Oscar: The Best and Worst of the Night
By Erin Steele
February 26, 2007
It was mostly boring and very, very long, but the ceremony still boasted some memorable moments (in a good way). Here are our picks for the top five moments at this year's Oscars.
1. Martin Scorsese FINALLY wins.
No longer the Susan Lucci of the Academy Awards, Marty took home the top prize after years of losing to faux directors like Kevin Costner and Robert Redford. Greeted by a standing ovation, a humble Scorsese shrugged off the applause (but wasn't so dismissive of the little gold statue).
2. Alan Arkin wins best supporting actor.
Though we were pulling for Mark Wahlberg (though you already know that ... WE LOVE YOU, DIGNAM), it was a pleasant surprise to see the Academy award Arkin's hilarious turn as a heroin-addicted grandfather over Eddie Murphy's slight soul singer caricature in "Dreamgirls."
3. Al Gore DOESN'T announce his bid for the presidency.
There will always be a very fine line between entertainment and politics, but we like our awards shows election-free. Thank goodness Gore accepted his award for "An Inconvenient Truth" without using the Oscar stage as a platform for anything other than global warming.
4. We are the World
The Oscars were indeed an international affair this year, as filmmakers from Mexico, France, Germany, England and China all took home awards. It just goes to show film really is the universal language.
5. Shorter speeches
In order to make the ceremony shorter this year (which tragically failed), speeches were required to fall within a briefer time limit. This abbreviated time share meant no blubbering stars or overblown political statements, which -- though entertaining -- are almost always excruciating to sit through.
But let's not kid ourselves ... there were plenty of bad moments, too (don't even get me started on Celine Dion). Here's our look at the top five worst moments ...
1. The many takes of O'Ghoul
Could they have shown more reaction shots of Peter O'Toole, who long ago passed the age of facial mobility? He's an amazing actor, but painful to look at. Next time, let's have more shots of Wahlberg (Dignam!), s'il vous plait.
2. Jennifer Hudson wins.
We're not saying she doesn't deserve fame; she just doesn't deserve an Academy Award. Hudson took home a statue for a role that consisted of loud singing, dramatic hand gestures and little else, while more deserving nominees Kikuchi and Barraza were forced to look on as she was awarded the Oscar and stumbled through her acceptance speech.
3. Michael Mann's montage.
Too many montages! What was the point of this one? If there was a point, it could have been made more clear in a better-executed piece. All I remember were scenes of KKK members running around and Tom Hanks looking contemplative on the beaches of Normandy. Touching. Start cutting montages when the show starts running too long, and just cut Mann a check. -- SC
4. Ellen's shtick.
Some of her bits worked, but when she started vacuuming the carpet beneath the Hollywood elite -- at a time when the show was already running long -- she became more of a nuisance than an entertaining host. She was a little too sweet and goofy; if you're not going to do anything entertaining, then why are you interrupting the show? Bits from last year's host, Jon Stewart, were more memorable, such as the smear campaign ads accusing Charlize Theron of "hagging it up" to gain a win. We still love you, Ellen, but hire a better writing staff next time. -- SC
5. Celebrity introductions
When Hugh Jackman was announced as being "Volverine" (coming in with Penelope Cruz), the night officially hit a low point. The bits presenters are introduced with and have to say are always bad, but this year Oscar turned into bad repeats on the Biography Channel. As winners made their ways to the stage, not-so-interesting tidbits about their lives and careers were announced. The same useless trivia appeared on the bottom of the screen at the red carpet show. Did all the nominees have to fill out questionnaire detailing their favorite colors and worst jobs? Was this the Oscars or a middle school talent show? -- SC
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