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Movies & TV

Good old Oscar

Popping Justin Bieber into a film montage at the opening of the Oscar telecast does not guarantee you’ll keep the 18 to 25 demographic’s eyeballs. In fact, in just about every way, from winners to presenters – with just a few exceptions – Oscar looked not only old-school but old.

Poor Billy Crsytal. Though the opening montage was funny – gotta love the boy kiss with Clooney – the best picture song medley, aided and abetted by a terrible sound mix was pretty tired.

And let’s be honest, the jokes about the business that used to grace the name of the venue and that dare not speak its name – that’d be Kodak – were a little too subtle.

It didn’t help that the movies that won the most Oscars – The Artist and Hugo – were film industry strokers set in the 30s. (See senior film writer Norman Wilner’s column) and that three of the acting prizes, all of them deserved, to be sure (NOW did see the Streep victory coming) went to veterans.

Plummer, by the way, told NOW before his T.O. run in the one-man show Barrymore why you couldn’t really take an Oscar win too seriously.

Listen to this:

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But he showed no signs of those sentiments when he picked up his supporting actor prize.

Even his director in Beginners, Mike Mills, told me I was “fantasizing” when I asked if Plummer could be Oscar material. “This movie’s a little small for that,” he said.

Of course, the message Hollywood gives to young women is not necessarily something to celebrate. The What Have You Done To Your Lips and Why prize was shared by Melanie Griffith, seen on the red carpet, and Sandra Bullock.

And the Please Eat A Sandwich Before You Faint award goes to Angelina Jolie and Rose Byrne. Though Billy Crystal obviously hit the weight room once he agreed to step in to the role of host, there wasn’t a serious male contender for any of the above awards anywhere in sight.

Not that the night didn’t have some funny moments. Emma Stone was a riot trying to provoke co-presenter Ben Stiller. Robert Downey Jr did a hilarious turn as the faux subject of a documentary while presenting the doc award with a game Gwyneth Paltrow. And bless the Bridesmaids, who finally gave that 18 to 24 year-old demographic something to relate to.

But no question, Oscar’s feeling his age.

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