THANK YOU, JORN TROMOLTO!
March 3, 2014 10:11 AM   Subscribe

At last night's Academy Awards, singer Adela Dazeem stunned everyone with a spectacular performance of the song "Let It Go," from the animated film "Frozen." (Both the song and the film went on to win their respective awards.) In unrelated news, you are all cordially invited to John Travolta's Big Hollywood Party.
posted by jbickers (240 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
Where is mention of Kenyan Lupita Nyong'o's Best Supporting Actress Oscar that has sent a thrill through every young girl's heart that she too can dream, no matter where she is from?
posted by infini at 10:14 AM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]




Oh man that Big Hollywood Party video is gold.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:18 AM on March 3, 2014 [12 favorites]


You haven't seen need rage until you have seen the musical theater nerd rage that filled my Facebook page last night after Travolta spoke.

Nobody tells you about this when you start your theater degree in college. They don't tell you about musical theater nerds. They don't tell you just how loud they are.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:18 AM on March 3, 2014 [29 favorites]


Travolta's goof/fuckup/Vincent Vega moment was hilarious, but the song was not nearly as good live as it was on film, which, I mean, it's a song written for a movie, I guess you can expect that to a degree, but "Happy" kicked its butt on the stage.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:20 AM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


I liked Ellen's opening monologue. Most everything after that (including the pizza) I thought fell flat. Overall, good show, though. Loved Bill Murray's shout-out to Harold Ramis. I'd have been totally stoked to have my name called and get a kiss from Amy Adams, a handshake from Bill Murray, and an Oscar.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:21 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


I loved Frozen but let it go always struck me as dull gludge and Pharell was the single most charming thing I've seen in an awards show recently.
posted by The Whelk at 10:23 AM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


Did you SEE Pharrell on the red carpet? I'm in love with him.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:28 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


As tempting as it is, I won't spoil any of the jokes in John Travolta's Big Hollywood Party, but let it be known, that it just about had me in tears both times I watched it.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:28 AM on March 3, 2014 [8 favorites]


And speaking of things to love about Pharrell Williams (and there seem to be countless):

Pharrell Williams' Grammys Hat Bought by Arby's for $44,100 in Charity Auction
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:30 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


*cues up Low Rider*

Seriously, I just got that song out of my head. But that's my fault for clicking the link.
posted by bibliowench at 10:30 AM on March 3, 2014




OMG the John Travolta video....I can't stop crying and laughing.
posted by Kitteh at 10:32 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm hoping I can capitalize on Travolta's screwup so that, maybe, just once, I can remember Idina Menzel's name without looking it up. I mean, Adela Dazeem is farther than I've ever gotten.

I don't think that performance was her best, though. She was ahead of the beat on every line.
posted by darksasami at 10:32 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


This gets a little less funny when you realize that John Travolta is dyslexic.
posted by yoink at 10:34 AM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


Yeah, but he's also an actor. He memorizes stuff for a living. Had he put 15 damn seconds of work into it, he could have gotten it right.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:35 AM on March 3, 2014 [13 favorites]


This gets a little less funny when you realize that John Travolta is dyslexic.

...and slightly more funny again when you realize he's said Scientology cured his dyslexia.
posted by mediareport at 10:36 AM on March 3, 2014 [135 favorites]


Yeah, if his reading disability meant he couldn't repeat lines that other people wrote for him his life would have turned out very differently.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:36 AM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


I honestly wonder whether she didn't piss off Scientology in some way and it was a sllght on purpose. She's too big a deal in (non-Hollywood) show-biz for the name gaffe not to stand out.
posted by Mchelly at 10:42 AM on March 3, 2014


I don't think Scientology plays it subtle when they hate someone. Exhibit A.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:43 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Also that Happy performance was fantastic (I only wish that Ellen had also danced in it a bit). Totally agree that Let It Go was much better in the movie than live. It literally lost the magic.
posted by Mchelly at 10:43 AM on March 3, 2014


Yeah, but he's also an actor. He memorizes stuff for a living. Had he put 15 damn seconds of work into it, he could have gotten it right.

Eh, I imagine presenting at the Oscars is kinda unlike anything else you ever do as an actor. I can see how under the glare of the spotlight when you're reading off the teleprompter and you have to struggle to make sense of what you're reading something like this could happen.

Anyway, at least it was a moment of minor excitement in one of the snooziest Oscar ceremonies in living memory. God I hope they don't make Ellen the perma-host. I like her schtick for the most part, actually, but it just seems fabulously wrong for a Big Event like the Oscars.

What was weird about it, too, was that although the plan for the night was clearly DO NOT OFFEND A LIVING SOUL!! after the reaction to Seth Macfarlane last year, some of her jokes struck me as seriously mean. The Liza Minnelli one, in particular, was just gratuitously nasty.
posted by yoink at 10:44 AM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


Bobby and Kristen are friends of ours, so we were particularly excited by the win. Hooray for musical theatre.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:45 AM on March 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


Bobby and Kristen are friends of ours, so we were particularly excited by the win.

Their acceptance speech was adorkable.
posted by yoink at 10:46 AM on March 3, 2014 [13 favorites]


The Oscars has a "dress" rehearsal, right? Where everybody (or everybody who can get it together) shows up and has a chance to practice their bit with the teleprompter? I know the Tonys has one because I went one year; most of the presenters were there (in regular clothes, so not sure why they call it a "dress" rehearsal) practicing. You don't leave it to chance on live television! Did the Oscars have one and was John Travolta there?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:46 AM on March 3, 2014


Tom Cruise had dyslexia and claimed that Scientology cured him. I have never heard anything about Travolta having dyslexia. As far as I can tell, his only problem was that he was in a plastic bubble for an autoimmune disorder, and even that I may be misremembering.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:49 AM on March 3, 2014 [28 favorites]


Pharrell's stupid hat cost him the Oscar.
posted by Renoroc at 10:50 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Eh, I imagine presenting at the Oscars is kinda unlike anything else you ever do as an actor.

According to IMDB, this was Travolta's seventeenth stint as a presenter at the Academy Awards, dating back to 1978. He's spent more time doing that than some Oscar-winning performances have lasted.
posted by Etrigan at 10:50 AM on March 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


That hat is an iconic piece of hip hop history, you cad.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:51 AM on March 3, 2014 [10 favorites]


Cost him the Oscar but won him our hearts.
posted by The Whelk at 10:51 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Did the Oscars have [a dress rehearsal] and was John Travolta there?

