The 2009 Oscars Show by the DVD Man

The DVD Man watches the whole Oscar show every year and 2009 is no exception, although I do love the TiVo and the ability to jump past people who've I've never heard of thanking their mother and accountant, etc. I've got nothing against mothers or accountants, since both are very close to my heart, but I don't need to hear someone who's won best musical score talking about theirs.

My main comment about the 2009 version of the Oscars was way, way too much dancing and not enough movie. We didn't see clips of the 5 best pictures or the best actor/actress or supporting categories. I haven't yet seen any of the nominated movies: Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader. I did put the first 4 movies on my Netflix list. Kate Winslet might have done a brilliant acting job in The Reader, but I don't usually watch Holocaust movies. I like seeing clips that aren't trailer clips that got them nominated.

I did kind of like the 5 previous winners giving some praise to the nominees, but they could have been shorter and then shown a clip. Like for Viola Davis, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Doubt, another movie I'm unlikely to see because it's about abusive priests. They made a big deal about how she dominated the screen in her one scene, but why not show it?

The best part of the show was Ben Stiller doing his Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman imitation with Natalie Portman trying to keep to the script.

I also liked the Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman and the Japanese guy who won for the Best Foreign Language Film, Okuribito (Departures), when he said he: "Was berry, berry happy and would be back". He was fun!

The worst part of the show was when they honored the people who'd passed away in 2008 and they kept zooming in and out, so you were getting seasick and couldn't see some of the names.

One last comment... I don't usually hold myself as much of a fashion expert, but what the hell was Jennifer Beal, one of the most beautiful women in the world, thinking when she put on this garbage bag of a dress? She's there with Beyonce wearing something from a Star Trek beauty contest and I don't know what's wrong with Miley Cyrus' dress, but they lumped her in as one of the 3 worst dressed.