There was no controversy this year - no left-wing political speeches from the likes of Michael Moore, no lifetime achievement award to Elia Kazan, and no stage streakers. Of course, there weren’t really any moments that made this year’s Academy Awards memorable. There were no small Italian men jumping up on chairs after winning the coveted golden man. There was no passionate kiss between stars like Adrien Brody and Halle Berry - just first-time host Jon Stewart spitting out the pre-rehearsed stale one-liners whose reception barely measured a “2″ on the laugh-o-meter.
There was the ever-present reminder to recipients to keep their speeches short, because the producers were concerned about the length of the program. However, the show ran just as long and it was peppered sporadically with random montage sequences, paying tribute to Hollywood genres, like film noir and the epic. Some of the funniest moments of the night came from the “Daily Show”-style political campaign spoofs that featured nominee lobbyists fighting for the Academy’s vote. Obviously Stewart brought along his own joke writer. The biggest shocker of the night? “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from the film “Hustle & Flow” won an Oscar for Best Original Song. The greatest underdog moment? It was probably when “Crash” beat out “Brokeback Mountain” for Best Picture, even though Ang Lee had just won the Acedemy Award for Best Director.
I was relieved that this year’s show was free of controversy and almost devoid of liberal propaganda (Stewart’s worn-out Dick Chaney joke the exception), but overall I felt the 78th Academy Awards were nothing to get excited about.
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