February 25, 2008
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oscar
what i love most about the oscars:
that glen hansard now has one.
also, i love watching acceptance speeches. my wife, toni, cannot stand acceptance speeches. i argue that this is when those people become human, when slight cracks in the facade appear and we get to peer inside, find out what motivates them, decide whether their actions and words in their moment of glory are a result of being genuinely affected and humbled by the event or are merely presenting further affectations and projections of a calculatingly conceived persona, stuff like that. she says, “no, this is when those people become nervous and incoherent and say stuff they’ll regret, or forget to say stuff that they will then regret not saying. nothing good will come of it and i for one will not participate in such suffering.”
she literally can’t be in the same room as an acceptance speech.
here’s some of what she missed last night during the 80th academy awards ceremony:
marion cottilard, performance by an actress in a leading role: “Oh — thank you so much. Olivier, what you did to me, Maestro Olivier Dahan, you rocked my life. You truly rocked my life… …And — wow. Well, I’m speechless now. I — I — well, I — thank you life, thank you love, and it is true, there is some angels in this city. Thank you so, so much. [mandates an effusive french accent for it to achieve a convincing and effective air.]
daniel day-lewis, performance by an actor in a leading role: “…I’m looking at this gorgeous thing you’ve given me and I’m thinking back to the first devilish whisper of an idea that came to him and everything since and it seems to me that this sprang like a golden sapling out of the mad, beautiful head of Paul Thomas Anderson… [what? this doesn’t even make sense! seriously, this guy is crazy. a golden sapling? this is a hyperbolic positive to the greatest degree. well, actually, the speech was quite good, crazy, but good, just like mr day-lewis.]
glen hansard, achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song): Thanks! This is amazing. What are we doing here? This is mad… …This is amazing. Make art. Make art. Thanks. [except when he said “thanks” it sounded like “tanks”. he’s irish.]
Ethan Coen, adapted screenplay: “We, uh and thank you very much.”
then later… Ethan Coen, achievement in directing: “I don’t have a lot to add to what I said earlier.”
see. now, that is just good television.
i must admit, it was hard to sit through three “enchanted” performances knowing mr. vedder and his musical contributions to “into the wild” had been passed over. but, i’m pretty sure the three “enchanted” songs split the academy votes allowing glen (and marketa irglova) to win. had eddie been in the mix the glen (and marketa irglova) votes would most likely have been split and i am really glad that glen won. he probably wouldn’t have, had eddie been in the mix. so, i’m sure you can see the problem with finding any issue whatsoever with the three “enchanted” songs, as “falling slowly”, from the “once” soundtrack, as performed by glen hansard (and marketa irglova), is just ridiculously beautiful, yes?
oh, and also, john travolta is a scientolgist with an ot (operating thetan) level of V.
Comments (48)
i loooooved “once” and the music…was incredible…or actually…raw and earnest…and urgent. Loved it.
I read the first two sentences of this blog and asked my husband, “have the Oscars already happened this year?” and he said, “uh, yeah, they were yesterday.” I can’t believe I didn’t even know! I don’t know if that makes me out of touch or just completely self-absorbed. I like to think it just means that I have a rich, full, life that does not revolve around awards ceremonies. That one is not any more or less accurate than the other two reasons, but it sounds the most positive. I don’t know if I’d have watched it even if I’d known it was on, for two reasons: a) I was at work Sunday evening (it is a rough job, watching movies with the youth groups) and b) I, like Toni, do not much care for acceptance speeches. Thanks for the highlights, now I can at least pretend I watched some of it if anyone asks. I’ll say, “oh yeah, that Daniel Day-Lewis, man, his speech was weird.” Then I’ll quickly leave the room before they can ask me to elaborate.
I need to work on being not so long-winded. Can you be long-winded when you type since it doesn’t actually require any wind?
aw dave. you should check out our most recent post. it’s all about ONCE winning the oscars.
