The Oscars were not all that Bad this Year

I watched the Oscars on Sunday for the first time in years, and I was pleased with some aspects of the program.

Firstly, I thought Jon Stewart did a great job as host. His snarkiness was just what was needed to counterbalance the pretentiousness of the event, and I enjoyed the apparent discomfort of the gathered luminaries during his monologue. For once in a long time, there was a host who did not seem to think that the whole thing was about him.

Secondly, there were no presenters of presenters, and there was a lot less contrived banter between teams of presenters. The presentations were short and to the point, and we were spared interminable acceptance speeches. All in all, I thought the show moved along about as rapidly as it could without shortchanging the prizewinners too much. After all, this is a prize giving ceremony primarily and a TV show secondarily, so you don’t want to surrender too much to TV format. I liked the comedic presentations of Ben Stiller and Wil Farrell and Steve Carell.

I have nothing to say about who won or who was snubbed. I am not a member of the Academy and am, therefore, not entitled to vote. I respect the membership’s right to vote as they please on whatever basis they please. Moreover, I did not see all that many picture shows this year, and it would be the height of jackassery to comment on movies I have not seen.