Josh Horowitz
@joshuahorowitz
Andrew Malcolm
@AHMalcolm
Fallon: 84th Annual Academy Awards ratings were up 4% from last year. As
Angelina Jolie’s leg put it, ‘You’re welcome.’
Keep up with who's heating up the red carpet with the bold
Red Hot. Right Now. social tracker. It's your one-stop shop to see what everyone's talking about on Oscar Sunday!
We'll be tracking all Oscar tweets to show you what stars and movies
are moving up -- or losing momentum. Follow your favorite celebs as they
move up the chart. Tweet and share with your friends!
Be a part of what everyone's talking about on Oscar Sunday with the
Red Hot. Right Now. social tracker! From Blackberry... Be Bold!
.@alroker and @anncurry do "The Angelina" #TODAYatOscars http://instagr.am/p/Hgje7BwLUV/
Jezebel
@Jezebel
This year's Oscars, like every year's Oscars, had its highs and its
lows. Sometimes Billy Crystal was funny, sometimes he felt like a
lecherous old man time-warped in from the 90s. Sometimes the winners
were surprising and deserving, sometimes the winners were the wonderful
Meryl Streep accepting a prize for a movie that nobody really likes. But
before we get into the nitty gritty of what didn't really work about
this year's Oscars-- if you're looking for a full list of winners, you
can find them
HERE,
let's celebrate what did, with the 5 best moments of the telecast-- for
my money at least. Your mileage may vary, but if you didn't get a
little bit of joy out of at least one of these moments, you might just
need to try harder with the Oscars next year.
1) Emma Stone presenting Best Visual Effects with Ben Stiller.
Stiller has presented this award in elaborate costume a handful of
times, but he played straight man here to probably the best young female
star we have right now. Stone was funny, playful, entertaining, but
also respectful of what the award meant when it came right down to it.
She brought so much energy to the stage in her brief moment that I'm
sure I wasn't the only one hoping they'd just give her the whole hosting
gig next year. Come on, Academy! You're always looking for more young
people-- why not bring in who seems to be the smartest and most
put-together young person in the business?
2) Christopher Plummer winning Best Supporting Actor. It was a
hugely deserved win, not only for his long career that's gone
unrecognized by the Academy, but for his specific performance in
Beginners,
which is loose and charming but also full of deep feeling. And then he
topped it off with a lovely acceptance speech, a little emotional but
perfectly measured, thanking all the right people and speaking to his
statue, "You're only two years older than me, where have you been all my
life?" It was his turn to win, and he took it masterfully.
3) The In Memoriam tribute. They saved this montage until
remarkably late in the ceremony, probably recognizing that it's the best
part for a lot of us-- being reminded of our favorite actors and
filmmakers who left us in the last year. This year's montage perfectly
toed the line between toned-down and garish, with Grammy winner
Esperanza Spalding and a children's choir singing "What A Wonderful
World"-- kind of a cliched choice, but whatever-- and a swift montage of
a lot of faces, with some video and audio clips for the big ones. They
didn't succumb to pressure to make a bigger deal out of Whitney Houston
than they had to, but ended, as they had to, with the marvelous
Elizabeth Taylor. Here's hoping every In Memoriam tribute from here out
strikes this good a tone.
4) The cast of Bridesmaids presenting the shorts. From the
bawdy penis jokes to the "Scorsese!" drinking game to Ellie Kemper's
magnificently sequined dress, these ladies were such a breath of fresh
air during the second half of a ceremony that was starting to drag.
Somehow they managed to feel funny and irreverent without being crass or
disrespectful to the event. The fact that they and Emma Stone were the
best presenters says a lot about how much more fun these awards might be
if they let funny women play a bigger role. Pay attention for next
year, guys!
5) Octavia Spencer's teary acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress. Spencer was the only winner who seemed truly on the verge of losing it-- except for maybe the
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
editors, who had no idea what to say. But Spencer held herself together
long enough to give an adorably jumbled speech, choking up especially
when it came time to thank her
Help family, with her date,
director Tate Taylor and longtime friend, beaming from the sidelines.
The fact that she got a standing ovation from the crowd indicates that
she had really earned this moment with a lot of respect from her peers.
Viola Davis deserved to have her own similar moment, but Spencer winning
was pretty great on its own too.
Honorable Mention: Angelina Jolie and her leg. After spending so much time putting on her solemn face promoting
In the Land of Blood and Honey,
Angelina was back in va-va-voom starlet mode, looking like Jessica
Rabbit come to life and seeming to enjoy every minute of it. She and
Brad Pitt are such a fun couple to watch when they seem to be having
fun, but it's even more fun to see her enjoying the spotlight all on her
own. Nicely done!
