Nobody Likes The Oscars

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Nobody Likes The Oscars — Feb 26th 2007

By Karina Longworth

Remember last month, when Netscape handed out our own awards for the Golden Globes telecast? The plan was to do the same for the Academy Awards. But last night's production was a strange one, too odd in many ways to be reduced to bullet points, and one largely unworthy of praise. According to Matt Drudge, the general public wasn't even watching--if overnight estimates prove accurate, it will be the third least-watched Oscars in history. Nikki Finke warned us last week that telecast producer Laura Ziskin had a four-hour monster on her hands, but no one wants to believe that kind of bad news in advance. And based on the reports that have so far hit the Web, even those who get paid to watch these things could barely sit through this year's installment. The few bright spots have so far been glossed over by critics who seem appalled in equal measure by the show's lack of spectacle and host Ellen DeGeneres' velvet pantsuit.

These early reports (particularly Brian Lowry's review in Variety and Alessandra Stanley's analysis in the New York Times) sound simultaneously naive and hackneyed. At the Oscar viewing party I attended, at the IFC Center in downtown Manhattan, nobody in the local, primarily film industry-tangential crowd seemed particularly surprised that the show itself was overlong and, for long stretches, dreadfully dull. Certainly no one suggested that what the evening really needed was more production numbers and fewer flamboyant outfits. The New York crowd simply slogged through, clapping some but mocking more, waiting for the good stuff. For our perseverance, we were rewarded with four big wins (Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture) for the hometown favorite, Martin Scorsese's The Departed. The genuine sense of joy in the room when the final award of the night was announced made sitting through the show's interminable middle three hours seem almost worthwhile.

To me, the fact that last night's show was bloated, cheesy, and poorly programmed isn't the issue. I'm far more concerned with the general tone, which struck me as uniquely schizophrenic. The producers seemed eager to please everybody and ended up pleasing nobody. Case in point: the musical number early in the show, in which Jack Black, Will Ferrell, and John C. Reilly saluted comedy's uneasy place at the Oscars. That bit ended up being one of the evening's high points, but its type of humor and style of address (Reilly popping up "spontaneously" from the crowd to join Black and Ferrell on stage; the self-consciously "bad" choreography; Black's empty threats of violence) seemed fundamentally at odds with the absolute sincerity of the rest of the show, particularly DeGeneres' gee-whiz opening monologue and transitions. The number played like an inauthentic appeal to the YouTube generation, a tactic which strikes me as completely wrongheaded. Nobody watches the Academy Awards to find out what the kids are into. It's not about celebrating trends, it's about placing new cultural products within the historical context of Old Hollywood, thus confirming a given movie's status as capital-A Art. To incorporate intentional, "ironic" amateurism into an institution designed to legitimize factory-produced mass entertainments undermines the entire enterprise.

Which is not to say that the Oscars couldn't use a bit of undermining. I would love to see a truly subversive Academy Awards ceremony, one which managed to subtly critique Hollywood as it was being celebrated. That feat was approached by the previous two Oscar shows, hosted by Chris Rock and Jon Stewart, but any progress made in 2005 and 2006 was destroyed last night. Only one star in attendance seemed interested in taking on the task. Noting that DeGeneres was by all standards a subpar host, Nikki Finke writes, "Clearly, Jerry Seinfeld was auditioning for the gig." At one point, while Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio were droning on and on about the climate crisis, the camera cut to Seinfeld seated in the audience, yawning. When he noticed himself on the monitor, he tried to cover by apparently cleaning his teeth with his tongue. The telecast's best reaction shot was also its sole spot of self-critique.

Later, taking the stage to present the Best Documentary award, Seinfeld (who always worked a populist love for movies into his sitcom) riffed on the horrors of the modern moviegoing experience. "You rip us off," he scolded theater owners. If the Academy really wants to appeal to the kids, they need to drop the pointless, endless tributes (I'm fairly certain that if Ennio Morricone had been consulted about his own salute, he'd nix the song from Celine Dion) and build next year's show around moments like that--moments which may make a few AMPAS members squirm, but which resonate with the viewers at home all the more for doing so.

Tags: academy awards, AcademyAwards, martin scorsese, MartinScorsese, movies, netscape reports, NetscapeReports, oscars, television

31 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Bill Kelly — 4:41PM on Feb 26th 2007

1. The Oscars has degraded into a mutual admiration society devoid of substance, which is designed forward the political agendas of those individuals who wish to make social commentary on their particular dooms day scenario designed to debilitate our free market system in lieu of their own home grown brand of marxism.

Charlotte Edwards — 2:31PM on Feb 26th 2007

2. I thought Jerry Seinfeld was one of the highpoints in the show. Along with Martin Scorcese's win.....at last and long overdue.

honky — 4:09PM on Feb 28th 2007

3. God isn't everyone sick to death of these hollywood types? Show me an award ceremony that celebrates 30 years of marriage or a smooth divorce, show me awards for those stars earning 20mil a picture and giving it all away to charity. Show me something meaninful, not a night of 5digit dollar designer gowns and trumped up hollywood hoohaw!

C.A. Clark — 3:41PM on Feb 26th 2007

4. Last night’s presentation struck me as fairly typical of past years. Yet every year, I hear the same recycled gripes from one critic or another. It’s true that the event is not as watched as it once was, but it has fared better in holding ratings and audience share than have the Emmys, the Grammys, and the Golden Globes. Apparently, the TV viewing public is tiring of awards ceremonies in general or has just become more dispersed in its viewing tastes.