Answered my own question: yes and he was there!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:51 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


That hat is an iconic piece of hip hop history, you cad.

The more you know....[cue star]
posted by Renoroc at 10:52 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


This gets a little less funny when you realize that John Travolta is dyslexic.

...and slightly more funny again when you realize he's said Scientology cured his dyslexia.


I think it's Tom Cruise you're thinking of.

You haven't seen need rage until you have seen the musical theater nerd rage that filled my Facebook page last night after Travolta spoke.

My roommate teaches voice at NYU and was in hysterics watching his Facebook feed blow up.

I knew the song was gonna be no-contest (come on, did anyone think "Let It Go" wasn't going to win?), but the surprise for me was actually liking a song by Pharell Williams from a movie I was "meh" about better than a song by U2. But damned if I didn't buy that thing on iTunes this morning and dance in the elevator listening to it on my way to get lunch just now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:52 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


OK, when he got Chewitel right, I might have peed myself a little laughing.
posted by ersatzkat at 10:53 AM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


Bunny Ultramod: "Tom Cruise had dyslexia and claimed that Scientology cured him. I have never heard anything about Travolta having dyslexia. As far as I can tell, his only problem was that he was in a plastic bubble for an autoimmune disorder, and even that I may be misremembering."

The plastic bubble was nothing compared to the indignity of the rubber hose.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:54 AM on March 3, 2014 [10 favorites]


IH-DEENA MEN-ZELL. It's not a hard name. Hell, screw it up the way the rest of the world does and call her "EYE DEENA" and no one would have given a damn.
posted by zarq at 10:56 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Has Benedict Cumberbatch been reached for comment yet?
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:57 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Once again I had to find out the major awards when I woke up the next day because the thing ran so late. I know that this is a west coast event but it sucks for us EST folks who have to work in the morning and can't stay up until midnight on a Sunday.
posted by octothorpe at 10:58 AM on March 3, 2014


prize bull octorok: "Has Benedict Cumberbatch been reached for comment yet?"

He's been a bit busy.
posted by zarq at 10:59 AM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


IH-DEENA MEN-ZELL. It's not a hard name.

The very fact that it's not a hard name--at all--and that it's a pretty well-known one, too PLUS the fact that Travolta did, in fact, "put the work in" and come to the dress rehearsal and all that strongly suggests to me that the gaffe is best attributed to an actual, real-life, not-all-that-funny-even-if-he's-a-scientologist reading disorder. That or the name was actually scrambled on the teleprompter and that threw him.

In any event, I suspect the title of the song contains good advice about how we should respond to the gaffe.
posted by yoink at 11:01 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Did Charlton Heston win anything?

I couldn't find my TV last night. Ended up watching Beneath The Planet of the Apes on Youtube. Now that's a fine film.
posted by philip-random at 11:01 AM on March 3, 2014


Yes he won the Golden Gun.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:02 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


He was featured in a weird montage of supposed heroes depicted in film.
posted by perhapses at 11:04 AM on March 3, 2014


Internet, where's my John Travolta YourNewName generator?

(As my 1st name is Amy, should I assume I'd be Ahmed?)
posted by NorthernLite at 11:04 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Internet, where's my John Travolta YourNewName generator?

Buzzfeed started the ball rolling....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:08 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


strongly suggests to me that the gaffe is best attributed to an actual, real-life, not-all-that-funny-even-if-he's-a-scientologist reading disorder

Or a simple brain fart. It happens, even if you're a professional and you've practiced.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:10 AM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


In other news, I just now realized her name isn't "Indina". Thanks Jorn!
posted by nooneyouknow at 11:13 AM on March 3, 2014


If Travolta had a brain fart, I'm going to assume it had something to do with whatever the hell that thing he was wearing on his head was.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:14 AM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


Yeah, this is a bit of a surprising reaction to see. I get that he's a Scientologist, but I can't imagine any other scenario where people on metafilter would be okay about laughing at a gaffe that even might be caused by a learning disorder.
posted by graphnerd at 11:14 AM on March 3, 2014


Ok, so last night I said on tumblr that I wanted a Cinderella retelling starring Lupita Nyong'o and That Dress, and now I have changed my mind.

I want a lesbian musical Cinderella retelling starring Lupita Nyong'o and That Dress and Idina Menzel and That Other Dress. FAIRY PRINCESSES EVERYWHERE.
posted by MeghanC at 11:14 AM on March 3, 2014 [8 favorites]


It seemed like everyone was having problems with the teleprompter, enough that I wonder if it was a technical issue and Travolta just did the best he could with "Idelzamen" or something similarly scrambled.
posted by kagredon at 11:15 AM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


I have never heard anything about Travolta having dyslexia.

Dang, you're right; none of the sources I can find actually quote Travolta saying he has dyslexia, and the current round of news stories is simply linking to unsourced stuff like this page.

This gets a little less funny when you realize that John Travolta is dyslexic.

yoink, do you have a credible source for the information that Travolta is dyslexic? I can't seem to find one, and admit I was almost certainly thinking of Tom Cruise's claim that Scientology cured him.

In short, right now it seems unlikely to me that John Travolta ever claimed to be dyslexic, and I'd be interested in seeing evidence to the contrary.
posted by mediareport at 11:16 AM on March 3, 2014


so last night I said on tumblr that I wanted a Cinderella retelling starring Lupita Nyong'o and That Dress...

...And for the dance scene, can we bring back Pharell Williams for her to boogie with? Because that was awesome.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:16 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


yoink, do you have a credible source for the information that Travolta is dyslexic

Nope, I just saw it asserted as a "known fact" in a number of newspaper reports. Maybe they just got him mixed up with Tom Cruise too?
posted by yoink at 11:18 AM on March 3, 2014


He was reading every other word on the teleprompter just fine. That strangled/gulping noise he makes as he attempts her name just seems like a particularly florid stumble that can happen if you accidentally veer off your planned cadence with a script. If there were teleprompter issues and he was going off memories from rehearsal instead of pausing for what would seem like an eternity to read her name, that could be all it took.

(I had to record some voiceovers for a project some time back, and I know what that feels like all too well. Lucky for me, I wasn't live before a huge audience and I could re-record.)
posted by maudlin at 11:20 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I just saw it asserted as a "known fact" in a number of newspaper reports.

So, it's funny again, right?
posted by mediareport at 11:20 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


FAIRY PRINCESSES EVERYWHERE

Wouldn't you call Nyong'o's dress more of a "goddess" dress than a "fairy princess dress"? Whatever, though, it was certainly the Boss dress on a night with a pretty high hit rate.
posted by yoink at 11:21 AM on March 3, 2014


I can't find any indication that he has dyslexia, either. It's not in any bios of him that I can find, nor on the wikipedia page on him.

