Golden voices
We're on break, and I've spent much of it crafting and drafting a dissertation prospectus (In a 24 hour period I sent off a draft, one of my chairs replied with changes, and I sent in another draft). It's good to be able to focus intently on it, and as a result I got the happy-with-it email from my chairs.
This frees me up to talk about The Oscars! As previously stated, the actual films nominated didn't grab me. I'm glad Man on Wire won, and Heath Ledger, and Sean Penn's win was equally well-deserved (even if I wanted Mickey Rourke (well, actually Richard Jenkins)). And it's nice to see Kate Winslet win, even if it's for one of the worst movies she's appeared in.
In terms of the production, I liked the arc of awards about how to make a film, and thought the multiple presenters were a nice touch, even if the speeches to the acting nominees were uneven and I miss the clips (though I don't dislike the replacement). Some nice funny presenters (Tina Fey and Steve Martin are brilliant), but mostly a lot more music which I was mixed on.
Queen Latifah's song during the in memoriam section was lovely, but I don't understand all the camera movement. Most of the time, I couldn't even see who was being honored. Can we just agree that the point of this section is to remember those who've died, not to look at Queen Latifah. Ugh.
A lot of musical talent- Beyonce, Hugh, Zac, and the lovely Anne Hathaway.
I'm a big fan of musical numbers, but I think the Oscars demonstrates the big problem with film musical numbers today (fitting that Baz Luhrmann's behind all this). Hugh Jackman proclaims that the musical is back, and so it would seem. But as this montage demonstrates, it's only casually back. Apparently we just don't have the patience for a musical, just for brief segments of songs. Or, when we actually get the film, we disguise the lack of choreography with non-stop MTV cutting and the lack of singers with cute faces and big names. In fact, everything in this show was a little too jump-cut, Baz Luhrmann style, from the musical numbers, to the montage tributes to the year in film, and, well, Slumdog Millionaire. It just feels more and more like mindless energy. I really do wish the musical (and I mean that in the full sense of the term) was back.
This frees me up to talk about The Oscars! As previously stated, the actual films nominated didn't grab me. I'm glad Man on Wire won, and Heath Ledger, and Sean Penn's win was equally well-deserved (even if I wanted Mickey Rourke (well, actually Richard Jenkins)). And it's nice to see Kate Winslet win, even if it's for one of the worst movies she's appeared in.
In terms of the production, I liked the arc of awards about how to make a film, and thought the multiple presenters were a nice touch, even if the speeches to the acting nominees were uneven and I miss the clips (though I don't dislike the replacement). Some nice funny presenters (Tina Fey and Steve Martin are brilliant), but mostly a lot more music which I was mixed on.
Queen Latifah's song during the in memoriam section was lovely, but I don't understand all the camera movement. Most of the time, I couldn't even see who was being honored. Can we just agree that the point of this section is to remember those who've died, not to look at Queen Latifah. Ugh.
A lot of musical talent- Beyonce, Hugh, Zac, and the lovely Anne Hathaway.
I'm a big fan of musical numbers, but I think the Oscars demonstrates the big problem with film musical numbers today (fitting that Baz Luhrmann's behind all this). Hugh Jackman proclaims that the musical is back, and so it would seem. But as this montage demonstrates, it's only casually back. Apparently we just don't have the patience for a musical, just for brief segments of songs. Or, when we actually get the film, we disguise the lack of choreography with non-stop MTV cutting and the lack of singers with cute faces and big names. In fact, everything in this show was a little too jump-cut, Baz Luhrmann style, from the musical numbers, to the montage tributes to the year in film, and, well, Slumdog Millionaire. It just feels more and more like mindless energy. I really do wish the musical (and I mean that in the full sense of the term) was back.
posted by Dan B. at
10:24 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, I was really disappointed by the Broadway montage. Especially with Hugh Jackman there, who is actually capable of something more advanced, it seemed like a wasted opportunity.
By
PMG, At
February 28, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home