The 88th Annual Academy Awards

The 88^th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary

“Welcome to the White People’s Choice Awards.”  These were the opening comments of host, Chris Rock.  For the second consecutive year, all the nominees for the major awards were white.  Leading up to the Oscars, there was a lot of commentary and conversation about #OscarsSoWhite.  The conversation has been about inclusion, not just diversity….inclusion of all genders and people of color in the filmmaking process, creating real roles portraying real people – people of all ages, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicities and color – film and filmmaker should reflect the world.  Though some people chose to boycott the Oscars, others chose to be part of the conversation.  Chris hit the subject hard and kept hitting it.  There were uncomfortable moments, humorous moments, and not so humorous ones.  Though it was important to address the elephant in the room, and it was necessary to make people uncomfortable, he never successfully moved to the stage where people could relax and enjoy the show.  Unfortunately, it all became very one note and began to lose the impact of the first five minutes.  In an election year where the slate of nominees offers enough fodder for comedians to deliver hours of material, not one joke was fired over that bow.  The one time where Chris strayed from the #OscarsSoWhite mission, was when he sold girl scout cookies to the audience on behalf of his daughters.  The girl scout cookie sale, Ryan Gossling, and Louis C.K. were the funniest moments of the show.  People who were expecting a funny show because Chris Rock was hosting were surely disappointed.

While the show was all about black and white, the red carpet was full of color.  Though some dazzled in black – Jennifer Garner, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lawrence, and Julianne Moore – and some dazzled in white – Olivia Wilde, Lady Gaga, and Rooney Mara – color ruled the day.  Winners Alicia Vikander in yellow Louis Vuitton and Brie Larson in blue Gucci both looked like a breath of fresh air – their vibrant enthusiasm shined through their ease and natural grace.  Metallic sequin dresses were a trend that shimmered in emerald green sequins on Saoirse Ronan (in custom Calvin Klein), and blue/purple on Naomi Watts (in Armani Prive), and in gold on Margot Robbie (in Tom Ford).  Ruling the red carpet in red were Charlize Theron (in Dior) who can do no wrong, and the surprise red carpet success, Olivia Munn in a one-shoulder Stella McCartney, and the best dressed pregnant woman, Chrissy Teigen in Marchesa.  Though Charlize, Naomi, Saoirse, and Margot will all make best-dressed lists, there is one goddess of the red carpet who once again was breath-taking and stood out among all the others.  The best dressed of the night was Cate Blanchett in seafoam Armani silk chiffon with floral appliques…..the color, the shape, the way she just seemed to float through the crowd, she truly is the Queen. 

Though so many women were dressed beautifully, there were some that stood out and some that disappointed.  Tilda Swinton is a fashion icon and stands in a class by herself even though she looked like she was doing a tribute to David Bowie.  Jennifer Jason Leigh wore a dusty pink Marchese dress that looked like an arts and crafts project – the color was all wrong, she looked uncomfortable and possibly drunk.  The worst dressed of the night had to be Heidi Klum, in a lavender Marchese gown that looked like a 1970’s negligée or a Project Runway challenge loser.

The men mostly looked fabulous.  Lots of navy tuxedos, black velvet, tight pants, and shrunken styles – shorter pants, shorter jackets, and shorter sleeves.  Eddie Redmayne and Henry Cavill stood out in black velvet while Common stood out in white.  Bryan Cranston, Liev Schrieber, and Leonardo DiCaprio all looked elegant in classic well-tailored tuxes.  But the best dressed of the night was in a class by himself…no one could compete with Jacob Tremblay.  When an adorable, smart, poised nine year old walks the red carpet in a perfectly fitted Armani tuxedo, with his hands in his pockets and grinning ear to ear, everyone else might has well have worn a rental from Men’s Wearhouse.  So glad he was allowed to stay up past his 8 o’clock bedtime.