He flubbed. Spectacularly. It happens.
posted by zarq at 11:22 AM on March 3, 2014


So, it's funny again, right?

I wouldn't say we have definitive evidence one way or the other. I do, actually, think it's kind of crass to go on about it if he genuinely does have a history of dyslexia. And absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.
posted by yoink at 11:23 AM on March 3, 2014


Maybe he's just an idiot.

It happens.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:23 AM on March 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


(I mean, I still think you'd at least want to make sure you knew and practiced how to pronounce a person's name if you were announcing them, but I suspect the technical side of the show was not all it could've been.)
posted by kagredon at 11:23 AM on March 3, 2014


People. Act of Killing lost to a movie with Sting in it. Direct your anger there.
posted by xmutex at 11:24 AM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


"known fact"

There are a lot of quote-unquote "known facts" about John Travolta.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:24 AM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


And poor Leo didn't get his Oscar! The memes, I just can't.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:26 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


And absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

I kinda think if John Travolta had ever said "I have dyslexia" the standard searches would pull up the articles at HuffPo, etc about it. Hey look, I'm just saying the "BUT HE HAS DYSLEXIA YOU HEARTLESS CREATURES" response seems increasingly strange, and admit I was wrong to spread the counter-response without evidence, too. (Sure did garner lots of favorites, though...a lesson, I suppose.)
posted by mediareport at 11:28 AM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


OK - I know the JT gaffe was epic, but I cannot get over this completely irrational anger I have at Matthew McConaughey for fucking talking about god and how he is his own hero but ten years from now and blah, blah, blah without even acknowledging the millions of people who have lived with HIV and died and fought the disease that he made his money off of.

Hint: it wasn't god you asshole.

I am being irrational. I know. He's just an actor. I know. Grar.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:36 AM on March 3, 2014 [15 favorites]


Yeah, the people upset--UPSET--that Leonardo DiCaprio didn't win an Oscar started to sound like the Oscars had taken their dog out back and shot it.
posted by Kitteh at 11:38 AM on March 3, 2014


yoink: " I wouldn't say we have definitive evidence one way or the other. I do, actually, think it's kind of crass to go on about it if he genuinely does have a history of dyslexia."

On the one hand, we have a bunch of hearsay. On the other hand, we have a bunch of profiles and bios on the man available online that don't mention dyslexia at all.

And absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

I think it's a bit ridiculous to assume Travolta flubbed the line due to a previously undisclosed illness -- when no actual evidence has been presented that's the case.
posted by zarq at 11:39 AM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


Sophie1 -- which is how I felt about how Jared Leto didn't mention trans people once, instead blathering on about dreams and some odd bits about the Ukraine and Venezuela. Sure, he acknowledged many AIDS deaths, but he could have said something about trans issues/rights/struggles. There were a lot of gross "tee hee he won for being a dude in a dress" tweets going around last night.
posted by Kitteh at 11:40 AM on March 3, 2014 [10 favorites]


What to you think Adela Dazeem and Bento Tinderbox would name their babby?
posted by maryr at 11:41 AM on March 3, 2014 [8 favorites]


Their pitch-perfect, angular babby.
posted by maryr at 11:42 AM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


I mean shit, Jennifer Lawrence fell on the red carpet again last night. Should we also assume she has a disease or disorder based on zero evidence?
posted by zarq at 11:42 AM on March 3, 2014 [11 favorites]


Yeah, the people upset--UPSET--that Leonardo DiCaprio didn't win an Oscar started to sound like the Oscars had taken their dog out back and shot it.

I've seen movies with DiCaprio in them. I am still waiting to see a movie that he acts in though.
posted by srboisvert at 11:43 AM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


You know that thread about separating the art from artist?

John Travolta/Scientology/Drowned Special Needs Child.

I'm out.
posted by mikelieman at 11:47 AM on March 3, 2014


I am still laughing at the video. Laughing and crying. It's like a prize for having sat through the whole telecast.
posted by mochapickle at 11:47 AM on March 3, 2014


You ever think that Amy Adamas and Dicaprio ever get together to drink and talk about how awards don't really MATTER you know?

My takeaway from the entire ceremony is that if Chris Evans has a full beard then I can have one too.
posted by The Whelk at 11:49 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Kitteh - you're right, he could have been a lot more specific. I mean if he meant to include the trans community when he said "Those of you out there who have ever felt injustice..." he sure as hell could have been a hell of a lot more clear about that.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:49 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I think it's a bit ridiculous to assume Travolta flubbed the line due to a previously undisclosed illness

Neither I nor anyone else is saying we should "assume" anything. I'm saying we don't have definitive evidence one way or the other.
posted by yoink at 11:49 AM on March 3, 2014


It seemed like a lot of people were having trouble with the teleprompter last night, at least enough for my wife and I to comment on it. Jamie Foxx's "miscue" seemed intentional at least.

Not having seen Frozen, I agree that the song seemed totally dead on stage compared to...pretty much any of the other offerings. Just based on the performances I was hoping for Moon Song or Happy. Let it Go seemed pretty generic musically, and we couldn't understand any of the lyrics.
posted by LionIndex at 11:49 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


The Wolf of Wall Street IS a serious film, on so many cinematic levels. Staging, editing, acting, pacing, energy and all that. But still yeah, it's a 3 hour epic of pristine cinematic quality about a self-absorbed cartoon character of a douchebag of a man and his guy friends jerking each other off while they rake in millions. That doesn't make it an ideal Best Picture winner, especially against the other nominated films this year.
posted by ReeMonster at 11:50 AM on March 3, 2014


I imagine presenting at the Oscars is kinda unlike anything else you ever do as an actor. I can see how under the glare of the spotlight when you're reading off the teleprompter and you have to struggle to make sense of what you're reading something like this could happen.

They rehearse the Oscars in advance. Everyone knows what they're presenting and should be able to come to grips with any potential pitfalls like not knowing how to pronounce someone's name.

Honestly, Travolta could have had his assistant google who Idina Menzel is and coach him in pronouncing her name for 30 seconds and avoided this entire mistake.

It's not like he even had to read out the nominees for an actual award category, with lots of complicated jargon and 4+ names and titles. He literally just had to say "Now Idina Menzel is going to sing a song out of her face."

