Arts: Let's Talk Oscars

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Movies Let's Talk Oscars Leave Anne Hathaway alone, Internet. By Dan Kois Posted Monday, Feb 25, 2013, at 09:52 PM ET Troy and Dana, I, too, loved that Sound of Music gag, which combined the thing Seth MacFarlane does best—granularly specific pop-culture references—and the kind of gentle barb that I appreciate in the midst of the Oscars' hilarious display of self-regard. (Plummer, of course, seems to hate The Sound of Music, and I am delighted that he was reminded of his best-ever movie, now 48 years old, just before his self-aggrandizing bit about how all five Supporting Actress nominees will be working with him soon if they're lucky.) Troy, I won't go as far as you do in calling this the best Oscar ceremony you can remember, but I will say that anyone who thinks Seth MacFarlane was an embarrassment as Oscar host has a really short memory for Oscar hosts. He can sell a joke, he can ad-lib, and he's got the golden pipes of an old-timey radio announcer. Approximately half his jokes were lousy, and a handful were actively embarrassing. I would describe him as worse than Alec and Steve, Chris Rock, and Letterman, and basically as good as everyone else for the last 20 years. Except he was better than Franco and Hathaway. As for La Hathaway's win this year, Dana, I had high hopes for the awfulsomeness of her speech, and that initial breathy whisper—so stagey, yet so obviously true!—made me briefly excited to think it might wind up an epochal event. But then it devolved into an earnest ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate UPDATE: Not Even the Onion Thought Its Quvenzhane Wallis Tweet Was Funny Argo, F--k Yourself Are Cable Companies Hoping Usage-Based Internet Access Will Help Thwart Netflix?	Advertisement
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