Fortunately, Jacob Tremblay was not the only highlight of the show.  Lady Gaga delivered a moving performance of her nominated song “Til it Happens to You.”  She was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden, joined on stage by a group of women survivors of sexual assaults, and received a standing ovation.  Another highlight, in case you missed it, Brie Larson hugged each and every woman as they exited the stage.  She may have just surpassed Jennifer Lawrence for “Oscar Winning Actress You Want to Hang Out With.”  The audience also gave standing ovations for Joe Biden, Ennio Morriconne (Best Musical Score for the Hateful Eight), and for Leo.  After five nominations and twenty-three years since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Leo finally won an Oscar and gave the best speech of the night.  This year, the Academy had the brilliant idea to run the list of names that people wanted to thank on the scroll at the bottom of the screen so that recipients could use their speaking time to say something more profound.  Few people grasped that concept.  Fortunately Leo was one of them.

The other highlights of the night were the big surprises.  There were three big ones.  First, after a performance that brought people to their feet, Lady Gaga did not win.  Second, the sentimental and Vegas favorite, Sylvester Stallone did not win.  After 40 years since Rocky won best picture and Stallone didn’t win an Oscar, it would have been great to see him win for playing Rocky Balboa one last time.  The final shock of the night was the Best Picture winner.  Spotlight won the first award of the night for Best Original Screenplay, and stood aside all night to watch The Revenant and Mad Maxx sweep the bulk of the awards until the final award of the night – and the Best Picture is Spotlight! 

Three hours and thirty-six minutes of boring thank yous with very little comic relief.  At least Leo won.   Maybe next year will be #OscarsLessWhite and #OscarsMoreFunny.

The 87th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary

The 87^th Annual Academy Awards

 

The Academy may have snubbed Joan Rivers, but I won’t.  So what if she wrote,directed and starred in one movie – “Rabbit Test” – a critically un-acclaimed flop.  She was later redeemed as the subject of the award-winning documentary “A Piece of Work.”  She also had small roles in several motion pictures, mostly cameos and voice work (“Muppets Take Manhattan”, “The Smurfs,” “Shrek 2,” etc.).  But mostly, the words “Academy Awards” and “Joan Rivers” are almost inseparable.  With four simple words, “Who are you wearing?” Joan created the Red Carpet Industry.  Every designer fighting to have Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Emma Stone, and Lupita Nyong’O wear their dresses and jewels have Joan Rivers to thank.  And if the Academy thinks that the hours of coverage of the quarter-mile of Red Carpet outside their doors is not “part of the show,” they are sadly mistaken.  Just ask the producers at ABC who extend the length of the “pre-show” year-after-year (remember when it was five minutes at the beginning of the show – now it’s 90 minutes, while E! offers 3 hours.  Suffice it to say Joan Rivers is a legend, a trailblazer, and a voice of four generations.  Personally, I miss her immensely.  I have my little piece of Joan’s red carpet outside my front door welcoming me home every night.  In my home, and I’m sure in many others, Joan lives on….

Neil Patrick Harris, or NPH to his fans, showed up strong.  Unfortunately, there just weren’t enough moments to keep the largely dull middle of the show moving.  He opened strong with a creative musical number as expected.  And he incorporated his love and talent of magic….loved his Oscar prediction box.  Octavia Spencer owes Neil a huge Thank You basket for all the camera time.  Time is always an issue – it’s a long show and it’s hard to keep the pace moving.  Sometimes the musical numbers help, but there needs to be a few moments where the host jumps in with their own memorable moments – like Ellen did last year with the Selfie and the Pizza delivery.  Neil saved his big reveal for the end of the show when he needed a little magic in the middle. 

But we’ll get back to the show.  Let’s talk about the important stuff for a bit – the fashion! 

This year we saw some trends in color – the color is one that has difficulty being described – I will call it pearl, as in all the various shades of pearlescence.  And heavily beaded and embellished dresses – all kinds of beads, pearls, sequins, and everything sparkly…Heavy being the operative word.  This year’s dresses weighed more than most of the women in them.

