8:27:Okay, I just alienated everybody in the room by uttering the words "Gabourey Sidibe" and "unhinged jaw" in the same sentence.
8:30: Some unseen voice is introducing all the lead acting nominees. Is this what's called a cold open?
Colleen: "And now, their younger versions." Someone else: "Standing in for George Clooney, Zac Efron."
And now Neil Patrick Harris has sung the lines "drop the soap." Last piece of music I heard that phrase in was by Spoonie G. Times done changed.
"Matthew Broderick is angry that it''s not him up there," MLW astutely observes.
And here are Vladimir and Estragon. Steve Martin's "most losses" line is funny…but would have been funnier delivered solo. I sense trouble.
Is it me, or does Precious director Lee Daniels look kinda like…Dave Matthews?
I dunno, I think these guys are a little stiff. Their riffing on the EPK of It's Complicated was more spontaneous.
"Who doesn't love Sandra Bullock?" "Well tonight we may find out!" Well played. They're loosening up.
Okay. Here's P-Lope. Best Supporting Actor. I'm rooting for Matt Damon, or, "Matt Damon!"
Seems like the clips is longer. We're just on Harrelson now. Could he be…the sleeper…?
I'm sorry, but I'm gonna say it now. I was better in The Girlfriend Experience than Stanl…
Oh, never mind: The winner is Waltz. Everybody in the room is in first place in the Oscar pool. Waltz is articulate and charming and obviously sincerely emotional. Nice moment.
Ryan Reynolds plugging The Blind Side. That's five levels of "whatever" at once. If you're some kind of commie, I mean. I certainly don't think that. No sirree.
Commercials. Hey, those JC Penney chicks are hot…The Bounty Hunter looks awesome…that Jimmy Kimmel/Ben Affleck joke never gets old…
ABC7 and Cablevision have made significant progress…
Ooh, Animated Feature. I picked…Fantastic Mr. Fox. I am now second, and last, in the Oscar pool. I love Up, but I'm perverse. That Docter fellow clearly has been getting heavily involved in the restoration of Dumbo.
It's Miley! And the Seyfried. Did Cyrus raid Grace Jones' closet?
Randy Newman would like you off of his lawn, please.
Once again I am reminded of what I found tolerable about Nine, and am deeply ashamed.
All right, T-Bone Burnett gets an Oscar. I hung out with him a bit half a century or so ago, when he was with the Golden Palominos with my pal Peter Blegvad and people couldn't tell 'em apart. Good man, great talent.
Commercials. Mmm. Diet Coke. Makes childbirth, filmmaking, and attending awards ceremony more tolerable.
I see some commenters have asked about George Clooney. I don't know what to tell you. I'm too distracted by his hair, which looks like a salt-and-pepper version of a 'do that Paul McCartney had around Band on the Run…but I can't quite place it…and until I can, I won't be able to think about anything else relative to him.
Three awards in 45 minutes. I'm going to have second-degree burns on my lap before this is done.
Okay. Best Original Screenplay. I'll say it: Go Quentin! Still. Maybe the strongest categor…
And it's Boal, for Hurt Locker. Gregory Fieger is working a calculator furiously at the moment. You know, Boal looks a little like Jason Reitman…have they ever been photographed together…
MLW's theory re Clooney is that he's playing along with the Martin/Baldwin gag and shooting back death rays at them. I but it.
John Hughes tribute. Time to plug my pal Susannah Gora's new book about Hughes and company pictures, You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried. Mario, fiending for a particular clip, is chanting "Curly Sue! Curly Sue!" What a card.
Judd Nelson. Rulage.
Look. All the Brat Pack actors are adults now. That means their hearts are dead. It's inevitable.
Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner look like they're waiting to get called in for colonoscopies. Nice.
And now, on to hour the second…
Totally with you on ‘sensing trouble’. The cohosting thing seems forced.
What’s up with the George Clooney is a humorless douchebag schtick? He was doing it with the interviewers before the show, and I’m not sure it’s an act.
I thought the Hitler memorabilia line was funny, but it sounded familiar.
downey jr auditioning or his part in the peter bogdanovich biopic
Theory? Of course Clooney was playing along with Martin and Baldwin. It was pretty obvious.
Anyway, I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything so far.
Maybe MY heart is dead, but did anyone find the size of the John Hughes tribute a tad contrary to his actual talent?
@ John M- if your heart is dead, mine must be too. Didn’t Bergman and Antonioni just get rolled into In Memoriam last year?