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Sunday, February 22, 2009

Oscar night thought:

The retrospective of those in the movie business who passed away last year was a catastrophe. Instead of somber music (which allows some audio from the clips to be heard - in select cases) there was Queen Latifah singing a song that totally overwhelmed the mood and viewer focus on the people. Not only that, but those being "honored" were displayed in a series of screens - some of which were absurdly small - in the background. The only clip that was actually shown full size with audio was seven seconds of Paul Newman. What a mess.

UPDATE: Comment from a live blog on the Oscars:
Who ever did the "In Memory" section should be shot. You couldn't see more than half of the names of those who passed. Yes, Queen Latifa's song was lovely, but we didn't need to watch her. We were supposed to be seeing who had passed away. Also, with all of the moving and panning in and out, I think I got motion sickness. That was not the right way to remember those who have passed on this year.
And this from another blog:
11:11: If they start showing the In Memorium montage while Queen Latifah is singing… oh my god.

THEY ARE

11:11: This is the happiest death reel in Oscar history. If they really wanted to hit a nerve, they should have run that Sarah McLaughlin ASPCA ad, and CGI’d the faces of the dead over the dogs… this segment is kind of focusing more of the attention on Queen La! This is an abomination. I want to focus in on those who perished in 2008… because lord knows, there were too, too many. This is literally the one time a year I actually sit back and reflect… and it’s being ROONED. Also, how long is she gonna be singing for? 11 minutes? Like 5,000 people died last year. Also why is the camera swinging around so much? This is like the Bourne Ultimatum of Death Montages.
UPDATE 2: This comment from The Flick Chick:
In Memoriam: It annoys me every year but since it continues to happen every year it obviously still needs to be said that there should be no clapping during the In Memoriam section. How is it that a room full of adults doesn’t know that it is exceedingly tacky to turn the memorial segment into a popularity contest? Of course this year my irritation at the clapping has to compete with the way the memoriam segment was produced, making it the background to a stage performance so that the parade of the dead isn’t even the focus.


3 comments

Agreed. Total disaster.

And Heath Ledger was not included.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/23/2009 11:05 AM  

Thank you. This is always my favorite part of the Oscars show, and they absolutely botched it this year.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/23/2009 11:56 AM  

And Heath Ledger was not included.

That's because they don't do people two years in a row. They did him last year.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2/23/2009 3:50 PM  

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