5 Things We Learned At the 85th Annual Academy Awards

Culture
By Pete DAlessandro

In case you need to impress your friends, or just kill time in an elevator this week, here are some facts other people might have missed about the 2013 Oscars.

1. George Clooney is now tied with Walt Disney – nominated in 6 different categories:

Yes, that's right, George Clooney has been nominated for Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (he won for Syriana), and now won for Best Picture for Argo.

2. Yes, Grant Heslov is that guy you recognized from True Lies, Baywatch, Murder She Wrote, 21 Jump Street, Seinfeld, Hercules:

The producer holding the most coveted Best Picture award has had a role on just about every TV show you've ever seen, not to mention a few dozen movies. Experience pays.

3. Experience doesn't pay at all! In a year when Adele wins an Oscar, John Williams didn't even get nominated:

(Use this one if you want to argue with someone who brings up #2). I don't know if it was a deliberate snub to John Williams, whose music played more than half a dozen times during the show, but that fact that the most famous film composer in history didn't win — during the year celebrating film music? Ouch. But Adele and lots of other talented people did win Oscars. And sadly John Williams didn't inspire in Lincoln. Certainly not on the level of Superman, Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Arc, etc.

4. I'm pretty sure Jamie Foxx wanted to offer me a job, but then they cut him off:

OK, this might only work if you're Kelly Rowland. The interesting thing about this is: What do you have to do to get someone to listen to you? Be an A-list celebrity? Portray the title character in a Best Picture nominee? Offer someone a job? Even then, you might get cut off.

5. Kardashian jokes may be cheap and easy, but they work:

All right there's some obvious set up in that title for a few more cheap shots, but Seth McFarlane used a pretty simple Kardashian joke to get him out of some trouble during the show. And it worked. So, I guess the Kardashians do serve a purpose.