He had one job.
posted by Sara C. at 11:52 AM on March 3, 2014 [35 favorites]


yoink: " Neither I nor anyone else is saying we should "assume" anything. I'm saying we don't have definitive evidence one way or the other."

You're making an assumption that the idea is worth considering.
posted by zarq at 11:52 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm saying we don't have definitive evidence one way or the other.

Oh, come on, yoink. I admitted I was wrong. Retract your damn claim already. You have no evidence for it and retracting it is the right thing to do.
posted by mediareport at 11:52 AM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Jamie Foxx's "miscue" seemed intentional at least

I'm not sure; I think he just did a nice job of vamping to cover the flub. One thing that seemed to be throwing some of the presenters off was that they seemed to have the teleprompters mounted on cameras that were moving in front of them--whereas in the past, at least in my memory, they've always looked towards screens set at some fixed point in the middle distance. I noticed several actors anxiously following a panning camera round as they were still clearly reading from a script.
posted by yoink at 11:55 AM on March 3, 2014


Retract your damn claim already

FFS, what "claim"? I'm claiming that I have no evidence before me to help me decide this issue one way or the other.
posted by yoink at 11:56 AM on March 3, 2014


Neither I nor anyone else is saying we should "assume" anything. I'm saying we don't have definitive evidence one way or the other.

We have no definitive evidence that he wasn't chased by Bigfoot ten minutes before coming on. I think we should hold off laughing about this silly little flub until we're sure that wasn't the case.
posted by bondcliff at 11:56 AM on March 3, 2014 [8 favorites]


Honestly, Travolta could have had his assistant google who Idina Menzel is and coach him in pronouncing her name for 30 seconds and avoided this entire mistake.

He came to the rehearsal and rehearsed his bit. Clearly he knew what her name was and had spoken it out loud before the show.
posted by yoink at 11:57 AM on March 3, 2014


You ever think that Amy Adamas and Dicaprio ever get together to drink and talk about how awards don't really MATTER you know?

And then the guy at the end of the bar throws his drink at them and says, "Peter O'Toole says go fuck yourself."
posted by Etrigan at 11:58 AM on March 3, 2014 [13 favorites]


We have no definitive evidence that he wasn't chased by Bigfoot ten minutes before coming on

Yes, Bigfoot chases and dyslexia are exactly equal statistical probabilities. Good one.
posted by yoink at 11:58 AM on March 3, 2014


The John Travolta Hollywood Party link did nothing for me until he perfectly pronounced Chiwetel Ejiofor. For some reason, that positively slayed me.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:59 AM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


in defense of the self-centered whatever of Matthew Mc [however you spell his last name] ... he is the only nominee I'm aware of who actually saved somebody's life in an emergency situation. Maybe he should be looking back thirteen years to find that hero.

interesting that the date on that article is Sept-10-2001.
posted by philip-random at 11:59 AM on March 3, 2014


can we talk about how shoddily done the video packages were this year? they could've let those awkward terrified film major freshmen do them and they probably wouldn't have been any less incoherent.
posted by kagredon at 11:59 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


FFS, what "claim"?

FFS, are you serious?

This gets a little less funny when you realize that John Travolta is dyslexic.

God, your style of argument is just awful here. Just awful.
posted by mediareport at 12:00 PM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


I deal with dyslexia. Can I give us all permission to laugh at something 100% harmless and silly?
posted by Navelgazer at 12:00 PM on March 3, 2014 [9 favorites]


He came to the rehearsal and rehearsed his bit. Clearly he knew what her name was and had spoken it out loud before the show.

So then why couldn't he say it out loud during the show?

Again, he had literally one job -- to announce that Idina Menzel would sing a song.

I think we're allowed to laugh at him for failing to do so in a humorous manner.
posted by Sara C. at 12:01 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


ENOUGH ABOUT TROMOLTO'S [NON-]DYSLEXIA!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:01 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


If Honj Ravlotra has dyslexia, he obviously had it whipped to the point where he could do 16 previous Oscar bits without a flub.

If he doesn't, then he doesn't.

Either way, it was a humorous flub.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:02 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yes, next! Can we talk about how I want to forward the Big Hollywood Party video to everyone I know but no one I know actually watches the Oscars?
posted by mochapickle at 12:03 PM on March 3, 2014


Additionally, as a friend of mine just pointed out, given the stilted performances by a number of other presenters (Sidney Poitier, Harrison Ford, etc.) the problem was probably with the teleprompter.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:03 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


That is the real tragedy here.
posted by mochapickle at 12:03 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


FFS, are you serious?

This gets a little less funny when you realize that John Travolta is dyslexic.


I already retracted that claim when I said this:
Nope, I just saw it asserted as a "known fact" in a number of newspaper reports. Maybe they just got him mixed up with Tom Cruise too?
And this:
I wouldn't say we have definitive evidence one way or the other. I do, actually, think it's kind of crass to go on about it if he genuinely does have a history of dyslexia. And absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.
Clearly I no longer hold this to be an established "fact" because I have said over and over again that we have no evidence to support that "fact."

Jesus fucking Christ.
posted by yoink at 12:03 PM on March 3, 2014


Denali isn't just a park in Alaska.
posted by perhapses at 12:04 PM on March 3, 2014 [29 favorites]


(really wishing I could retroactively make my username "Ahmed Mayonnaise.")
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:04 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


Wouldn't be the end of the world if y'all just let that one go, folks.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:04 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


By the way, congratulations to Catherine Martin for her two wins, making her the most-Oscared Australian. And congratulations to her husband and the father of her two children, Baz Luhrmann, who is now the Australian Least Likely To Win An Argument With His Wife Ever Again.
posted by Etrigan at 12:05 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


I deal with dyslexia. Can I give us all permission to laugh at something 100% harmless and silly?

What does leading with dyslexia have to do with anything?
posted by srboisvert at 12:05 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


So then why couldn't he say it out loud during the show?

That's the question to which we do not have an answer. Maybe he had a brain fart. Maybe the teleprompter went nuts and threw him off. And, maybe, he--like a surprisingly large number of actors--suffers from some degree of dyslexia and that played a part.

Quite a long way further down the list we have the slim possibility that he was chased onto the stage by Bigfoot, but there seem to be only a few people willing to advance that hypothesis.
posted by yoink at 12:06 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


TEACH THE CONTROVERSY.
posted by Etrigan at 12:08 PM on March 3, 2014 [17 favorites]


The one they call Tromolto- his brains are scrambled. He wears animal pelts upon his head, and cannot read.

