Let it snow

I didn't notice it as much the few times there was a hint of winter weather in the Atlanta area, but now that I'm back in the New York area, I now see that the local network affiliates are running school closings in the crawl. It's a big change from when I grew up where the only places you could depend on for school closings in my area were this local AM station and its sister FM station. The Web helps out the process as well, as does the Cablevision News 12 stations, but I guess you can also thank the increased use of the crawl, so even the network affiliates can run school closings without taking time from the rest of the news.

Oscar blog 2007

I haven't done this in a while, but since I'm not working on Oscar night for the first time in a while, why not do the self-indulgent award telecast blog. I've only seen two of the five nominated films (The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine) and not that movies in general this year (is it a bad sign when the movie I was most excited for was Clerks II?), so I can't necessarily tell what's good and what's bad. But here we go with the rundown. Sorry for the length.

8:30: Cute testimonials by all the nominees in the intro. And I mean all the nominees. But mixing all the folks in the smaller categories with the bigger names almost screamed for some identifiers. At the same time, I think I was waiting for the guys from the Mac commercial to show up.

8:35: Now that's a nice payoff. Please stand if you've been nominated. Jack Nicholson, please sit down.

8:36: Ellen ready to deal some blackjack, I take it.

8:37: Most international Oscars ever. Neat. So what about that globalization? At least you can't outsource seat fillers, right?

8:39: Nice projection of your own nerves on the nominees, Ellen.

8:42: American Idol joke segues into Al Gore election joke. Of course it goes over well with this crowd.

8:43: Steve Carell: "Why the hell was I part of that joke?"

8:43: "If there were no Blacks, Jews or gays, there would be no Oscars." And James Dobson weeps.

8:44: Interesting to see who gets it by dancing with the choir that randomly appears.

8:45: Nicole Kidman seems to want to stay away from James Bond. And I always thought one of the supporting acting categories was first, so we don't switch the channel away after the monologue. Oh well, eye candy will keep people watching art direction.

8:46: Pan's Labyrinth opens up the ceremony with a win. Never saw it. Probably won't.

8:48: So Maggie Gyllenhaal drew the "hot young actress" card to host the technical awards. Not necessarily my choice, as much as I find her attractive. But I guess they needed to find a way to get her into the mix if she wasn't going to be nominated.

8:50: I guess Don LaFontaine sounds different saying his name instead of prefacing something with "In a world ..."

8:53: Ricky Bobby mentioned at the Oscars? Ah, I see. Comedians aren't allowed to do well at the Oscars. And Will Ferrell (nice 'fro, dude) and Jack Black are sort of proving why. And then there's John C. Reilly proving you can be funny and do serious stuff. However, when he did Talladega Nights, most people were surprised he'd "stoop that low" to do it. On the other hand, there was a bit of a subversive element in saying that the only way a comic actor will get nominated is to do some overly earnest film.

8:57: And so all of that silly leadup to give out makeup awards?

8:58: Pan's Labyrinth wins again. OK, the other options were a Mel Gibson movie and an Adam Sandler movie. What do you think will win? But the one guy is pissed to be cut off.

8:59: And now for the kids portion of the show. Cute. Of course, they're giving out the animation awards.

9:01: And oops. Will Smith's kid is already reading ahead on the teleprompter. I dare say he won't be the first to screw that up. Still not as good as the guy at the Grammys who was reading the prompts as well as the text giving out an award. Or, for that matter, Felicity Huffman screwing up Shareeka Epps name twice when giving her the award at the Independent Spirit Awards, calling her Shakeera. And thus prompting Sarah Silverman to say that next year the awards would be hosted by Fecility Huffman.

9:03: Ah, they're giving out both shorts categories. Because they're kids, and they're short. How clever.

9:04: Little Miss Sunshine has to bail out the Little Fresh Prince. But dude, West Bank Story. That's just too cool of a title, and apparently a concept for a short.

9:11: Sound effects choir? Is there going to be an award people actually care about before 10 p.m.? By the way, can't we just get Mr. Foley to show up? Or Fred Newman (who somehow has a new version of Mouthsounds in bookstores)? Meanwhile, Michael Winslow is weeping at home.

9:17: Jessica Biel and the other guy in the Idi Amin movie present an award. OK, then.

9:21: Hey, finally a "major award" (leg lamp not included). It is kinda weird seeing Kelly Leak after all those years, never mind up for an Oscar. And I guess it's about time for Marky Mark to get a nod, too.