The women who wore the trend well: Naomi Watts in Armani, light grey pearl and black beaded sheath that hung over what looked like a black beaded tube top – this shape is something you will see in inspired dresses in all fabrics and prices on the racks this Spring.  Lupito Nyong’O once again will be one of the most photographed women at the Oscars – draped head-to-toe in pearls by Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein, that dress definitely weighed more than she does.  Nicole Kidman added a red patent belt to her white pearl beaded sheath, Jennifer Anniston in a body hugging beaded sheath in yet another shade of indescribably pearlescence, and Laura Dern in black pearlescence.  And my most favorite and a tie for the Best Dressed went to the big winner of the night, Julianne Moore wearing a Chanel white pearl beaded sheath with a strapless inverted scoop-neck. Her “Still Alice” character might forget last night, but Julianne won’t, and we won’t forget that she finally won her Oscar and she looked amazing!

Other women who looked great but pushed different trends like new necklines – off the shoulder, one shoulder, racer-back fronts, and that beautiful strapless inverted scoop-neck (like Julianne’s).  Felicity Jones stood out in the Alexander McQueen grey ball gown – loved the racer-back front, but the bottom was a bit too full – but very bold, Alexander McQueen style drama.  Dakota Johnson wore a one-shoulder silver rope – perhaps she got used to being tied up – this dress will surely be knocked off by next week at BCBG.  Patricia Arquette wore a one shoulder white and black gown – simple but totally suited her style.  Gwyneth Paltrow was stunning in a one shoulder/one sleeve/one big rose, pale pink sheath – loved it.  Emma Stone wore a high neck and long sleeves, all gold – she tried to dress like an Oscar, unfortunately it didn’t help her win one. Sienna Miller was stunning in a black Oscar de la Renta apron neckline with a sheer bottom – I would guess that in person, she was probably the most stunning, but the black fabric detail gets a little lost on camera. Reese Witherspoon stole the show in that white dress with the off the shoulder black band coupled with her perfect hair and make-up – she truly glowed.  But the co-winner for Best Dressed of the night looked like a bookend for Julianne Moore’s Best Dressed gown – Rosamund Pike. She looked like a beautiful single red rose among the sea of pearls.  Her dress had the same beautiful strapless inverted scoop-neckline as Julianne’s dress, but the red lace brought a beautiful scalloped edge that framed her elegant décolletage and beautiful face.  She looked perfect.  I only hope she and Julianne Moore took a photo together – if so, please send it to me.

And now for the disappointing:  The other strong trend of the night was statement necklaces.  Cate Blanchett, the Goddess of the Red Carpet wore it well – a very simple black sheath sleeveless dress with a huge turquoise and diamond necklace.  She looked beautiful, but it was a little underwhelming – but she was only a presenter, so a good time for her to take it down a notch.  Margo Robbie also attempted the statement necklace look but unsuccessfully.  She’s a beautiful sexy girl and it was great to see her hair blonde again, but her body was lost in that long sleeve loose black chiffon dress, and the Titanic necklace filling the space in her plunging neckline looked like she stole it off of Kate Winslet. And speaking of stolen, it looked like Rita Ora stole Naomi Watts snake necklace that she wore a few weeks ago at the Globes.  Two words: Too Soon! Scarlett Johansson also attempted the statement necklace – a simple green deep v-neck body-hugging dress with an overly huge green monster necklace.  Two words: Too Much.  Zoe Saldano – usually cutting edge, and sometimes disappointing – was that dress made of jersey? Jennifer Lopez looked beautiful and stunning, as she always does, but how many times have we seen J-Lo in a nude colored beaded sheer dress with a deep plunging neckline?  Time to put the Golden Globes away and give us an Oscar dress.  Marion Cottillard’s couture Dior looked like a white table cloth, not bad in the front, but that huge black bustling buckle in the back – unsightly. But winning the Worst Dressed Award: Lady Gaga wore the most anticipated dress of the night – an Azzedine Alaia couture gown that took two months to make  - it looked a little like an oversized paper cut-out gown (with the tabs that fold back over the paper doll) which wasn’t a bad dress at all, but Gaga drowned the dress in those red rubber gloves.  Did Amal Clooney not teach her anything about bad gloves? (Btw, where were George and Amal?  Off fighting somewhere? Hmmm….). 

