Oscar Telecast | SpoutBlog

Oscar Complaints. Today in Film Bloggery 02/23/09

By Christopher Campbell posted 8 months ago

Ratings were up 10% from last year, and polls indicate that viewers of the Oscars last night mostly enjoyed the telecast and would like Hugh Jackman back to host next year. So why am I still harping on the negatives? Well, no matter how many entertaining elements of the ceremony people remind me of, I have to argue that while the awards themselves were great, the television show was not. And unfortunately, I was not inside the Kodak auditorium where I might have better appreciated the things we all at home should have been able to appreciate. And anything I found entertaining from where I sat in my apartment was pretty much thanks to talented presenters and winners, such as Philippe Petit, Tina Fey, Janusz Kaminski, Dustin Lance Black, Kunio Kato and Danny Boyle.

And I’m not the only one who has complaints. Below you’ll find some criticisms from bloggers who either thought the show was completely terrible or thought it was mostly good with only a few minor gripes.

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Hollywood

Oscars: Where Was Bennett Miller?

By Karina Longworth posted 8 months ago

I had heard a couple of weeks ago that Bennett Miller, director of The Cruise and Capote, had directed a short film that was to be shown at the Oscars. The short apparently included interviews from “regular filmgoers.” I know that at least two known film bloggers were interviewed for it, including one who has contributed to SpoutBlog (not me). But as the show stretched into its third hour and nothing resembling what I had heard about the Miller short had yet shown on the broadcast, I started to wonder about its fate. I Twittered to that effect, and I got a private email in response from someone close to the production of the short (and not one of those interviewees, I assure you):

People at Radical Media (the producer) said it wasn’t great - too many old white men - more Mickey Rooney than Mickey Rourke - apparently it got cut…Also, as of Friday night they thought it was in, I don’t know who or when the decision to cut it was made. That being said, the show was 4 hours without so…

I had heard that the short had been set to open the show; I was personally surprised when the telecast started with Hugh Jackman on stage, just because that seemed extraordinarily abrupt in comparison to the montages that have opened the show in years past. The New York Times reports that the Miller short was seen in the Kodak Theater, but didn’t make it to telecast. Did you see it? Do you have any idea why it wasn’t shown to TV audiences? Please let us know.

UPDATE: I’m now hearing that four clips were cut hours before broadcast, as producers calculated the show would run 40 minutes over if they left them in. More details as they come in, until I stop caring…

UPDATE 2:40 PM: The short film is embedded above, via Vanity Fair. Looks like none of our blogger friends made the celebrity-studded final cut, but Jay and Mark Duplass did.

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Hollywood, Indies, Top Story

Oscar Ratings Excuse. Trade Roughage 09/16/08

By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago

Here’s another reason for the Academy to heavily nominate The Dark Knight: it may just be the incentive potential viewers need to make sure to convert their TVs to digitial in time for the Oscar telecast, which airs only five days after the big signal switch occurs. At least there’s already a good excuse in place, though, in case the show’s ratings are a disappointment.
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