Monday, February 23, 2009

Oscar Night Recap

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Yet another momentous night has come and gone.

The 81st Academy Awards show was so enjoyable this year. It was also different from any other we've watched because we participated in the live Twitterfeed as the event unfolded. This means that anyone watching the show, who also has a Twitter account, posted little snippets of their thoughts - 140 characters or less - as they occurred.

Watching this real-time commentary from people throughout the world added a different dimension to the experience. I don't know the final number of tweets posted during the show, but I do know they were coming in at a rate of hundreds per minute for a good deal of the event. The plus side of the Twitterfeed was hearing from such a large audience in real time; the down side was that I was often distracted from the show itself while reading the incredible volume of tweets, and sometimes missed important shots or comments.

On the food front, we've decided that this year's Oscar Night Menu was our favorite so far...we nibbled through the night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

As far as liking or disliking the show, we really don't think in those terms. To us, the Oscars are fabulous no matter what - each year is just a little different depending on the host and a few other variables. But it's all good. A few highlights from the night included:
  • Ann Hathaway as Nixon.
  • Hugh Jackman channeling Fred Astaire...puttin' on his top hat.
  • Acknowledgement of Meryl Streep's record 15 career nominations.
  • Kate Winslet's dad whistling in the audience so she could spot him during her acceptance speech.
  • Heath Ledger's family accepting his award, and being allowed to talk as long as they wanted.
  • Jerry Lewis winning the Jean Hersholt award...I watched him through teary eyes, remembering all the hilarious movies of his that I watched when I was just a kid.
  • Phillipe Petit successfully balancing an Oscar on his chin when the documentary about his life, "Man on Wire," won the award.
As far as winners, I won't recap that...you can find results on a million websites. According to my personal ballot, 46% of my predictions were correct. The only time I remember KNOWING someone would win an Oscar was the year I was watching Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman." I could just tell as I watched him perform that this was a big one for him - he was so formidable. Looks like I wasn't quite so sure of my choices this year.

By this time next year, I'm hoping we've found a mini statuette to grace the center of our feast table. If anyone knows where we can get one, let me know!
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4 comments:

mouse (aka kimy) said...

I don't do twitter...but spontaneously did a similar thing with having fb open and periodically writing on my wall.... partly because I was left on my own when the oscars came on....daughter returned to her house after dinner and f was in and out but mostly out upstairs where he was reading ....

earlier in the week I thought it might be fun to have an oscar gathering of friends but never got it together and the idea of entertaining on a sunday night isn't always too appealing....

agree with your highlights, but I would include sean's acceptance speech and the acceptance speech of dustin black....

LoveANewIdea said...

Wow - you manage to keep a Facebook page updated too - you are sooooo organized!

Thank you for reminding me of two more memorable moments from Oscar night...I was also thinking that the Ben Stiller skit of Joaquin Phoenix' appearance on Letterman was pretty funny, but wasn't sure if Joaquin was acting during that show, or was having some kind of real difficulty...

Lori Lynn said...

I love how you served your nibbles, all the different heights, and the candles.
LL

LoveANewIdea said...

Lori Lynn-
Thank you - huge compliment coming from you!!! I learned these techniques during my waitressing years at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbrige - set up many a buffet table.

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