The 86th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary

The 86^th Annual Academy Awards

Ellen’s back!  And boy was she missed.  Didn’t know how much we missed her until she showed up.  Ellen spent more time in the audience then on stage – an unusual choice for a host, but that’s where she’s at her best.  Ellen has a way of putting everyone at ease, humanizing the celebrities and inviting the TV audience into their lives.  From the moment the show started, the audience lights were up and Ellen was gazing into the celebrity faces in the audience and making them part of the show...to Liza, whom she referred to as the best Liza Minelli impersonator she’d ever seen, “Good job, sir.”  To Jennifer Lawrence who tripped picking up her Oscar last year and tripped getting onto the red carpet this year, “if you win this time, I think we should bring you the Oscar.”  The stage had been set; this year’s Oscar’s would live not on the stage, but in the celebrity-studded audience.

The highlight of Ellen’s audience moments was the pizza episodes.  First, a show of hands “who’s hungry?”  “Who want’s pizza?”  And then the follow up, “Pizza’s here.”  The passing out of the pizza, the paper plates and napkins….a great reveal of the celebrities “in real life.”  Brad Pitt jumped in to help pass out the pizza.  Julia Roberts was the first to speak up, “I’ll have a piece.”  Ellen kept trying to get pizza to skinny girls Lupita Nyong’O and Angelina Jolie….looked like they passed on the pizza, as did infamous non-eater, Calista Flockhart.  But after starving through three Hunger Games shoots, Jennifer Lawrence was eager for a piece, as was Harrison Ford who wasn’t shy about interrupting Ellen to get a napkin.  And later on, when Ellen passed Ferrell’s hat to collect for payment, it looked like Harvey Weinstein dropped in $200 and Brad Pitt kept reaching into his wallet until it was empty.  Let’s face it, as much as we want to watch glamorous dresses and shiny gold statues being awarded, what we all really want is to hang out and eat pizza with Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep while Brad Pitt passes us a napkin and Harvey Weinstein picks up the check.

And as great as the pizza trilogy was, the group selfie that broke Twitter was even better.  Again, isn’t what we all really want is to squish into a group selfie between Jared Leto and Bradley Cooper with our BFFs Sandy Bullock and JLaw?  Duh.  Of course it is.  And Ellen knows it.  Brilliant.

The show was also a success because it wasn’t riddled with a lot of unnecessary production numbers.  The song nominations brought great performances from Pink, Idina Menzel and U2.  In their 5^th decade together, U2 is still artful and relevant and Bono is still one of the coolest people on the planet.  The In Memoriam was special and classy – uninterrupted by uneven applause which has always left me uncomfortable in previous years.  Bette Midler’s ease with which she performs is much like Ellen in that she makes us, the audience, feel included.  We mourned the loss of Jim Gandolfini, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harold Ramis, et al, just as Bill Murray, Kevin Spacey and Mary Scorcese did, quietly, in our seats.

This year’s show also served up more gracious, articulate and entertaining acceptances speeches than in most years past.  Perhaps Jared Leto and Lupito Nyong’O set the tone for honoring the era of their films, the people they portrayed, and their loved ones whose support guided them to this moment.  Perhaps they had all award season to hone their acceptance speeches, but Cate Blanchett and Matthew McConaughey delivered too…..as MM would say, “alright, alright, alright.” 

The Red Carpet delivered this year too.  Trends for the women of halter necklines, encrusted jeweled body-conscious gowns, structured jeweled-toned sheaths, lazar cut lace, sheer flowing femininity, and short chic textured hair.

So many women wore it well.  Portia de Rossi opened the red carpet parade on trend with short sleek blonde hair and a stunning sheer white lazar cut lace halter dress by Naeem Khan.  Naomi Watts wore a stunning white Francisco Costa with a high neck and encrusted beads and an art deco diamond necklace and sleek hair that struck a perfect balance.  Kristin Bell took a page out of that book as well – a beautiful strapless white gown – ornate and a lot going on but elegant and balanced.  Jessica Biel looked gorgeous as ever in a sparkled Chanel strapless gown reminiscent of the brilliant Armani Prive gown Anne Hathaway wore a few years ago that will live in Oscar history.  Speaking of Anne Hathaway, she rocked the short chic hair with a halter top form-fitting black and white gown with a mirror-crusted bodice.  Also rocking the short hair, Charlize Theron was stunning as always in timeless black Dior.  And rounding out the women daring short and chic hair, Jennifer Lawrence wore a gorgeous Dior red strapless architectural sheath.  Her cast mate Amy Adams followed the same trend but in jeweled toned sapphire blue – Amy’s strapless simple sculpted sheath was matched by her tightly rolled up bun which could have used a little more height, but she looked elegant and chic.  Sandra Bullock wore jeweled toned navy blue too, but went with the draped flowing feminine look from Alexander McQueen. Anna Kendrick took a risk in a black chiffon dress with a sheer midriff with wine floral beads – this dress had a lot going on with an asymmetrical top and an asymmetrical slit, and sheer cutouts, and beading, and many will probably hate it because it had so much going on, but I loved it. 

Olivia Wilde and Kerry Washington made pregnancy look glamorous.  And Meryl Streep and Bette Midler made aging look easy.  All four women dressed tastefully and perfectly for their current bodies.  Some women didn’t rock any trends, but still looked fabulous – Jennifer Garner and Kate Hudson showed up in true Hollywood glamour.