The Men mostly looked elegant and classic and thin!  Lots of skinny legged boys in tuxes – Jared Leto, Eddie Redmayne, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Keaton, John Legend, Adam Levine, and a lot of young actors whose names I can’t remember.  The trend was blue tuxedos with black lapels: Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, and even The Rock.  I liked the classics like Bradley Cooper and Michael Keaton, and the white dinner jackets on Eddie Murphy and Benjamin Cumberbatch. NPH switched it up a few times – rocking it every time – Best Dressed of the night, particularly in his tighty whities  - and who would have guessed that the most nipple action of the night would have come from the host? 

The worst dressed of the night was not hard to find.  Even though Matthew McConoughy is really starting to bore with the ungroomed hair and the groggy voice, the stand out of the night was the talented actor in the burgundy Ringmaster costume – David Oyelewo.  Yipes.  I guess because he wasn’t nominated, he wanted to be memorable.  It worked.  But Joe Pesci wore it better in “My Cousin Vinny” –so he didn’t even win for that bad tux.

Fortunately, the show had a few great moments.  Great performances from John Legend and Common performing “Glory” from Selma, Lady Gaga’s tribute to The Sound of Music and Julie Andrews (both brought standing ovations and tears from the audience), countered by some mediocre performances from Adam Levine and those Lego Movie “singers.”  A comedic redemption between John Travolta and Idina Menzel (who will be back next year as Neil predicted to apologize for all the face touching). And there were some inspirational speeches.  Patricia Arquettte kicked it off with a Girl Power moment that got a “Woot Woot” from Meryl Streep and J-Lo in the front row leading the pack.  Pawel Pawlikowski, director of Ida (Polish Foreign Film winner), Graham Moore, the young screenwriter of the Imitation Game, Common and John Legend (wow – compact and impactful) and Alejandro Inarritu.  Martin Luther King Jr. would have been proud.  Everyone representing – can we get an “Amen.”

This Awards commentary would not be complete without recognizing the achievements in filmmaking – what it’s all really about.  There were a lot of great performances and singular achievements and though it’s difficult to compare apples and oranges, Birdman was neither.  Birdman – including the brilliant performances of Michael Keaton (the classiest guy there, even though he chewed gum all night), Ed Norton, and Emma Stone – none of them who won – and including the brilliant cinematography, screenwriting, and directing – all who did win – this film will be studied by future filmmakers for years to come.  Birdman is a filmmaker’s film, a truly brilliant study in the art of film.  Standing ovation to the Academy for getting it right.

See you next year, where NPH will show more than his nipples…

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.

Lisa's Oscar Commentary: The 85th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary:
The 85th Annual Academy Awards

Seth who? If anyone tuned in to the broadcast a few minutes late, they probably thought “Why are Peter Brady and Captain Kirk hosting the Oscars?” Kirk predicted the show would bomb. Kirk (aka William Shatner) was right. Nine of the best films ever nominated for Best Picture and one of the worst productions of the Oscars ever… sadly mediocre and uneventful. The show promised to have lots of surprises. The only surprise was how unsurprising it was. Perhaps Seth should have hosted the entire show as the Teddy Bear? Or maybe Seth should have really run off with Sally Field during the third commercial break. Would anyone have even noticed?

The only saving grace was that the women looked spectacular and between the live musical performances and the gracious presenters and winners, there was some amazing talent on the stage. Jennifer Hudson stole the show… until Barbra Streisand showed up and ran away with it. Babs looked gorgeous, sounded amazing, delivered a sincere and real performance and was as current as ever.

Adele’s rendition of Skyfall, Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Chicago performance and the Les Miserable live cast performance were highlights of the night, but proved once again that Russell Crowe basically ruined the film. He can’t sing. He can’t emote through song. And there’s no hiding it in a live performance. Every other actor on that stage delivered and Russell Crowe fell flat (pun intended).

