Me - The Oscar-phile

    The Oscars just ended this Monday. And just like a cine-phile, am also an Oscar-phile. I really am! I have been mesmerized by the Oscars ever since I first watched the live telecast of the ceremony in 2009 when Slumdog Millionaire won. The sheer grandness of it, when the world was going through recession, left me speechless! Just like Billy Crystal said in his opening monologue this year, "Tonight let's enjoy yourselves. Coz nothing can take the sting out of this world's economic problem like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues!" Watching that grand ceremony 3 years back, I knew I was going to follow them for the rest of my life. This year, too, I followed the updates on 'em ever since the HFPA announced the nominations for Golden Globes. And then began the efforts of watching these movies from various sources even if they hadn't released in India up until the last week. When the nominees were announced, like every year, there were some surprises and some disappointments too; like Tilda Swinton's exclusion from Best Actress for We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Ides Of March and Take Shelter not being nominated for Best Picture, etc. It was a rather long wait. And finally 27th arrived. The excitement was so much, I'd keep waking up in the middle of the night thinking I overslept. This went on since 3 am and finally at 7 am the Live telecast started and it was time to watch the event I wait for an entire year and one that is certainly, for me, one of the highlights of the year.

So this is my review and the highlights of the 84th Annual Academy Awards:

1.  First off, the ceremony was low on grandness scale and that was really a disppointment. One of the things that makes Oscar special is the grandness of the ceremonies.
2. As much as I love Billy Crystal, I really am not a fan of Hollywood Musical numbers. Was awkward during the entire opening number. Another complaint - not enough of Billy Crystal's jokes! Come on, the guy does awesome thought guessing game. (Be on the lookout, Sajid Khan might copy that act again in one of his hosting acts! :P) Plus, opening monologues ought to be really funny like the one with Ellen Degeneres at the 79th Oscars and Alec Baldwin & Steve Martin at 82nd Oscars.
3. George Clooney kisses Billy Crystal! Billy Crystal later calling him an excellent kisser! Fun!
4. Angelina Jolie, looking smoking hot, walks up to the stage with a thigh high split black gown and exposes her thigh with a pose. It wasn't just me but everyone in the audience that gasped! What a moment! :P (This will join the "Memorable Moments in Oscar history" list soon!)
5.  The year dominated by movies about movies. Yay for that!
6.  No disappointment with winners in any category. They all were too good!
7. Surprise musical performance by A R Rehman! (Not exactly a performance but whatever!) And Natalie Portman's grand entry with the music from Swan Lake playing in the background. Nice!!
8. Watching Octavia Spencer win and Christopher Plummer's awesome acceptance speech.
9. Cast of Bridesmaids talking naughty on stage by using length of movies as a euphemism for...you know what!  
10. And finally, the moment people will talk for days - Meryl Streep's Oscar win! A long overdue Oscar with 17 nominations and 3 wins! Everyone cheered for her when she won. That moment alone described how precious she is for the movie world. Plus, it had her choking up with such a heartfelt speech. This win alone made the predictable ceremony worth all the time.
    

    Finally, the award season comes to an end. I don't know how seriously I take the Oscars, even if they leave me sleepless. The thing is - not every good movie can be rewarded with a win or a nomination. There are too many good movies out there to reward! But the best part about the Oscar season is that we get to see so many good movies, both nominated and snubbed, get the attention they deserve, followed by intense discussions and debates about them. Another good part is watching the awe inspiring and talented actors, who've put in year's of efforts in their art and soul into their characters, finally win. I might even dare to say that it's for the actors alone that I watch the ceremony. Really! Throughout the entire ceremony I waited for the Best Actress category (the toughest category every year including Best Director). I jumped and danced when Meryl won. Yes, it was a paisa wasool moment for me even if I equally wanted Viola Davis to win (She was magnificent in The Help!).
  
   Finally, the Oscar updates will stop. Everyone will recover themselves from the Oscar fever. But will be waiting for next December for another set of awesome movies from every corner of the world to wow us. Up until then, Long Live the Oscars!