LAist is liveblogging the Oscars, but a couple notes:
- Neil Patrick Harris did a Vegas style show number to kick things off—perhaps the producers wanted him to add some magic, given his great work as host of the Tonys and Emmys.
- Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have a great rapport, cracking wise and throwing zingers out. It was cute that Martin referenced The Jerk—Gabourey Sidibe and her mom got a kick out of that (they love The Jerk).
- The emotional high point of the evening—for viewers of a certain age, at least— might be the John Hughes tribute. Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick introduced a montage of Hughes' film work, plus clips of him speaking. After the montage, Ringwald and Broderick joined Jon Cryer, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Macaulay Culkin and Ally Sheedy to remember Hughes and note his family in the audience. Hughes died while visiting NYC last year (David Kamp's recent Vanity Fair feature about Hughes is worth a read).
- If Jeff Bridges wins tonight, as many predict he will, it's a win for the Dude. (Bridges introduced the Coen brothers best picture nominee, A Serious Man.)
s—and their on-stage speeches as well as "Thank you cam" speeches.