I don’t the Oscars to change much in the near future. It’s a product of pretty strong tradition.

Barb Atkins — 4:16PM on Feb 26th 2007

5. I liked the Oscars and I also liked Ellen emceeing the show. It was different but that's what we want to see - something different! I found her style refreshing and casual take on the whole thing was new and fun!

Tony Miller — 4:54PM on Feb 26th 2007

6. Nonsense. Admittedly the show could have had an hour edited out without losing anything of value, but for the most part I found it one of the most entertaining Oscars shows that I've seen.

I thought Ellen DeGeneres was delightful and charming. Casual and aw-shucks to be sure, but excellent.

Shay — 4:58PM on Feb 26th 2007

7. I thought the commercials were more interesting than the Oscar broadcast.

Tiffany & Toya — 1:37PM on Feb 27th 2007

8. The Oscars were certainly boring. Ellen was refreshing as the hostess. The only amusement aside from the few nominations that are interesting is the fashion. This year was certainly full of fashion disasters and we chronicled the madness

http://tiffanyandtoya.blogspot.com

NINA — 5:46PM on Feb 26th 2007

9. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO HUMILITY? THE WAY DONNY WALBERG KEPT SHAKING HIS HEAD AT HIS LOSS TO ALEN ARKIN, YOU MIGHT THINK HE FELT HE WAS ENTITLED TO THE WIN. WHAT ABOUT EVERYONE FORGETING ABOUT JACK NICHOLSON? HE WAS IN THE DEPARTED TOO.

Rich — 5:46PM on Feb 26th 2007

10. As a first time viewer of the Oscars, I was disappointed in the production. I thought that it lasted slightly longer than forever with very little to keep me watching to the very end. The only thing that kept me watching was to see when it would finally be over, so that I could watch the local news afterward.

Thomas — 6:35PM on Feb 26th 2007

11. Ellen, should go back to her childhood fantasy of working with animals. The academy has lost touch with the general public. This is kind of like listening to Rush Hudson Limbaugh II, its not about what we think, its about what he thinks. Come on Hollywood, get a grip,
start making movies that entertain. We see enough about all of the crisis in the world on the 6:00 news.

Judy Chun — 8:19PM on Feb 26th 2007

12. I surprised myself and watched the whole thing- just left that movie in the CD player for later. I really enjoyed this year's production. Ellen was great. She was funny and had great interactions with the audience. I would watch her again. I thought Seinfeld was inappropriate - didn't care for him at all. This year the dresses were all beautiful and classy unlike previous years. This was the best Oscar in years.

Diane — 9:10PM on Mar 2nd 2007

13. I can't believe that I watched the whole thing! I had expected the winners of Golden Globes and SAG to be gvien Oscar nods, but there were surprizes. Too bad for Eddie Murphy, but Alan Arkin's speech was great. I liked Ellen's tone. She made the big stars seems like real people and this is an award show that is not that much different from any award ceremony. The gowns were just fabulous too!

E=hf — 12:41AM on Feb 27th 2007

14. Is there any other occupation that so frequently spends so much money and time having ceremonies to pat each other on the back?

Duane — 12:35AM on Feb 27th 2007

15. What academy awards? Who cares. I still don't know who won what and I don't care. The best movies never get nominated anyway. Well only rarely do they get any attention.

Dunestar — 1:03AM on Feb 27th 2007

16. Well, the problem is, many people have become desensitized with television in general, we no longer view these awards shows as special. Also you have Hollywood cranking out so much drek amongst the truly-deserving films, people have just gotten tired of the spectacle. I'm glad Martin Scorsese won as director, it's about time, but as of late, has there honestly been any truly great films out there?

When was the last time filmmakers genuinely made a film which entertained and moved us, rather than just simply attempting to cash in at the box office and later rental places? Going back to the 70s and 80s, we can name endless films which were authentically deserving of the Oscars. But now, you only hear about a handful from the media, and mostly it's become more of 'what film is the flavour of the year.' Last year, the hyped up film for the season was Brokeback Mountain due to its homosexual references and themes. This year it was Departed because it Scorsese directed it and it was another film with Jack Nicholson in it.

Of course I am glad Helen Mirren won best actress for The Queen, though many may remember her in Teaching Mrs. Tingle, I know she deserved to win an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth.

But as I said with DVDs, cable and other forms of the media competing nowadays, the Oscars aren't as special as they used to be. If filmmakers actually went back and started making films which don't always follow the mainstream crowd, I believe the Oscars could end up being an honoured event as it used to be.

GaMMaG — 2:29AM on Feb 27th 2007

17. I think this Oscar was better than the two before. It's very common that critics hit the fallen tree, but would they be able to improve the show?. I don't think so, people is looking for other trends, maybe we are all sick and tired of shallowness.

richard fazel — 1:51AM on Feb 27th 2007

18. I didn't miss not watching the academy awards. I did miss not seeing Jerry Seinfeld. Have to admit I do watch the highlits on the news channels. Always interesting to see you showed the most boobs.

E7000 — 2:51AM on Feb 27th 2007

19. Ellen should host the Academy Awards until she doesn't want to anymore. The best in years!

marshall Loomer — 8:44AM on Feb 27th 2007

20. This year's Oscars ceremony was like watching paint dry. I felt guilty because I kept changing the channel in hopes for something better and every channel had something better. Ellen is great on her show but lousy as a host for the Oscars. Jason Alexander! Now there would be a fun host. Martin Scorcesi deserved an Oscar a million times before, it's about time but it felt like it was given out as charity.

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