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I thought Chris Rock was hilarious!

Can I be honest? I thought Billy was boring! I hate when people like Billy or Steve Martin host the Oscars. I'd rather have people like Ricky Gervais, Whoppi Goldberg, Ellen, Chris Rock, Chelsea Handler, etc. I want people that are fresh and off color in terms of humor. I only laughed once at Billy's jokes and I usually find everything in the world funny. Yes, the Oscars are supposed to be prestigious, but not TOO prestigious, ya know? To me, Billy was kinda old school. I wish Eddie Murphy was still on as the host.

And as much as I LOVE award shows, I'm getting pretty tired of the same people winning or getting nominated.

I agree about your choices for hosting and they do need more comedians and fresh blood that will bring new life to the show.

It seems that in recent years they have tried hard to appeal to a younger audience and the results have been mixed. I loved it when Ellen hosted, and when Hugh Jackman hosted it had some moments. If there is one thing the show proved this year is that you can't please anybody and thus they should focus more on the show than trying to appeal to a specific audience.

I thought Billy Crystal was great, but yeah even I could tell that they wanted to make it more like an old school Oscar show, hence why it was so brief.

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I wouldn't say it's Hitchcock's best scene (driving through the rain in Psycho or the tower scene in Vertigo would be my picks) but I just didn't get it. The interpretive dance or whatever you call it, didn't say anything about the magic of the movies. If anything it just expressed the magic of the circus. Another montage with actual clips would have communicated it better.

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Fountain of Thought - My views on cinema past and present

I sort of see where you're coming from...the dancing could have applied to other themes that have nothing to do with cinema, but it was still rather dazzling (particularly the acrobatics). Also, when you say the 'tower scene' in Vertigo, do you mean the last scene or the scene halfway through the film?

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In regards to the voice acting issue, I don't blame Tara (or any other professional voice actors) for feeling affronted by Chris Rock's joke.

To be a professional voice actor requires a high level of training, and is every bit as vocally demanding as being an opera singer. I don't think voice acting should be off limits to anyone who has ever done live action, but I have no respect for the way Dreamworks just allows big name stars to either phone it in or ham it up. They have had some conscientious voice work done for them, but they generally don't care about anything beyond the names. It's turned voice acting into a trend rather than a job and given animation a cheap image.

Sorry to ramble. I just feel for the incredible voice actors who have been left out in the cold so that A listers can give animated films more publicity by posing next to cardboard cutouts.

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tsom wrote:


Don't really know how old you are, but off-color humor has no place on a family television show like the Academy Awards.

Besides the use of foul language is not a prerequisite to being smart. Generally when people resort to foul language it is a reflection on their education or their deep-seeded discrimination of life in general.

Now I am not a prude, because I don't mind off-color language when it is used appropriately. I however don't find comedians who throw out "F" bombs just to try and shock us, very funny at all.

Also, I think you meant to say "Whoopi" instead of "Whoppi", but that can slide. I wouldn't watch any show that she is a part of these days. Years ago when she first came on the scene, she was absolutely hilarious, but today she has worn out her welcome.

Billy Crystal was the perfect host for this year's Academy Awards show, especially after that 'bomb' of a show last year with James Franco and Anne Hathaway, the lowest rated Oscar show in television history.

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I'd say the middle scene was pure genius. The moment where Hitchcock depicts vertigo with the dolly zoom is one of the most inventive in cinema - just look at its influence in Jaws.

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Fountain of Thought - My views on cinema past and present

The very first Oscars I watched was in March 1999 when Gwyneth wore that pink gown and won Best Actress. The host was Whoopi Goldberg and she was hilarious! Entering dressed as the Virgin Queen was incredible. I don't think she has past her prime. She is great on "The View" and she recently hosted the Tony Awards and she did a fantastic job.

Billy Crystal was a great host in terms of formalities and doing everything right, but it just didn't "touch" me. I don't know how to explain it. Ellen, Chris, and Whoopi were all memorable. And, I agree Anne Hathaway and James Franco was a bad idea!

Off color doesn't always have to mean F words. When Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globes, he was off color, but he didn't really use foul language. I think Billy just played it safe. Plus, one of the most searched items on Google the night of the Oscars was "Who is Billy Crystal"?

Don't get me wrong, I like Billy, but I would much rather have real comedians who are relevant to the times host award shows.

About the celebrity voices in animated films: didn't Disney start that trend themselves? Billy Joel and Bette Midler (Oliver & Company), Robin Williams (Aladdin), Jonathan Taylor Thomas (The Lion King), Mel Gibson (Pocahontas), Demi Moore (Hunchback of Notre Dame), Eddie Murphy (Mulan) and even -of all people!- Miley Cyrus in Bolt, to shove her and her show even further down our throats.

Even back in Walt's days, they hired celebrities who were really big in their days, like Peggy Lee for Lady and the Tramp and Louis Prima and George Sanders in The Jungle Book.

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mmm, yes, that sequence is genius. My favorite moment from Vertigo however is the Scene D'Amour. Herrmann at his absolute best, IMO.

It can definitely be said that Disney use celebrity voices (Pixar do as well), but I do think that Dreamworks have increased the demand for big name voices by being showier about who they use. Think of the names on the posters (Disney has only done that with Bolt, IIRC) and the images of the stars posing with the characters they voice.

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In addition, the casting was made because they thought those actors best portrayed the character they envisioned in the case. This is definitely the case with the older Disney films where the actors were hired because they had experience doing radio and stage plays. They were "big" but they first thought of talent before the star power the actor/actress would bring to the film.

Disney Geek said it best in that DreamWorks (and many other movie studios) tend to hire really big actors and then sell them to the audience as being the big drive behind the films. In other words... SEE WILL SMITH DO THE VOICE OF A FISH OR ANGELINA JOLIE BE A SEXY TIGRESS!

For example, Pixar's Ratatouille has a solid cast of actors that ranged from contemporary comedians to well establish film veterans, and yet Pixar didn't make a big deal out of it during its release. Sure there were standard promo videos and such but it certainly wasn't the same as, say, Shark tale.

Look at the posted for Ratatouille...


Now look at Shark tale's poster...


Notice how the names of the stars are in the poster whereas Ratatouille's poster doesn't reflect the fact that they have several Oscar winners in its cast along with modern day comedians?

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Thanks for making a more extensive case than me, pap.

I agree that, along with being less showy about who's involved, Disney and Pixar have more concern for the way a character should be voiced.

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