Neil Patrick Harris: I was rooting for him to do well. And he did a lot of the time – a couple of times he was great. But, all in all, too overdone, contrived and snarky for my taste.
Best Picture: Neither my wife nor I liked Birdman. Though the acting was excellent, we thought it was an annoying, way-too-cutesy inside joke for people in the entertainment industry. I probably would have gone with either The Theory Of Everything or The Imitation Game
Best Director: Ditto about Birdman. I thought Wes Anderson should have gotten it for Grand Budapest Hotel – or, just on the combination of longevity and creativity, Richard Linklater for Boyhood.
Best Actor: Months ago, I wrote that Eddie Redmayne was amazing as Stephen Hawking. I\’m very glad he won and his acceptance speech seemed sincere (though you never know – remember, he won for being able to convincingly play someone he is not).
Best Actress – Everyone expected Julianne Moore to win, so no surprise there. I didn\’t see the movie, so I can\’t comment.
Best Supporting Actor: J. K. Simmons is a tremendous actor. I didn\’t see the movie, but I\’m glad he won – and I loved his admonition about talking, not texting or emailing, to the people you love.
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette was excellent but I thought Keira Knightley was even better in The Imitation Game (is it just me, or does her otherwise beautiful appearance suffer from her teeth?)
And one other thing: how in god\’s name could they leave out Joan Rivers when doing the “In Memoriam” segment for movie people who died last year? Wasn\’t she funny enough at the makeup counter with Miss Piggy in “The Muppets Take Manhattan”? Or as the hysterical Dot Matrix in “Spaceballs”? Does the fact that she wrote the movie “Rabbit Test” count? And how many years was she the only reason watching the “red carpet\’ pre-Oscar show was worthwhile? What an amazingly stupid snub.
OK, back to politics where “best” awards are a lot harder to come by….and there is a lot less competition for them.
