Oscars 2010, The Recap

Call me a party pooper but I have to admit I wasn't actually planning on watching the Oscars this year. With 10 nominations for Best Picture, I was ready to boycott what I believe was a terrible ploy for ratings to get a broader, younger audience instead of recognizing the true standouts in filmmaking this year. But I just wasn't able to ignore it; no matter how I tried, just when I thought I was out, the annual ceremony just pulled me back in.

So there I was during the E! pre-game telecast standing on the red carpet donned in a turquoise lace "gown" and black patent with major bling Sergio Rossi stilettos. The other "actress" on the red carpet with me was wearing a hot pink chiffon evening dress with satin Jimmy Choo kitten heels with Swarovski crystals on the toe. Perhaps what it took for me to see the fun side of the Oscars was doing a little dress up myself. And with some live-action interviews on the red carpet, well, the evening definitely was off to a lively start.

I guess a lot of my curmudgeonly attitude is due in part to the overly focused nature to these award shows in my prior profession. Frankly, I just have lost interest in both the fashion and what people are wearing as well as the ceremony and who wins. And for the aforementioned 10 movies being nominated, well, I just really, really lost interest. But yesterday was a different occasion entirely partly because I didn't have any vested interest in who won (I haven't seen most of the movies unlike past years) and I looked at the dresses from a purely "outsider's" viewpoint.

I don't know what people were wearing and whose jewelry they had on (and still don't really know or care for that matter) but I do know what I liked and who I thought looked good. So my BEST AND WORST DRESSED AT THE OSCARS 2010 (in no particular order):

1. Demi Moore...okay, she may have had a lot of help under the knife, but I liked her nude dress and her tousled up do.

2. Penelope Cruz...I really liked the color of the dress and the tucks and pleats. Dramatic but did not take over (unlike Vera Farmiga's way too much going on pleating and bedspread cover-like fuchsia dress)

3. Rachel McAdams...it didn't read like a Monet watercolor on the television monitor but I liked the soft, ombre-look of the dress

4. Elizabeth Banks...just remembering I liked the grey and floating layers of chiffon. Thought it was very elegant and fit her well.

Honorable mentions include Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Miley Cyrus, Helen Mirren, Kristen Stewart.

I did not like SJP's dress. I know it was Chanel Haute Couture but I just thought she looked way too broad shouldered; plus no matter what, I don't like that yellow color on an evening dress. No thank you. I also did not care for Charlize's gown...the rosettes placed right on the breasts were so distracting and almost laughable. It reminded me of a spoof dress or something really bad done by someone on Project Runway. And I thought Zoe Saldana's purple ruffle explosion was a mess. It was too costumey and something that belonged on a Flamenco stage (I should know because I just saw the Flamenco show at the Orpheum last week and it really could have used some of this color and flounce!).

photos from People.com