"And I'm guessing we won't see any lifetime acievement awards for Jamie Foxx."
Really? Why, exactly? Ray didn't blow my ass off either, but Foxx was excellent in that, Collateral, and Ali. He's an incredibly charismatic, funny, good-lucking black actor. He can have a Will Smith-style career if he wants to, and make Oscar bait every few years if he feels like it. I'm just curious why you don't think he has a shot at having a viable long term film career, especially considering he now has an Oscar.
I really doubt he'll get another role that will allow him to shine like Ray did ... and I still think Ray was pretty hollow.
Didn't see Collateral, but I liked him in Ali in a small role.
Clearly I'm in a minority here, but I just find something lacking in everything I've seen him do.
I don't remember him in Ali, but I thought he was freakin' terrible in Collateral as soon as he had to play heavy emotion; and Ray was an extraordinairy impression and nothing more -- as soon as the glasses came off in the Ray-can-see dream sequence, you realize he doesn't look at all like Ray Charles, the well-crafted mannerisms melt away, and you're left with a guy who can't really act. It's crazy to me that he won -- we now live in a world where Jamie Foxx has an Oscar. This means he'll be cast in more leading roles, and without a recognizable impression to hide behind he'll just be inadequate.
Yeah, absolute horror that Brando didn't get a special segment. Katherine Hepburn got one last year, Kubrick got one when he died, and Carson got one this year. As beloved as Johnny Carson was, nobody can argue that he did more to shape American film than Brando. The Academy holding that grudge is unforgivable.
Chris Rock was great -- didn't let the new format bully him l
(oops, as I was saying)
Chris Rock was great, didn't let the new format bully him like so many talented comics have. He stuck to his game (pacing, hand-held mic, his own material) which brought him the success that garnered the hosting invite in the first place. I think a lot of comics get in the tux and pin on the lav mic and freeze. Chris Rock was also fearless in teasing Hollywood's current golden-boy (Jude Law) and self-effacing in teasing himself. Good showing, wish there was more of him.
Abe,
I completely disagree with you: Chris Rock wasn't that funny. His funniest moment was with Adam Sandler, doing Catherine Zeta-Jones's lines. Fearless? Please. It lacked any bite, and made fun of easy, predictable targets like Hellboy and Cuba Gooding's career. Did someone order a zinger? Also funny was the segment at the Magic Johnson Theatre that presented the confused thesis that the Oscars are for white people movies and that black people like admittedly shitty films.
Sincerely,
the Internet
PS Please stop emailing me pictures of you flexing.
I wrote, very specifically, that he was "fearless in teasing Hollywood's current golden-boy (Jude Law)." I know this may have been confusing, Max -- sometimes when words are used in direct correspondence to their definitions, configured in a sequence to express a meaning, it gets a little overwheling, and one tends to lash out because someone ridiculed their boyfriend Jamie Foxx (who, as you adeptly pointed out, is very "good-lucking"). Cuba Gooding Jr. and Hellboy were safe and simple, but Jude Law is riding high right now, and Chris Rock sent him up in a room full of his buddies when he probably knew (as Sean Penn confirmed) that many of them would be uncomfortable. And he did it anyway. I mostly just think Rock didn't let the format dictate his style, but brought his style to the format. The Oscars limit comics, and he was funnier, more himself, and less confined than any host in recent memory. And I was flexing in those pictures to show you the whole area of the rash.
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