Academy Awards Apathy

Last night's Oscars were really something of a disappointment. First of all, I totally biffed on the pool, winning not one single dollar. Given that I usually do well in these, my ego is bruised (I talked some smack to a few people about how well I was going to do) and, frankly, I really wanted that money. I have vacations-a-plenty I'm planning and need some cold hard cash to make them happen. Winning the Oscar pool sounded like more fun and easier money than working the counter at Sephora.

Second, I thought they were even more boring than usual. Given how little time Jon Stewart and team had to put his material together, plus how much of the presenters intros and banter had to be written in such a short period, I do understand what happened. But that didn't make the umpteenth montage any more entertaining to watch. Jon Stewart mocked the montages early, acknowledging that he realized the over-reliance was weak; but that did nothing to spice up the dull evening.

There were moments of humor: Jon Stewart reminding us all that Diablo Cody used to be an exotic dancer and was now an Oscar nominated (later that night Oscar winning) screenwriter, and asking how she enjoyed the pay cut, for instance. But to balance out each good joke, there was one that failed to land, such as the odd Dennis Hopper encounter. Stewart also did a bit more political monologueing than I remember from last time he hosted. Admittedly, this year is about as ripe for political monologueing as any in history; but I think that given more time with his writers he would have found opportunities to better link the political barbs to Hollywood, the film industry, and the nominees.

Steward did his best and wasn't bad. But the rest of the evening did him no favors in terms of keeping things interesting. While there were surprises (see the above mentioned Oscar pool suckage) none of them got me excited. Ellen Page didn't win some big upset. Johnny Depp didn't win and treat us to an impromptu live performance of "Epiphany." No speeches made me cry; no clips made me really want to see movies I hadn't seen. Much of this may be due to my own lackluster feelings about the movies this year but by 11:45 when things wound up, I was very ready to call it a night.