Surprisingly, the 82nd Academy Awards was the highest-rated Oscars in five years, with 41.3 million viewers. Maybe the five additional best picture nominee slots drew viewers or perhaps it was funnymen cohosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (who, with the exception of their Paranormal Activity spoof and matching Snuggies, produced lackluster laughs). Gone was Hugh Jackman and his highly entertaining old Hollywood song-and-dance numbers and in his place stood Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) to open the ceremony with a poor man's version of the same routine (Harris scored delightfully as host of the Emmy and Tony Awards but fell short here). Were ten Best Picture nominees and two comedians really enough to spike the ratings?
If you didn't see the Oscars here's what you missed. Nothing. Seriously, here's what you missed: A touching tribute to the late, great director John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Home Alone, etc.). A strange salute to horror films. Ben Stiller presenting in Avatar getup. Farrah Fawcett's memorial montage snub. Best Documentary Short producer, Elinor Burkett pulling a Kanye West to director Roger Ross Williams who won for Music by Prudence. The first African-American, Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious), winning a statue for screenwriting. The first woman, Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), taking home the gold for Best Director. The lowest-grossing film ever to be named Best Picture ($21 million worldwide) knocking the highest-grossing film of all time ($2.6 billion) to the ground. YAWN.
Ok, I guess the making of history will go down in the books, but I was still unimpressed. Apparently, according to Entertainment Weekly magazine, so were the guests of honor themselves: "There were times during the ceremony when even some of the nominees seemed to be struggling to stay focused. A number of them, especially the ones who had lost, spent the bulk of the evening at the bar in the theatre lobby, watching the show on the monitors. 'We're done,' Matt Damon told EW, laughing." Well, Matt, I can't say that I blame you. If I hadn't been foolish enough to give up alcohol for Lent, I would've spent my entire evening at the bar too, just as a way to keep myself entertained.
So why were the ratings up this year? My guess? The David and Goliath story of The Hurt Locker v. Avatar was probably why people tuned in to watch the 2010 Oscars. The same reason they tuned in to watch in 1998 when the biggest blockbuster of the year, Titanic, won Best Picture. The audience wanted to see history repeat itself. And they were disappointed. They paid $15 to put on a pair of 3D glasses and spend 3 hours on the moonscape of Pandora versus seeing yet another Iraq war drama and the special-effects extravaganza didn't even win Best Picture. What gives?? My guess? The new voting system for ten nominees. In the past, when only five Best Picture nominees were slotted, Oscar voters had only one vote for their favorite film. With ten nominees, voters numbered all contenders in order of preference. From there, all first place choices were counted and if no picture earned 51% of the votes, the second choice is looked at, then the third, and so on until one film has earned 51%. In other words, The Hurt Locker may not have been voters' first choice, however, it received 51% of the votes so it was named Best Picture. I don't think it's pushing the envelope to say that the Academy's rule change was not universally favored by Academy voters or the viewing public.
Oscar producer, Adam Shankman, was quoted as saying, "I think everything just conspired to make a good evening of television." I whole-heartily disagree with you, Mr. Shankman. That was quite possibly the dullest, dreariest, mind-numbing, most predictable Academy Awards I have ever seen. Yes, even more tiresome than the year Lord of the Rings made a clean sweep in 2003.
Congratulations are in order to my favorite wins: Up for Animated Feature and The Cove for Documentary Feature. And I'll leave you with one final thought: If I had a nickel for every time I saw a celebrity chewing gum on the red carpet pre-show, I would be a rich woman. Just saying.
Dear Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Please do better next year. Yours truly, Amateur Critic.
