I think I discovered the secret to me enjoying the Oscars non-ironically; stay off GAF. For the first time since I joined up five years ago, I elected not to read and post in the GAF thread every two minutes. Instead I checked in briefly once every 45 minutes or so, and man was that a good decision. To my shock, it added to my enjoyment of the show to not post snarky comments about it after every single joke and award
Overall I thought the show was fun and think Ellen did a great job. Hosting the Oscars has to be one of the most nerve-wracking gigs on the planet, even if you've done it before. I didn't come away annoyed with any of the winners either, all well deserved. I went back in this thread afterwards and read some of the reactions and good lord, why so many seemingly take this shit personally is beyond me. Some of the negative reactions after Frozen won were ridiculous, you'd think the animators from The Wind Rises posted on GAF themselves. Once again, as with every awards show, I get the impression that some people watch it with the sole intent of hating everything about it.
The low point for me was probably Idina Menzel's performance, since I was really looking forward to it. First Travolta royally screws her name up, and then she's off key for a chunk of the song and cracks on the last note :/ Real bummer. But again, it's the Oscars, nerves can get the best of anyone. I actually enjoyed most of the speeches as well, all around I think it was a good show and a definitive improvement over last year's.
