Top Five Best and Worst Oscar Momentsposted by Mike Ryan - Sun Mar 7 2010, 3:32 PM PST
Photo: Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com8Awards season is now, mercifully, over. The prognosticating and pontificating got to be a little much, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun to close it all out with the 82nd annual Academy Awards. Though there were only a few surprises as far as the awards go, many memorable moments will have people talking for the rest of the week... or maybe even the rest of the year. If you find yourself lacking in Oscar knowledge and want to participate in Monday's conversation around the water cooler, here are the five best and five worst moments they're most likely talking about.
Best "Simultaneously Heartwarming and Humorous Speech": Sandra Bullock
In the span of a few moments, the best-actress winner elicited uproarious laughter and even made her hubby, Jesse James, get a little misty. "Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?” she quipped upon taking the stage. It wasn't the last laugh she got from the audience, which is remarkable considering she also gave a heartstring-tugging, detailed thank-you to her mother, who died 10 years ago next month.
Best "This Is the Same Person Who Directed 'Point Break'?" Award: Kathryn Bigelow
To put things mildly, Bigelow had a big night. Not only is she the first woman to ever win as best director, but her film, "The Hurt Locker," also led the evening with six wins -- including best picture. Not to mention, she got to have this night sitting right in front of her ex-husband, "Avatar" director James Cameron.
Best "Onstage Assembly of a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess and a Criminal" Award: The John Hughes Tribute
Molly Ringwald delivered a touching tribute to John Hughes while Matthew Broderick introduced a montage of Hughes' films by admitting, that every day of his life, someone taps him on the shoulder and says (in a thick New York accent), "Hey Ferris, is today your day off?" The pair was soon joined on stage by other Hughes regulars Ally Sheedy, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, Jon Cryer and Anthony Michael Hall, and the Internet was soon flooded with memories of the late director's work.
Best "Most Sincere Surprise" Award: "Push" Screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher
All of the so-called experts said "Up in the Air" was a shoo-in for the best adapted screenplay award, which might explain why Fletcher -- who adapted the novel "Push" by Sapphire for the "Precious" screenplay -- seemed so genuinely struck by gratitude in his acceptance speech. "This is for everybody who works on a dream every day," Fletcher said, once he found his words through his nearly palpable emotion.
Best "Emotional Roller Coaster" Award: Gabourey Sidibe.
An elated Sidibe was having the time of her life at the beginning of the ceremony, vamping away onstage with all of the other best-actor and best-actress nominees. Later, tearful emotion got the best of her when Oprah introduced her before the best-actress award was handed out. No other nominee came close to expressing this wide a range of emotions. To be fair, who wouldn't get emotional if Oprah were talking about them? Somewhere James Frey is still crying, too.
Worst "Trying Not to Anger the King of the World While Mocking the King of the World" Award: Ben Stiller
The rumor had it that Sacha Baron Cohen was going to dress up as a blue-skinned "Avatar" Na'vi while Stiller translated. Who knows if that scenario would've gone over better, but it was not easy to watch the yellow-eyed comedian try to make Na'vi jokes while a not-entirely-amused James Cameron watched. Even Stiller had to admit that the sketch "seemed like a better idea in rehearsal."
Diaz and Carell were presenting the Oscar for best animated feature when, after a long-winded setup about how good-looking they both are, Diaz referred to Carell as "Jude." You see, Jude Law was "supposed" to be presenting the award with Diaz. You see, Law is a good-looking man and apparently Carell isn't. It's not clear which was worse -- that the moment could've been an orchestrated joke, or that it flopped so hard.
Worst "An Oscar Producer Must Have Just Watched 'Necessary Roughness' on DVD" Award: Kathy Ireland
At least, that's the only plausible explanation of why Ireland was selected to conduct red carpet interviews for ABC before the awards ceremony. Ireland was not, as they say in the business, "a natural." At one point she thanked a stunned Zac Efron three times for an interview and looked at him in bewilderment when he wouldn't walk away. Somewhere, Joan Rivers is calling her agent.
Worst "Couldn't They Have Just Shown Us the Dance Number from '(500) Days of Summer' Instead?" Award: Legion of Extraordinary Dancers
Oscar winners were warned to keep their speeches under 45 seconds. Apparently the Academy used the extra time to present an extended -- boy, was it extended -- dance montage to introduce the Oscar for best original score. Michael Giacchino won the award for "Up." Giacchino mentioned in his speech that being creative "is not a waste of time." Apparently Giacchino was not paying attention to the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.
Worst "Kanye West" Award: Elinor Burkett.
Or, as she is now known on Twitter: Crazy Red Hair Lady. "Music by Prudence" director Roger Ross Williams was right smack in the middle of his acceptance speech for winning best documentary short when Burkett, one of the film's producers, jumped onstage and interrupted the director by saying, "Isn't that just the classic thing," implying that it was unfair to have the male director speak rather than a female producer. She didn't even have the decency to say, "I'ma let you finish."