Best Oscar Show In Last Decade

The Academy Awards live broadcast finally has a dim of hope - last night's Oscars show was probably the best in the last decade. Seth MacFarlane proved to be an excellent choice as the new host - he was comfortable in his own skin, self-deprecating and not afraid to make some bold jokes. The authorities picked him because they thought he might attract a younger audience with his Family Guy and Ted fame. While we're still waiting for the Nielsen numbers to see whether the desired demographics tuned in or not, this boomer and others were glued to the TV set last night. In fact, it was quite difficult to get up from the couch and do other tasks such as taking a shower or going for a bathroom break.

MacFarlane even looked good in his white tux. I read that he has consulted veteran host Billy Crystal who has given him some tips. I've always liked Crystal, but let's not forget - MacFarlane is much younger, looks good and can sing!

Having Captain Kirk (the very overweight Canadian William Shatner) beamed in to offer his two cents worth and inviting First Lady Michelle Obama to announce the Best Picture at the end were pleasant surprises. The song and dance portions, including goddess-like Charlize Theron dancing a number with the Hollywood 'it' boy at the moment, Channing Tatum (Tatum strutted his stuff in Magic Mike and the Step Up movies while Theron was trained as a ballet dancer and performed in New York productions of Swan Lake and the Nutcracker); the entire principal cast ensemble from Les Miserables performing on stage; Barbra Streisand singing The Way We Were in memory of the late Marvin Hamlisch and for the first time at the Oscars in 36 years; Dame Shirley Bassey performing for the first time ever at the Academy Awards; all added to the glamour and pizzazz that the Awards show should represent.

Because it's MacFarlane writing some of the materials, the show was also fun for the first time in years - Mark Wahlberg and his teddy bear buddy cracking a few jokes (Ted was a successful Seth MacFarlane creation); Joseph Gordon-Levitt performing a duet with Daniel Radcliffe; and the muppets reenacting the cockpit scene in Flight were all good fun to watch.

I also like the pairing of the presenters - children of film legends who are now legends themselves (Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas); the lead cast of Chicago celebrating its 10th anniversary in film; the lead actors from The Avengers (but where's Scarlett Johansson?); the physically-opposite Charlize Theron and Dustin Hoffman. These are the people and the reasons why we love to go to movies. Obviously there was the usual protocol to expect - last year's award winners respectively gave out this year's Oscars. But the ceremony seemed to be shorter this year even though in duration, it was still three-and-a-half-hour long. The program also wisely shrunk the tributes and lifetime awards into reports from earlier ceremonies rather than having the actual ceremonies live.

The only surprises of the coveted Awards were only good ones - Life Of Pi won Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effect and Best Cinematography - and most of them associated with Canadian artists. I was also overjoyed to see my favourite director Quintin Tarantino winning the Best Original Screenplay for Django Unchained, a brilliant movie on slavery emancipation.

The evening's best-dressed awards should go to Charlize Theron with her stunning short hair and in a white Dior gown and Catherine Zeta-Jones in a gold-sequined Zuhair Murad gown. Overgilded, according to some fashion critics? Well, they have no idea what glamour means!

Was the show perfect? Of course, not. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, they should have all lead actors of the Bond movies all appearing on stage. I'm also tired of Jack Nicholson and his sunglasses. The production team of the Academy Awards show, get rid of Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep next year, keep MacFarlane as the host, and surprise us even more: then perhaps your show might even be a resounding success in the near future!

Painful But Honest Masterpiece About Power of Love

I finally got a chance to go see the critically-acclaimed Amour. And I'm now convinced that this will win the Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Movie.

The film, directed by Austrian Michael Haneke, deserves to sweep the 2012 Palm d'Or at Cannes, two awards (Best Leading Actress and Best Film Not in the English Language) at the 66th British Academy Film Awards and four awards at the 25th European Film Awards.

What a great salute to senior film-makers and actors - director Michael Haneke just turned 70 and the two principal actors in the film, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, are both in their 80s. This is particularly a big feat for the director to have successfully brought Trintignant on board as the actor has retired from films since 1998! Emmanuelle Riva is not only beyond excellent in her role as the dying Anne, but she's also stunning at 86, both with or without clothes.

European movies are always more subtle and potent than North American ones, but this film manages to invite us, the audience, to participate in and observe the long and painful process of the body withering away. Ninety percent of the film was shot within the elegant Parisian apartment and we're witnessing just daily chores of what could be happening to ourselves or to our friends' families. But the apartment, as well as our bodies, could be prisons and the film is painful to watch because all of us either have experienced this kind of pain or, even worse, to see the cinematic mirror reflecting the imminent winter of our our own aging bodies!

The director is honest and minimalistic, but at the same time, brutal and raw in depicting the pain and truth of mortality. What's happening with the well-cultured and well-to-do octogenarians could happen to many, many others in different parts of the world. The couple has always been self-reliant throughout their lives and until the very end. Unfortunately, boomer kids are depicted as useless and only enhance the burden of the helpless couple. Yes, life is cruel, but it's also beautiful according to Anne (played by Riva)who's leafing through her photo albums during her last days.

We're never told what exactly happened to Georges (played by Trintignant) towards the end; but this is where I'm interested in comparing notes with my friends because the conclusion is subject to different interpretations. And, of course, the metaphor of the visiting pigeon and how Georges described it in his letter.

We learn from this movie that love is passionate, caring, routinely and fun; but more importantly, it's cruel, poignant, strong, violent and it eventually does come to an end like our frail bodies!