The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)

In the annual awards presentation, the nominated films include Atonement (2007), Juno (2007), Michael Clayton (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), and There Will Be Blood (2007).

Directors:

Louis J. Horvitz, Joseph Takats

Writers:

Jon Macks, Hal Kanter

Stars:

Jon Stewart, Jan Aaris, Amy Adams

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jon Stewart	...	Himself - Host
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jan Aaris	...	Himself
Amy Adams	...	Herself - Presenter & Performer
Casey Affleck	...	Himself - Nominee
Jessica Alba	...	Herself - Hostess: Scientific & Technical Awards Banquet
Don Ameche	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul Thomas Anderson	...	Himself - Nominee
Michelangelo Antonioni	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Jan Archibald	...	Herself - Winner
Alan Arkin	...	Himself - Presenter
Karen Baker Landers	...	Herself - Winner (as Karen M. Baker)
Javier Bardem	...	Himself - Winner
Michael Bay	...	Himself
Ingmar Bergman	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Brad Bird	...	Himself - Winner & Nominee

Storyline

In the annual awards presentation, the nominated films include Atonement (2007), Juno (2007), Michael Clayton (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), and There Will Be Blood (2007).

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Plot Keywords:

awards show | reference to imdb | academy awards ceremony | five word title | tv special | 

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Taglines:

The one. The only.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The 80th Annual Academy Awards

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

197 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First-time nominees Ruby Dee and Hal Holbrook (both 83 at the time of the Awards) were both born in Cleveland, Ohio, within six months of each other. Dee is the older one of the two.

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Quotes

Steve Carell: The topics they tackle are as diverse as they are important. Political repression in Iran. The grueling and vicious competition in the world of sports. A scathing indictment of health code violations in the restaurant industry. These searingly painful documentaries are both tragic...
Anne Hathaway: [interrupting] Steve? We're doing Animated Features. Ehm, a cute little rat, chubby wubby surfing penguins...
[laughs awkwardly]
Steve Carell: What about the girl in Iran?
Anne Hathaway: Eh, animated, Steve. You know, serious subject, but, but ...

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Connections

Follows The 61st Annual Academy Awards (1989)

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Soundtracks

That's How You Know
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders

User Reviews

No guts, no glory

I have been watching the Oscars on TV ever since I was a kid, and a lot has changed since then, some things for the better: the elimination of those ridiculous musical numbers, the pairing of two presenter celebs who were forced to exchange tepid, forced, non-witty repartee before finally reading the names of the nominees and announcing the winner, things like that - and one thing, unfortunately, has changed for the worst: the 30-second acceptance speech rule for the winners.

This single act has, in my opinion, ruined every award show that it's been used on in the past few years. The producers say it's a time constraint deal, that without it the winners would just drone on and on, actually getting to enjoy their moment of glory, and the show would run too long, costing the network more money. This excuse doesn't hold water though, because so much time is still wasted, what with all the special presentations, the singing of the nominated songs, blah blah blah. This valuable time could be used to allow the winners to talk, rather than having them up there either (a) rushing like maniacs to shut up before the clock ticks off their allotted seconds, or (b) refusing to kowtow and trying to actually say what they would like to say under the gun of the dreaded ORCHESTRA MUSIC starting to play after their 30 seconds and continuing to get louder and louder until they shut the $#!* up and get the hell off.

I feel that the producers of these shows have completely lost sight of what makes an award show good, what provides the actual GUTS of the show: it's the winners, getting to share with the audience how thrilled, moved, excited, etc., they are to be singled out for this honor. Depriving them by forcing them to speak for only 30 seconds is a crime, in my opinion. And to the people who complain that the show is too long, the speeches go on too long, I say they shouldn't be watching. The Oscars is a show for hardcore movie lovers, and to try to reduce it to a lowest-common-denominator presentation destroys the entire purpose of the show, strips it of its meaning and renders it useless. You might as well be watching a car commercial.