There were flaws to be sure. Having the musicians play in another room (?) on a night honoring musicals led to sound issues for even the fantastic Adele. And while the Jaws music being used to play off winners with long speeches was inspired, all the Anne Hathaway haters wish it had been used for hers as well as for the "lesser" categories.
Also, in a night honoring musicals, it's amazing to think that only three were represented--Les Miserables, Dreamgirls and Chicago. At the very least, it would have made sense to do a musical montage with such greats as The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Moulin Rouge and even Mamma Mia.
And the James Bond tribute, which was hampered by not having the Bond actors show up due to various issues with the Bond family, would have been more rounded out by having Adele sing "Skyfall" right after Shirley Bassey sang "Goldfinger" just to keep it all in the OO7 realm.
And as per usual, the presenters were best when just presenting the awards without banter. The usually funny Melissa McCartney and Paul Rudd failed to land their witless lines. And I honestly have no clue what the cast of The Avengers were asked to do other than look good, which they did if you turned the TV on mute during their embarrassing award presentation.
But these are minor quibbles. Overall, the show was successful with a winning host (see my review of Mr. MacFarlane in another post) and a winning night.
Best Moments (apart from MacFarlane)
Shirley Bassey--Some singers just sing, but Bassey literally ripped into "Goldfinger" with such ferocity, I could see blood on her lips by the end. A great, over-the-top performance.
Anne Hathaway's final speech--The moment it ended, I breathed a dream of silent relief that we would not be subjected to her baby-voiced perkiness for a long while. I almost feel bad for hopping on the Hathaway-hater bandwagon, but if you can't fake sincerity, you probably shouldn't be working in Hollywood.
The Tribute to the Musicals--While Catherine Zeta Jones had a rough time of it, she looked great during the Chicago tribute. Jennifer Hudson, who I love, but won't sit through Smash for, dug into "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" with the gusto only she and Jennifer Holliday can. And the Les Miz cast, including Russell Crowe, presented their movie with aplomb, with the beautiful Samantha Barks stealing the stage with her verse.
FLOTUS--First Lady Michelle Obama and Jack Nicholson present an award together. Legendary.
Adele--While her performance was hampered with sound issues, she sounded terrific. And when she won the award for best song, she reminded us why she is one of the most beloved entertainers in the world--she's just happy to be here.
Babs--Barbra Streisand took to the stage in a rare live performance to sing "The Way We Were" during the "In Memoriam" segment and reminded everyone that she is a star of the highest order, even when in recent years she has been languishing in movie duds like Meet the Fockers and The Guilt Trip.
Daniel Day-Lewis--Going in, everyone knew he would be charming and self-effacing during his acceptance speech, but who knew he was going to start doing comedy with perfect timing? Landing jokes about playing presenter Meryl Streep's Iron Lady, his urging Steven Spielberg not to make Lincoln a musical, and even poking fun at his method acting, Lewis presented a master class in giving a clever and for-the-ages acceptance speech.
Jennifer Lawrence--While I wait with bated breath for the backlash to begin (today's "Huffington Post" shows a picture of her possibly smoking weed--and so it begins), the actress charmed as usual. After falling up the stairs, she received a standing ovation to which she replied, "You all gave me a standing ovation because I fell and that is embarrassing, but thank you." And her behind the scenes press room interview was even funnier. The girl has an Oscar, two current movie franchises, and has directors clamoring to work with her. She has not yet begun to peak.
Argo--Ben Affleck's moving acceptance speech brought rainbow tears to my eyes. The best part was how he thanked his wife, Jennifer Garner-- "I want to thank my wife ... for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It is work, but it's the best kind of work. And there's no one I'd rather work with." Perfect ending to a solid night of entertainment and one of the best Oscar ceremonies in years (and yes, I'm pretending the last musical number with MacFarlane and Kristen Chenoweth did not happen).
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