oscar congrats all around

Some may have found last night's Oscar telecast a little tame or subdued. Or even boring. But I think it was more a reflection of a desire (and need) for Hollywood to lighten up, and that the nominees were all pretty deserving. Honestly, anyone could have won and it wouldn't have been considered an upset.

Ellen Degeneres was the perfect host  for such a laid-back, upbeat vibe. She only made a few real digs, in her opening monologue, at Jonah Hill and Liza Minnelli, and while those might have been a bit more acidic than her usual shtick, they were also understood to be good-natured ribbing. The rest of the time she tried to get a rise out of the usually stiff celebrities, by corralling A-listers in a goofy record-breaking selfie, and ordering pizza for the first two rows of the tuxedo and bejeweled crowd.

The selfie tweeted 'round the world

Favorite moments:

Pharrell Williams's opening number, "Happy." The multi-talented Pharrell got the audience on their feet in the theater, and (at least here) at home, too. Pharrell also helped showcase another of Meryl Streep's hidden talents (around the one-minute mark of the video below).


There were quite  few more-entertaining-than-usual acceptance speeches, from Best Actress Winner Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Actor Winner Jared Leto, Best Supporting Actress Winner Lupita N'yongo, and Best Actor Winner Matthew McConnaughey.

There has to be one completely weird and inexplicable moment, and John Travolta obliged, with his strange introduction of "Adele Dazeem" singing "Let It Go" from Frozen. The crowd watched in confusion as Broadway veteran Idina Menzel, who performed the song in the movie as well took the stage. Travolta introduced himself as a big fan of musicals, which made the gaffe even more bizarre. The song was the Oscar winner, too.

Bill Murray's sly, slipped-in tribute to the fabulous Harold Ramis was also a high point. Ellen's celebrity-pack selfie was fun (and it's already generated a web page where one can insert oneslef into the mob), but this image from the red carpet is my favorite of the night.

Cumberbatch photobomb — say that three times quickly

Congratulations to all.

finding nemo 3D

I'm not a huge fan of 3D movies, as the glasses always make me feel as if I'm seeing the movie through a mist — and I love bright colors, so don't like to see them dulled down. But the kid loves Finding Nemo, and I  wanted to see it on a big screen — I've only seen it on T.V., as it came out the year before my daughter was born. If I had my druthers, we probably would have caught a 2D show, but somehow the theater was only running one 2D showing, and the all the other nine times it was playing were 3D shows. Fancy that. The triumph of marketing.

Marlin cautions Dory about the pretty (dangerous) jellyfish

3D aside, the movie is as delightful as I remember it. Ellen Degeneres of course steals the show as Dory, the memory-challenged blue fish who helps overprotective Marlin (Albert Brooks) search for his son Nemo in the huge blue ocean. Brooks was also wonderful as the afraid-of-the-world clown fish, and other great voice work is contributed by Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Geoffrey Rush, and many others. I had forgotten the subplot of Nemo's little fin. He needs to prove to his dad and himself that his "disability" doesn't stop him from accomplishing whatever he needs to do. It's mostly sweet, sometimes a bit scary (Bruce the shark) and frequently very funny, with silly bits like the seagulls ("Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!) and dirty fish tank humor — that is, the tank is dirty, not the humor.

As far as the 3D adaptation is concerned — yes, I had to come back to that — like the recent re-release of The Lion King, the 3D doesn't seem to add all that much to the movie. It doesn't harm it, either, but if you can catch a 2D showing, it will still be worth your while.

Finding Nemo is great on a large screen. And the bonus Toy Story opening cartoon, Partysaurus Rex, featuring Wallace Shawn, is a lot of fun, too.

"be kind to one another"

Ellen has become one of the shows that we watch on a regular basis. I usually DVR it and we catch it later, as we're not usually home when it airs — plus I really hate to watch commercials if I don't have to. I have always liked Ellen DeGeneres and her laid-back, goofy style of comedy.  I liked (most of) her goofy misfire romantic comedy, Mr. Wrong (it's hard not to like a psychotic Bill Pullman). I regularly watched her sitcom Ellen, which co-starred Joely Fisher, Arye Gross, David Anthony Higgins, Clea Lewis, and Jeremy Piven. When Ellen came out I remember how big of a deal it was in the media, but I don't remember being surprised. Her sitcom struggled a bit after that. Sometimes her character's sexuality seemed a little forced into the plotlines of the show. But the characters and Ellen were still funny, and I was sad when it went off the air. I vaguely remember her dating Anne Heche, but I'm much clearer about Steve Martin's reference to their relationship in Bowfinger (supposedly Heche dumped Martin for Ellen).

I have really come to love Ellen through her talk show. It's not just that she has on guests that I want to see — Brad Pitt, Lenny Kravitz, Cee Lo Green, Colin Farrell, Idina Menzel, Squeeze, etc. It's Ellen herself. She's still goofy, the queen of the rambling digression, and still very funny. But what she also is, is kind. Multiple times a week Ellen will feature a school, or a family, or a person in need and then do something to help them. She is fortunate that she has some great sponsor tie-ins and the bankroll to actually help. But Ellen also inspires her viewers to do what they can — random acts of kindness — to each other, and to animals.

Ellen is also open about being vegan. A recent guest on her show was the President of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle, who was not just there to hawk his new book, The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them, but to talk about the conditions that chickens in chicken farms are subjected to. It was a straightforward and emotional segment, and I'm sure a lot of people watching started to question where they purchase their groceries, if they never had previously. I doubt I could ever become a vegan, or even fully vegetarian. My Italian girl background is too attracted to the occasional salami, and I love to eat chicken salad and fried chicken from time to time. But I sure as heck could stand to be more aware of where any chicken I purchase comes from.

Her honesty about being gay and her marriage is another thing that I love her for. So many celebrities are guarded or phony when they talk about their lives. It's understandable, but still seems kind of ridiculous, considering they have placed themselves in a public forum to talk about themselves. Ellen's honesty is not just refreshing, it's who she is. She talks about how she is a homebody, her life with Portia de Rossi, her love of animals. When she talks about herself it never seems forced, or even intrusive. Apart from their net worth and celebrity, their marriage seems rather typical. What better example of marriage equality does anyone need?

Ellen loves to dance on her show — here she grooves with First Lady Michelle Obama

When Ellen helps a family build their first home, or a school buy computers, or visits Brad Pitt in New Orleans to show the audience what building projects he has been up to lately, she inspires. She also reminds us that we don't have to only participate in one-time big disaster-relief telethons. We can do a little bit every day to make our lives and the lives of others better. My daughter calls her Ellen Generous. I agree.

Ellen has become a major force, through her show, her website, her merchandise, her sponsors, her easy, breezy Cover Girl-ness. Much like Oprah, I suppose, but there is something gentler about Ellen that I like more. It's a testament to her likability that after recently becoming a spokesperson for J C Penney, a company that to many may seemed a bit dated, she not only helped revitalize its image, but she and JC Penney soon took a stand against bigotry. A group calling itself One Million Moms protested Ellen being a representative of the company and threatened a boycott — and then almost as quickly backed down when there was a huge outcry. That is how to deal with bullies.

But mostly I like Ellen's parting words at the end of each show, "Be kind to one another." It's a wonderful sentiment, and hopefully the many people watching will try to do just that.