It is known.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:09 PM on March 3, 2014 [10 favorites]


Must we continue wilting at tindmills?
posted by mochapickle at 12:09 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


I have various friends who've worked in the film biz for many years and in their time have worked with many big stars. I asked one of them a while back who the nicest big deal star was he'd ever worked with. John Travolta was his quick answer.

so yeah, whatever. I wish we could go back to laughing at Vlad Putin.
posted by philip-random at 12:10 PM on March 3, 2014


I don't understand why the hat cost Pharrell his oscar... or am I missing the punchline?

Happy is a wonderful song.
posted by infini at 12:11 PM on March 3, 2014


Sara C. : "So then why couldn't he say it out loud during the show?"

Because your mouth and brain getting out of sync with what you're reading sometimes just happens. It happens to professional actors and voiceover artists a lot more rarely than us civilians, but it can happen. The stop and start stumble is most common, but anyone who's recorded v/o probably has a few magnificent Spoonerisms buried in their trash.

Given that Travolta was at rehearsal, usually speaks cleanly enough in public, and that there may have been some teleprompter issues shared by other presenters that night, it seems pretty plausible that this wasn't dyslexia, arrogance, a Scientologist conspiracy or ignorance: it was just a mistake. Hoofbeats, zebras, etc.
posted by maudlin at 12:11 PM on March 3, 2014


Quite a long way further down the list we have the slim possibility that he was chased onto the stage by Bigfoot

I never claimed he was chased on to the stage. Please don't make me out to be some sort of whack job conspiracy theorist. TIA.
posted by bondcliff at 12:12 PM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


Travolta to detractors: "Up your nose with a rubber house!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:13 PM on March 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


perhapses: "Denali isn't just a park in Alaska."

I thought he did a terrific job in Flight.
posted by Dr. Zira at 12:14 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I guess I just don't really get why every funny moment has to be followed with OUTRAGE about How Dare anyone laugh. Like nothing is allowed to just be humorous anymore -- if someone did something silly, they probably have a disability, so you're a bad person for laughing.

I'm a big fan of positivity and inclusiveness and not being crass, but sometimes a thing is just funny.

Lots of other people flubbed, which makes me think there were problems with the teleprompters. But Travolta flubbed in a way that was especially weird/funny/unexpected. Which is why people are calling him out and not anyone else.
posted by Sara C. at 12:14 PM on March 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


We've got a lot of John Travolta defenders present. I like it. So are we going to talk about that new face he had put on his face? The fuck was that?
posted by xmutex at 12:17 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


yoink: "And, maybe, he--like a surprisingly large number of actors--suffers from some degree of dyslexia and that played a part. "

Did he have a headache? It might be a tumor.
posted by zarq at 12:18 PM on March 3, 2014


IT'SNODDATUMAH!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:19 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


IT'S NOT A TUMAH
posted by kagredon at 12:19 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


Can we seriously talk about whatever the hell that Academy Salute to Heroes thing was about? Because if I were Steve Martin I'd have been kind of pissed about having my lifetime achievement honors moved off-site for that.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:19 PM on March 3, 2014 [12 favorites]


We'll make a video montage about movies based on real people! And also Man of Steel, because everyone loves that movie!
posted by kagredon at 12:20 PM on March 3, 2014


So are we going to talk about that new face he had put on his face? The fuck was that?

He should totally make a movie about that.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:20 PM on March 3, 2014 [11 favorites]


Yeah, those thematic clips segments ran pretty counter to the idea of keeping it short this year.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:20 PM on March 3, 2014


I'm pretty sure like half of that montage was Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:21 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


He should totally make a movie about that.

Maybe Nicolas Cage could take his face... off!
posted by xmutex at 12:21 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Can we seriously talk about whatever the hell that Academy Salute to Heroes thing was about?

Stealing from a friend on Twitter:
The Academy Awards bring you: The History of Men, with special guest star Jennifer Lawrence
posted by Etrigan at 12:23 PM on March 3, 2014 [20 favorites]


I also remember seeing Julia Roberts, Sally Field, and Meryl Streep.
posted by perhapses at 12:26 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Can we seriously talk about whatever the hell that Academy Salute to Heroes thing was about?

I think the idea was basically "Fuck, none of the real blockbuster movies got any kind of serious look in in the nominations, so let's throw some red meat to the people who actually buy tickets." And I'm sure teenage boys will have tuned in by the millions. I hear there's nothing the people in the demo love more than a good montage.
posted by yoink at 12:27 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


We'll make a video montage about movies based on real people! And also Man of Steel, because everyone loves that movie!

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch was IN the montage about real people movies! I hope Harper Lee watched that and got a good cackle.
posted by gladly at 12:28 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


I'm pretty sure like half of that montage was Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen.


My favorite part was how ABC cut to Emma Watson right after that montage, and her face could very easily have been read as "There were multiple heroes in the Harry Potter saga, thank you very much."

Of course, the other hero montage -- the one that seemed to be based on 'real people' but then included Virgil Tibbs among other fictional characters -- was even more of a clusterfuck.

(I LOVE montages, I am among the few who turn into the Oscars partially for the montages, but man, were those something awful.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:29 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


Oh my god, that WAS To Kill A Mockingbird?! I honestly convinced myself that I was having a stupid brain moment and that I had confused a clip from Inherit The Wind (which would at least make sense thematically) for TKAM.
posted by kagredon at 12:32 PM on March 3, 2014


So are we going to talk about that new face he had put on his face?

THAT'S the problem! It wasn't John Travota, it was Nicolas Cage presenting that Oscar, and the fleshmask got tangled in his teeth!

Oh god now I have to explain to people at work why I'm giggling and I don't want to have to explain why I just typed the word "fleshmask"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:35 PM on March 3, 2014 [15 favorites]


The History of Men, with special guest star Jennifer Lawrence
Well, it certainly couldn't have been a Heroine montage, because: Philip Seymour Hoffman
posted by FreezBoy at 12:36 PM on March 3, 2014


Okay, now that I feel bad for laughing about.
posted by obloquy at 12:42 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Ohhhhhhh. No s/he didn't.
posted by mochapickle at 12:43 PM on March 3, 2014


MAME HOOTIE BENCH.
posted by emjaybee at 12:46 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


My favorite part was how ABC cut to Emma Watson right after that montage, and her face could very easily have been read as "There were multiple heroes in the Harry Potter saga, thank you very much."