At least the show celebrated a lot of great talent. This year’s films were so rich in creative expression, there was true joy in watching so many of them receive awards – Daniel Day Lewis, Ang Lee, Christophe Waltz, Quentin Tarantino, and Ben Affleck, just to name some of the highlights.

The real thrills of the night were on the red carpet. For one of the worst awards shows, this was one of the best nights for fashion. There were so many beauties and so few failures.

Trend of the night: sparkle sparkle sparkle. If your dress didn’t have beads, sequins, jewels, or something that danced and sparkled in the light, you might have well have worn jeans, because the sparkle dresses won the night. So many fabulous sparkling starlets: Jessica Chastain in flesh toned beaded Armani Prive, Amanda Seyfreid in a bejeweled Alexander McQueen halter couture gown, Kerry Washington in coral silk and encrusted sparkle bodice Miu Miu, Jennifer Hudson in a long sleeve gun-metal grey Roberto Cavali, Naomi Watts in a one shouldered cut out granite Armani Prive sheath, Nicole Kidman in liquid black sequin tank with gold embellishments, Sandra Bullock in sheer and embroidered sparkling Elie Saab, Rene Zellweger in gold Carolina Herrera, Adele in Jenny Packham, Stacy Kiebler in Naeem Kahn, and Halle Berry in black and silver Versace. Not a dull dress in the bunch. Some used the stitching and placement of the jewels and sequins to create attractive lines and flattering structure. They were a feast for the eyes.

Not sparkly but nonetheless stunning were Amy Adams in pale grey-blue Oscar de la Renta Chiffon (reminiscent of a Sarah Jessica Parker Oscar de la Renta dress of several years ago), Zoe Saldana in an architectural unique gown from Alexis Mabille Couture, Jennifer Lawrence in a pale damask voluminous gown from Dior Haute Couture, Jane Fonda in sunny yellow Versace, and Anne Hathaway in pale pink Prada (very Audrey Hepburn).

Choosing a Best Dressed from the group was difficult. My first thought was Halle Berry was perfection, Zoe Saldano was avante guard and fashion forward, Sandra Bullock was sleek and stunning, Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts had the dresses everyone will want to copy, Charlize Theron was statuesque and stunning, and Amanda Seyfried was a work of art. Nonetheless, I have to give them all Honorary Mention Awards. The award for Best Dressed has to go to the two women who were completely on trend and sparkled so brightly they lit up the night in every way – and they didn’t even walk the red carpet: Barbra Streisand and Michelle Obama proved that beauty and fashion are ageless. They won the night.

Even though there were so many fabulous dresses on the red carpet there were some goofs and blunders. Amy Adams looked truly beautiful in her gown, but she looked a little dated compared to the others, and her hair looked like she walked a few blocks down a windy street. Reese Witherspoon had the most beautiful, smooth and glamorous Hollywood hair but her look was boring – something we’ve seen from her a thousand times. She needed to reinvent her look on the red carpet and maybe re-boot her career. Sally Field needed to take notes from Shirley Bassey, Jane Fonda and Barbra Streisand on how to look fabulous at any age. Valentino’s red gown just swallowed up little Sally, did not flatter her figure, and that color was too harsh on her aging skin. Sally looks incredibly young and that dress aged her twenty years. Anne Hathaway should not have worn that big diamond necklace with the high neckline on the gown – she messed up the perfect (did Rachel Zoe let her do that? I doubt it).

