Philippe Petit performs a Coin illusion on the Oscars

[MaxNY]

A French drop that would fool any Cub Scout!

[Terrence]

...and ironic that a French high-wire artist would do the "French Drop"... :eek:

[David Alexander]

Phillipe earned Oscar immortality by balancing the award upside down on his chin. Clever fellow.

[Pete Biro]

I was switching back and forth from the Laker's winning game to the Oscar show and ALMOST missed his magic bit (I missed the start of his move and came in when he opened his hand to show the coin was gone) and did see the balance. Now I gotta see his film.

[Dave Shepherd]

The genius writing about the Oscars in today's Washington Post said Petit vanished his Oscar.

Not quite, Hank Stuever. But close.

Guess Hank was too far away from the television to actually see the bit. Vanished the Oscar and balanced a coin on his chin?

[Dustin Stinett]

I missed that! I hope it's still on my DVR when I get home.

That show was one of the best and worst Oscars I've seen.

Hugh Jackman was good and I liked his opening.

I liked the way they announced the acting nominees (but why not do the same for Best Director?).

The memorial piece was a complete disaster; an embarrassment in my opinion. The director should be thrashed. We did not need to see Queen Latifah singing; hearing her was enough. But when the director cut to the shot with her in it (which seemed like half the time), it was impossible to read the graphics on the screen! What good was that. The director needs to be told that not everyone watching has a 54" HD flat screen TV. What a wanker.

No surprises at all regarding the awards though.

Dustin

PS: Yes: I will allow non-magic talk on the Oscars, so go for it. I know RK is a movie fan as well, so I don't think he'll mind. Keep it civil and please, no commentary about Sean Penn's acceptance speech.

D

[jason156]

I have to agree the memorial piece was a disaster, and I can't believe they left George Carlin off the list.

[Andrew Charles]

Here's Philippe Petit at the Oscars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9jsx9mKtQ

And if you haven't seen Man On Wire you are definitely missing out.

[MaxNY]

Oh yeah, and animated short film "Presto" by Doug Sweetland did not win. I smell competition to open up Magic Live 2009...

Dustin, was this the first year that Gil Cates wasn't Producing? I thought it was great because they didn't cut off one acceptance speech. I also liked the heartfelt speeches each of the 20 or so past Oscar winners gave their contemporaries.

[Dustin Stinett]

Don't know Max, haven't looked at the credits yet. I usually look to make sure Bruce Vilanch did his usual job of writing the jokes.

I also liked that format of the past winners honoring the nominees. I still wonder why they didn't do that with the directors. What; they couldn't find five who would share the spotlight with each other?

The show only went 20 minutes or so over, right? So I think most of these folks are getting the message to shorten the speeches at these things.

Ben Stiller was another highlight for me, though he should have quit when the nominees were being read off. But when he first came out I almost wet myself laughing.

Thanks for the youtube link Andrew!

Dustin

[Doc Dixon]

My favorite line of the show:
SM: I'm Steve Martin
TF: I'm Tina Fey
SM: And I'm Steve Martin.

I can't explain why, but that just killed me.

DD

[Dustin Stinett]

Ditto!

And...

"Don't fall in love with me!"

[Randy]

Watching the Oscars last night got me to thinking that Neil Patrick Harris would be a GREAT host for the annual show. He is very multi-talented, does not take himself (or Hollywood) too seriosly, is widely well received, etc. Also, what about Jason Alexander as a possible host. Great comic, can sign & dance, etc. Any other semi-magic related possibilities come to mind?

[Dustin Stinett]

I want to jump into Mr. Peabody's WayBack Machine and go back to when Johnny Carson hosted.

But Jason Alexander would be an excellent host. NPH would too, but he'll probably need more movies on his resume first. Emmy Awards for him maybe?

Dustin

[NCMarsh]

Joel Grey owned the stage...I think he'd be a fantastic host...

[Randy]

Although not loosley associated with Magic as NPH or Jason Alexander, I think Martin Short could do a great job too. Maybe not as relevent as he used to be, but he has a wide range of possibilities.

[Michael Kamen]

Here's Philippe Petit at the Oscars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9jsx9mKtQ

And if you haven't seen Man On Wire you are definitely missing out.

Thanks for posting that Andrew. No bull folks, if you haven't seen it yet, do.

[TCG]

And guess where Phillipe chose to celebrate Monday night.
At the world famous Magic Castle.
He told me that the documentary will be made into a feature film being directed by Robert Zemeckis.
What a charming man and captivating film.

[Brian Marks]

I want to jump into Mr. Peabody's WayBack Machine and go back to when Johnny Carson hosted.

But Jason Alexander would be an excellent host. NPH would too, but he'll probably need more movies on his resume first. Emmy Awards for him maybe?

Dustin

what? beating up Julia Roberts isn't enough?

[Dustin Stinett]

I think you misread my post: JA has a fine resume (film, stage, and TV). I think it's NPH who needs to bolster his a bit, particularly in film.

Unless he smacked Julia around in a movie too!

Dustin

[MaxNY]

My favorite line...Hugh was talking about the cut-backs, and when he introduced his dancers he said...."... Ladies and Craig's List Dancers"


Philippe Petit is to sign copies of his DVD's this Saturday upstate New York. Kingston Barnes and Noble 3pm. Call ahead to reserve your copy.

[Brad Henderson]

Jackman was great. I usually find the Oscar's borderline offensive - having been in Hollywood during the event and seeing first hand just how they "value" their potential audience. But this year's seemed to have something past years have lacked - sincerity. . . or maybe this acting thing really works!

Jackman was a great host and the musical numbers were stunning.

And yes, you need to see Man on Wire. Petit is not a daredevil - he is an artist.

[Doug Thornton]

After seeing Man on Wire yesterday, I was inspired to tell the world, but found this thread and see that others voiced their fascination a while back. So if you're thinking of updating your Netflix dvd queue, do it now! (Be sure to watch the extras.) It's a fantastic documentary, almost like witnessing a bank heist.

[Maritess]

OMG I LOVE Philippe. Man on Wire was such a great documentary and we're so lucky that he did that so that future generations would know his genius.