Today, I won't be reviewing any movie specifically but I will be reviewing the biggest movie related awards show. I am, of course, referring to the 87'th Academy Awards or The Oscars if you prefer that. I will be discussing the highs, the lows, the surprising, and the straight up bizarre. Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FreeGamersAlliance/
Lets get this started:
The Good:
- The opening number is easily one of the best openings to the show that I have seen in a long time. It was funny, well sung, and full of fantastic celebrities while being a full blown spectacle.
- So many of the musical performances were stunning from Lady Gaga's shockingly subdued tribute to "The Sound of Music" to Jennifer Hudson bringing down the house during the tribute to those who have died this year. But John Legend and Common stole the show hands down! Their performance was not only vocally perfect but it really managed to hit the right emotional chords (as evidenced by shots of David Oyelowo and Chris Pine covered in tears).
- Idina Menzel made several funny jokes about the infamous name flub last year which also resulted in a really awkward moment that I will talk about later.
- Eddie Redmayne winning best actor was a surprise but it was a really pleasant one! He really owned the role of Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything" and I couldn't be happier for him.
- While he was let down by some of the writing, all in all I think Neil Patrick Harris did a really good job as host largely due to his charisma.
- Finally, the acceptance speeches were absolutely on fire! So many celebrities took the time to make some important statements. From Patricia Arquette nailing it on gender and wage equality to John Legend and Common absolutely dropping the mic when it comes to the progress that still needs to be made with racial equality and all of the various things that the march to Selma represents to Graham Moore's touching speech reminding those who feel different or weird to not give up on themselves. I know these speeches may have annoyed some (as evidenced by some Facebook posts that I've seen). For me, I know that for better or for worse these celebrities have more influence than most people when it comes to regular people. I am stoked that they are taking the time to say things that need to be said in order to potentially make a difference when dealing with social injustice or simply inspiring people to be themselves. It would be so easy for them to simply make the speeches about themselves but instead they made an attempt to do some good and that makes me very happy.
The Bad:
- The sound mixing in "American Sniper" was good but the fact that it didn't go to "Interstellar" is absolute bull****.
- As I said earlier, I feel like many of Neil Patrick Harris's jokes weren't written very well. I don't know if he wrote them or if someone else did but they really did need some work.
The Surprising:
- I really didn't expect "Birdman" to take Best Picture as I thought that "Boyhood" had a gimmick that the Academy would eat right up but I am quite content as I thought "Birdman" was spectacular.
- The big surprise of the night for me was "Big Hero 6" winning Best Animated Feature. I was really thinking (and hoping) that it would be "How to Train Your Dragon 2" but I did like "Big Hero 6" so I can't be too upset about it.
The Straight-Up Bizzare:
- John Travolta returned to make fun of his notorious "Adele Dazeem" flub last year and in doing so he decided that awkwardly feeling up Idina Menzel's face would be a really good idea but it was just really uncomfortable to watch.
The Verdict:
Overall, I thought this years Oscars was very good. It managed to deliver a lot of spectacle, very powerful speeches, and many deserving people winning awards. There were a few minor things that I didn't like as well as a really odd moment but all in all I really enjoyed it. I can't wait for the 88'th Academy Awards next year!
Thanks for reading everyone!! As usual, feel free to leave a comment!