A Piece of the (Chris) Rock
Chris Rock on hard work v. easy money
I come not to bury the Oscars but to praise Chris Rock, erstwhile Oscar host and perhaps the funniest man in America, who presented the animation award at the Academy Awards and made the funniest, most pointed speech.
“In the world of animation, you can be anything you wanna be. If you’re a fat woman, you can play a skinny princess. If you’re short wimpy guy, you can play a tall gladiator. If you’re a white man, you can play an Arabian prince. And if you’re a black man, you can play a donkey or a zebra.” [Rock voiced the gravel-voiced zebra in Madagascar, Eddie Murphy the donkey in Shrek.]
“I hate when people go on TV and tell you how hard it is to do animation … No, UPS is hard work. I’ve done some animation … It’s the easiest job in the world. I go in a booth and I go, ‘what’s the line?’ And the guy goes, ‘it’s time to go to the store.’ And I go, ‘it’s time to go to the store!’ … And then they give me a million dollars.”
Your choice for best Oscar moment?
By the way, Rock, a most underutilized talent, is about to appear in “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and Julie Delpy’s “2 Days in New York.” Can’t wait.
Rock was a funny, sharp stone in the shoe of a way too comfortable show last night. The thing is so regimented and time-driven that there is no room for fun and unscripted craziness, the kind we all love..
I thought Rock was great, but I still chuckled hardest at Sandra Bullock’s intro for Best Foreign Language Film. Her “Mandarin” was hysterical, and she pulled it off gracefully. Much better than the banter by Emma Stone and Ben Stiller and Gywneth Paltrow and Robert Downey, Jr.
I still think the best line all award season belonged to Seth Rogan at the Independent Spirit Awards, when he said something along the lines of “DRIVE made Jews so scary, one might have thought Mel Gibson directed it.”
Rock was funny and I enjoyed Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords) when he won for best song. Overall, the show as even duller than normal. I’d like to hear them justify the removal of the honorary awards for another pointless montage which seemed to imply that film history began in 1969, those dumb comments from actors about what makes movies special (We need to know what Adam Sandler thinks about this?) and, worst of all, the Cirque du Soleil timewaster. On Twitter, David Corn asked if perhaps Billy Crystal had overstayed his welcome as hosting to which I replied, “Yes — unfortunately that happened about the fifth time he hosted.” I suggested that a group of us who want an entertaining show storm the theater shortly before air time next year and force them to produce an entertaining broadcast.
I can’t compare it to other years, since I don’t usually watch the Oscars. But given the old, white viewer audience, Billy Crystal was reasonably appropriate and gracious. And I thought his line in the Intro best summed up the self-congratulatory nature of the event: “Nothing takes the sting out of these tough economic times like watching a bunch of millionaires giving golden statues to each other.”
I thought the show was good. Anyone notice Sheila E. playing the timpani in the orchestra balcony? Chris Rock would make a good host – I hope he’s given another opportunity to host the Oscar show in the near future.
Presenters – Christan Bale looked quite dapper but seemed to be on ‘ludes, I enjoyed Emma Stone’s humorous spunkiness. Always enjoy the film clips and I did enjoy Esperanza Spaulding’s singing. The Wizard Of Oz
focus test screening skit should of been much funnier – especially with the talented actors who were part of the skit.
This may have been my favorite moment: https://twitter.com/#!/mattisgrounded/status/173996508025323521/photo/1
I didn’t pick up on the parody when it happened.
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