Daily Awards Buzz & Rumors: Thursday, February 28, 2008

Jeffrey Wells, David Poland and Sasha Stone respond to Oscar suggestions… Nathaniel Rogers on Oscar reactions… The Vulture on Oscar blooper… David Carr still looking for deeper meaning in the Oscars… Anne Thompson ready to be done with it

“L.A. Times columnist Patrick Goldstein has assembled the smartest and most creative suggestions for how to fix the Oscar show that I've read anywhere. I've listed a few, but it can all be boiled down to three words – fire Gil Cates. He's too old to get with the 21st Century program and needs to be put out to pasture – simple. Bring in a producer who’s younger and fresher and more alive-in-the-moment. Somebody in their 60s, I mean.” – Jeffrey Wells has some ideas on how to improve the Oscars at Hollywood Elsewhere

“There's nothing more pathetic than Traditional Media, unable to figure out the current marketplace, explaining to others how the current marketplace should work… What happened to the ratings? It's not complicated. The expected acting winners and the ones who won in upsets were all, pretty much, unknown outside of the arthouse world. ‘Juno’ was the one major box office hit in the group... but as excellent as Ellen Page is, she was the only acting nominee from the film and has not proved to be a 'we have to tune in to see what she says' kind of public personality. The f-ing songs nominated from ‘Enchanted’... a movie most loved by the already committed Oscar viewers.” – David Poland disagrees with the LAT’s own Patrick Goldstein at Movie City News

“You know, I’ve never been one to defend the sometimes silly decisions AMPAS makes, but reading all of the post-game stuff is a bit tiresome. Yes, the show got the worst ratings ever. No, it wasn’t a great show. Yes, it was probably Plan B after all. Here is Patrick Goldstein giving his suggestions as to how to get more eyeballs to tune in…” – Sasha Stone has here own take at Awards Daily

“In Supporting Actor, Javier Bardem is the only one with any readable interesting emotion... so I’m not showing the whole box. Plus Jennifer Hudson killed the drama (it's because she’s not really an actress) by reading the sentence like this: 'and the Oscar goes to Jarvier Bardem'… WHERE WAS THE ELIPSIS? There has to be one or you kill the tiny quintupled drama. Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer. Do-Over.” – Nathaniel Rogers dissects the reactions of the winners (and the losers) at the Film Experience

“While everyone at your Oscar party was falling asleep, lucky viewers in Buffalo, New York, were treated to hilarious, spot-on awards analysis from the anchors at their local ABC News station, whose audio commentary was accidentally broadcast thanks to a technical glitch… Like WKBW’s Keith Radford, we, too, think the Oscars are [expletive] though he’s completely correct when he says ‘No Country’ is ‘the best movie of the year’ despite it just being about ‘a guy with no expression [who] keeps blowing up everything.’ Here's hoping they’ll let Radford live-blog next year's ceremony.” – The Vulture finds quite the Oscar-night blooper at New York magazine

“Have the Oscars and the industry it celebrates become a microcosm of the American economy? Think about it. High costs to market something the consumer doesn’t seem to want; a reliance on imports, as well as on selling a traditional product at a time when consumers have all manner of new options. Then there’s the stubborn unwillingness to meet those consumers on the platform and device of their choosing.” – David Carr keeps thinking about the meaning of Oscars’ low ratings at the New York Times

“I’m so glad the Oscar season is over that the idea of professional Oscar watchers already predicting next year's awards makes me feel, well, tired. But this is their life, 24/7, while I move on to such mundane annual rituals as the ShoWest exhibitor convention in Las Vegas.” – Anne Thompson isn’t ready yet to think about next Oscar season at Variety

(Photo: Ellen Page courtesy Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)