I don’t know if anyone else felt the same way, but the “In Memoriam” segment last night felt extremely flat to me. It’s not to say that it should be full of flavor and pizzazz. Quite the contrary. But there was just something sterile about the whole James Taylor sing-over same-old that didn’t sit well.
And then, they forgot to include Bea Arthur and Farrah Fawcett, which is a shame. There were probably more. But we remember you here!
Weird, unsettling week, this. Here’s how it went down:
• In the week’s biggest movie news, the Academy threw us all for a loop by announcing a 10-nominee slate for the Best Picture category.
• But even that shock was dwarfed in scale by the stunning news of Michael Jackson’s passing.
• And in a rather bleak week for losing talent, we also said goodbye to Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon.
• On a happier note, we laid eyes on two of our most eagerly awaited films of the year — “Public Enemies” and “Antichrist” — and liked what we saw.
• AMPAS continues its tinkering, this time in the Best Original Song category.
• The “Transformers” sequel opened to critical scorn even accusations of racism, but is the film totally indefensible?
• With “The Hurt Locker” finally going public today, we caught up with the film’s breakout star Jeremy Renner.
• We revealed our age by celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tim Burton’s “Batman.”
• Continuing the reflective mood, this week’s list considered the greatest directorial debuts of the decade.
• Speaking of debuts, “The Proposal” gave Sandra Bullock the biggest of her career.
An AP news brief flashed across my cell phone via text message a little: actress Farrah Fawcett has died in Los Angeles. She was 62. What an awful truth to stagger out of bed and face first thing in the morning.
The sad news follows the recent, heart-warming announcement that actor Ryan O’Neal was set to re-marry Fawcett, sticking with her through the painful final stages of cancer that ultimately spread to her liver and claimed her life. It also folllows a troubling time in the tabloids for Fawcett, when it seemed her very privacy wasn’t valuable enough to vultures eyeing her end of days. I hope the jackals circling Patrick Swayze take note.
Such a sad moment. My heart goes out to Mr. O’Neal and Fawcett’s family and friends.