9:23: Wow. Alan Arkin scores the upset over Eddie Murphy and Marky Mark. I didn't see that coming, even though I liked him and the movie. Did Norbit screw him over? I doubt it. But at least Will Ferrell's rant about not winning

9:26: Oy. More interpretive dance.

9:30: Time for I Love the '70s with Randy Newman and James Taylor. And I guess it's a best song block with Melissa Ethridge next. So I guess Dreamgirls has the big number later.

9:36: So Al Gore and Leonard DiCaprio are saying how green the Oscars are. But what about the actual moviemaking process? By the way, I think losing an election could be the best thing to reach some sort of pop culture hipness. First it was Bob Dole. And now it's Gore.

9:42: I'm still not sure how I feel about Cameron Diaz as a brunette, but she is a decent fit to give out the animated feature award. I guess the Oscars still love penguins, and the disappointed animated characters are a nice touch.

9:45: Yes, Ben Affleck has an Oscar. For screenwriting. We sometimes forget about that, as much as I loved Good Will Hunting.

9:48: The writing montage is amusing, but an even more interesting fact that I learned this week is that one of my fantasy sports colleagues earned a Razzie nomination for writing Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.

9:49: Nice 1-2 punch of star power with Mirren and Hanks. But this early? And giving out adapted screenplay?

9:50: You're mispronouncing Borat, Helen.

9:52: The Departed gets its first win. Not a big surprise there. But that screenwriter seemed to embodying the spirit of Mitch Hedberg.

9:54: How much longer until that Disney contract runs out, Chris Connelly? And was he really meant to run into the people involved in that last award?

9:56: Commerical break: Why am I not surprised that's what Wes Anderson looks like that? Neat commercial, but it's not the Bruce Campbell Old Spice one, either.

9:59: Wardrobe change for Ellen, complete with a Bjorn. Nice segue into the costume category, given out by the women from the Devil Wears Prada. Did they have to stay in character? I guess so. And live action mannequins. That works for me. Seems better than just seeing sketches. But altogether, it looks like The Price Is Right or Family Feud.

10:03: Marie Antoinette wins. Not a big surprise. To win costume design, you've got to pick something very showy and very old. Which I guess knocked out Showgirls, The Queen and The Devil Wears Prada.

10:05: We have a Tom Cruise sighting, but to give a humanitarian award to NU's own Sherry Lansing. What's amusing is that the first time I knew about her and the fact that she was an alum was in one of those Northwestern TV ads they showed during football and basketball games years ago. Yeah, I actually paid attention to at least one of those collegiate propaganda spots.

10:10: More awkward spots between Ellen and the nominees. And forget about Mrs. Eastwood, let's give the camera to Spielberg, he knows how to use one of those.

10:12: Gwyneth's dress almost as pale as she is. And another win for Pan's Labyrinth? Is it this year's Memoirs of a Geisha? Lots of the pretty awards, but nothing for the ones people actually pay attention to.

10:16: Interpretive dance again? At least it doesn't waste that much time.

10:20: Nicole Kidman draws James Bond, while BFF Naomi Watts draws Robert Downey Jr. Gee, I wonder who wins there.

10:21: Wait a minute, this is a category where I've seen the majority of the nominees. OK, so it's two of three, and it's for visual effects, so it's the summer blockbusters, but whatever. Well, the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel does get an Oscar, no matter how bad it might've been.

10:24: Foreigners giving out the best foreign language film. What a concept. But first, a montage, minus subtitles, of course.

10:29: Oh wait. So Deneuve and Watanabe only introduced a montage? I guess they needed more star power with Clive Owen and Cate Blanchette, who are better suited to pronounce the nominees.

10:31: That's an upset with the German film winning over Pan's Labyrinth, which had won a bunch of the pretty awards already. Wait, the producer is thanking Arnold Schwarzenegger in his speech. Yikes.

10:33: OK, they had interpretive dance to Snakes on a Plane. God help us all.

10:33: Cue George Clooney. Cue Al Gore? Whatever.

10:35: No upset here. Jennifer Hudson does win Best Supporting Actress. By the way, don't blame Simon Cowell for her not winning AI. Blame the people voting.

10:42: Uber-hipness reigns for Documentary Short Subject presenters.

