Oscar presenters bail early, head for Vanity Fair bash

Oscars broadcast: Stupid, TASTE-less, IRRELEVANT, lame. Boring! Other movie stars TALKING up the nominees ran endlessly inanely, SHOW performances they were NOMINATED for! After 25-minutes, I had to TURN the channel and found Dateline investigation of the CONCORD accident FAR MORE INTERESTING. (HTG) NOTHING could make me STAY TUNED to such embarrassing DRIVEL too painful to watch! Where was Bruce V? NOTHING was remotely humorous – just BAD BROADWAY.

Dan looks content holding up the bar.Not sure about the glass. Job done 007 !

The much hyped Oscar show was such a flat fizz. A few interesting moments were not enough to justify all the expense of putting it on. Why didn't the producers realise that so many dance numbers would be boring and time consuming. Once again the show ran overtime, much to TV viewers disgust.

Don't blame them. Felt so sorry for ones in front rows. They were trapped.

The Oscars is a dying, boring albatross. Americans could careless about this thing of the past. (who can blame them as it's become so Eurocentric they should be forced to remove the American Academy Awards).

Surely, the last time for my eyes.

There was glamour! There was glitz! There was generous boredom seeping its way in by the first hour of this year's Oscar telecast. The biggest movie event of the year, as it was touted, was far too predictable and lacking in any real humor or suspense. The only thing that was epic in size about this heavily publicized event was the many egos involved with this production.

The hype around the program centered around change and innovation. (After all, these are The Obama Years!) And if ever there was a need for a new stimulus package, this ceremony should be Numero Uno on the list for any possible bailout. Debonair Hugh Jackman was this year's host, or should I say, educator. He tried valiantly to instruct the home audience about the worthiness of show biz. Of course, the three (count em... three) production numbers didn't help get across this message too well. In fact, the first "low-budget" number parodied the state of the economy and seemed chaotic and desperate for laughs; the main production number in white ties and tails was overproduced and underwhelming; the final musical moment showcased the nominated songs which were consistently weak as were the footwork and vocals. All of the musical interludes were poor arranged and lacking in considerable Hollywood or Bollywood finesse.

With too few funny moments and laborious topical jokes (Ben Stiller as Joaquin Phoenix, Jack Black as Jack Black), the show suffered from a overriding seriousness about the art of film. I believe that was the semi-concept floating about in the Kodak Theater, a wispy ghostlike idea about the importance of movie showmanship and their craft . But that idea was lost somewhere in translation.

Of course the actual filming of the show didn't help matters. The camerawork for the program seemed to continually undercut the effect of the ceremony, bouncing around the stage at random. It was especially noticeable during the memorial segment commemorating those who died this past year. The addition of vocals by Queen Latifah was quite effective, but the view of the film montage on several small screens dwarfed its surroundings.

Most of the film clips were broken down by genre including films that were not even nominated, making no sense at all. The final montage was a confusing mix of past winners and present Best Picture nominees and its editing seemed jarring and unnecessary. It simply did not showcase the nominated films.

However there were some nice additions to the evening:

The set worked very well and created a feeling of nightclub coziness inside the immense cavern of a theater; Two award segments worked effectively: The screenplay awards utilized script notations and dialogue along with matching film clips; the comedy genre montage with James Franco and Seth Rogan nicely parodied their film, Pineapple Express, while highlighting other recent comedies; Perhaps the best change was the new addition of previous acting winners honoring their peers which replaced the nominees' short movie clips. These personal tributes were well written and moving at times. Hopefully, this will become an annual tradition; Best speech: Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter for Milk, brought sincere and poignant moments to the podium, passionately recounting his memories as a gay man.

In conclusion, change for change sake is not always the right decision. Next time, worry more about the entertainment factor, add more comedy elements (jokes!), and get a musical director who has more expertise to work on stage choreography and musical arrangements. Try to build some suspense with the nominations if possible. This lackluster show was as predictable as its winners. So, nice try, fellas, but no cigar!

WOW...UMA LOOKS GREAT...