Thanks for writing about this. I actually watched the awards, even though I didn’t think they would be on the television here, half-way around the world, and I also am not much for acceptance speeches. However, I really loved what both Glen and Marketa had to say. It was sweet, and Glen’s accent was funny.
Thanks for mentioning the highlights so nicely it helped sum up the best (and truly weirdest) moments of the evening. I doubt I will ever watch the Academy awards again…lol. But it was fun this once.
I loved when they showed the Coen brothers coming back from the back stage, each holding an Oscar, to accept the best picture award. It was cool that they let the others speak, and probably better for the sake of future Oscar speeches for years to come. I wonder if they each get one for the best picture, or if they just get one… do you know?
I didn’t think the Enchanted music was that great…it was typical Disney. Maybe even subtypical, when you compare it to more “epic” style soundtracks like the Pocohontas soundtrack. Of course, the movie wasn’t exactly about achieving theatrical or musical magnificence, considering that it was more a parody. So maybe I’m just full of it.
Just my humble opinion.
You know, I thought about watching the Oscars last night, but while debating whether or not I’d fall asleep through them, I fell asleep.
It was a long day.
hi dave! i havent been on xanga in awhile cause i forgot my password and was to lazy to get it from xanga,but i have been reading your blog,i still read hogans too,and it seems you really want your wife to know what she was missing last night ha ha,and i hear your coming to my area soon with mattew barrnett from the dream center,matts coming my church on this coming sunday to speak,and guess who joind facebook,louie giglo and chris tomlin,you need to join dave! seriously,and 2 weeks ago i went to free chaple orange county to see ricardo sanchez and jentsen franklen, i got to talk with them,there church is moving mountins,well i hope you come visit my church oneday soon,see ya bro
christopher from http://newportchurch.com/
i would like to agree and/or add that falling slowly kind of made the night.
anna doesn’t “get” the frames/falling slowly. it mildly depresses me.
I agree with you on how acceptance speeches reflect the true motivations of a person. When my brother was graduating and I went with him to his acceptance of a scholarship, it was one of the first times I got a glimpse into my brother’s mind. (We weren’t that close as brothers.) But I’ll never forget the first thing he said for his acceptance speech: “First of all, I would like to thank God.” I don’t remember what else came after, it probably had to do with thanking family and the Chinese association that gave him the scholarship and stuff, but I will always remember how significant it was that God was the first person he thanked.
Thanks for the recap. I didn’t watch, I was doing something else.. probably working unless it was Sunday and then I was probably sleeping or playing around on the computer.
That last comment on the music, pretty much made me dizzy. LOL I suspect that was your plan all along.
As for Mr. Travolta, did he say this? He will have to send the televised world to word clearing. Hahaha… I was in Scientology many years ago. During that time he was a Scientologist, left Scientology and then came back to it again. I left. I didn’t come back. No regrets. Maybe we can talk about this sometime. Or not. LOL
Good thoughts. Though I missed Javier’s speech who I was most looking forward to winning. I did hear he said he now has the horrible type cast hanging over his head. But what a superb job at being a maniacal calculating murdering mad man. My wife finds it hard to find any appreciation in the art of playing the bad guy. Yet someone has to take it on, and javier did it so well.
hrm..thanks for the travolta tip.
Wasn’t that just fabulous? I had to admit that I was a little worried that Enchanted might steal it from Once, but I didn’t think about the votes being split. I’d like to think, though, that everyone heard Falling Slowly for the beautiful song that it was and felt compelled to vote for it. I think that When Your Mind’s Made Up- the song in 5/4 should’ve been nominated, too. That was brilliant. So glad to see you enjoyed the music from Once, too. But I’m not surprised.
i love that you love “Once“
and i lttle fun fact:
the scene when they are on the hill overlooking the coast and he asks her how to say “Do you love him” in czech, and she replies in czech, but youre never told what she says…
she says “no, I love you”. sweet, eh?
mmm i loved jon stewart in the oscars
i feeel like i should watch there will be blood now. i was so adamant against seeing it for… no reason, but….i guess i should watch it.
ps: im working on a video playlist thing like you did.
i don’t think i have ever watched the oscars.
maybe i’m missing out!
perhaps i’ll catch them next year…
Oh the elation at seeing Glen and Marketa’s surprise as they accepted their awards. “Make art, make art” was fantastic, but even more, the Academy allowing Marketa to come back out and give her acceptance speech. That made watching the entire ceremony worthwhile.