10:44: Jerry Seinfeld at the Oscars? To award Best Documentary Feature? OK, so he was part of a documentary feature that I did see, and wasn't all that bad.

10:45: Gee, I'm waiting for that jazzy music to play behind his monologue. Seriously, is he the guy who should be presenting this award?

10:48: Should anyone be surprised that Al Gore's film won? So the Clintons have a Grammy, but Gore's got an Oscar. I guess he's got two words for Bill and Hillary?

10:50: Clint's bobbling his way through Ennio Morricone's honorary Oscar: "I should've worn my glasses." But I guess he's more than just The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

10:55: Celine Dion shows up to sing the equivalent of a song from the new album. Morricone looks absolutely thrilled to be there, but he did get a standing ovation, which is nice. ... Hey, Quincy Jones is in his box.

11:00: So Clint goes from stumbling on his lines to Italian translator. He really is multi-talented.

11:04: Commericial break: Well, that GM robot ad did get retooled after the Super Bowl. It's a better message than the suicide one, I guess. And I do like having "All By Myself" as the song playing behind it, even if I'll have to hear it a few more times on this season of Idol.

11:06: I guess it makes sense to do best score after honoring Morricone, but after a commercial. Babel gets a win, although honestly I have no idea how to pick the winners for Best Score anymore.

11:09: Everyone still has fun with Jack Nicholson even if he's not nominated. And that bald look ain't all that bad.

11:10: The leader of the AMPAS talks about the Academy really fast. Where's John Moschitta when

11:11: Spider-Man and Mary Jane present together. I thought they used to be attractive. By the way, the reading of the actual screenplay is a tad weird but I guess useful.

11:14: Little Miss Sunshine wins Best Original Screenplay. Is this the consolation prize for the hip, pseudo-indy film of the year that doesn't win the big prize (see The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Sideways, Lost In Translation) or is the sign of things to come?

11:20: Somewhat fitting for J-Lo to introduce the Dreamgirls songs. Oddly, though, she seemed a bit matronly in her getup, at least compared to others like her.

11:28: John Travolta and Queen Latifah. OK then. But I guess it works for both of them to give out Best Original Song.

11:29: I guess the Dreamgirls songs canceled each other out, which is a shame but not surprising. This category has produced some odd choices in recent years, and in this case, the Academy opted to honor Al Gore again via Melissa Ethridge. At least Randy Newman already has an Oscar, so he can't feel too bad about losing again. Note for those filling out Oscar pools next year -- choose the most anachronistic Oscar-winning song. (see Three 6 Mafia, Eminem)

11:35: We're already over the time limit and now the Fresh Prince is introducing another film montage. By the way, where's the obit reel where we can gauge the popularity of the dead people? My guess of the telecast running 23 minutes over is going to be off by a good amount.

11:40: Here comes editing, so we're just about home free of the "other" awards. But it's looking better for The Departed with another award. Plus, a random cutaway to bald Jack, who I guess will be presenting an award shortly.

11:44: Ah, here's the obit reel, introduced by Jody Foster.

11:48: Pretty even keel on the applause, especially with a lot of notable names passing. Nice to see them finish with Robert Altman.

11:51: Another monochromatic costume change for Ellen. First reddish, then white, then blue. I guess she eventually need to look more like Dori.

11:54: Count another chalk pick with Helen Mirren winning for The Queen. Solid field this year, although it seemed like this year's nominee list was built off a template.

12:00: It's midnight Eastern, so Ellen's gotta vacuum. Cute effect.

12:01: Now that she's separated, Reese Witherspoon lets her hair grow out. Works for me.

12:04: No sentimental/sympathy vote for Peter O'Toole here. Forest Whitaker gets a deserving award. Two of the past three Best Actor winners are now African-American, after not having one for years.

12:06: Ya think Marty's going to win the Oscar if they're bringing out Coppola, Spielberg and Lucas to present Best Director?

12:08: Yup. About time. Although I really did like The Departed.

12:12: Nice pairing of Keaton and Nicholson to give out Best Picture, although Jack's voice is already gone. Probably for the best.

12:14: Jack can stick around after all to relish in The Departed winning the top prize. That was my choice, granted I only saw two of the nominees.

12:17: And that's a wrap. Ellen was a quirky but decent host, pretty much like she's done elsewhere. I'd probably try someone else next year since I don't think she's a long-term answer. By the way, we never did see the accountants like we usually do.