Jennifer Aniston tried a new silhouette with a strapless red gown with a fitted bodice and a lot of volume in the skirt. Unfortunately, this was not a good look for Jen. She has one of the best bodies in the biz and the top smashed her bust and the bottom hid her great shape. Her hair was straight and down as usual. She always reminds me of one of those teenage girls at prom who will only wear her hair down because she’s too juvenile to do anything different. An evening gown with daytime hair just doesn’t work. Salma Hayak also tried a new silhouette. She usually shows us her assets and why not, she has great assets. The black velvet gown was body hugging which was flattering and the gold jewels at the neck elongated her short little torso, and I understand that she thought she needed some height in her hair to balance the dress, but that big fat bun with the tiara just made the whole Baroque look of the dress look costumey rather than chic. And Catherine Zeta-Jones was the most sparkly in a gold Zuhair Murad mermaid gown but she was the only one that was over the top. The gold was so bright and the embellishments were so large and the silhouette was so shapely – it was just too much. Though no one was too hard to look at, Sally Field was truly the worst of the lot. She looked so much better at every previous award show this season, she just peaked too soon.

I’m issuing a new award this year. The Green Award. Though she may be the only nominee in this category, she did it so well, it’s worth giving her an award. Helen Hunt wore a navy gown from H&M’s Global Green collection. Of course she dressed it up in $700,000 worth of jewels, but she looked fabulous. She reminded me of the time Sharon Stone wore a Gap T-Shirt and no t-shirt ever looked so good.

Usually the guys stand out more as fabulous or awful but there weren’t too many standouts this year. Sometimes when the actors are in the midst of shooting another film, they can’t change their hair and facial hair and as a result, their total look is somewhat lacking. It’s hard to say that George Clooney, Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper have looked better, but they have. But they’re still the hottest guys in town. Best Dressed men were Cristophe Waltz and Daniel Day Lewis who both looked very Euro cool in very tailored tuxedos. Kudos to Jamie Foxx for jumping on the sparkle trend, sporting a sequin bow tie – if anyone can pull that off, he can. And Quentin Tarantino looked like a mess like he always does – Worst Dressed. He still made a great film. If Tarantino could learn to stop casting himself in his films and hire a stylist to dress him for award season, he might win a few more awards.

If there is one thing to take away from this awards show season is that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler should host everything. Seth McFarland even said they will host next year’s Oscars. Here’s hoping….

Lisa's Oscar Commentary - The 84th Annual Academy Awards

Lisa’s Oscar Commentary
The 84th Annual Academy Awards

Billy’s back!!! After a very long hiatus, Billy Crystal was back to host the Academy Awards for the ninth time. He was sorely missed.

Originally, Brett Ratner was scheduled to produce the Oscars and he had asked Eddie Murphy to host. Brett made some comments in an interview or two that were offensive to some – I’m not sure anyone remembers exactly what he said anymore. Nonetheless, he stepped down as producer and Brian Grazer took over. I’m still curious as to how Eddie Murphy would have done as host, but it was great to have Billy back. He did not disappoint. He gave the audience everything he traditionally offered as host – some clever clips editing Billy into the Best Picture nominees, and a little medley of songs for each of the nine nominated films. By the way, there were only nine nominees this year, not ten, because there weren’t ten films worthy of being nominated. Maybe they should have gone back to five. On the other hand, the expansion of the category has made room for so many independent films. This was the year of the small film, not the big one. In fact, it was the year of the black and white film, not the color one. The year of the silent film, not the talkie. Hurray for The Artist! The only film that was nominated that deserved to win…and did...The Artist, indeed.

Also in black and white, and in color, were the numerous tuxedos and gowns that walked the red carpet. This year’s red carpet wasn’t so different from the films – no clear winners or losers. There were some that were better and some that were worse but there wasn’t one dress that will go down in Oscar Red Carpet history – for better or worse.

Trends were long sleeves, color, particularly shades of white and red, and modesty. Though there were a few plunging necklines, like Jennifer Lopez who always looks sexy and gorgeous, most of the women were showing more skin from the back than from the front.

Some of the best dressed and fashion-forward were on trend. Wearing white were: Mila Jovovich in one shoulder sparkling Ellie Saab, Rooney Mara right off the runway in Givenchy looked like a porcelain doll with black hair bright red lips, Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji perfectly beaded gown (she looked like a winner), Gwyneth Paltrow in a one shoulder white Tom Ford dress that was a Best Dressed Nominee for sure (and she wore the matching white cape on the carpet – fab - I will remember this look for sure) and goddess, Jennifer Lopez in the slinky beaded Zuhair Marad. Angelina Jolie joined Rooney Mara and Michelle Williams in stunning red lips. While Angie wore a sexy Atelier Versace architectural gown with a slit up to her ummm hmmm, Michelle wore a perfectly modest but feminine coral Louis Vuitton dress which matched her pixie haircut perfectly.