22 props for vedder/penn/krakauer : amazing story/movie/music AGREED!
I forgot, (it’s my MO sorry), I just checked my Xanga (http://www.xanga.com/bgods4ever) and my last 3 posts (dated
)include 2 lyric posts from “Into The Wild” soundtrack and please, please follow the link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nyPX2YMdEU) in the Wednesday, October 31, 2007 post (note CD currently listening there, (funny its what I listened to this morning)). It is me, my son and a passle of his friends a couple of years back, it one of my happy places. Hope you enjoy. Yes, I shot my son with a blow dart gun!!!!
bringing Marketa out again was beautiful. i was so mad that she was cut off, but jon stewart is a wise man. she, in all her sweetness, just smiles and walks away quickly after Glen. i am sooo happy that jon brought her out again, what a sweetheart. the world would have missed such an amazingly heartfelt and genuine speech. she is a gem. love love love them and their music
Hahaha… “Don’t worry, it’s a hybrid.”
I didn’t actually watch the the Oscars. Like your wife, I would probably go insane watching all the people make their speeches. Hansard and Irglova didn’t seem that bad, although it seemed a little annoying that they cut her off.
have you ever given an acceptance speech??
you forgot the fact that they brought Marketa back up because they cut her off. They NEVER do that. AND her and Glen were on Nightline last night because of it! that was a wonderful moment. Once is probably in my top 10 movies and Falling Slowly is now one of my favorite songs. I screamed like a little girl when they won. Well played.
it was great that jon stewart brought marketa back on stage to give her speech – that never happens at the oscars!! and although i wasn’t crazy about the 3 “enchanted” noms, i have to give props to amy adams for performing that song ALL by herself! that is not an easy song to sing live without a princess/maid dress or any other props or cutesy animated animals surrounding you. speaking of animated animals – when is seinfeld going to drop this “bee movie” thing?! that was the lowpoint of the night for me.
can’t really comment one the oscars. didn’t watch. lakers more important to me. btw streak of 8. but indeed laughing out loud to travolta’s ot.
Oh what?? Glen won an Oscar, that’s awesome!
I concur that “Falling Slowly” is an “enchanted” song.
Your writing is so hard to read sometimes.
well i hope when the big airplane from the sky swoops down that the level 5 travolta has his ticket..
So what’s Toni going to do when you have to give acceptance speeches at the Dove Awards? Just don’t embarass her. My husband gave an acceptance speech once (local thing–business of the year) and you could almost hear the moans when he whipped out his papers! Too bad they didn’t have that “your speech is over, please exit the stage” music for that occasion!
i was REALLY hoping the August Rush song would win out, to be honest, but if it didnt, this was indeed the song i would have chosen instead. ive been wanting to see the movie (Once), but havent gotten around to it yet.
i agree though, its nice to see people in all their humanness giving their speeches. i feel more like i KNOW them…ya know?
Do you have some one in the family by the name of Jerry Crowder? There are signs everywhere around north richland hills wich is a suberbof Fort Worth and every time I see it I think of you. Jerry Crowder is wanting to be re-elected constible. Any way that would be way cool if he was related to you.
I thought it was really neat how John Stweart brought back the lady from the once movie. I’m glad she got to say wht she needed to say. That was a cool moment.
