Right Track? "Born This Way"

Lady Gaga's latest short "Born This Way" has arrived. It's se7en minutes of gooey births, nonsensical mythology ("Mother Monster"!  She must have been watching the Oscars. They do so love a Monster Mom), and simple dances that look complicated via editing that everyone can learn for the clubs. Not quite sure what to make of the Madonna gap teeth at the end, though.

Perhaps she should give the Madonna homages/taunts(?)/riffs a rest? Although speaking of homages. I love that the head in the jar, assembly line thing reminds me so much of Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! or cheesy sci-fi movies in general  ack ack

For what it's worth the Evil that is birthed (the skeleton faced guy, Canadian Rick Genest) also starred in the Thierry Mugler fashion short that Gaga did the German-language music for. That's actually his face. It's not makeup but tattoos.

♪ He was inked this way-hey ♫!

If you missed the Muglier short, that's here.

The 83rd Oscars. Complete Winners List / Biggest Loser Stat

PICTURE The King's Speech
DIRECTOR Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
ACTRESS Natalie Portman, Black Swan
ACTOR Colin Firth, The King's Speech
SUPPORTING ACTRESS Melissa Leo, The Fighter
SUPPORTING ACTOR Christian Bale, The Fighter

Your Acting Winners. I hope Melissa Leo is telling Amy she owes her 200 dollars.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY David Seidler, The King's Speech
FOREIGN FILM Denmark, In a Better World
FILM EDITING Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter, The Social Network
CINEMATOGRAPHY Wally Pfister, Inception
ART DIRECTION Alice in Wonderland
COSTUME DESIGN Alice in Wonderland
MAKEUP The Wolfman
VISUAL EFFECTS Inception
ORIGINAL SCORE The Social Network
ORIGINAL SONG "we belong together" Toy Story 3
SOUND MIXING Inception
SOUND EDITING Inception
ANIMATED FEATURE Toy Story
ANIMATED SHORT The Lost Thing
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Inside Job
DOCUMENTARY SHORT Strangers Among Us
LIVE ACTION SHORT God of Love

Tallies: THE KINGS SPEECH: 4; INCEPTION: 4; SOCIAL NETWORK: 3; THE FIGHTER: 2; ALICE IN WONDERLAND: 2; TOY STORY 3: 2;  BLACK SWAN: 1.

Best Picture Nominees Without A Win: 127 HOURS, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, WINTER'S BONE and TRUE GRIT which becomes one of the biggest "Oscar Losers" of all time with a 10/0 tally. Only The Color Purple and The Turning Point beat it with 11/0 in nominations to losses.

Oscar Live Blog. Hour #3 FINALE

ARRIVALS | HOUR 1 | HOUR 2 | HOUR 3 (YOU ARE HERE)

10:52 We're almost done. And we'll be like that was so long!" and then next week we'll feel sad that it's so far away.

10:53 SNIFFLE. in memoriam. Sally Menke :( among other greats. But that one is so fresh and still sting because of such unexpected tragedy. I'm glad Celine is singing SMILE. I misheard that she was singing SHINE. oops. And i thought why does that non nominee get sung but not Cher's song? I love the song " STORMY WEATHER" so much.  And Lena Horne is awesome yes.

It's not the load that breaks you down. It's the way you carry it.
-Lena Horne.

Great quote.

11:03 sigh. DIRECTOR = TOM HOOPER. Where is Cate Blanchett to say "that's gross" Heh. Sorry. Tom Hooper has great hair.  "The triangle of man love" er... i think that was Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law plus TFE reader (see previous poll).

11:08. I've been neglecting the comments.

11:10 I was just telling an angry tweeter -- Fincher's loss will go down as a blight on Oscar -- that many great directors never won: Altman, Kubrick, Hitchock. The ones who don't make warm movies basically. It's like Directors are Actresses!

poll by twiigs.com

11:15 BEST ACTRESS. They're choosing good clips. Natalie's best scene in BLACK SWAN "he picked me mommy" Hearing Jeff Bridges say "michelle" freaked me out a little. You know why. and it's NATALIE PORTMAN who we knew it would be.

I feel bad for Annette Bening. I guess she's the new Deborah Kerr / Glenn Close / Julianne Moore. Great company to be in. And even though Natalie Portman wasn't my personal choice (I think Kidman was best this year) can we all agree that it's nice when people win for their best performance. So there's that. Congratulations, Nat!