OMG my thoughts exactly!
posted by Navelgazer at 12:47 PM on March 3, 2014


Very disappointed that in a field that included some unique, original-sounding songs they chose the most boring formulaic musical-theater dreck I've ever heard.
posted by rocket88 at 1:02 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]




Wait, there were two montages? Real people and heroes? I guess I was drunker than I remember. In my memory, they are the same montage.
posted by perhapses at 1:07 PM on March 3, 2014


John Travolta's Big Hollywood Party made me laugh both times I watched it. Thanks!

I heard Travolta's introduce Let It Go last night and I really thought, oh well, they must have gotten someone else to sing the song my kid can't stop playing. Then I saw and heard her and I was confused. Then I heard Ellen's careful over correction of her name after the song and I was like, oh, I got you now, it's cool.

I thought Leto's speech was nice. I know he has specifically thanked trans people in other speeches, and been way more weird and meandering. I thought the bits about his mom were very moving, and I did feel like his heart was in the right place. Jmho.
posted by onlyconnect at 1:08 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I didn't watch all of it, in and out, but the montages I saw were pretty lazy and not too entertaining. It seems like that someone had access to a few movies and didn't want to bother reaching for anything outside of arm's reach.

I desperately want Travolta to make a statement explaining what happened. I mean, it isn't that he mispronounced her name, it was a completely NEW name. He created it out of mid-air. Maybe it's her secret Scientology Recruitment Name, I dunno.

Also, Let it Go has yet to win me over with her singing it, at the Oscars or in the movie. I need to listen to someone else give it a whirl...
posted by Atreides at 1:16 PM on March 3, 2014


I desperately want Travolta to make a statement explaining what happened.

If he's not on one of the talk shows tonight doing John Travolta's Big Hollywood Party, the entire entertainment industry has failed.
posted by Etrigan at 1:18 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


There's a real dearth of MeFi-created John Travolta names in this thread, and I blame the Big Hollywood Party video for setting the bar so damn high. They really nailed it; contrast with the wan effort made by BuzzFeed.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:22 PM on March 3, 2014


That song put Robert Lopez on the EGOT list? Yow.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:23 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wait Blorbin Lapels has an EGOT? Great Caesar's Ghost!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:24 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


I've been reading everyone's usernames in this thread JORN TROMOLTO style and it's pretty great
posted by jason_steakums at 1:25 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


That song put Robert Lopez on the EGOT list?

Well, Daytime Emmy. He's on the DGOT list (with Whoopi).

Sadly, my Jorn Tromolto name is Edward.
posted by Etrigan at 1:27 PM on March 3, 2014


also "the only person to win all four within a decade"
posted by twist my arm at 1:28 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've been reading everyone's usernames in this thread JORN TROMOLTO style and it's pretty great
posted by statham_jakemeat at 1:25 PM on March 3 [+][!]


hey yeah
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:29 PM on March 3, 2014 [8 favorites]


hey yeah
posted by prybar rockemsock at 3:29 PM on March 3 [+][!]

posted by jason_steakums at 1:35 PM on March 3, 2014 [9 favorites]


Mine is Schmoopy1
posted by Sophie1 at 1:35 PM on March 3, 2014


Napkinranger over here.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:41 PM on March 3, 2014


This thread has disintegrated in less than two hours.

/signed, gazpacho cold cream
posted by infini at 1:43 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


You cant give yourself nick names ninefarming.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:49 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


You tell 'em, Pattycake Xanadu!
posted by jason_steakums at 1:51 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


I am Ze Wolk.
posted by The Whelk at 1:56 PM on March 3, 2014


*backs slowly out of the thread*
posted by zarq at 1:56 PM on March 3, 2014


I'm still laughing because MAME HOOTIE BENCH.
posted by mochapickle at 1:57 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


You'd better run, Quarz.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:58 PM on March 3, 2014


MAME HOOTIE BENCH is pretty hilarious.
posted by zarq at 1:58 PM on March 3, 2014


Rorly Marfan's Sinning Wish
posted by The Whelk at 1:59 PM on March 3, 2014


Holly Zucchini Fingsish!
posted by mochapickle at 1:59 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


My John Travolta name is Chiwetel Ejiofor.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:59 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


Hey, I got a question aburt the Oscars! Why didn't anybody clap during the In Memoriam montage? Isn't there usually sustained low applause with big swells when an extra famous/sad one comes up? This year it was dead silent.
posted by dahliachewswell at 1:59 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


My guess is that people started to clap for the first name (Gandolfini) but were prompted to hold their applause to the end of the montage.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:01 PM on March 3, 2014


My Tromolto name is Chiwetel-Ejiofor-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:02 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


IMO they actually just shut off the audio. The ebb/flow applause for more and less famous people is awkward and I'm glad they stopped that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:04 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


Mine's Engelbert Humperdinck (still the best and only misspelling I will accept for Benedict Cumberbatch, fwiw).
posted by jbickers at 2:04 PM on March 3, 2014


Oddly, mine's MC Mame Hootie Bench
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:06 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


Yeah, I agree the ebb/flow applause effect is usually depressing but the complete silence just added to the overall stupefied, wooden feeling I got from the whole night and most presenters.
posted by dahliachewswell at 2:07 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


During the "YOU JUST DIED" montage, they mute the audience so you don't get the "Clap for the ones you know" reaction. Also: it used to be that you had to die within the calendar year (Jan.1-Dec. 31), but now they seem to do it Oscars to Oscars. Which, I guess, makes more sense.

Also: Wind Beneath My Goddamn Wings? Whose idea was that? Because it was a terrible idea.
posted by ColdChef at 2:07 PM on March 3, 2014 [11 favorites]


It turns out this really is no laughing matter but has nothing to do with dyslexia. Based on the insider reports I'm hearing, Travolta was suffering from the lingering effects of a very high temperature he had the previous evening.
posted by perhapses at 2:08 PM on March 3, 2014 [15 favorites]


My sources are telling me he was later stung to death by wasps, I hope this is a lesson to you all.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:09 PM on March 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


I'm still pretty comfortable with this as a laughing matter. Being on his fifth decade in show business, Travolta hopefully has thick enough skin to laugh about it, too.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:10 PM on March 3, 2014


Dear Mr. Kotter:
Please excuse John for butchering that lady singer's name. He was busy trying to figure out how to use the $75,000 worth of swag he was getting for ten seconds of work that was apparently too difficult for him to do correctly.
Signed, Epstein's Mother
posted by ColdChef at 2:16 PM on March 3, 2014 [18 favorites]


Wait guys I think my Tomolto name might be Sharon Stone
posted by Sara C. at 2:17 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


Based on the insider reports I'm hearing

cite?
posted by Sara C. at 2:18 PM on March 3, 2014


Based on the insider reports I'm hearing, Travolta was suffering from the lingering effects of a very high temperature he had the previous evening.

