Oscars 2009: Few Surprises, Still Very Moving

Maybe it was because my cat has been sick with a yucky eye thing (which facilitated a trip to the animal ER earlier on Sunday), but I seemed especially caught up in the emotion of this year's Oscar ceremonies.

Hugh Jackman is an affable man, certainly talented in a singing/dancing/jazz hands kind of way. He brought a different kind of hosting talent to the awards show, a departure from the traditional comedian (Steve Martin, David Letterman, Whoopi Goldberg, et al). But I missed the gentle slings and arrows usually accompanying the opening monologue. While Jackman is the perfect choice for hosting the Tony Awards, I'd much rather see someone like Ricky Gervais tackle the Oscars next year. Gervais is irreverent, witty, and so undeniably British--which I think means he can get away with a bit more because us Americans are so enamored with all things English.

I missed the pre-award on E! and the TV Guide Channel due to a much-too-long nap and a call from the parents, but I did watch the ABC 30-minute pre-show. I didn't get to see everyone, of course, but ABC did a respectable job of corralling many of the main nominees.

Of the women, we saw some unusual colors for gowns. Winner Kate Winslet wore a gunmetal grey silk shantung that fit her exquisitely, but I was not in love with the one shoulder style with the netting overlay and the molded hair.

One person that rocked the one shoulder style was Marisa Tomei. She has, in the past, gotten flack for her choice of gowns. Her choice this time was a light pearl gray architectural beauty that I thought was appropriate for the event and elegant and fresh at the same time. Meryl Streep also selected a gray gown in a dove gray. It was age appropriate and it fit her figure in a very flattering way.

Taraji P. Henson (she's a sassy girl!) went for an ivory gown that looked too closely to a mummy in surgical gauze, but anyone who can wear horizontal layers and still look that great--well, I can't say too many negative things about it.

Winner Penelope Cruz's story to Tim Gunn pre-show was cute: she saw this dress eight years ago and knew she would want to wear it one day. When she received the nomination this year, she tracked down the dress. It was on the fussy side with lots with lacy overlays over chiffon, but the ivory color really complemented her coloring and her hair was really pretty.

Redhead Amy Adams chose a ruby red gown, taking what I thought was a fashion risk. While I thought that the chiffon attached to the gown's neckline looked like an errant napkin, I appreciate her adventureness.

Another nominee who went with a bold color choice was Viola Davis, who completely rocked a gold lame dress that worked perfectly with her very bubbly personality. Unfortunately, metallic did not work for Melissa Leo, who looked matronly in a 1980's hairdo and a copper colored dress that looked more like a trashy prom gown.

Angelina Jolie was, I believe, the only nominee to wear basic black, and it was a pretty, though not particularly outstanding, gown. Her emerald jewelry of dangle earrings and a HUGE ring was the best jewelry on the red carpet. But could she and Brad be more smirky and standoffish? They blew off interviewers on the red carpet and she did a smirk 'heard round the world when Jennifer Anniston came out to present. You may be beautiful, Angie, but didn't your mother teach you any manners?

My winner for the ladies nominated is...Anne Hathaway. Last year she wore a beautiful red ruffled gown, and this year as a nominee she went uber glam in an ivory strapless sheath covered with crystals--which were arranged slightly diagonally. You have to weigh about 80 pounds to look good in a dress like that--and Hathaway did it without looking like one of the Olsen twins.

As far as guys go, I thought all but one of the nominees looked really good and appropriate for the evening. Robert Downey, Jr. looked the best in a traditional tuxe, and he looked really neat and well coiffed and just looked really happy. Of course, Mickey Rourke, whom I love as an actor, still has not found the shampoo bottle at his house, and looked not good in a cream colored suit with a black vest. His necklace he fashioned with a picture of his beloved Loki, who died less than a week before the awards, was very touching, though.

As far as the show went, I thought the idea of having past award winners (one for each of the nominees for each category) was a master stroke of genius. Besides having the winner from the year before, other award winners included Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren, Joel Grey, Christopher Walken, and Michael Douglas. Each former winner spoke directly to one of the nominees, many of whom were visably moved and in tears. I thought it was a great way to pay homage to the nominees, as well as highlight former winners. I hope they make this a tradition in future ceremonies.

In the major categories, there weren't any surprises amongst the acting categories. Heath Ledger won for best supporting actor, and his parents and sister were there to accept the award, and spoke very eloquently about the man they knew as their son and brother. Sean Penn gave a funny speech, calling the Academy "commie, homo-loving", and included in his speech a shout-out to his fellow nominee and long-time friend, Mickey Rourke.

The only big surprise of the night was that "Waltzing with Brashir" did not win best Foreign Film, which was won by the Japanese film "Departures". But "Man on Wire" did, with wire walker Philippe Petit doing something probably never done with an Oscar: he balanced the top of Oscar on his upper lip.

While the show was almost 25 minutes over, I appreciated the fact that none of the winners got cut off and got to take their time in their acceptance speech. After all, for some people, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I say if they want to take a minute or two to thank people, let them.