Viola Davis looked lovely in green - not glam, but lovely. Glenn Close looked lovely and modest in Zac Posen. And Meryl Streep looked like a winner in gold Lanvin. Meryl has obviously read my blog of past years and took my advice. I always say: “if you want to win an Oscar, dress like one.” Gold is for winners.

Other honorable mentions, wearing gold were Jessica Chastain in a Victorian Alexander McQueen statement gown, and Stacey Kiebler in a bronze/gold Marchesa gown that no one else could wear, except maybe Charlize Theron. George Clooney may not have won an Oscar, but he got to take home a gold statuette nonetheless.

So who was the best dressed of the night? That award has to go to Penelope Cruz. She just looked perfectly stunning in Armani – a mix of old Hollywood glamour and 2012 style. The color of the silk was a slate periwinkle blue that stood out on the red carpet and on the stage presenting. She was a vision – perfection.

There were many who weren’t terrible, but they just missed the target. All the Bridesmaids girls looked great. If Kristin Wig had glammed it up a little more, or if Rose Byrn had worn different shoes, they could have been superb. But they were great presenters proving that funny is just as fabulous as fashion. Berenice Bejo was lovely, but the long sleeved Ellie Saab looked a little old on her and her hair was a little too tight and not romantic enough for the dress, but she still looked lovely. Shailene Woodley wore a beautiful very sophisticated Valentino Couture dress that I absolutely loved, and if Cate Blanchett had worn it, she probably would have been Best Dressed. But Shailene is much too young to wear that dress – it just looked old on her. But, I give her props for good taste, the dress is fashionable and stunning.

Also missing the boat was Sandra Bullock – her hair and makeup was beautiful, but the Marchesa vintage-looking dress was not a flattering silhouette for Sandra’s boyish figure. And Cameron Diaz also had beautiful makeup and a great new haircut, and the dress was sexy, but the dress had too much going on at the bottom – simple silhouettes are better on her. Emma Stone was beautiful and I loved her dress, but perhaps Emma is too young to remember the legendary Balenciaga dress that Nicole Kidman wore to the Oscars almost ten years ago - A long red dress with a big bow at the neck. Nicole Kidman has worn a couple of dresses that will live in Oscar history and that dress was one of them. Sorry, Emma. You should have picked a different dress.

If you happened to catch Sherri Shepherd, you wished you had missed her. For a woman who’s been top-heavy her whole life, she still hasn’t learned what to wear to flatter her figure. Her gown had loose chiffon on top and tight taffeta on the bottom – completely backwards. She needs a fitted top and loose volume on the bottom for balance. She looked like she might actually tip over. Jane Seymour was also one of the worst of the night. She must have heard red was the trend, but she got it all wrong. A red shiny slinky candy apple red dress that looked like a Vegas costume. If you want to be a dancer, Jane, stick with Dancing with the Stars – and hire a stylist. Busy Phillips arrived with Michelle Williams as her friend and “plus one.” Busy’s dress was too busy, and honestly, if you’re going to be Michelle William’s accessory, you should look the part. Michelle was a Best Dressed Nominee and Busy Phillips was a Worst Dressed Nominee.

Unfortunately, the Worst Dressed of the night was mostly just the most disappointing, and for that reason alone, she’s getting the Worst Dressed award: Natalie Portman. The dress was almost pretty but it looked more like a dress for an awards luncheon – a little too picnicky. It could have been chic and fabulous if it were accessorized properly, but she wore a very glam sparkly diamond necklace as if she wanted to glam it up but it didn’t match at all, and her hair was down and sloppy and tucked behind her ear. She looked like her baby had just spit up on her backstage and she just couldn’t deal with getting herself dressed up for the Oscars this year – after all, she was only presenting this year, not winning.

