Adam Buckman’s review of the Oscars matches mine. CHRIS DOESN’T ROCK is his headline, mine might be CHRIS ROCK ON EQUAL FOOTING WITH REST OF HOLLYWOOD.
Was it just me, or did the Oscars suddenly look more like the NAACP festival this year?
February 28, 2005—WHAT was Chris Rock’s contribution to Oscar history last night?
He said “ass” a lot.
Otherwise, his overly hyped hosting stint was woefully undistinguished.
You could even tell from the audience’s reaction that he was flopping.
The Hollywood stars and bigwigs in the Kodak Theater gave him a standing ovation when he was introduced, but their enthusiasm flagged as his monologue stretched on for far too long.
Their laughter at the outset shortly gave way to polite applause — a sure sign the comedian was not putting it across, even if he was straining to do so.
At the opening of the Academy Awards last night on ABC, Rock made no grand entrance in the tradition of Billy Crystal, and launched right into his monologue.
He strode back and forth across the stage with a crazy grin, as we’ve seen him do a million times, and made slick observations about movies, race, Michael Moore and President Bush.
His material was so predictable, it made you wonder whatever happened to the brash young comic once known as the funniest man in America.
Last night, he had morphed into a hack who’d been booked into a room that was much too big for him.
He basically came on the Oscars and did his standup act, forgetting that his primary job was to act as master of ceremonies. Maybe no one told him that there was more to the job than using words like “ass” and “suck” just to shock us.
Here’s what would have been really shocking: If Chris Rock had chosen the occasion to show us his classy side, and thereby elevate the whole event. But that was not to be.
Meanwhile, there was more to last night’s telecast than Chris Rock exhorting the audience to “sit yo’ ass down!” […]
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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