One thing my mother taught me in fourth grade is that if your fever or its aftermath is so bad that you risk infecting a bunch of rich and famous and beautiful people and you risk mangling the name if a woman who's just there to sing a song, you don't get to go to the Oscars and you have to stay home in bed and don't worry the world's not going to end they can find someone else to read her name.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:18 PM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


Also: Wind Beneath My Goddamn Wings? Whose idea was that? Because it was a terrible idea.

Yeah, that came out of nowhere and was awful.

Unrelated to any of the discussion upthread... where was Clooney? Odd that he didn't show up when his movie was the winningest of the night? I mean I kinda liked it that he wasn't there to upstage Sandra Bullock, since it was actually HER movie, but it was still surprising.
posted by torticat at 2:19 PM on March 3, 2014






(belatedly catching onto Travolta fever joke)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:23 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


Yeah i started googling and then it occurred to me that I had seen what you did there.
posted by Sara C. at 2:24 PM on March 3, 2014


That was brilliant, perhapses.

So is Kim Novak really sick (or something)? I loved her in Vertigo, but she retired over 20 years ago. I wasn't quite sure why she was featured.
posted by mochapickle at 2:30 PM on March 3, 2014


This doesn't answer the question of Kim Novak was there, but it's still an interesting read. Also a bit of a derail, thus the small font.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:34 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


The Self-Styled Siren also spoke of Novak.
posted by pxe2000 at 2:40 PM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]




this thread just reminded me of that line in Disseshowedo when Tajai goes "I flip the script like a dyslexic actor" and now I want to listen to Soulds of Mischeif
posted by Hoopo at 2:47 PM on March 3, 2014


I like that when I use Slate's Travoltify thingy on my name it changes Steven to Stephen for no phonetic reason.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:49 PM on March 3, 2014


Thanks, mudpuppie and pxe2000. I was a little worried about her as well as she seemed so shaky and frail. I read both your links and all I can think is no wonder, no wonder at all, because everything she's been through. I am sure they brought her there as an honor, and it's sad that she received such criticism. I'm glad I haven't read the reactions elsewhere.
posted by mochapickle at 2:58 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Well she is also 81 years old.
posted by Sara C. at 3:06 PM on March 3, 2014


Even if one was inclined to be unkind and make plastic surgery jokes, how could you have any left for Novak after you finish with Tromolto?

Heck, you don't even have to start in on his face, the Jonathan Taylor Thomas hairpiece is material enough.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:14 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


The highlight of the show was Ellen's record setting selfie, which contains 6 or 7 of some of the most famous people on the planet and Lupita Nyong'o's brother Peter.

Without a doubt, the greatest photobomb of all time.
posted by billyfleetwood at 3:20 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


(I guess what I'm saying is: I'm not entirely opposed to mocking people's bad plastic surgery decisions, but picking on an 81 year-old cancer survivor tentatively making a rare public appearance seems unkind. Especially when there are contemptible goobs like Travolta who make far less morally questionable targets.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:21 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]




Not for nothing but there where a lot of Botoxy foreheads in that crowd.
posted by The Whelk at 3:29 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Not for nothing but there where a lot of Botoxy foreheads in that crowd.

I think maybe you're just underestimating how incredibly boring the Oscars really are.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:30 PM on March 3, 2014


picking on an 81 year-old cancer survivor tentatively making a rare public appearance seems unkind

I doubt there's a single person here who would disagree with that. I hope my question didn't come off that way, DOT -- I was genuinely concerned and hadn't known she had been so ill recently.
posted by mochapickle at 3:45 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh no, mochapickle. I think we're all of the same mind here. I was referring to the hassles she's getting elsewhere online.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:49 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm glad other people pointed out the fact there were fictional characters in a montage explicitly devoted to real people who had been the subject of films. I was already getting a little surprised that what was ostensibly about the everyday heroes who had movies made about them had a few of the biopics of the extremely famous, but when they went into fictional territory it was just stupid.

Unless it's revealed that John Travolta had a stroke at the exact moment he tried to pronounce 'Idina Menzel', I'm going to be fine with making a little fun with the egregiousness of his error.

And it's better than people getting sanctimonious about Matthew McConaughey mentioning God, as if that means he's a fundamentalist who thinks AIDS was a god-given plague on the wicked. Him thanking god doesn't make him an arsehole. Neither does either him not calling out AIDS victims at the Oscars, nor Jared Leto shouting out to AIDS victims but not specifically trans people, again at the Oscars only. If you think that's worth getting outraged over, a perspective adjustment is a good idea.
posted by gadge emeritus at 3:57 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I can see why people would be sore about McConnaughey not mentioning AIDS. But given that he's arguably the primary reason the film even got made and that its take on the issues entered the public consciousness, maybe he could get a pass on that. Also, Leto had kind of given that speech already.

I took his speech as a guy probably at the apotheosis of his career (I think we all know he's a good bet for an Emmy this year, too) giving a mini-speech on how grateful he was to be there and wanting to share the outlook he felt got him there. It might have been loopy, but I could see what he was going for and it seemed heartfelt.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:06 PM on March 3, 2014


So whatever happened to Jack Nicholson? I miss seeing him up near the front with his sunglasses on.
posted by octothorpe at 4:35 PM on March 3, 2014


the greatest photobomb of all time
This one from Jared isn't to shabby either.
posted by unliteral at 5:36 PM on March 3, 2014


I thought Kim Novak actually seemed to be getting along pretty well for 81--a little bit slower in speech and movement, but who isn't by then? It didn't help that they sent her out with a disconcertingly-youthful, hideous-portrait-in-an-attic-somewhere Matthew McConaughey.

quotes from the viewing party: "I didn't know Kim Novak was still alive."
"Yeah, well, I didn't know Matthew McConaughey was still twenty."

posted by kagredon at 5:43 PM on March 3, 2014


Yeah, I had no idea she was 81 and figured she was in her 60's or early 70's and had made the same kinds of bad cosmetic surgery life choices as people like Travolta.
posted by Sara C. at 5:46 PM on March 3, 2014


So has there been any sort of apology from Travolta? I mean, such a massive, massive blunder would seem to require him or his "people" putting out some sort of "I'm deeply sorry to have screwed up the ONE JOB I had last night."
posted by dnash at 5:48 PM on March 3, 2014


Yeah, after a year of roles in which McConaughey's been disturbingly thin because of Dallas Buyers Club, it was good to see him looking healthy.
posted by gadge emeritus at 5:49 PM on March 3, 2014


Without a doubt, the greatest photobomb of all time.

