If you missed the 83rd Academy Awards last night, you may have been lucky. The show was devoid of funny or even interesting moments for the most part. James Franco, perhaps busy being a student/actor/soap opera star/stoned didn't seem that into hosting, making Anne Hathaway's non-subtle attempts at being way too animated and cheery look especially out of place. Of course the ceremony went long too, even though this was one of the shorter awards. Also, a fun drinking game (or in my case, exercise game so I didn't become an amoeba) is to take a shot/do a push-up/run around the block/dance a jig every time a winner said "um" or "uh." But then after our tally got to 72 and we weren't even halfway through the show, we realized it could get dangerous.
In any case, we've gathered a few of the highlights, with analysis below. Enjoy!
The Opening Montage
Splicing yourself into movies is nothing new, especially at the Oscars, but this was an enjoyable little romp. The below isn't the whole clip, but it gets the job done. Too bad for the most part the show went downhill from here.
Auto-Tune the Movies
The Gregory Brothers are well-known for auto-tuning various things. Whether it's Antoine Dodson or Slim Chin, making normal speech sound robotic and set to thumping hip-hop and R&B beats is the latest trend, and it wouldn't have been an Oscars without said auto-tuning. My personal favorite is The Social Network parody, "Fishing for Facebook." And also, apologies for the text over the video at various points, apparently just uploading a video for people's enjoyment without advertising yourself over it is too hard to do.
Kirk Douglas
I don't even know what to title this as. It's basically Kirk Douglas for three and a half minutes being hilarious. He's 94 years old and had a stroke in 1996, so his speech is understandably a bit slurred, yet his presentation of "Best Supporting Actress" might have been the best job any presenter did. His tormenting of the actresses by delaying reading who the winner is was fantastic.
Randy Newman wins "Best Original Song"
If you have a soul at all, Toy Story 3 tugged at your heartstrings. Maybe it was feeling a sense of nostalgia or actually uncontrollably bawling at the surprisingly bittersweet ending, but whatever the case, the music helped play a part in that. And Randy Newman has provided the soundtrack for those toys we've come to know and love. Here he wins for "We Belong Together," and I found his acceptance speech worthy of a few chuckles.
Russell Brand on the red carpet
I suppose one event from the red carpet should make it out here. Again, there was a lot of build up for not so much entertainment, so we'll put Russell Brand effortlessly burning a reporter that tries to make a jab at him. Brand was presenting an award with Helen Mirren during the ceremony, which the reporter evidently didn't know about. Watch the quick wit below.
This Day in History
1940- Racing legend Mario Andretti is born.
1953- James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule containing human genes.
1993- The Waco Siege between the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh, begins. The siege ended 50 days later and resulted in nearly 100 deaths.
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