Wolverine’s X-Factor Saves Oscars
The Lily the Pink Perspective
From the moment Hugh Jackman was announced as the host of the 81st Annual Academy Awards we were assured a very musical ceremony. However, the night still held a few surprises, and the opener held more than its fair share of them. For one thing, who knew Wolverine was THAT charismatic? He took what could have been a cheesy, slightly conceited opening song-and-dance number and injected it with personality. Granted, he got a little help from Anne Hathaway who showed the world a damned passable Nixon imitation and that she could sing, but for the most part it was all Jackman and he owned it. He most assuredly bought himself a little gratitude from the Academy, and in doing so made himself just a little bit hotter in most of our eyes, if that’s even possible.
Then there was the “kinder, gentler, we’re accessible and just like you, touchy feely” method of delivering the awards for the acting categories. Five previous winners of the award gushed, in turn, about their assigned nominee before the winner was announced. This helped make these awards feel less like an industry praising itself, and more like peers lauding peers, but it also failed horribly at times. When Shirley McLaine stammered a bit through her Anne Hathaway love-fest it broke the spell and made you think Anne Hathaway had just been bullshitted to the point of tears. Yet, when it worked it really worked. When De Niro read his scripted kudos to Sean Penn he ad libbed enough to show the sentiment was genuine, and you felt he was truly proud to be standing there talking about a good friend.
The rest of the show was fairly predictable. Most of the world had money on Slumdog Millionaire, so few were surprised it took home Best Picture. Everyone agreed it was going to be Winslet’s night, and it was, and, in the wake of the Prop 8 it was expected that Milk would be rewarded. Afterall, Sean Penn kissed a man–well–and made us believe he meant it. His portrayal was deserving, but his award for it was yawningly predictable. However Penn himself is anything but, and true to his nature, he managed to provide the biggest surprise of the night. Sean Penn can be charming and ingratiating. Who knew?