Peter Nyong'o will fanboy your shit right up.
posted by Etrigan at 5:49 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Also: Wind Beneath My Goddamn Wings? Whose idea was that? Because it was a terrible idea.

We laughed hen she came onstage because she's now identified so closely with that song. But when she actually started singing it, I said to my wife, "One of the writers just handed another one five bucks and said, 'Wow, I thought they wouldn't let that through.'"

That, or maybe it's the equivalent of Lorem ipsum for these things and someone forgot to go back and pick a real song.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:51 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


That quick switch from the "In Memoriam" to Bette Midler's maudlin, off-key singing of "Wind Beneath My Wings" was jarring and almost… disrespectful.
posted by Red Loop at 5:57 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I don't care about Voldemort Night Fever messing up his announcing chore.

I do care about Wind Beneath My Wings being played after the In Memoriam montage.

Also, I evidently am now known as Patrick Thompson according to the Travoltifier.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 5:59 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


That quick switch from the "In Memoriam" to Bette Midler's maudlin, off-key singing of "Wind Beneath My Wings" was jarring and almost… disrespectful.

Uggh... And the weird hand flappy thing thing she did, as if she were an actual bird? And the breathless and bizarre "thank you!" vocalization?

She was saying something when she got cut off: "Everyone wants to know what I said off mic at the end of the song. I said 'I feel like I just won the Olympics!'"

The Olympics.

I can't believe she ended a song for those we've lost only to talk seconds later about how great she feels.
posted by mochapickle at 6:08 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


MCMikeNamara: I LOVE montages, I am among the few who turn into the Oscars partially for the montages, but man, were those something awful.

Seriously! I'm a montage fan, and last night's were suck from beginning to end--though I did get the biggest laugh at the Oscar party thanks to one particularly awful segue, which was during one of the "Best Picture nominees" mini-montages:
Captain Phillips: There's got to be something other than being a fisherman or kidnapping people.
Muse: Maybe in America, Irish, maybe in America.

montage segues into clip for "Twelve Years a Slave"

tzikeh (blurts): I GUESS NOT
posted by tzikeh at 6:26 PM on March 3, 2014 [3 favorites]


Additionally, as a friend of mine just pointed out, given the stilted performances by a number of other presenters (Sidney Poitier, Harrison Ford, etc.) the problem was probably with the teleprompter.

Sidney Poitier is an 87 year old man.

Harrison Ford often seems uncomfortable in public.
posted by crossoverman at 6:29 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I do care about Wind Beneath My Wings being played after the In Memoriam montage.

I feel like one time it was played during the In Memoriam montage. Hopefully I imagined that.

I have NEVER understood the popularity of that song, it's so self-involved that it's just weird how it's sung in the context of honoring others. I guess it sort of made sense in "Beaches," but it pretty much should have stayed there.
posted by torticat at 7:02 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I love the In Memoriam montage and was very disappointed by last night's. Also the random Wind Beneath My Wings. That song was about an unsung hero(ine). What does it have to do with some very celebrated select dead people.

Also they should have played more actual clips. That sketchy cloudy scrapbook thing was annoying as hell.
posted by sweetkid at 7:12 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


But, but... clouds! They're in heaven, for chrissake
posted by Red Loop at 7:36 PM on March 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


I've said it before, but the underlying theme of "Wind Beneath My Wings" is: I pity you, poor person, because I'm so goddamn awesome and you're just my pit crew. And I'm constantly awed by how pitiful you remain next to my greatness.
posted by ColdChef at 7:44 PM on March 3, 2014 [9 favorites]


"When Beneath My Wings" is a totally fine song to describe a 30 year friendship where you spent 80% of your time passive aggressively envious of each other and only settled things between you after you alienated everyone else in your life. And also one of you is dead.

But if you play it after my death I will haunt you hard.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:54 PM on March 3, 2014 [6 favorites]


So hey if anyone needs to summon MCMikeNamara's spirit after he leaves us, uh, pro-tip.
posted by tzikeh at 9:09 PM on March 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


The mental image of a deeply serious cloaked coven singing Bette Midler as part of their summoning rite amidst candles and pentagrams is pretttty great
posted by jason_steakums at 9:12 PM on March 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


crossoverman: "Additionally, as a friend of mine just pointed out, given the stilted performances by a number of other presenters (Sidney Poitier, Harrison Ford, etc.) the problem was probably with the teleprompter.

Sidney Poitier is an 87 year old man.

Harrison Ford often seems uncomfortable in public.
"

According to Harrison Ford, public speaking is "a mixed bag of terror and anxiety."
posted by FireballForever at 11:49 PM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Tangentially related - Jimmy Fallon and the Roots broke out the kids' instruments when Idina Menzel showed up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:24 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


(EC, your link)
posted by mochapickle at 7:39 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Blast - thanks, mochapickle.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


A headline fail for the ages.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:57 AM on March 4, 2014


What did the sanitary pad say to the fart?

"You are the wind beneath my wings."
posted by yoink at 5:02 PM on March 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


He literally just had to say "Now Idina Menzel is going to sing a song out of her face."

Should I ever perform in public again this is how I will introduce myself:

HELLO EVERYONE NOW I WOULD LIKE TO SING YOU A SONG. OUT OF MY FACE. THANK YOU.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:16 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Empress (and mochapickle), that video was AWESOME.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:17 PM on March 4, 2014




The bio in that Playbill insert is hilarious.

(For the uninitiated: they took Idina Menzel's actual bio and Tromoltofied it.)
posted by Sara C. at 12:45 PM on March 5, 2014


"Dazeem's voice can be heard in the Disney musical, Farfignugen."
posted by onlyconnect at 1:01 PM on March 5, 2014 [2 favorites]


I like that she was in both the stage show Nert and its film adaptation, Trent.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:46 PM on March 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


Top Ten Ways To Mispronounce Idina Menzel from the Late Show
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:53 PM on March 5, 2014


Not just in the Playbill, but out the front of the theatre!
posted by crossoverman at 5:51 PM on March 5, 2014




Pastor Kevin Swanson of the Reformation Church is an asshole, but I have to admit when every 23 year old drag performer is doing "Let It Go" as their debut number in 2030, he's going seem pretty prescient.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:37 PM on March 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


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