Wow, what a mixed bag this year... They had a lot of great films to work with, so I wasn't terribly disappointed with any of the winners, but the actual show?
Leaving Brad Renfro out of the RIP montage? Not. Cool.
Then there was the unintentionally sexist slap in the face to Best Song winner Marketa Irglova. Her male partner talks for about 30 seconds, and as soon as he's finished, before she can even step up to the mic, they start the STFU music? I'm sure no one was trying to be intentionally sexist or prejudiced, but I can't help but think that her gender and her name played a part in that. And kudos to Jon Stewart for catching it and bringing her back out after the break.
I mean absolutely no disrespect to the Iraqi soldiers who participated, but I think that asking them to present was an empty gesture, and it ended up looking ridiculous when the documentaries that won were about same-sex marriage (hello "don't ask/don't tell" policy!) and torture (hello Abu Ghraib).
Also an empty gesture? Nominating Depp for a Tim Burton film. I love Burton, I love Depp, but everyone knows the Academy is not going to give Johnny Depp an Oscar for a Tim Burton movie, not even one with singing. Johnny Depp is fucking fabulous, and he has many more fabulous roles ahead of him, so quit nominating him for goofy shit and give his spot to someone else. In fact, 4 out of 5 actors in that category had already been nominated multiple times (and 3 had won previous awards), so the empty gesture might at least have been put to better use by nominating someone new. Like, say... James McAvoy.
And speaking of James McAvoy, whoever was responsible for referring to him as "brooding" in his presenter intro might want to remember that there actually is a difference between the actors and the roles they play. (I don't know shit about the other guy who presented with him--maybe he's not brooding, either.)
On the plus side, I'm extremely grateful to whoever was responsible for seating McAvoy in the front row, because I'm fucking shallow. I think I had more fun watching him talk to to his wife (at least I think that's his wife--heads over to IMDb--yep, wife) and tease his 13-year-old co-star than I did watching the actual stage.
