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Okay, that rocked.
Seriously, folks, I'm well aware of the Academy Awards being just the biggest-&-glitziest night of a season of Hollywood circle jer...I mean, back-patting and mutual admiration, but scaling down to handle the recession seems to have geared up a whole new level of intimacy and -- I think this is definitely the word for the evening -- collegiality for the filmmaking community (though they still need to get the tech awards back out of lunchroom-apartheid...).
It was mature (yes, even the comedy montage with Seth Rogen and James Franco on the couch), in notable contrast to the red-carpet gownwatching and gossiping beforehand; it was humble and creation-focused, as opposed to industrially self-aggrandizing and throwing around the weight of "the Academy" and its business-side executives. It emphasized the necessarily communal nature of film production, and made (refreshingly) much of the cameraderie and mutual respect of actors for one another, to the extent that there was no sense of 'winner vs. losers' competition, but a great impression and worthwhile example of creative professionals being glad for each other and glad to be in each others' company and part of the vast web of history and inspiration and influences that is the art of moviemaking. And the front-and-center musicality throughout was an effective thread of connection there, from Hugh Jackman's unrestrained opening number to Queen Latifah's emotionally-infused and elegantly-ornamented rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" as the 2008 memorial montage played on the big screen above.
Overall, the feeling of "We're all in this together" was a consistently good vibe throughout the evening, and though there are some things that I would have wished were different (some footage of the acting being nominated, for those of us who hadn't caught all of the performances during this past year; Peter Gabriel actually singing his nominated song from Wall-E in the musical-number sandwich with Slumdog Millionaire), the show itself was a fine one. Danny Boyle made a point of congratulations there in his acceptance speech for Best Director, and I thoroughly agree with him. While there will always be a certain amount of standard industry boilerplate/self-promotion for the sake of commercial survival (and don't think that I wasn't aware of it when it happened), this 81st Academy Awards was the least egocentric and most self-aware film awards show I've ever seen. And there were some damn stirring words said along the way that deserve to have lasting impact out in the world as we know it.
So...congratulations, everyone. Good show.
_
Seriously, folks, I'm well aware of the Academy Awards being just the biggest-&-glitziest night of a season of Hollywood circle jer...I mean, back-patting and mutual admiration, but scaling down to handle the recession seems to have geared up a whole new level of intimacy and -- I think this is definitely the word for the evening -- collegiality for the filmmaking community (though they still need to get the tech awards back out of lunchroom-apartheid...).
It was mature (yes, even the comedy montage with Seth Rogen and James Franco on the couch), in notable contrast to the red-carpet gownwatching and gossiping beforehand; it was humble and creation-focused, as opposed to industrially self-aggrandizing and throwing around the weight of "the Academy" and its business-side executives. It emphasized the necessarily communal nature of film production, and made (refreshingly) much of the cameraderie and mutual respect of actors for one another, to the extent that there was no sense of 'winner vs. losers' competition, but a great impression and worthwhile example of creative professionals being glad for each other and glad to be in each others' company and part of the vast web of history and inspiration and influences that is the art of moviemaking. And the front-and-center musicality throughout was an effective thread of connection there, from Hugh Jackman's unrestrained opening number to Queen Latifah's emotionally-infused and elegantly-ornamented rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" as the 2008 memorial montage played on the big screen above.
Overall, the feeling of "We're all in this together" was a consistently good vibe throughout the evening, and though there are some things that I would have wished were different (some footage of the acting being nominated, for those of us who hadn't caught all of the performances during this past year; Peter Gabriel actually singing his nominated song from Wall-E in the musical-number sandwich with Slumdog Millionaire), the show itself was a fine one. Danny Boyle made a point of congratulations there in his acceptance speech for Best Director, and I thoroughly agree with him. While there will always be a certain amount of standard industry boilerplate/self-promotion for the sake of commercial survival (and don't think that I wasn't aware of it when it happened), this 81st Academy Awards was the least egocentric and most self-aware film awards show I've ever seen. And there were some damn stirring words said along the way that deserve to have lasting impact out in the world as we know it.
So...congratulations, everyone. Good show.
_
