Notes from the Pond by Sheila Dobbie

By Antoine Taveneaux (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Oscars are over and now everyone is talking about who was the best and worst dressed and their opinions of the host, Seth MacFarlane.

Of the six major categories, I correctly predicted four. I missed on Supporting Actor and Director. I predicted Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook would win for Supporting Actor and Steven Spielberg Best Director for Lincoln; however Christoph Waltz won Supporting Actor for Django Unchained and Ang Lee won Best Director for Life of Pi. I was not the only who did not foresee this as the Los Angeles Times ran a headline saying, “Oscars 2013: Ang Lee, Christoph Waltz among night’s surprises.”

I correctly predicted Argo would win Best Picture; Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Actor; Jennifer Lawrence, Best Actress; and Anne Hathaway Best Supporting Actress.

On a personal note, when I reviewed Argo last October I said then to expect a lot of award nominations to come out of this movie, including Best Picture. I think I should get extra credit for being ahead of the curve.

The only big controversy of this award season was that Ben Affleck was not nominated for Best Director for Argo, however the picture won a number of other awards including Best Picture which should make up for the snub. Also, some thought Kathryn Bigelow should have been nominated for Best Director but Zero Dark Thirty also won a number of awards including an Academy Award for Best Sound Directing and a Golden Globe for Jessica Chastain for Best Actress.

There has been a lot of buzz over the host, Seth MacFarlane, who was hired to appeal to the younger demographics. Some thought he went over the line and others thought he wasn’t edgy enough. But in the words of someone (I don’t remember who), “What do you expect when you hire the creator of Family Guy?” For those who don’t know, Family Guy is an off-color, irreverent, adult, cartoon show.

I am a little older than the targeted demographic and I don’t watch Family Guy; however, I thought he was laugh out loud funny in places. The show moved along at a snappy pace and he injected a little humor, song and dance to spice it up. Some thought he was crass, racist, and politically incorrect; but I say lighten up people and laugh. The producers wanted edgy and that is what they got. However, I do agree with the critics who criticized him for his jokes about women and sexual abuse. Abuse of any kind is not a laughing matter.

This show was ten times better than a few years ago when Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosted—again to appeal to the younger generation. Hathaway had to work overtime while Franco seemed to sleep-walk through the whole show. It was safe but not entertaining.

Now the award season is over and we can start a new score card anticipating next year’s movies and which will come out on top. Did any of you correctly predict all of the major categories?