I'd like to thank the Academy

To wrap up the awards season, I asked Danielle, Natalie, and Tracie from the previous post to come back and do a little wrap up with me on the Academy Awards.

First off, congratulations to Tracie! She called all the big winners! And as she said in email:

Michelle,

So, what's my prize for getting all four of my Oscar predictions correct? :)

Hmm! Have to think of something good, right? I already showed you Tom Hardy and his pooch...shared some Alexander Skarsgard...what else?

Best dressed female/male?

Natalie: Best Dressed Female - Slightly torn between Michelle Williams and… (reluctant sigh) Gwyneth Paltrow. Michelle Williams’ Louis Vuitton gown was stunning (I loved the bodice, the brooch, and I thought the color was perfect for her.) Then you have Gwyneth Paltrow's gorgeous Tom Ford gown (she got to wear a cape!) It’s a tough choice but since I was less than pleased with Gwyneth’s low ponytail – Michelle takes the win!



Best dressed male? Colin Firth. What? He looks good in a tux.



Tracie: I get to pretend to be Joan Rivers. Fun! This will probably be controversial, but Best Dressed Female for me was Emma Stone. Her gown had the "WOW!" factor for me. The color (raspberry) was gorgeous and complemented her pale skin and fiery hair very well, the design was interesting (not usually a fan of bows, but the one on that dress was architectural, not cutesy), and the silhouette (yes, I watch Project Runway) was really flattering and lovely. I, also, thought that her hair and make-up were perfect.



Best Dressed Male? That's tough, but I'm going to go with Jean Dujardin. He looked like a winner before he even got his trophy! Very suave and debonair in his classic black tux.




Danielle: Mila Jovovich and Brad Pitt (still hot)






Michelle: Best Dressed Female. Ya know, this year there wasn't that dress that stood out and just screamed "THAT is the dress of the evening!" It took me a while of looking at the dresses to decide on the best dressed and I'm going with Cameron Diaz. The color flattered her, I liked the cut of the dress, and she didn't over accessorize.



Best Dressed Male? Robert Downey Jr. And at that, I think RDJ would be a GREAT host for the Oscars next year.

Worst dressed female/male?

Tracie: Hee hee Worst Dressed Female was without a doubt Shailene Woodley. That cream-colored Valentino Couture gown was so horribly wrong for a girl her age. It looked like she'd pulled her grandmother's old dress from the 1970s out of mothballs. Every inch of skin was covered, the design was bizarre (weird cut-outs on the chest - why?), and the color, or lack thereof, completely washed her out. So dowdy and boring! Act your age, Shailene!




Worst Dressed Male goes to Jonah Hill. He lost all of that weight, then he wears this fugly, ill-fighting tux that makes him look more chubby than ever! And was that a navy blue shirt with a black coat and shiny bow tie? SHUDDER The slicked back hair made Jonah look like a little boy going to his bar mitzvah. Major faux pas all the way around.


Danielle: Viola Davis (I just didn't like this dress) and George Clooney (his tux was boring)





Michelle: Worst Dressed Female is a toss up between Rooney Mara and Shailene Woodley. I think that Rooney just looked odd with the haircut and the lines of the dress. And Shailene's dress was just unflattering.



Worst Dressed Male is Sacha Baron Cohen and this ridiculous persona of The Dictator.



Natalie: Worst dressed female – It seems like a cop out to name Stacy Keibler since I never knew her name before the Oscars, so I’ll go with Sandra Bullock. I thought her gown was an ill-fitting, off-putting, confusing mess. And she looked oddly botox-alicious.



Worst dressed male? Jonah Hill. Black on black - who thought that was a good idea? And was the shirt shiny? And somehow the blacks didn’t match. Basically, he looked like a cheap prom date.

Biggest shock or surprising moment?

Danielle: Sasha Baron Cohen dumping Bisquick on Ryan Seacrest

Tracie: That happened out on the red carpet when Borat, I mean, the Dictator, dumped an urn full of "ashes" all over Ryan Seacrest. I will never forget the astonished/horrified/pissed off expression on Seacrest's face. I'm not normally a fan of juvenile pranks, but seeing someone discompose the robotic Ryan Seacrest made my night!



Michelle: And I agree one hundred percent. Seacrest stammered and blustered, then made sure to milk it for attention. "I got bisquick dumped on me." THAT should have been the drinking game for the red carpet.

Natalie: Eh, for lack of a better surprise I suppose it was “The Dictator” but it left me a little cold. It’s not like it happened during the red carpet coverage on ABC - he did it on E! with Ryan Seacrest. Had he braved the network (and therefore the Academy) I would have been truly shocked but to pull a stunt like that on E! seemed slightly anticlimactic. (Although I agree with the gang here, I did enjoy seeing Seacrest sweat a little.)

Who got robbed?

Michelle: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows pt 2. I can't believe it didn't win a single award it was nominated for.

Tracie: Nobody, as far as I'm concerned. I was very pleased with all of the winners, although I did get a bit tired of hearing the name "Hugo" called.

Natalie: I think I have to agree with Michelle and say Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows pt. 2. Admittedly, I didn’t see Hugo… but really?

Danielle: I haven't seen any of the movies but I'm guessing people think Viola Davis was robbed

How did Billy Crystal do as host?

Michelle: Ya know, I didn't go in with high expectations for him and he actually did a pretty good job. A little too much wasted time with silly skits, but overall enjoyable.


Natalie: The ladies here know I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of The Crystal – however there were a couple of chuckles and nothing offensive (I can’t really call the dreaded musical number offensive.) But overall, I felt the Oscars were slow - I didn’t love the talky clip packages, and it wasn’t exactly a banner year for the movies. So if you add it all up, I suppose Billy Crystal did just fine.

Tracie: So much love for Billy. I haven't enjoyed an Oscars ceremony that much in years! He's funny (I love his ad-libs!), not offensive, and keeps things moving at a fast pace. No one can beat him as Oscar host.

Danielle: Billy was surprisingly funny (sorry Natalie)

Best acceptance speech?

Michelle: Octavia Spencer. She was so genuinely overwhelmed and gracious. I got choked up before she even started to speak, just by the joy she was showing.



Danielle: Octavia Spencer's speech was so sweet and humble.

Natalie: While I loved Meryl Streep’s humor and candor, I have to go with Octavia Spencer because her emotional speech proved once and for all that I’m not completely dead inside (I nearly felt a tear coming on – shhh don’t tell.)

Tracie: Meryl Streep! I love how self-deprecating and down-to-earth she is. She honestly seemed shocked about winning. It was nice that she started out her speech by thanking her husband and I got a little choked up when she acknowledged her "departed" friends, as well as her friends in the audience. Such a classy, talented lady!

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There you have it, folks! Our thoughts for the 2012 Academy Awards. Care to share yours?

And a huge thank you to the lovely ladies who joined me - Tracie, Danielle, and Natalie. You three are the best! Looking forward to next year!