Oscar Ceremony 2013 Seth MacFarlane Lincoln Joke Gets Booted.
[video]http://youtu.be/u0zlIiONcys[/video]
Maybe there now needs to be some kind of Oscar-joke oversight committee. On the night Daniel-Day Lewis wins an historical third academy award for cinematically bringing a revered U.S. president to life, the Oscar host makes an obscene joke about Lincoln’s assassination?
Then there was an entire musical number devoted to essentially reducing the work of many of Hollywood’s top leading actresses to pornography. At least one actress looked stricken. Who writes this stuff? In future dictionaries, beneath the words “smarm” and “bad taste” will appear links to videos of the 2013 Oscars opening number.
That being said, the 2013 movie field was top-drawer. It was a night of many firsts, first actor to win three academy awards, two first time winners, and a youngest-ever actress nominee.
Since, from a cynical perspective, the Oscars exist to drum up excitement and get more moviegoers into movie theaters, here follows a short list of must-sees:
“Lincoln”: a tour de force to top them all. Daniel Day-Lewis is a shape-shifting wizard, an international acting treasure. See this film to appreciate a master thespian in his finest hour.
“Argo”: Ben Affleck was always a passable actor but turned out to be a mega-talented director and producer. Hollywood knows it’s struck gold—Affleck’s a ticket to many future successes.
“Searching for Sugar Man”: A legendary homeless Detroit musician rumored is to have had the potential to be bigger than Bob Dylan. His music somehow found its way to South Africa and fueled the entire Apartheid revolution. He was nobody here, and Elvis over there.
“Zero Dark Thirty”: history’s greatest manhunt for Osama Bin Laden. Featuring an Oscar-nominated turn by Juilliard-trained Jessica Chastain.
“Silver Linings Playbook”: A man loses everything, goes to the loony bin, comes back to live with his parents. He meets a girl with problems as complicated as his own. Jennifer Lawrence wins Best Actress.
“Life of Pi”: A boy stranded in a small boat with an untamed and completely believable CGI tiger named “Robert Parker.” It’s an oceanic vision quest, with 3D flying fish, breeching whales, and deep insights into the human soul.
Our American movies are mostly plagued with hyper-violence and gratuitous sex these days, as our appetites demand more and more stimulation. American movies and music are arguably the most direct influencers of America’s moral standard, and to a large extent, the world’s. The Oscar movies listed above raise the standard. Too bad the same can’t be said for the Oscar hosting.
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