She Likes to Watch

Was it just me, or did the Oscars seem a little, well, obvious?

Well-coifed actresses in sleek, off-the-shoulder gowns. Spotlights. Strings. A tuxedo-clad host with a few sharp quips. (Some of Jon Stewart’s patter felt so stiff, however, that I have to blame the Hollywood writers’ strike.)

There were no wardrobe malfunctions, no flubs, no crazed actors mashing lips with Halle Berry. (That means you, Adrien Brody.)

Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony ran so smoothly, in fact, that it felt a tad rehearsed.

Here’s my take on the winners and losers at Sunday’s 80th Annual Academy Awards.

BEST PICTURE: “No Country For Old Men”
It’s a western, a serial killer thriller and a quiet commentary on changing times in the American West. “No Country” may be a little less uplifting than your average Oscar winner, but it’s a solid “best bet.”

BEST DIRECTOR(s): Ethan and Joel Coen, “No Country For Old Men”
No suprises here. The Coen brothers have a large catalog of clever, quirky stuff and a very loyal following — just like last year’s winner, Martin Scorcese.

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”
He’s handsome, brilliant and willing to risk everything — the kind of actor who can turn even the crappiest epic (”Gangs of New York”, anyone?) into cinematic gold. Give him a lead role seething with rage and ambition and watch the scenery fly.

BEST ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”
Although Julie Christie could have been a shoe-in for her nuanced, touching turn as a woman with Azheimers in “Away From Her,” Cotillard went farther and blossomed more as French singer Edith Piaf.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”
Spanish heartthrob Bardem may play a chilling serial killer, but he’ll go down in history for having the worst haircut in movie history, thanks to this film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”
Indie darling Tilda Swinton is finally getting mainstream attention in the states — and not a moment too soon. Unfortunately, her win robbed Aussie Cate Blanchett of a well-deserved statuette for the Bob Dylan biopic “I’m Not There.”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Ethan and Joel Coen, “No County For Old Men”
Handling the Coen brothers another screenwriting Oscar is like giving a 400-pound gorilla another banana. It just makes sense.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Diablo Cody, “Juno”
Quirky, funny and a little too clever for its own good, “Juno” easily swept the title of “indie darling” this year.
Too bad screenwriter Diablo Cody couldn’t pull off the same feat on the red carpet. With her leopard print-and-rhinestone mumu, the former exotic dancer seemed to be channeling Peggy Bundy from “Married With Children.”

– Sarah L.

ABOVE: What are the Oscars without a lovingly doctored photo from Tribune photographer Joe Johnston? Yes, I know I look like Bat Boy.

Whenever I think of Juliette Lewis, I picture her sucking Robert DeNiro’s thumb in “Cape Fear,” and I know that probably means I’m pretty twisted.

Because, really, it’s not like that’s the only role she ever played. In fact, she’s a well-respected actress, who has worked with some of the industry’s finest, including directors like Scorsese, Tarantino and Stone.

Early in her acting career, she was the quintessential teen, appearing in movies like “Christmas Vacation” and “My Stepmother is an Alien.” Then she became a slightly off kilter young adult with a bad taste for guys in movies like “Kalifornia” and “Natural Born Killers.”

By the time she was 30, the Oscar-nominated actress had appeared in dozens of movies. Yet, all along, she has said, she was inspired by music. So what does a rich actor/actress with a love of music do?

Just ask Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, and Don Johnson.

That’s right — you form a band. Just like Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Russell Crowe. Just like Eddie Murphy, Philip Michael Thomas and Dennis Quaid.

You get the idea, right? If you’re rich and famous, you form a band, which often — OK, usually — sucks. (Did anyone else endure Billy Bob’s show at the Mid-State Fair a few years back?)

Except Lewis’s band, Juliette Lewis and the Licks, is actually pretty good – and has the reviews to show it.

The band, seen in this video, performs at Downtown Brew in San Luis Obispo Sunday.

Lewis first flirted with music videos years ago, when she appeared in Melissa Etheridge’s “Come to My Window” video. (Lewis played a suicidal mental patient.) Later, in the movie “Strange Days,” she sang P.J. Harvey’s “Hardly Wait.”

Her sound is often compared to Harvey’s, in fact. Her moves on stage recall Mick Jagger. And her Spandex-heavy stage outfits might draw comparisons to Olivia Newton John, circa the ’80s.

Okay, so the Spandex part is not so good.

But thanks in part to her co-writing with Linda Perry (“What’s Up,” “Get The Party Started,” “Beautiful”), she has garnered respect as a musician.

Lewis hasn’t given up acting. But, she’s said, she’s taking fewer roles these days so she can pursue her music career.

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OK, so I’m occasionally slow with technology, but eventually I embrace it.

In 1995, for example, I bought my first CD (Van Morrison’s greatest hits), forever ending my fling with cassettes and vinyl. A little slow, I know. But I made the transition.

Then just last night, for the very first time, I downloaded music from the Internet.

I hear you. It’s almost 2008.

The thing is that downloads always seemed ideal for me since I happen to like a lot of one-hit wonders and yet I don’t want to pay for an entire album just to get one song.

For some reason, I still resisted.

But last night I entered the download world by purchasing George Harrison’s “All Those Years Ago.” I’m doing a little nostalgic video project for my mom and wanted to include that song on it. Then I downloaded Ray Charles’s version of “Yesterday” — also for the video project. Then I downloaded a Phil Collins song just because I really like Phil Collins.

Downloading music is so easy. And with each song, you’re like, “Eh — it’s only a buck.” So I quickly downloaded three more Phil Collins songs. Then I started thinking about all the other songs I could download, which then made me think of the money I could be dropping, which then made me realize why I had resisted iTunes for so long.

