Yes, another Oscar story, but you'll like this one! I promise. Guru-ish awards reporter Pete Hammond viewed Sunday's Oscarcast at the "Night of 100 Stars" Party -- which usually turns out more like the "Night of 12 Stars, 58 Character Actors, 17 Has-Beens, 12 People You Secretly Expected to See in the 'In Memoriam' Montage, and Pete Hammond" Party, except this year there was news. And it may be the Rosetta Stone to help decode where Avatar went wrong on its march to Best Picture.
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The most awkward moment from Sunday night's Oscar telecast was the acceptance speech hijacking from one Music by Prudence key player, Roger Ross Williams, to another, Elinor Burkett, or as Jon Stewart ID-ed her, "the woman who runs the snack counter at my synagogue's Purim festival." But there is only one person in Hollywood who could present Roger Ross Williams with the opportunity to re-do his speech on live television and then, miraculously, make the moment only more awkward. And that person is Larry King.
After the jump, Movieline breaks the awkwardness down into seven cringe-worthy components.
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In a skin-crawlingly mean-spirited rant delivered on his radio show yesterday, Howard Stern, egged on by sidekick Robin Quivers, laid into Oscar-nominated Precious star Gabourey Sidibe. Calling her "the most enormous fat black chick I've ever seen," Stern predicted that "she's never going to have another shot. What movie is she going to be in? Blind Side 2? She can take out the whole front line...Listen honey, now you got a little money in the bank, go get yourself thin. You're going to die in like, three years."
Audio, and delicious comeuppance, after the jump.
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In a skin-crawlingly mean-spirited rant delivered on his radio show yesterday, Howard Stern, egged on by sidekick Robin Quivers, laid into Oscar-nominated Precious star Gabourey Sidibe. Calling her "the most enormous fat black chick I've ever seen," Stern predicted that "she's never going to have another shot. What movie is she going to be in? Blind Side 2? She can take out the whole front line...Listen honey, now you got a little money in the bank, go get yourself thin. You're going to die in like, three years."
Audio, and delicious comeuppance, after the jump.
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I don't know quite what to make of this shot of James Cameron meeting Kathryn Bigelow at the 2010 Oscars -- whether it was before or after Bigelow's Hurt Locker defeated Avatar for Best Director and Best Picture, or whether this was just an unfortunate angle on the ex-spouses' convivial Oscar-night embrace. At least two things are certain: If anyone is going to establish "strangratulation" as a new awards-season tradition, it'll be Cameron. And Harvey Weinstein is going to frame this. If he hasn't already. [Guardian via IW]
When two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell took home her third trophy for The Young Victoria, the 49-year-old stunned even before she finished her walk to the dais. Her sheeny floral dress and shock burgundy hair were the first indicators of a rogue in the house, but her speech forced us to let out our corsets for a long, queenly guffaw. Furthermore, she was the night's sole British winner. Hear Powell's sly, yet sweet speech after the jump.
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Now that our shared Academy Awards hangover is starting to subside, and the champagne-blunted memory of heaving your novelty Oscar statuette through a window after El Secreto de Sus Ojos' Foreign Language Film win wrecked your pool has come into sharper focus, we can begin to reflect upon last night's events. Though the list of winners played out almost exactly according to the narrative established during the interminable, brain-smoothing awards season (Geoffrey Fletcher's huge Precious adapted screenplay upset being the notable exception), there were still many important lessons to be learned from the ceremony if you just clear your mind, open your heart, and try to really hear what Oscar was gently whispering in your ear in the magical, fizzy moment before that tenth flute of Chandon finally did you in.
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As if you couldn't already tell during his epic acceptance speech in front of broadcast cameras, Jeff Bridges has something to say about his Best Actor Oscar. And just as the producers and the orchestra weren't about to play him off after nearly 40 years of him waiting for this moment, the backstage organizers of the new "Thank-You Cam" weren't about to cut Bridges' extended thanks off either. This being Bridges, it's a must-see -- if you can spare that much of your afternoon.
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Stop us if you've heard this one before: A beautiful, talented woman acclaimed by Hollywood finds romance with a younger man associated with The Hurt Locker, who just so happens to be attending the same Oscar ceremony as that woman's famous ex-husband. No, we're not talking about the Kathryn Bigelow-Mark Boal-James Cameron triangle that grabbed so many headlines this awards season -- at least, not this time. This one involves Sean Penn, Robin Wright and Hurt Locker producer Greg Shapiro, and it may have gotten Penn booted from the Governors Ball.
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It was the moment of a lifetime for Nicolas Chartier, who'd just heard his name cited among the producers of the Best Picture-winning The Hurt Locker. He'd been handed his trophy, and the crowd around him cheered passionately in his honor. If only he'd been at the Kodak Theater instead of under a tent in Malibu.
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One of the best parts of awards season being broadcast in HD is recoiling in horror as an otherwise beautiful actor, coated in fake tanner, is allowed to leave the house by a sunglasses-clad publicist who's regretfully coked to the gills. But with more attendees at last night's Oscars choosing to embrace paler shades, former Orange winner Charlize Theron respectfully deferring to the new guard, and Bradley Cooper nowhere to be found, the few contenders left for Movieline's "Most Orange" prize stood out like umber, unnatural beacons. Let's meet our nominees and our winner!
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This year's Oscarcast wasn't as critically adored as last year's, but at least it improved upon it in the ratings. The ceremony attracted 41.3 million viewers, up 15% from last year and the best result since 2005. It would have done even better if ABC and Cablevision had resolved their dispute before the show began airing in New York, but on the other hand, at least those viewers had Neil Patrick Harris's superfluous opening trimmed by default. Bright sides! [The Wrap]
USA Today has a delightful look at this year's backstage Oscar shenanigans. Among the highlights: 1) Robin Williams attempted to wring a courtesy laugh out of Mo'Nique with a curling joke, 2) An ABC page enlisted the help of Oscar winner Geoffrey Fletcher to find...Geoffrey Fletcher, 3) The eternally self-effacing Sandra Bullock decided "Oh, I better double-check the name" and peeked into her envelope to make sure, 4) Jeff Bridges stepped on Carey Mulligan's dress, and 5) Helen Mirren and Miley Cyrus were backstage BFFs. As it should be. [USA Today]
One of last night's biggest Academy Award upsets came when Geoffrey Fletcher's name was called as the winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, beating out heavily tipped frontrunners Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for Up in the Air. Fletcher was clearly moved by the win, as he was on Friday when he won Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards for his work on Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.
Movieline spoke with Fletcher this weekend about his awards season ride, which ended with those two dramatic high points.
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There was only one real shock during last night's 82nd Annual Academy Awards -- more specifically, a shock of orange hair that bum rushed the Kodak Theater stage during Music by Prudence director Roger Ross Williams' acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short. Perhaps more stymying than the onstage assault was the one detail that separates the woman underneath the orange hair, Elinor Burkett, from the other delinquent stage-rusher she is being most compared to today, Kanye West. Unlike West, who crashed Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during this year's VMAs to proclaim that another artist deserved the honor, Burkett was actually attached to the category's winner, Music of Prudence, as a producer. So what's the big deal?
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