Ha! dude, I love you. I agree with your love for “Once”, what an a amazing film. So inspiring. Being 1/2 Irish, I was all about it, in fact, the next morning in the shower I wrote my first Irish folk song, the whole thing, in the shower. Very Chris Martin of me =]. I think Daniel D absolutely deserved his award as well, what a painful and frightening movie “There will be blood” was, did you see it? How about the soundtrack to that film? Every second I was like, ‘someone is going to appear out of nowhere with a knife and kill everyone”. I Suppose it is called “There will be blood”. I thought the film provided an interesting commentary on Christianity and our current cultures view of it. I was most intrigued by the peoples’ reactions in the theater. First of all, they laughed a lot during the movie, which I found unbelievable. No part of the film was funny to me. And they almost celebrated each time the religious character did something stupid or was beaten by Daniel D’s character. Gave me a lot to think about.
Hope you are well.
C.J.PS, sorry to make it 35 comments, and not 34
The speeches do leave people really vulnerable. It’s always weird to see someone that is usually in control and cool on the big screen, suddenly this quivering stuttering mass of nerves. And at least John T. didn’t laugh maniacally like Tom C. did in his acceptance/video for his Scientology award. Man, that was something freaky. But it sure offers some entertainment for lots of people, have you seen the stuff they have done with that on youtube?
Sweet level V “…. the very stuff of life itself”
Sweet… a level V…. “living lightning, the very stuff of life itself.”
What’s crazy is when Daniel Day-Lewis went on stage, it’s like, “He was the lead in There Will Be Blood?! Looks nothing like the guy in the movie!” Long hair with earrings and a high voice with an accent is sooo much different than the movie. But that’s how good he is. Heh.
I thoroughly enjoyed your musings on acceptance speeches, and very much agree. However, I was also a big fan of Javier Bardeem’s speech. Anyone who will take his mom as a date and then speak to her specifically in his native tongue, must be somewhat of a good person and I agree that it show that they are human.
I have to agree with Toni on this one. For the most part, I think that acceptance speeches are pretty nonsensical. On the other hand, when the rare moment comes along that you get to see someone deserving accept an award, it is worth all of the other tomfoolery. Glen was a perfect example of that. For that matter, so was Speilberg’s award for directing in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan. Then there are a few of the nonsensical speeches that are worth it because they are so over the top. Think of 1999′s Best Actor award for Mr. Roberto “I want to make love to an ocean of you” Benigni.
Anyways, I could not be more excited that Glen won. Like you, Mr. Crowder, I am quite the Frames fan. If I were as talented, I would also write a praise song which follows the model of their best work (i.e. You Are My Joy=Finally).
I am glad you enjoyed the Oscars. Can’t wait to see you guys in April at Passion-Atlanta.
Take Care,
Rob
I just heard “O Praise Him” at a fast food joint, of all places…
yay! so i was just singing falling slowly to myself and thinking about how amazing it is that they won and then i thought about how i found out about that awesome movie and soundtrack by reading this blog last summer annnnd i figured you had probably written about them winning and i was not disappointed!!
I like your thoughts on acceptance speeches. I think it’s so fascinating to bear witness to what drives people to do the things that they love, like making movies or acting or writing. It’s so great how God wired us.
Yipee! Stars! I gave you five. Stars are cool. We should get stars as grown ups. Like on your performance evaluations at work, “Bob, I really Like the way you helped that customer, 5 stars!” Or when you win a Dove award, say, ” no thanks, I’d rather have a gold star!”
Not only Eddie Vedder was passed over…Sondre Lerche too!
But Glen Hansard was the best and deserved to win.
I watched Once last night and I liked it. I must say that I agree, the music in it was far better than the music from Enchanted. In fact, I can’t believe the music from Enchanted was even nominated. I found those songs to be ridiculously cheery and somewhat obnoxious, which I thought was the point since the movie was kind of making fun of fairy tales. Even if it wasn’t supposed to be obnoxious, it was, so I’m glad Falling Slowly won.
on the hill overlooking the coast and he asks her how to say “Do you love him” in czech, and she replies in czech, but youre never told what she says…