Senior Staff Writer Leila Raminpour reviews the 2013 Academy Awards:
First off, let’s begin with Seth MacFarlene’s intro to the show. (If you weren’t aware that he was hosting or even have the slightest idea who he is then I suggest you go elsewhere because you clearly haven’t been paying attention in the past two weeks.)
It’s only common for a male host to poke fun at a few celebrities here and there but one of the harshest remarks was when he compared Django Unchained, a story of a man fighting to get back his “woman” who has been subject to violence, to a typical date night for Chris Brown and Rihanna.
I, for one, cringed a little because it was a huge controversy couple years ago when Chris Brown physically abused Rihanna. The whole thing is even more awkward as they have recently gotten back together.
As MacFarlene continues his beginning monologue, the screen pulls down and you see William Shatner (the same guy in the Priceline commercials and who once played Captain Kirk on Star Treck) dressed as his old TV character.
Comically, he points out how the host’s current performance brings in bad reviews since he’s clearly from the “future.” We then see a series of three instances of MacFarlene singing and dancing as he tries to redeem himself from the potentially bad reviews with the Captain’s help.
My favorite part was when MacFarlene sang a modified rendition of the classic Beauty and the Beast song “Be Our Guest” (my all-time favorite Disney money by the way) along with an entire group of dancers.
Another memorable moment was when Jennifer Lawrence, one of my newly favorite actress won “Best Actress” for her performance in Silver Lining Playbook.
I found it truly impressive that, even though she managed to slip and fall on the stairs, she took a minute to gather herself and got right back up again. Lawrence clearly isn’t afraid to laugh at herself as she mentioned her fall, with an amiable smile, at the beginning of her acceptance speech.
She’s no stranger to falling (refer to the SAG Awards). Some say she’s really clumsy. As someone who is extremely clumsy herself, I would say she’s just human.
Now you either don’t mind Kirsten Stewart or find her outright annoying and awkward.
After watching the Oscars Sunday night, I would say she’s the latter.
She sported crutches on the red carpet as she apparently had some freak accident, injuring the ball of her heel.
On stage, she hobbled to the microphone, sans crutches, to present “Best Production Design” with Harry Potter main man, Daniel Radcliffe. There was also a long pause after Radcliffe finished speaking when Stewart was supposed to introduce the nominees. (If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you go back and do so. It’s quite comical.) She had one job and she even did a mediocre job at that. Maybe next time KStew.
Sandra Bullock has been known for having a rough few years considering her messy divorce but she will always remain one of my favorite actresses.
As she presents the award for “Best Film Editing,” she struggles to open the envelope an over exaggerated facial expression that will be the target of many GIF (graphics interchange format) jokes in the future. (If you haven’t seen this either, I highly suggest you do so as soon as possible.)
My review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention the big surprise everyone received at the end of the show when Jack Nicolson was presenting the award for “Best Picture.”
No one expected for the screen to be pulled down and Michelle Obama to appear in an Oscar-ready ensemble.
She introduced the award and opened the enveloping, naming Argo as this year’s “Best Picture.”
Whether you’re pro or against President Obama, you know you’ve made it big in Hollywood when Mrs. O herself presents an award for your movie. You could just see Ben Affleck: happy, shocked and teary-eyed.
In the end, the host and Kirsten Chenoweth merrily sang “Here’s to the Losers,” an unnecessary ending to the big show.
Everyone’s there to celebrate the biggest stars’ achievements. There are no real losers. The song’s purpose seemed a bit childish to me.
Yet, this wouldn’t be a proper review if I didn’t review the fashion of the night.
Would I be fulfilling my duty as a fashion-obsessed teenager? No.
First off, I want mention that this year’s Oscars had better dressed stars than last year’s Oscar hands down. There is a noticeable difference in how the stars got all glammed up. Catherine Zeta-Jones craftily beaded dress put Renee Zellweger’s metallic dress to shame as they both, along with two other Chicago cast members, presented “Best Original Song” and “Best Original Score.”
Halle Berry showed off her inner “Bond girl” as she rocked in a striped black and gold-beaded dress exclusively designed by Dontella Versace herself.
I had hoped that Charlize Thereon and Jennifer Lawrence wouldn’t cross paths as they were both wearing strapless white gowns (slightly different form, cut and color) by Dior Haute Couture.
Jennifer Aniston’s red strapless dress was both classic and timeless yet she degraded the dress with her bed head hair. If only she could have done a simple updo such as a ballerina bun. Amy Adams isn’t one to usually make fashion headlines but she definitely impressed in her gray-toned tulle dress this past Sunday.
All in all, this year’s Oscars were one to remember.
Like every year, there are gaffs, laughs and achievements that come up this highly esteemed night.
There’s always more to look forward to next year.
As for MacFarlene, he did an excellent job of hosting and managed to do without pulling a James Franco, who was highly criticized for being a horrible Oscars host back in 2011.