Bjork, We Hardly Knew Ye

Last night was the 78th Annual Academy Awards, which signifies to main things in the world of entertainment. First, the Academy has an opportunity to honor those who worked their respective crafts to the very best, by handing them a thin gold man who would make an ideal candidate to stand in the middle of a four-man wall in a soccer game. Secondly, YAB’s got a whole week’s worth of material when it comes to recapping.

In the coming week, YAB readers will get a two-day recap of all things Oscar, the awards, who won, who should have won, who I think should have won, who thinks they know who I think should have won, those who won the right to think they know I think should have won, and so on. (I get a little verbose this time of year.) We’ll also finish off the week with a behind-the-scenes look of what it takes to put together a musical opening Oscar-themed video of your own. (I figure it will take me that long to figure out how to use youtube correctly.) After all, this IS the church….

But first, a report live from the after party of Oscar Party III, or OPIII for short.

The third incarnation of the OP was held for its final time at the place where it all started, Random Run Lane. While we will be sad to see the venue go (Spud will likely vacate at lease-end), keep in mind that the legacy and the event will live on. The Oscars themselves started in a small ballroom at a LA hotel in 1928. Before you know it, we’ll be renting out movie theaters for this thing. (Which would mean I’d get my hands on a whole new array of fun audio-visual tools.) Hell, maybe after watching this year’s Oscars, I’ll starting filming the Oscar Parties, and then do a montage.

All 19 of those in attendance and one lost sheep toiling in Israel made their picks and got entered into the Oscarmatic machine (my laptop). Thanks to a helpful idea from Icarus Fallen’s Mattias Caro, we tricked out the viewing rig from one TV to two this year. TV Alpha was for the telecast, and TV Beta was for showing the live updating scoreboard, a breakdown in each category of how much of the room was voting for each, and a free glimpse of Condon checking his e-mail when Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep nearing bored him to tears.

Aside from the Master Predictions, three other specials were added to this year’s mix. Spud and Chris rolled out the Song Bee, a remake from 2005’s hit “The Song Bee.” Who says remakes always suck? The songs got harder, and the game got longer, but eventually it was Mr. Moviefone-it-in, Chris Nordberg, who took home the prize sealing the deal by pulling The Matrix for the Propellorheads’ Spybreak.

A casting initiative was presented to small groups to honor the category of Best Direction. Each of the four teams were given a great movie of the past and told to recast the movie however they wanted, and prepare a movie pitch to those with all the money…or at least the congregation in attendance. We didn’t actually get to the pitch (not enough time, and Tom Hanks taught us that wasting too much time will result in a woodwind instrument to the head.) If you were a part of this action, feel free to post a comment with what happened in your group. As for my group, it appears that Jon Heder will be The Karate Kid After Next, only if he can survive training with the new Mr. Miyagi – who will be played by the Predator.

And finally, the evening opened and closed with Lyric Intensive’s take on that old SNL favorite – Lazy Sunday. Jon Stewart, friend, buddy, fellow alum, we think you did an admirable job bringing the funny, but for your fake “commercials,” can you say you wrote / recorded / mixed / filmed / storyboarded / edited / and produced them yourself? That’s how we roll (WHERE!) at the Oscar Party. Much more on this part of the festivities later in the week.

Last year’s recap had the final standings, and we’d be remised to omit them now. Congratulations to Katie Ferri aka Ferriots of Fire, for being the OP III Champ.

Name // No. Correct // Total Points // Last Year’s Finish
1. FERRIots of Fire // 18 // 50 // 25th
2. ANDERSEN’s Agreement // 17 // 49 // 3rd
T-3. French CONDONection // 17 // 48 // 8th
T-3. Sound of MOODY // 16 // 48 // 21st
T-3. MAZER vs. MAZER // 16 // 48 // 7th
T-6. SPUDler’s List // 16 // 47 // 1st
T-6. Lawrence of SARAbia // 16 // 47 // --
8. Driving Miss KATIE // 16 // 46 // 4th
9. JACQUESy // 15 // 45 // 12th
10. Forrest GRIMMp // 14 // 43 // 9th
11. NORD of the Rings // 12 // 41 // 6th
12. West Side SUSIE // 13 // 38 // --
13. aMATTIAS // 14 // 37 // 13th
T-14. Greatest SHARPE on Earth // 13 // 36 // --
T-14. Mrs. MiniVIEHWEG // 13 // 36 // 18th
T-14. Million DARKER Baby // 12 // 36 // --
17. KIDDnight Cowboy // 11 // 31 // 17th
18. One Flew Over the MEKO’s Nest // 11 // 29 // 11th
19. All is Quiet on the MASTERn Front // 7 // 22 // --
20. My Fair LIGGETT // 5 // 12 // 19th