Oscar Opening 2010: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin
By Krystal Clark
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards really tried to step it up a notch with this year’s ceremony by having Steve Martin return to host alongside “30 Rock’s“ Alec Baldwin. Too bad for us, they didn’t really open the show. Instead we got an intro featuring the nominees for Best Lead Actor and Actress followed by a musical number from Neil Patrick Harris. THEN Martin and Baldwin descended onto the stage…literally.
Take a look and judge for yourself…
The banter between the two hosts centered on bashing each other, Meryl Streep, and the rest of Hollywood. I love both of these actors individually but their opening was very awkward. They unleashed all these semi-insults to the nominees in the audience and I wasn’t sure if people would laugh or cry. The one moment that I thought was semi-funny was the joke about James Cameron’s cutaway earning 3 million dollars.
But then they went and cracked a joke about his ex-wife and fellow nominee Kathryn Bigelow, which I thought was awkward. We get it, they used to be married, but please stop. The opening really didn’t do it for me. I expected Grade A material but got a too-bit comedic sketch instead. Hopefully the rest of the show isn’t as weird or tasteless.
Here it is…
What did you think of Martin and Baldwin’s Oscar opening? Did you get the jokes?
Monday, March 8, 2010 2:16AM
I love it clooney is acting. reminds me of joquin phoenix on letterman. spoofing around..
Monday, March 8, 2010 2:31AM
I noticed that actor George Clooney was not amused during the bit. The cutaways showed that he was ready for it be over.
Monday, March 8, 2010 2:47AM
I agree, they were horrible, this will go down in history as one of the worst openings of the Oscars, or shall I say semi-openings. Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were boring and awkward and did not make me laugh at all. You could actually see people in the audience who were not amused either. I think David Letterman just went up a notch after these guys.
Monday, March 8, 2010 3:07AM
The opening was very uncomfortable and tactless, to be honest. Personally I found it a little racist and offensive. They really should have thought through their jokes.
Monday, March 8, 2010 5:49AM
I actually liked the jokes by Baldwina and Steve. They were funny without being offensive – they onoly offended each other. They showed class . the show did need a better intro than Doogie Howsers dance routine though I would have liked to have seen Alec dance and sing – there is little her cant do
Monday, March 8, 2010 6:38AM
They were hilarious! They were not racist….Martin really did play a poor black kid in one of his movies…if you are familiar with it. And, I am jewish and did not find the jew comment to be offensive, neither did many of the jews laughing in the audience.
Monday, March 8, 2010 7:30AM
There was zero chemistry between Martin and Baldwin and their interaction was clumsy and painful.
The worst comedic performance since the opening monologue of the Chevy Chase show.
Monday, March 8, 2010 12:25PM
Those of you who thought the Martin and Baldwin jokes were bad or racist are insane. It suggests that you have no idea what a good joke or true racism is. Just because a joke involves race doesn't make is "racist." If that were the case, Don Rickles and Lisa Lampanelli would be unknown today. The joke about Inglorious Basterds and the "mother load" of Jews in the crowd was hilarious.
Monday, March 8, 2010 6:31PM
What little I saw made me embarrassed for Steve Martin – he tried too hard to be funny. He IS funny naturally but he needed someone to tell him to tone it down. Alec seemed genuinely uncomfortable to be there. I would be too!
Monday, March 8, 2010 8:09PM
I totally think they were horrible the jokes were tacky and tasteless and completely not funny!
Monday, March 8, 2010 9:19PM
There were only a few good jokes that Steve and Alec did. The rest were a waste of time during the show. How many more stupid overdone Toyota or Slanket jokes do we have to hear? How about some fresh material, and is clever too much to ask for while you’re at it? The sketch with Steve and Alec showing all the crazy sleeping positons during the night went on way too long and was not funny after taking up a lot of time. I’d rather hear more of what the winners want to say in their speeches or the Academy honoring more of the actors who passed away the previous year than cutting both of those groups short just to spew out larger volume of jokes that only contain a couple funny
ones. Stop thinking viewers will laugh at anything and challenge yourselves to create funnier jokes/sketches.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 10:36AM
I found this duo uncomfotable and the jokes cheesy. This is the oscars not the comedy awards! How long did these jokes take to think up I wonder? They're so obvious that I could end the sentances for them.
As for picking on George Clooney. OUTRAGEOUS! He is great actor and deserved a nomination for 'Up in the Air', I'm glad he didn't fake laugh (like so many others) at the pairs pathetic attempts to humiliate him. Also 'DAME' joke was so lame!
The pair onstage contradicted the glamourous crowd and the ceremony in general..I feel like the producers in a wake up call, stop trying to make this anything other than what it is…A CELEBRATION OF VISUAL CREATIVE ARTS AND THE TALENT AND ARTIST BEHIND THEM!
Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:53AM
Your 100% right it made me want to read my old issue of mad magazines and i thought these made me sick!
Monday, March 15, 2010 5:18AM
OMG! Some of you people actually thought Steve and Alex were good? Wow, to each their own but if you actually pay attention, you were very clearly notice that there was absolutely no comedic timing. It was almost as if they were reading from a script (FOR THE FIRST TIME).
Their half-hearted insults noticeably annoyed many of the actors. It was painful to watch!
The opening by Dougie (er… Neil Patrick Harris) was a bit amateurish (BTW, I greatly admire Neil Patrick Harris – see Dr Horribles Sing-Along Blog).
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 1:03AM
Yes they were absolutely horrible. One thing is, actually, I think the script was Martin´s. And his writing is always terrible. He must not write one single line, only act in other´s scripts. This was typical Martin´s " I am clever "- stuff and as always, it is very bad he has a bad taste. Baldwin was just following his style, poor guy. Martin is a great actor but he should understand that the movies were written by someone who has good humour. He is very bad when he thinks he can do everything. Shame. C´mon Billy Crystal, you´re the one doing the Oscars, the best.
Monday, February 28, 2011 9:32AM
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