The 87th Academy Awards will not go down in history as incredibly memorable or meaningful. There were a few outstanding moments, a few complete bombs, and the rest fell somewhere in between.
To borrow a line from Lady Gaga (who borrowed it from Julie Andrews) – These were a few of my favorite things:
– The Opening Production Number: The “Moving Pictures” opening song allowed host Neil Patrick Harris to get off to a strong start, and Jack Black’s one-liners were surprisingly smart, though negative.
– Music, Music, Music: Along with Gaga’s impressive but somewhat out-of-place medley of “Sound of Music” tunes, the musical performances carried much of the show, led by the wild “Everything is Awesome”, Tim McGraw’s version of “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”, and John Legend and Common bringing down the house (as I knew they would) with “Glory.”
– Tighty-Whities: NPH’s best moment of the night was his most daring – doing the “Birdman”/”Whiplash” skit in his underwear. Funny, provocative and it worked.
– Adele Dazeem Reunion: The best decision by show producers was to team Idina Menzel and John Travolta as presenters for Best Song. They both handled the moment, and the joke, with honesty and humor.
– Many of the speeches were good, especially by some of the early winners who ignored the play-off music and just kept on talking. And I especially liked the “Birdman” writer who thanked his dog, Larry.
But, unfortunately, Everything WASN’T Awesome:
– NPH, overall, was just OK. He was a victim of some very bad comedy writing – as most of the intros and bits simply were not funny. And the running bit involving his Oscar picks and the suitcase was a complete bore with no payoff.
– The telecast was way too long, nearly 3:45. In a year with very little star power (it wasn’t like Cruise and Clooney were going head-to-head), the show needed to be fast and furious. It was neither.
– The producers clearly felt the need to make things up to “Selma”, mentioning the film and several times and showcasing David Oyelowo, one of the biggest nomination snubs. It all felt a little phony.
– And where was Stephen Hawking as a presenter? He brought the house down as the BAFTA’s. This show needed a moment like that.
As for the results:
– The biggest shocker of the evening came in the Best Animated Feature category, with Disney’s “Big Hero 6” taking the honors. In a year when the best animated film – “The LEGO Movie” – didn’t even get a nomination, and the next two in line: “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and “The Boxtrolls” both failed to get enough votes, you have to wonder what’s going on with the academy’s animation voters. The fact that Disney’s “Feast” also won Best Animated Short film (over a much better “The Dam Keeper”) one can only conclude that the Mouse House marketing machine played a major role in these victories.
– Though “Birdman” was may favorite film of 2014 and I was pulling for it, I’m very surprised that it ended-up the clear winner in the “Boyhood vs. Birdman” showdown. I figured the academy voters would go for the safe, sentimental choice – and reward director Richard Linklater for the 12-years he put into making “Boyhood”. I applaud the academy for honoring the year’s best film with the year’s top awards.
– However, you’ve got to feel bad for Michael Keaton, THE BIRDMAN, who failed to get his first Oscar. The academy did go sentimental in this category, by picking Eddie Redmayne, who was well-deserving as well. This was the only acting category where someone was going home heart-broken, and that turned-out to be Keaton. Wonder if he’ll ever have the chance to get this close again.
Overall, I’m giving The 87th Academy Awards a C+. I wish NPH ad-libbed more (those were his strongest moments) and that there were more WOW moments.