the moves on him. Though he professes to be a love-'em-and-leave-'em kind of guy, his actions speak louder than words; he shows himself to be gentlemanly, sincere and vulnerable in scene after scene, and even when we learn he has been keeping a major aspect of his life from Amanda, the motivation behind his secrecy only makes him more endearing. The high-maintenance Amanda is the least charming of the main foursome, but she's still quite likable, especially toward the end of the movie.

I'm used to seeing Black in schlub-finds-redemption roles; he always seems to turn out a decent guy, even if those tendencies are a bit buried. Here, he's surprisingly mellow, and his character is both accomplished and courteous, the perfect antidote to the roguish, manipulative Jasper. Black and Winslet don't get nearly as much screen time together as Diaz and Law do, since half of Iris's scenes are focused on the mutually mentorly relationship she develops with Arthur, who reluctantly agrees to appear at an event in his honor after considerable nudging by his new friend. I tend to find many of Winslet's characters a tad abrasive, but Iris is entirely sympathetic, her consideration and respect for Arthur and her easy camaraderie with Miles proving that she does indeed deserve to be the "leading lady" rather than the "best friend", as Arthur observes.

He makes other observations throughout the film as well that constitute a running commentary on the way Hollywood has changed over the years; there's quite a bit of sly self-reference as well, as when he refers to the moment when Iris offers him a lift home as a "meet-cute". With Arthur, Miles and Amanda all deeply involved in some aspect of the film-making process, these sorts of references slip out often, along with amusing cameos from Lindsay Lohan, James Franco and Dustin Hoffman. This is a movie that doesn't allow us to forget it's a movie.

There are a few somewhat shaky plots points to consider. The women switch houses with one day's notice, which seems an awfully short time in which to make arrangements for such a trip. I guess there really are no arrangements; they just pick up and leave with minimal luggage, notifying few people of their plans. Iris even leaves behind her dog, and it's not too clear whether she mentioned this to Amanda. When she first arrives, Amanda is forced to trudge through the snow in high heels because the cab driver refuses to chug down that narrow country road and risk getting stuck, but at the end, the same driver pulls up to the cottage and turns around without protest halfway down the road at Amanda's request. I'd like to think he felt badly about giving Amanda such a crummy first impression of England, but it does seem like slightly inconsistent characterization.

While this is more a stylistic issue than a plot point, I found it strange that the film begins with a voiceover by Iris, but she doesn't provide narration at any other point in the film. I might say it's a nod to her deciding to take the leading lady role, but the narration seems to be rooted in the moment of the Christmas party, at which point she is still feeling very much on the sidelines. Most problematically, while we're offered a blissful final scene that screams happy Hollywood ending, we're not given any solid solution to the problem that has plagued these romances from the beginning - that is, the fact that all four people have considerable commitments which happen to be rooted half a world away from their newfound loves.

But that's a problem for another movie. For this one, the ending is sufficient, leaving us feeling warm and fuzzy, happy it all worked out so nicely for these folks, if only until the credits roll.

"Your Kids Have All Really Touched Me, and I'm Pretty Sure I've Touched Them."

I had never heard of Jack Black until 2002, and my first exposure to him was in the dubious vehicle of an MTV parody of the Council of Elrond. My next was in Shallow Hal, which I expected to find really crude and stupid but was surprised. Thus encouraged, when I saw the previews for School of Rock and thought it looked like a cute movie, I decided to go for it. While I encountered strong echoes of both Sister Act movies, I didn’t mind, and given the direction of the film, I doubt they were intentional.

Jack Black stars as Dewey Finn, a burn-out wannabe rock star – recently booted from the band he founded – who loafs around his timid, good-natured friend Ned Schneebly’s (Mike White) apartment and refuses to get a day job, much to the annoyance of Ned’s snippy, career-driven live-in girlfriend, Patty (Sarah Silverman). Motivation to make a quick buck arrives in the form of Patty’s shrill ultimatum that he pay up his part of the rent or get out, and opportunity knocks when a prestigious private school comes calling for Ned, a substitute teacher, to take over a class for several weeks. Dewey has no experience whatsoever, but $600 a week sounds pretty good, so he impersonates his friend in order to score the “gig,” and the fun begins.

Some suspension of disbelief is necessary while watching this film, especially early on. Dewey comes across as so completely incompetent, no way would any real-life administrator hire him. But it does make for some amusing moments. Once he meets his young charges, it’s clear that they are no fools; they smell a rat, even if uptight principal Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack) doesn’t. But they are willing to give their clueless substitute a chance, and when he discovers that several of them happen to be talented musicians, he finds a way to connect with them – and maybe gain a little bit of fame in the process.

The kids are engaging, and we get to know several of them fairly well throughout the course of the film. There’s goody-goody Summer (Miranda Cosgrove), the Hermione of the class; Lawrence (Robert Tsai), the shy, nerdy pianist; Zack (Joey Gaydos Jr.), the guitarist whose father disapproves of rock and roll; Freddy (Kevin Clark), the percussionist with a bad attitude; Billy (Brian Falduto), the effeminate costume designer; Tomika (Maryam Hassan), the insecure singer; and others. Their interaction with their initially delinquent teacher is delightful, and the musically inclined ones of the bunch are impressively talented. I’m reminded of Sister Act with the premise of a person going incognito in a job for which he seems particularly unsuited and eventually becoming a far better person for the experience. Its sequel comes to mind, meanwhile, as the children prepare for a major non-school-approved musical contest.

I confess I find Joan Cusack inherently annoying, and such is the case here, but her character is at least ultimately sympathetic – reminiscent of the harsh administrator in Anne of Avonlea whose shell Anne finally manages to crack. She’s not nearly as irritating, however, as Ned’s girlfriend, and I felt terribly sorry for the poor guy who is so used to being utterly ignored by women that he’s grateful for the absolute shrew he is stuck with. We don’t see a lot of Ned, but when we do, he’s most endearing.

All in all, School of Rock is a sweet film about the power of music to change lives, and while it’s not quite as compelling as Mr. Holland’s Opus, it should still do the trick in getting people to appreciate the importance of having active music programs in schools. The laughs and the message, together with a great cast, earn School of Rock an A from me.