Traditionally, the Best Director award is announced just before Best Picture, the last award of the night. Not so tonight. Danny Boyle just won for “Slumdog.” With Heath Ledger, he was the surest of sure things.
The order of the presentation was a surprise, but the winner was not. Next up, the Actor and Actor awards.
The favorite going into tonight’s race, "Slumdog Millionaire" is pulling away from the pack. It’s already racked up six awards, including the adapted screenplay and cinematography. Its nearest competitor is "Benjamin Button," with three, all in technical categories. It truly is a "Slumdog" ceremony.
It was Oscar’s most touching – and arguably its most expected – moment: When the late Heath Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His father, mother and sister each gave gracious speeches, with his mother calling him a "compassionate and generous soul." The stars in the hall were clearly moved, their faces attentive and contemplative.
And then, with barely time for them, and us, to catch our collective breaths and absorb what had just happened, the ceremony jumped to the awarding of the Documentary Feature prize. Oscar stepped on his most moving moment! It was
…Funniest moments in the first 90 minutes?
1) Ben Stiller’s bearded space-case imitation of Joaquin Phoenix, gazing off into space and wandering aimlessly around the stage during the presentation of the cinematography award?
Or
2) Or James Franco and Seth Rogen’s return to their stoner characters from "Pineapple Express" as they watched a montage of comedy movies from 2008, getting uptight when a gay kiss from "Milk" is shown then Franco turning full-guy macho, body-slammingm face-stapling madman when footage from "Wrestler" shows up? Bonus moment: when two-time Oscar winning cinematographer Janusz Kozminski (filming their bit) come out
…Five awards in the first 40 minutes. Must be some kind of an Oscar record. Best Supporting Actress (a breathless Penelope Cruz), Original Screenplay ("Milk"), Adapted Screenplay ("Slumdog Millionaire"), Best Animated Feature ("Wall-E"), Best Animated Short ("La Maison En Petits Cubes"). It all went by so fast it was hard to keep track.
At this rate, this thing might be over in two hours. But somehow I doubt it.
So. The Oscars. Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, told nominees recently to expect a lot of new things at tonight’s ceremony.
The Oscar gods are promising a more exciting and suspenseful broadcast this year. Something with a "storyline," so they say. Now it’s time to see if they mean what they say, whatever it is they’re trying to say with that tantalizingly obscure mantra.
Can we take that to mean that those endless, stupefying montages honoring deceased Hollywood luminaries, Tinseltown history and various movie genres will be deep-sixed?
And now, a plug for our hard-working TNT multimedia expert Joe Barrentine! Joe’s the mastermind behind a lot of the audio and video you see on our site, and I’m really pleased he’s turned his attentions to a local community institution that helps a lot of folks via art. That’s the Nativity House art room, where homeless Tacomans who drop in for food and day-time shelter can also feed their spirits. The art room is well-stocked with paint, pencils, paper, mixed media and storage
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Former Pacific Lutheran University tenor Noah Baetge has made it to the finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in New York. Baetge, a recent Seattle Opera Young Artist, had won the regionals in Seattle in January, and on Sunday was one of just eight finalists selected from 17 semifinalists to compete on Sunday for the grand prize of $15,000 for each of up to five winners; runners-up get $5,000 each.
The MONC auditions are an international talent search. Finalists often go on to