The Academy Awards ceremony used to be shown live on Italian and/or local TV but the practice has been dropped over the last few years; then, on a couple of occasions, I caught the Press Room interviews with the winners on the Internet. I did get to see the 2007 edition in which Martin Scorsese finally had his day but missed out on last year's. Anyway, this most recent show was much-anticipated in view of the many changes promised by the producers, the shadow of the recession which hung over it, and the unusual choice of presenter (actor Hugh Jackman). I feel that the latter went down surprisingly well – dashing and affable but also demonstrating a hitherto cinematically-unproven talent as a song'n'dance man!; the pleasant musical numbers (one intimate, one elaborate, and a medley of the nominated songs) were staged by film-maker Baz Luhrmann in the style of old Hollywood. I had read much about the idea of getting five previous acting Oscar recipients announce and 'present' the current nominees: well, sometimes it worked (i.e. when those making the speeches personally knew the people upon whom they were bestowing flattery – Robert De Niro/Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins/Brad Pitt) but, in other cases, it was embarrassing (such as having Alan Arkin mispronounce Philip Seymour Hoffman's name or Christopher Walken clearly wishing he was elsewhere rather than singing the praises of virtual unknown Michael Shannon); another thing I did not like was the tiny podium which stood almost level with the seats! On the other hand, I approved of the decision to present the Oscars more or less in the chronology of how they materialize within the production of a film; having a recap of examples from various popular genres released during 2008 was nice, too. I was sad to see how poorly Jerry Lewis – picking up the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award – was doing (despite regaining a dignified physical appearance); the "In Memoriam" section was a bit of a mess as well, with the camera sometimes so far away that the names couldn't be read! As for the winners, I cannot say to being surprised – not even by SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE trampling the competition or Sean Penn's politically-motivated triumph with MILK; in the Documentary category, I was sorry that Werner Herzog lost, ditto Mickey Rourke as Best Actor for THE WRESTLER. Incidentally, this year was one of the worst for me since the only two Oscar-nominated films I had caught up with prior to the ceremony were THE DARK KNIGHT and THE WRESTLER itself: with respect to the former, I reiterate that Heath Ledger's performance was good but not really Oscar-worthy – being hardly in the same class as, say, Peter Finch's similarly posthumous win for NETWORK (1976) and that, had Ledger lived, he might not have been nominated to begin with! In the long run, though, this year's Oscar ceremony provided an evening's worth of solid entertainment.
Review of The 81st Annual Academy Awards
The 81st Annual Academy Awards
(2009 TV Special)
THE 81ST ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (Roger Goodman and Allen P. Haines, 2009) (TV) ***
7 March 2009