My favorites of the night were the ones who got it all right.  Camilla Alves (aka wife of Matthew McConaughey) in a pink long sleeve one-sided cape dress – not sure who made it, but I loved it.  Penelope Cruz is always one of my favorites and she did not disappoint in a blush colored draped one-shoulder Versace…I’m sure some will hate it because it was a lot of dress and not form-fitting like Penelope usually wears, but I loved it.  I didn’t know who Bradley Cooper’s date was, so I had to look her up, and I still don’t know who she is, but I loved her sheer nude beaded tulle one shoulder princess gown.  Giuliana Ransic also wore a gorgeous nude beaded tulle princess gown – loved it. 

And speaking of sheer nude beaded and princess dresses, my two Best Dressed of the night wore these trends the best.  The runway ready new Princess of the red carpet chose the perfect princess dress from Prada – Lupita Nyong’O was radiant in yards of soft chiffon in a color she coined Nairobi blue with a diamond headband, coral lips and the perfect diamond semi-wreath earrings.  But the red carpet has a Princess and also a Queen - Cate Blanchett.  Queen Cate, also in Giorgio Armani, personified perfection in a nude sheer beaded gown with gold pallettes.  After a winter season of so many hideous skating costumes at the Sochi Olympics where none of the nude or sheer costumes were either nude or sheer, I hope those costume designers were watching the Oscars to see how it’s done.  Cate Blanchett, as usual, was a winner in every way, taking home a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar, and yet again making her mark as the timeless Queen of the Red Carpet.

Unfortunately, there were some women who were kicked out of the Red Carpet royal court.  Julia Roberts attempted the lace gown trend but chose a black, ill-fitted, old-fashioned gown that didn’t match her spunky blonde hair or her youthful personality.  Sally Hawkins was brilliant in Blue Jasmine, and perhaps if she dressed as well as Lupito Nyong’O, she could have one.  Unfortunately, Sally’s dress appeared to be made from lamp shades found in a 1920’s bordello while her hair was styled in the 1980’s.  Julie Delpy wore a dress that was ill-fitting, long sleeved and too old for her – if Meryl Streep wore it, I may have loved it, but on Julie, it just looked matronly.  Sarah Paulson also chose long sleeves and it was too much dress and also looked old.  And here’s the shocker as some will love it, I did not – Angelina Jolie.  Let’s face it, she’s gorgeous and always looks amazing.  And she even looks healthier like she gained a few pounds.  But the dress, although sparkly and glamorous, is not a silhouette I like on Angie…again, too old for her.  If Sophia Loren had worn that dress, I would have loved it.  Here’s the tip, ladies, if you’re going to wear long sleeves, don’t be covered head to toe in heavy beaded fabric….it’s too much…you need a lighter fabric or you need to show some skin somewhere.  Take a tip from the red carpet hall of fame playbook – the backless long sleeve blue wonder that Hilary Swank wore to win one of her Oscars.  That’s how to wear long sleeves when you’re young.

Angie may have been one of the worst dressed women, but standing next to Brad Pitt, she was part of one of the best dressed couples.  Will Smith and Jada Pinkett brought the glam too, dressed perfectly for presenters and not nominees.  Matthew McConaughey and Camilla Alves were stunning.  Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth presented as a couple – definitely the best looking presenter couple.  But my favorite couple of the night was Jared Leto and his mother – no couple was prettier or more loving then them.  Loved them.  But the best dressed couple can only be trumped by the best dressed family and that has to go to the Dern family (Bruce, his wife, and daughter actress Laura Dern).

Some of the men were truly sharp dressed men.  The trends of the night were shawl collared tuxedos and white or crème dinner jackets.  Hard to say if Chris Hemsworth and Channing Tatum were incredibly well-dressed in their sharp tuxedos or if they’re just so good looking they would look stunningly handsome no matter what.  But for big guys, I thought their tuxedos fit perfectly and they chose looks with a little more style.  Some brought the Vegas look to the red carpet and I liked it – Joseph Gordon Levitt and Jim Carey brought the sparkles.  Ellen brought a little Vegas to the mix too - she broke out a velvet tux, a white tux and a sparkle tux – loved them all – she looked beautiful.  Kevin Spacey offered a modern take on a fifties style – a look he seems to have mastered since he played Bobby Darin.  My Best Dressed man of the night goes to the always elegant, always perfectly tailored, always dashing, Leonardo DiCaprio.

After a long wait since the fabulous Golden Globes in January, the Academy Awards truly delivered.  This year brought a particularly great group of films and performances.  When Christian Bale can deliver such a brilliant performance and he ranks fourth in the odds for winning, that’s a tough year.  When Bruce Dern gives the performance of his life after a lifetime of outstanding performances and he’s a longshot, that’s a tough year. When Amy Adams gives the performance of her life and can’t win an Oscar after five years of being nominated, that’s a tough year.  And when Gravity blows everyone away in the filmmaking world and wins for editing, cinematography, direction, and almost every technical award and can’t win Best Picture, that’s a tough year.  The good competition kept us eager to see who the winner would be, and the winner brought grace and style to winning, but the winner of the night was Ellen, and the producers for bringing her back after a long eight years.  Welcome back, Ellen.  We missed you.  We didn’t know we missed you, but we did.