Oscar Postmortem Pt. 3: The show

Properly reviewing an Oscar ceremony can be tedious business, so I'm not gonna do it. Not properly, at least. The whole never quite amounts to the sum of its parts (although the Condon/Mark production from 2009 comes awfully close), so it's easiest just to look back and assess those parts at face value. Let's take a look at some moments that stood out (for me anyway) at the 86th Academy Awards

After last year's show hosted by Seth McFarlane came under such harsh critical fire, the pressure was on returning producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to atone. They made all the safest possible choices, and it started with the selection of Ellen Degeneres to return as host after her first kick at the can seven years ago.

Ellen assures viewers around the world, "We're fine. Thank you for your prayers" in regards to the rain.

Ellen returns as Oscar host

Ellen's dancing her way back onto the Oscar stage for a second go. You may remember that she hosted the show in 2007. Or you may not. She was very warm and genial and did a fairly agreeable job, but it wasn't a gig I would exactly describe as memorable.

After taking a lot of flack for Seth MacFarlane's provocative stint last March, one can't help but feel that AMPAS is retreating to the safest choice they could possibly make to atone. I'm not complaining. I liked Ellen fine enough the first time she emceed the ceremony, but I can't even come close to pretending that this has me the least bit excited. Her style of cheery, inoffensive comedy is safe, but the lower the risk, the lower the reward.

Whatever. I'm sure she'll be fine.

Oscar Postmortem Pt. 3: Music

I guess I'm just lucky to fall into the minority of people who actually enjoy song and dance, because there was a lot of it for me to enjoy on Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony. Things got off to an unusual but memorable start with Seth MacFarlane's tongue-in-cheek but controversial “Boobs” song (which speaks more to Hollywood sexism than Seth MacFarlane sexism in my opinion), followed by the odd but inspired pairings of Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron, or Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to join MacFarlane for some vintage swing and soft shoe. Seriously, when will we ever see that specific collection of actors performing together like that? He concludes with a brief, repurposed rendition of "Be Our Guest", always an old favourite:

What a boob!

Tatum and Charlize doing Fred and Ginger. Love the way they look tonight.

I have high hopes of seeing JGL tap into his inner song-and-dance man more often.

Seth's not a bad shoe shuffler himself.

Oscar Postmortem Pt. 2: Seth MacFarlane

Reactions from entertainment writers in the wake of last Sunday's sweet and sour Academy Awards telecast have been mostly sour. Has nobody anything sweet to say about the show or its controversial host Seth MacFarlane? I'm just searching for some sugar, man.

Not that MacFarlane needs me or anyone else to defend him. He's no martyr. The style of frat-boy humour that so annoyed people at the Oscars is that upon which he's built for himself a small TV animation empire. Having gotten away with – and actually thrived on – far grosser comedy in Family Guy and American Dad for so many years makes the 39-year-old millionaire somewhat untouchable.

So why do I feel compelled to debate the vocal masses who have been quick to deem him public enemy #1? Again, it's not because I feel he needs to be defended. Nor is it because I think he did a particularly great job; his own self-deprecating meta review of himself, “Seth MacFarlane Proves to be Mediocre Oscar Host”, is pretty accurate in my opinion. So no, this editorial is not a defence of the man, and it is not a contrarian stand for the minority opinion. Rather, it is a plea for cooler heads and less conclusion-jumping, which are becoming increasingly rare in this digital age of hasty headlines and instant reactions.

Oscar Postmortem Pt. 1: Overview

Well, the 85th Annual Academy Awards came and went, putting a cap on what has been one of the most unusual awards seasons in recent memory. To no one's surprise, Ben Affleck's Argo was crowned the Best Picture of 2012, also taking expected prizes for Chris Terrio's screenplay and William Goldenberg's editing.

One Category at a Time: Original Song

After several years of embarrassment culminated in last year's laughable pair of Best Original Song nominees, the music branch finally got a clue and decided to abolish their asinine grading system, instead just letting the five songs with the most votes be the nominees. They also went the route of screener DVDs, allowing music branch members to evaluate clips of all eligible songs from the comfort of their own home.

The rule changes have instantly paid off with a respectable slate of tunes which we'll probably hear performed on Oscar night. That basically is what this category is for.

My Award nominations: Original Song

Most years I find that I have to grasp at straws a bit in order to find five songs I like enough to justify nominating for Best Original Song. I've only got three down at the moment, but I may flesh it out before announcing my award winners:

UPDATE: So yeah, caught up with Ted recently, and very much dug the song. Nice catch by the Academy's music branch.

Oscar Nominations! ZOMG!

First and foremost, here's the link: http://oscar.go.com/nominees (it's just easier than writing 'em all down).

Second, and more substantially, here are my reactions:

WHOA!WOW!HOLYSHIT!IDON'TBELIEVEIT!AREYOUKIDDINGME!

In a phase 1 as condensed and crazy as this, we could be forgiven for hoping the Academy would throw us a few surprises, and they certainly didn't disappoint. Best Picture was stuffed, boasting nine nominees. Seven of them I anticipated -- Argo, Django, Les Mis, Life of Pi, Lincoln, SLP, and ZDT -- but the two I didn't predict have made me a very happy man; Beasts of the Southern Wild and Amour (along with the aforementioned Argo), represent the three best movies of the year in my opinion, and it's a thrill to see all of them up for the big prize. And I thought I wouldn't have any movies to root for!

Seth Macfarlane set to host Oscars

So I got in from work this afternoon to discover that the Oscar-web was abuzz with some news. The creator of hit animated television series Family Guy and American Dad, Seth MacFarlane, has been confirmed as the host of next year's Academy Awards. Word abounds on Twitter and the like that he will be very involved in the writing process, and that, befitting a man of his musical gifts, there will of course be a musical number.

Normally, I look skeptically upon "TV" personalities hosting the biggest movie event of the year. The hosting gigs by Ellen Degeneres and John Stewart never impressed me, but then again, movie-star hosts can fall flat too. I say it's got potential. MacFarlane's talents as a comedian and singer are considerable, but it all depends on how producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (of the musical series Smash) intend to tap those talents. If they aim for a level of showbiz cheese that's somewhere between Billy Crystal's one-man shtick and Hugh Jackman's all-out razzle dazzle (with only subtle hints of MacFarlan'es new-age smarm), I daresay they may have a winner on their hands. If they try to replicate the sort of raunch and cynicism that's made MacFarlane such a huge success on the small screen (and so help me, one single Family Guy reference is an automatic deal-breaker), then I smell possible disaster. Call me conditionally hopeful.