b Papa Dog's Blog: Watching the Oscars with the Baby

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Sunday, February 27, 2005

Watching the Oscars with the Baby

Well, that’s another night long in the planning stages done with. We just spent the night eating unwisely (big bowl of popcorn instead of a proper supper) and trying to keep Baby Dog pacified while we watched the Academic Awards, pool ballots clutched before us all the way. Mama Dog did really well at the start of the evening, going something like seven or eight in a row without getting one wrong. She started to run into trouble when the documentary shorts and such were announced, and wouldn’t you know it the same damn guy who won last year started to pull commandingly into the lead. I was very surprised to find myself overtaking Mama Dog in the late stages of the evening. I had entered two ballots, one assuming not a sweep but a preponderance for Million Dollar Baby, the other assuming not a sweep but a preponderance for The Aviator. Last year’s winner did indeed end up taking it again, with 18 out of 24 correct. My Million Dollar Baby ballot came in second, with 17 correct. And that guy who works for Microsoft came in third with 16 correct. Mama Dog also had 16 correct, but unfortunately the way the pool works, that only got her fourth place; ties are broken according to how high up on the ballot is the player’s first missed category. Mama Dog had her money on Annette Bening for Best Actress, whereas Microsoft guy put his down on Hillary Swank. At least my second-place spot means our household finishes in the money.

This is the first year since I started running the pool that we haven’t even invited anyone over to watch the show with us. That never used to work out anyway…we had a good crowd one year, and then every time after that we’d have a bunch say they were coming and then only have one or two show up. This year it was just us Dogs, and it was kind of nice. Baby Dog was a bit on the cranky side, but we jury-rigged solutions, like dragging the high chair into the living room and feeding her there with her back to the TV so we could still watch the show and she wouldn’t be distracted by it. Later, when she was going to bed and needed shushing, she picked the perfect time to do it – during the boring Jean Hersholt Award presentation, which was followed by the Montage for the Dead. I was able to shush her to sleep without missing any of the awards.

That Montage of the Dead thing is weird, isn’t it? How long have they been doing that now? It’s a relatively recent phenomenon, I think. It’s nice that they acknowledge the passing of important figures in cinema from the previous year, but it’s weird the way people clap for each dearly departed film clip. Is that appropriate? I know the intent is to show respect or affection or something, but it ends up looking like their applauding the fact that the person died. It’s like “Yay, Elmer Bernstein’s dead!” “Woo hoo, we’re finally rid of Fay Wray.

Well, believe it or not I still have some freelance work to do tonight, so this lame post is going to be it. See you tomorrow. And next year, you should all enter this thing.

3 Comments:

Blogger RachelleCentral said...

The Oscars just finished here but I only watched about 5 minutes of them. First year I haven't even fast-forwarded the thing. This is partly due to a) a clash with Desperate Housewives and b) knowing that if I tape one show and watch the other, the taped one will never get watched. Also, I'm over the Oscars, at least until there's a year when I've actually seen one of the movies.

Plus, doesn't it seem like it's all the old faces, even with Jamie Foxx this year? Didn't Clint and Hilary Swank just win Oscars? It seems like they did recently, anyway. I even thought Cate Blanchett had already won one, which is why I hadn't picked her for Best Supporting Actress.

Here's an interesting thing: the newspaper I work for won't let me write "actress", supposedly cos it's sexist. I have to refer to all actors as actors, even if they're women. This seems silly.

4:23 AM  
Blogger Tarz said...

Thanks for providing a forum for a much-needed Oscar discussion.

Miscellaneous comments:
-Gwyneth Paltrow looked a lot happier than she did a couple of years back when she sported that heinous saggy meshy dress and dark eye-bag enhancing make-up. First thing I thought was, "Motherhood becomes her!"

- Julia Roberts, who has recently whelped twins Phinnaeus & Hazel, looked a exhausted and almost matronly. Did you get a load of those flabby triceps? Guess it's hard to get those personal training sessions in now that she's got the babes to care for.

- Why the hell didn't Sean Penn wear a tie? He was the picture of slovenliness. Just because his politics are LEFT doesn't mean he has to look like he just rolled out of the back of a van!

- I love Clint Eastwood! He's so clearly not full of himself and cares deeply about the people he works with. I was touched by his paternal expressions during Hilary's speech.

- This was the first Oscars in recent memory where I didn't snap the TV off disgustedly. I was GLAD that Million Dollar Baby won the big awards, and also happy for Jamie Foxx, Charlie Kaufmann, and Alexander Payne & co-writer. This year's Oscars were not filled with pomp and self-puffery; rather, they reeked of understatement and good taste. Perhaps the old Academy Awards judges are dying off and the panel has been injected with some new, sensible (and art-appreciating) blood.

- Even the songs were tasteful. I liked the Spanish one (Motorcycle Diaries) that won.

- Yoyo Ma's cello playing was truly moving as it provided the backdrop to the montage of the dead.

-- Chris Rock was not funny. In fact, his jokes were often mean-spirited. He's best when he's unscripted and free to be his own outrageous self.

10:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read an article the other day that said that the relatives of the dead lobby the producer of the Oscar for months to get their loved one on the dead people montage.

paul Anonymous

7:25 PM  

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