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| Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald for 15 years. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. He believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and vows never to own an in-home theater. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. |
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closeMonday, Feb. 25, 2008
The Academy Awards: Short and Sweet
By Gary Wolcott, Special to the Herald
A few things stand out about the 80th annual Academy Awards on Sunday.
The first is the length. Although the Oscars didn't approach the perfect and preferable 31-minute time span of the Golden Globes, three hours and 15 minutes, give or take a minute or two, ain't bad.
Two. The short acceptance speeches. Wow. Mumble a few lines, cue the applause and off we go to the next award.
Three. I'm still super critical of loading the back end of the telecast with commercials. But that's TV and why I don't watch it except for nights like this.
Four. There were just a few real surprises. Tilda Swinton getting the best support actress nod blew my mind. She would have been my pick. I thought the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would go with Ruby Dee.
Five. Falling Slowly grabbing the best song. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's song is from last year's best movie Once and is one of those tunes that stays with you for a long time after you first hear it. They're fun and lively entertainers whom I had the pleasure of catching in concert late last year. I'm very happy for them. For a film that cost only $100,000 to do, that's not bad.
Six. The troops in Iraq presenting the award for the best live-action short film. In a way, the Academy honored them. Of course, the next award was Best Documentary. The producer of the winner took the opportunity to take a political potshot about you-know-what.
Seven. Michael Moore didn't win for Sicko.
Eight. I really blew the screenplay and cinematography categories. Diablo Cody's Juno got the screenplay that belonged to Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton. It was a good movie, but any other year and Michael Clayton takes home everything.
Nine. Did you see Helen Mirren's dress? Wow. She was stunning, and if the Academy gave best dress awards of the year, Mirren would have been a lock.
Ten: Jon Stewart was pretty funny. Not great, but not bad. A couple of lines were terrific. And did I mention the telecast was short?
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