The men put on an excellent parade of sharped dressed tuxedo clad well groomed stars. P. Diddy looked sharp as always, perfectly tailored. And his diamond earrings were bigger than any diamonds I saw on the women. Brad Pitt and George Clooney – handsome and classic – even Brad’s long hair didn’t detract from his handsome appearance from head to toe. Jean Dujardin looked like a winner – he truly epitomizes old Hollywood glamour. And he had the perfect accessory – Uggie, the jack russell terrier.

But two men stood out to me as the best dressed of the night. Bradley Cooper presenting with Tina Fey made the best dressed couple. Bradley wore a dark navy double breasted tuxedo with a black satin shawl collar. That navy tuxedo looked perfect with Tina Fey’s navy Carolina Herrera gown (she never looked better). Best dressed “couple.” And the surprise best dressed of the night was someone who I think usually looks classic but this year stepped it up a notch. Tom Hanks wore a perfectly tailored midnight black double breasted tuxedo with a shawl collar, a crisp white shirt with a covered button panel, and a perfectly folded white pocket square. Both Bradley and Tom Hanks are tall enough to wear the double breasted tux, and both chose to move on trend with the shawl collar. I just love that look. An unexpected Best Dressed Winner: Tom Hanks.

The show ran only ten minutes long, which for the Oscars, is ten minutes early. So if it felt long, it was probably because there were a few too many clips of actors reflecting on how they learned to love movies. Billy’s opening numbers did not disappoint. And Billy was a great host. Billy is everything we love in a host - funny, relaxed, and enthusiastic and entertaining. He can sing, dance, adlib, and deliver a joke. His medleys and clever film clips always make us laugh. This year, they gave us just enough of that….not too much.

I was personally disappointed that there wasn’t more of a tribute to Gil Cates who produced the Oscars fourteen times. Gil Cates and the Academy Awards were synonymous for years. I wish they had shown some clips of Gil over the years working behind the scenes. He was a Hollywood legend and the Oscar stage was his home. I remember Gil as a great producer, a gentleman and a genuinely nice guy. He will be missed.
Christopher Plummer and Meryl Streep had the best acceptance speeches of the night. At 82 years old, Christopher Plummer became the oldest actor to win an Oscar. He looked at his Oscar, “You’re only two years older than me – where have you been all my life?” Best line of the night even if it was rehearsed. Meryl Streep has broken every record for nominations, and she is irrefutably the best actor of all time. Yet, her win was a surprise. And her acceptance speech was heartfelt, genuine, and articulate yet seemed unrehearsed – then again, she is the greatest actress of all time.

Love that Woody Allen won for original screenplay – I only wish he had surprised everyone and showed up, or at least sent Owen Wilson up to get it. Owen really does do a great Woody. And I was glad that the makeup artist from Iron Lady finally won an Oscar after so many years. Gwyneth and Robert Downey Jr. were pretty funny together. Emma Stone and Ben Stiller were almost funny. Will Farrell and Zach Galifianakis were a little bit funny, not as funny as the Bridesmaids. “Scorcese” – do a shot. A new Oscar drinking game is born. Billy could have used a little more help with the laughs – I thought maybe Uggie, the dog from The Artist might have given him a hand, or paw.

All the Frenchies were fabulous. Every time the Artist won an award, the recipient was charming and gracious. Interestingly, of all the nine films that were nominated for best picture, The Artist was the only film that was shot entirely in Hollywood, California. And even though Spielberg and Scorcese were in the mix, there was no runaway Hollywood blockbuster. Thank goodness, there was no James Cameron film this year. The Artist captured the spirit of the year – a creative, artful, feel-good film. Next year, I’m hoping for a color film with Jean Dujardin, Jonah Hill and Michelle Williams shot in Paris, directed by Woody Allen. And if someone calls Harvey Weinstein, maybe it can win an Oscar.