–Pat P.

I have to say, the digital video recorder – DVR, for those of us in the know — has opened up a new world for me.

Take the Oscars, for instance. Usually pretty boring, right? It lasts about nine hours and features overdone musical numbers, cheesy tributes to people I don’t care about and long, blathering speeches that consist of actors thanking everyone they’ve ever met, including the valet (who, by the way, once worked as a gaffer for three episodes of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”).

No more. This year’s Oscars went by at breakneck speed, thanks to my new friend. Any time something remotely boring began, I just zipped forward until I found something interesting, like, say, another shot of Jack Nicholson’s bald head. Because, really, who cares who won the Oscar for Live Action Short Film? It was hard enough getting out to see all the prominent nominated movies, let alone “Binta and the Great Idea.”

Here’s a great idea: Drop all the boring categories and stick to the good stuff.

I had to see all the main movies, of course, because the features team does its annual Oscar picks story. This year was especially challenging for us because so many of the movies came out late. So Sarah Linn and I were on a mad dash to see everything we could. Which isn’t a bad thing, you know — we dig movies. But I do need to vent a bit:

I won’t mention any names, but there’s one local theater in particular that has jacked up prices significantly. A small popcorn at this theater is now $5.25, and a small soda is $4. (Please don’t tell me this escalation has something to do with turmoil in the Middle East.)

So including the price of a movie ticket, that’s $17.50 for one person. Yikes — I could almost buy a CD at Starbucks for that! I don’t care how much I’m overwhelmed by the smell of popcorn — and it is indeed alluring — I refuse to buy popcorn there. In fact, just out of spite, I might sneak a can of soda in, then loudly crack it open as the film begins and proceed to laugh maniacally.

Revolution starts from the ground up, my friends.

And get this: Not only are the concessions outrageous, but we also have to sit through commercials — yes, COMMERCIALS — before the previews start. So not only do I have to pay $4 to get a Coke, I then have to be subjected to a Coke commercial I’ve already seen on TV a hundred times.

This is why, yet again, you gotta love The Palm Theatre in SLO. Yeah, it’s small, and, yeah, the seats don’t come with ottomans. But, you know what? No commercials. And you can still get a popcorn and a soda for under five bucks.

– Pat P.

Welcome to the Tribune’s features staff blog, SLO Goings. It’s a place for the staff of Central Coast Living and the Ticket section to talk about the latest in arts and entertainment news.

Is it just me or were the Oscars a little more fun this year?
Sure, the big prizes came as no surprise: Forrest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Martin Scorsese. And the evening swept along smoothly with good will and gentle joking from TV comedienne Ellen DeGeneres.
Here’s what made the Oscars speed by:

• A sound effects choir recreating screeching tires, “Singing In the Rain” and the shower scene from “Psycho.”
• Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly threatening to thrash Peter O’Toole and romancing a bemused-looking Helen Mirren with their lament about comedians at the Oscars.
• Interpretive dance troupe Pilobolus, known for its acrobatic Hyundai ad, re-creating shadow puppets of everything from the penguins in “Happy Feet” to that pitchfork shoe from “The Devil Wears Prada.” (The icon for “Snakes on a Plane” was more memorable than the movie.)
• Great gowns, quick-paced dance numbers and well-deserved awardees.
  That’s what I call a party.THE BEST: Plenty of moving moments in the acceptance speeches by best acting winners Forrest Whitaker and Helen Mirren. Whitaker proved he’s more teddy bear than terror with a near-tears speech about his humble upbringings and dreams of connecting to “that belief in of all of us.” And Mirren provided what is sure to be this year’s most popular sound bite, hefting her Oscar and announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, the queen.”MARTIN SCORSESE: We all saw this one coming. The fast-talking director with the fierce eyebrows accepted his statuette from a trio of his peers — Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas — before greeting a standing ovation with the words, “Could you double-check the envelope?”
  Very terse. Very direct. Very Marty.
  Film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who won for “The Departed,” said it best: “Working with Marty is quite something. It’s tumultuous, passionate, funny … and like being in the best film school in the world.”

  MAN OF THE HOUR: Even with Marty’s big triumph, former vice president Al Gore nearly stole the show with his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Eco-celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio called him a “true champion of the cause” and joked that he should announce a new run for president. (Gore replied, “I’m just here for the movies, Leo.”) Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge thanked Gore for showing her that “caring about the environment is not Republican or Democratic.”
  He looks pretty good in a tux, too.

  INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: As several presenters noted, this was one of the most international Oscar ceremonies in years. With Spain, Japan, Germany and Africa in the running, Mexico’s “Pan’s Labryrinth” became this year’s “little film that could” with wins for cinematography, art direction and makeup.
  Here’s the local connection: Santa Maria firm Café FX created all the visual effects in “Pan’s Labyrinth” and acted as associate producer of the film.

  SPRING HAS SPRUNG: Spring arrived to the Oscars with a wave of gauzy pastels. Kate Winslet and Beyonce Knowles went for light green gowns with sweeping, over-the-shoulder draping.
  Cate Blanchett squeezed into a sparkling shark-silver sheath, a huge contrast to Penelope Cruz’s dramatic spread of champagne-colored feathers.
  There were a few missteps, however. Jennifer Lopez’s crystal-encrusted Greek goddess gown looked dated and dowdy. Gwyneth Paltrow — remember her “poor little Goth girl” misstep in 2002? — paired pleats and peach. And Kirsten Dunst’s sequins, feathers and collar created one confusing silvery gown. No wonder she looked so tired.
  As for the men, even Ellen DeGeneres’ suits were more inventive. Still, Djimon Hounsou looked GQ handsome with necktie and shades.