Photo Credit: ©ABC
Angelina Jolie came out to present the writing awards and stuck her leg out of her slit skirt, posing as she had on the Red Carpet, like a 1940’s pinup. Then Jim Rash came on stage to accept his award and posed
just like her. Mean, but at least spontaneous. I'd guess his apology is
on the way. (Rash, Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon – who were more polite -
won Best Adapted Screenplay for
The Descendants.)
Performers pause to pull themselves together before or after being onstage. Uggie, the dog from 'The Artist,' takes it in.
By Rebecca Keegan, Los Angeles Times
February 27, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
Backstage at the
Academy Awards was a place for unscripted moments of jitters, jubilation -- and doggy treats.
"We're so old and we're so happening!"
Meryl Streep
shouted, throwing her arms around her longtime makeup artist J. Roy
Helland when the two Oscar winners converged in the scrum outside the
press room.
Behind Streep and Helland
clutching their statuettes, Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier from
"The Artist,"was collecting rewards for his performance as well -- some treats delivered by trainer Omar Von Muller.
Photos: Backstage
Uggie had emerged from the stage quivering in the arms of best actor winner
Jean Dujardin when "The Artist" won best picture. "Shaky shaky," Dujardin said, kissing Uggie over and over.
It wasn't only the Oscar winners who kept the production crew busy.
"Anybody have a 20 on Brad and Angelina?" a staffer called into his headseat.
Photos: Red Carpet
Brad Pitt was the one up for an Oscar this year, but backstage he was rooting for his partner,
Angelina Jolie,
as she presented the two screenplay Oscars. Pitt watched Jolie quietly
from a monitor in the wings. When Jolie emerged from the stage she
rubbed Pitt's back and wondered what to do with the envelope for
original screenplay winner
Woody Allen.
"Do we want to get this to Woody," a stage manager asked. "Does he even care?"
Before she won her Oscar, even a veteran like Streep had to collect
herself as a presenter. As she waited to introduce the Academy's
Governors Award winners earlier in the evening, Streep put on her
glasses and read her script. Before she took the stage, the actress
threw her shoulders back, straightened her dress, exhaled and peeked
outside the curtain.
Oscars: Full Coverage
"You'll push me out when it's time?" she asked stage manager Dency Nelson.
"I'll pull you gently, yes," Nelson said.
Sandra Bullock was a supporting actress – lower case -- for best supporting actress
Octavia Spencer
Sunday night. When Spencer stepped off the stage after accepting her
award, she could barely stand. Bullock held her for 30 seconds and then
carried the train of her dress as the two walked through the wings.
"Sandy, thank you for that train," Spencer said, before making a quick
stop at the official Oscar Thank You Cam. Spencer got just one sentence
out before stopping.
"I don't wanna cry. I wanna be pretty," she said.
As Spencer was whisked to the green room, the wings filled with another set of nervous performers -- the
Cirque du Soleil "Iris" company, many of them bouncing on their toes and shaking out their feet.
"Remember guys, television is hurry up and wait," stage manager Valdez Flagg told them. "Places please. Magical performance."
Moments before stepping onstage together, presenters
Cameron Diaz and
Jennifer Lopez practiced a stage turn. "Oh my God," Diaz said under her breath, while Lopez gave her an encouraging smile.
The whimsical move had at least one big fan backstage. "That was
genius!" Sandra Bullock wagged her finger at the ladies as she passed
them on her way to the stage.
Diaz and Lopez bumped into Oscar producer
Brian Grazer backstage as well, and the group discussed the audience's muted reaction.
"It was like, uh, hello?" Diaz said.
Lopez jumped in: "We're trying to entertain you!"
"You livened it up," Grazer told them.
"We gave it our best one-two punch," Lopez said.
Oscar traveled incognito on his big day. About an hour before the start
of the show, four white-gloved prop masters pushed 49 Academy Award
statuettes on a rickety A/V cart through the byzantine backstage area at
the Hollywood & Highland Center.
Los Angeles Police Department
Lieutenant Manny Santoyo guarded the little gold men, as their handlers
polished them with fluffy blue towels and placed them on a table at
stage right, where they waited until presenters placed them in the
winners' hands.
rebecca.keegan@latimes.com
Angelina Jolie at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on Feb. 26.
Angelina Jolie at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on Feb. 26.
