So it was good to see Jon Stewart being Jon Stewart. He is shaping up to be a dependable Oscar host for the post-Billy Crystal years. He's not musical, but he's versatile enough to swing smoothly between jokes about politics, Hollywood, new media, and, most importantly, hair. Last night, after every Oscar moment of ego bloat, and after the many long stretches of highlight-reel nostalgia, his aggressively ironic smile was a welcome sight at the podium.
Stewart filled the night with small, necessary doses of writers'-strike humor, noting, "The fight is over, so tonight welcome to the makeup sex," and reminding us that we'd be watching the Oscar salute to "binoculars and periscopes" if the battle hadn't ended. And, of course, he jabbed at major campaign figures: "Hillary Clinton called it the feel-good movie of the year," he said about "Away From Her," about a woman who forgets her husband's name.
As the hours submerged further into anticlimax, retrospective, and pure strangeness - Amy Adams's cloyingly cheery rendition of "Happy Working Song," Jerry Seinfeld once again not being funny as an animated bee, Nicole Kidman's absurdly tight face - Stewart's offhanded bits were a little something to anticipate.
After winner Javier Bardem thanked his mother in Spanish - one of the night's many thank-yous by those from other countries - Stewart announced: "I believe he told his mother where the library is." He goofed on Cate Blanchett's versatility, noting that not only did she play Queen Elizabeth and Bob Dylan, but she was playing him at that moment. And he let us catch him watching "Lawrence of Arabia" on his iPhone after a long Oscar clip montage. He didn't bring down the house, but he kept it from falling apart.
The presenters seemed to be suffering from a shortage of glamour, especially in comparison to those in the old clips. The Rock - uh, I mean Dwayne Johnson - made a stiff attempt at a joke, Katherine Heigl was a bundle of apologetic nerves, Owen Wilson looked like he'd rather be reading People magazine than standing onstage. The young Miley Cyrus was preternaturally un-freaked out.
