The Academy knew that they would be getting an untraditional Oscars ceremony by hiring Seth MacFarlane to host. And that is indeed what they received on Sunday night when theFamily Guy creator opened the 85th Annual Academy Awards by introducing William Shatner (costumed as his Star Trekcharacter, Captain Kirk, in the future) to help save MacFarlane from ruining the show and receiving scathing reviews. The time-travel device allowed MacFarlane to preempt his critics and also perform the left-field sketches that his fans might appreciate, like an opening musical number devoted entirely to the breasts bared on-screen in 2012, under the guise of “this is what Captain Kirk is advising you not to do.” In addition to the raunchy song-and-dance, “Worst Host Ever” MacFarlane subjected viewers to a brief sock-puppet re-enactment of Flightand an uncomfortable, sexually charged exchange with Sally Field while the host was dressed as the Flying Nun backstage. To redeem this “alternate universe” disaster, MacFarlane welcomed Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron onstage for an Old Hollywood dance number, introduced Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe for more dancing, and unfurled a monologue that alternately drew big laughs and audible groans from the audience.
Even if you weren’t a fan of Seth MacFarlane’s hosting style or material—three of his worst-received jokes referred to Chris Brown and Rihanna, Mel Gibson, and John Wilkes Booth—capable presenters, charming speeches, and even a few surprise wins redeemed the show. The most surprising presenter, it turned out, was Michelle Obama, who appeared via satellite from the White House. Handing out the best-picture award, she promptly stole the thunder of both the previous victor, Daniel Day-Lewis (who made Oscars history by winning his third best-actor statue), and the previous presenter, Jack Nicholson, who shuffled onstage like he was late for a business lunch. Flanked by uniformed White House servicemen and women, the First Lady revealed that Argo, as predicted, had won the headliner category. The film’s director, Ben Affleck, who was notoriously overlooked by the Academy for a best-director nomination, alluded to the snub, saying, “Don’t hold a grudge. It’s hard, but don’t.” The writer/actor/director also thanked Canada and Iran, whereArgo was set and, immediately after, his wife, Jennifer Garner, “whom I don’t usually associate with Iran.”
In the Affleck-less best-director category, Life of Pifilmmaker Ang Lee took the top honor, thanking his wife of nearly 30 years as star Suraj Sharma teared up in the audience. As predicted, Jennifer Lawrence won best actress for her work in Silver Linings Playbook. Clad in a long, light-pink Dior gown, Lawrence tripped on the stairs up to the stage, eliciting an alarmed, gentlemanly response from first-row nominee Hugh Jackman. When she finally made it to the podium, she joked before a standing ovation, “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell down,” before remembering to wish a happy birthday to fellow best-actress contender Emmanuelle Riva, who turned 86 on Sunday. On a slightly less humble note, supporting actress winner Anne Hathaway began her acceptance speech proclaiming, “It came true!” In the complementary category, Christoph Waltz managed to edge out veteran supporting-actor nominees Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, and Alan Arkin with a win for Django Unchained. Adele took original song for “Skyfall” after performing the James Bond theme live for the first time ever. Quentin Tarantino won his second original-screenplay title (his first was forPulp Fiction), before declaring 2013 a “writers’ year” and managing to silence the playoff music. (Tarantino’s effective wave-off of the inelegant cue, which sounded especially loud and obtrusive this year, was a minor win of the evening.)
And in perhaps the biggest shock of the night, Mark Wahlberg announced what ABC tallies to be the fifth official tie in Academy Award history. Responding to the crowd’s gasp, Wahlberg, who was presenting with his eponymous Ted co-star, assured the audience that he was not joking by alerting them, “No B.S.,” before awarding the sound-editing statuettes toZero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. Less equivocally, Amourwon best foreign film, Searching for Sugar Man for documentary feature, Anna Karenina for costume design, and Les Misérables for best makeup and hairstyle.
In terms of performances, Dame Shirley Bassey leveled the Dolby Theatre audience with a rousing rendition of “Goldfinger.” For the number, which was featured as part of the show’s James Bond tribute, Bassey wore head-to-toe gold sequins, including elbow-length gloves. Both she and Jennifer Hudson—who sang “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going,” from Dreamgirls—gave such staggering performances that by the time Adele took the stage, the somewhat jaded audience could not even be bothered to give the British Grammy winner a standing ovation. For the first time in 36 years, Barbra Streisand sang at the Oscars—a sweet rendition of “The Way We Were” in tribute to her late collaborator Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away in 2012. And at least eight members of the Les Misérables cast congregated onstage for a live medley so powerful that one viewer snarkily tweeted, “Weird, it’s like this song was WRITTEN FOR THE STAGE.”
For each Shirley Bassey– and Les Misérables–level high, however, there was a commensurate low (as previously suggested in the Seth MacFarlane–Chris Brown/Rihanna–joke portion of this recap). But we can all rest easy knowing two things: It wouldn’t be an Academy Awards show without both extremes. And MacFarlane set out to do one thing at the top of the show: make Tommy Lee Jones laugh. Whether it was at the expense of MacFarlane’s sometimes shaky Oscar-hosting abilities or because of his smart choice of Oscar-orgy monologue material, several cutaways of the perennially gruff-looking nominee cracking his frowning façade proved that he succeeded. Until next year . . .