11:21 Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges presenting these awards makes me happy for some reason. Maybe because they're both so damn likeable. BEST ACTOR COLIN FIRTH. Again people: why does everyone say that Oscar don't like to be told who to vote for. They so rarely vote against something that's won everything. All the acting winners have been the same all season.

11:28 I like Colin Firth a lot but he was just named Best Celebrity Neighbor as well. The King's Speech's hard sell is just SO irritating. And now it's going to win. The least ambitious of the five films.

11:35 BEYOND TACKY. Using The King's Speech speech as the voicevoer for the montage of ALL the nominees? So so tacky. And in Spielberg's preamble in which he mentioned "and the other nine will join the ranks of Raging Bull, Citizen Kane, etcetera"  he basically exccused them from voting for all the new classics each time. TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY. Best Picture = The King's Speech

11: 38 James Franco "Anne and I have had an amazing time tonight."

11:43 Credits rolling and such. My takeaway. I don't even care that great stuff lost so much as that they chose SPIELBERG to do Best Picture again. Christ on a cracker how is it that THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY has no imagination about this? They work in the imagination department. Would it kill them to let a legendary actress do it once in awhile and not just the rotation of Spielberg/Hanks/Streisand/Nicholson. This almost makes me angrier than lame wins on account of it's such an easy fix. Less fixable is the taste level of the Academy voters.

11:46 One thing I forgot to mention. If only Anne Hathaway's penultimate dress had been a little less dark blue and a little more light turqouise it woulda totally been a tribute to Madonna's Ray of Light cover.

11:47 Okay. Another Year. The 83rd Oscars are now part of history.

11:49 To all the "losers"... It's not the load. It's the way you carry it. Remember your awesomeness.

BACK TO BEGINNING 

COME BACK TOMORROW FOR MORE REACTIONS. We'll try to get going by Noon.

Oscar Live Blog. Hour #2

ARRIVALS | HOUR 1 | HOUR 2 (YOU ARE HERE) | HOUR 3

9:39 HUGH JACKMAN + NICOLE KIDMAN. We've gone to "Far Away Downs" again in Australia. It's a music in the movies tribute. I guess this means Score is coming up.

9:43 ORIGINAL SCORE = THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Ohmygod. What a nice surprise. Though this means that Alexander Desplat joins Roger Deakins in the Great Hall of Giants Without An Oscar. The company is excellent in the room so I'm sure it's all good.

9:47 SOUND MIXING = INCEPTION.
9:49 SOUND EDITING = INCEPTION

So what do we have now? Inception: 3, Social Network & Fighter: 2, Toy Story 3, Alice, & The King's Speech: 1? 

9:57 Cate Blanchett presents MAKEUP to The Wolfman. Says "that's gross" about the clip. HA! This is silly though. Rick Baker already won for one werewolf movie. Did he need two for those effects? Also London features naked David Naughton and The Wolfman features clothed Benicio so. it's simple math: American Werewolf > Wolfman. The End.

10:02 COSTUME DESIGN = EYESORE IN WONDERLAND. The Academy proves my theory yet again: Collen Atwood and Sandy Powell, their two favorite designers only win when they're nominated against each other. And they're still tied. Also: They drowned Atwood out with the music which is fine because she was READING HER SPEECH. Anathema to awards show drama. In my opinion, if you read your speech a trapdoor should open up and swallow you whole.

poll by twiigs.com

10:05 Randy Newman performed the latest song he wrote in 4 minutes for 4 minutes (symmetry!). And now Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi are performing. Though I know it would have been Theme Parky, I woulda loved to see them in character garb. They coulda headed over to DisneyLand for a late shift right after the performance. 

10:07 So... "I SEE THE LIGHT." Just not the same without the lanterns.

10:11 Jake Gyllenhaal & Amy Adams. Both looking spiffy. BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT = STRANGERS NO MORE. well, i didn't get every prediction wrong. ;)  

10:19 I somehow disappeared. MidCeremony Lull? Hathaway's silver gown shimmy was like a couture alarm clock. 

10:23 DOCUMENTARY = INSIDE JOB
Wow. My worst prediction year ever. Yay me. Oh, something I meant to say about two of our recent presenters. EXAMPLE A: Some actresses are recognized in the now. EXAMPLE B: Others actresses have to wait it out.

