No Dazzle at the Oscars

“The fight is over, so tonight…welcome to the make-up sex!” jokes the host Jon Stewart in reference to the end of the writers strike as he opens the 80^th annual Academy Awards.

Steward, the comedian who is the host of the popular TV comedy central “The Daily Show” was the savior of the awards show this year. With only a week to prepare, the full genius of Stewart emerges when he delivers every line so naturally and comically.

He opens the show with a comedic monologue, addressing issues like the writer’s strike, the Iraq war, and the presidential elections. He jokes, “Tonight we look beyond the dark days to focus on happier fare: This year’s slate of Oscar-nominated psychopathic killer movies. Does this town need a hug? What happened? ‘No Country for Old Men’, ’Sweeney Todd’, ’There Will Be Blood’? All I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy” referring to the feel good hit, “Juno”.

But other then Stewart’s witty comments, the entertainment value of the show was at an all-time low. The writers apparently couldn’t slap together enough material, as there were montages that highlight every single Best Picture, Actress, Actor, Director from the creation of the award show until the present.

They obviously needed something, anything to fill the three hours that the awards show spanned. George Clooney reminisces, “One thing that’s always consistent…it’s long…no I’m kidding… it’s unpredictable.”

Unfortunately, this year, the show was utterly predictable. “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men” was up for eight nominations each and between the two, took home five major awards. “No Country” had four. Best Picture, Best Director, Best adapted screenplay and best editing. Not to mention, Javier Bardem who won Best Supporting Actor for his role in “No Country”. Daniel Day-Lewis won, for the second time, Best Actor, sealing his fate as an Oscar worthy talent.

The biggest surprise was when the small low budget movie “Once” won the Best Original Song for “falling slowly” when the Disney film “Enchanted” had three songs in the running.

Another surprise was the international theme of the show, with award winners from Spain, England, and France. All four acting prizes went to Europeans: Frenchwoman Cotillard, Spaniard Bardem, and the British Day-Lewis and Swinton.

But it’s noticeable that the iconic stars were absent. They were there as presenters and not as nominees. Matt Damon from “Bourne Supremacy”, Julia Roberts from “Charlie Wilson’s War”, and Brad Pitt from “The Assassination of Jesse James” didn’t even seem to be present at the event! Viewers waiting for their favorite celebrities were sadly disappointed.

Which leads to the question, why was Miley Cyrus even there? Was she a way of compromise that other famous pop icons were absent? Although she helped spark interest in the show among her following of preteen adolescent fans, she had no real reason for attending the classy celebrated award show for serious actors and actresses. Perhaps even she had nothing better to do on a Sunday night, than go to the Academy Awards.