Yes I know that Marisa Tomei has an Oscar. But many people thought it was a fluke and she is an exceptional actor. Go Marisa. Here's to her unexpected (to most) longevity.

10:30 BOB HOPE TRIBUTE. It's been going on for awhile. Oh but now SHERLOCK and DR WATSON. They present the award to VISUAL EFFECTS = INCEPTION. of course. But more importantly... Jude Law & Robert Downey Jr. doing their chemistry banter. prepping us for Bromance #2 in Sherlock Holmes Sequel

poll by twiigs.com

10:36 EDITING = THE SOCIAL NETWORK. You know what's weird? I've interviewed other Oscar winners / nominees in the past and nominees but for some reason, talking to these two was really cool. I mean I authentically respect what they did for that movie and what editors in general have to do. Even if I didn't think it deserved Best Picture, I would have given it Best Editing.

10:47 EWWWWWWW. BEST SONG = RANDY NEWMAN.
Quickest turnaround between effort and award ever. And he's complaining #TheNerveOfSomePeople

and now...  HOUR 3 the finale! 

Oscar Live Blog. Hour #1

ARRIVALS | HOUR 1 (YOU ARE HERE) | HOUR 2 | HOUR 3

8:31 WOW. Killer Montage You know it worked because I wanted to watch every Best Picture nominee again and I was so sick of all 10, five minutes ago.

8:34 "I loved you in Tron" So far the show is highlarious. Morgan Freeman awesome cameo combined with self-deprecating humor "soothing voiced narrator". And Anne even made a Black Swan joke funny and Black Swan jokes are so mid-January 2011.

8:41 GONE WITH THE WIND shout out. Classy. Although very WTF random. I'm not liking where this is going with the Cinematography + Art Direction = Best Picture. Eyesore in Wonderland wins. It's all uphill from here. Cinematography = Inception. Sorry Roger Deakins. You'll have to wait for #10.

8:51 Kirk Douglas. Wow Old Hollywood shout out. Take that 2009 Oscars!

8:52 Oh this is sweet. Kirk Douglas said James Franco looks better outside the cave. To Anne Hathaway "Where were you when I was making pictures?" SUPPORTING ACTRESS (I'M SO NERVOUS) MELISSA LEO. She used the naughty "F" Word. I'm glad they didn't play her off the stage. Kirk Douglas was SO fun.

poll by twiigs.com

9:01 "It's the young and hip Oscars" Anne Hathaway responding to Melissa Leo's F Bomb. hee.

9:02 BANKSY'S IDENTITY REVEALED: Justin Timberlake. Although I am so grossed out that they just reminded us that Shrek (2001) won the first animated feature Oscar.

9:04 ANIMATED SHORT = The Lost Thing. I'm doing T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E on my predictions but I never care about that. I just wanna love the movies. ANIMATED FEATURE = Toy Story 3. I feel like a lot of people won't udnerstand why Lee Unkrich was so "i can't believe this" It's because he's one of the only Pixar people who didn't have an Oscar.

9:14 ADAPTED SCREENPLAY = THE SOCIAL NETWORK. So... seeing Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin in white tuxedos totally shocked me. It's a rare sight. Paddy Chayevsky "NETWORK (1976)" shout out. Nice.

9:15 BTW I think it's excellent that Anne Hathaway is hosting on a night where they're referencing Old Hollywood and Classic Films. She gets it. One of the few young stars who does. Nice presentation of the Screenplays with the changes..ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY= THE KINGS SPEECH.

9:23 A tradition of singing" Anne Hathaway. Bring it girl. ♪ ♫ On My Own cuz someone is Hugh JackAss. ♪ ♫ Can we give her the Emmy right now. James Franco in drag.

poll by twiigs.com

9:24 Russell Brand misinterpreting Helen Mirren's French. Did they fire Bruce Vilanche? Some of this presenter banter is actually funny.

9:28 FOREIGN FILM = Susanne Bier's IN A BETTER WORLD. I love this woman. Though I haven't seen this film yet.

9:30 SUPPORTING ACTOR = CHRISTIAN BALE
His beard looks like one of those fake ones that people wear that loop around the ears. It's so... round. Like a dangerous redheaded Santa Claus. But the best comment on this came from Scott Feinberg on twitter.

Good one.

okay. on to HOUR 2 - mid ceremony!