I thought i must do a quick blog showing my excitement about the recently finished the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony. After last years disappointment awardswise (as much as i love Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire received an extremely exaggerated kudos and amount of awards, Boyle should have recieved this for one of his other/awesome movies), this years Oscars has proved to not only be entertaining, but also extremely satisfying.
*SPOILERS - IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE BROADCAST YET*
The ceremony began beautifully with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, immediately showing how awesome and hilarious a host they can both be, and let us hope they return next year. They not only were hilarious at the start, they maintained sharp humour the whole time, which just go to show how pro they really are. Not since Billy Crystal have i been as entertained by the host of the Oscars as i was here.
In terms of Awards, it is indeed a year to remember, with The Hurt Locker picking up 6 of their 9 nominations, and well deserved for Original Screenplay, Sound, Sound Editing, Editing, Direction and Best Picture. It marks also the first time that a female director and a film directed by a female has won, and who better than the previously underrated Kathryn Bigelow. She shall be fondly remembered in history.
It is also memorable for being a small film managing to beat out the juggernaut that is Avatar, directed by ex-husband James Cameron, who was originally tipped to sweep the floor of all other nominations. However in the end, Avatar took home 3 well deserved Oscars for the visual aspects of the film which were so very great - being Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.
In terms of acting, it remained predictable, but justly so, with Christoph Waltz garnering his well deserved Oscar, a complete sweet of every award ceremony to which he was nominated. We deserved and he was extremely humbled. What an awesome dude.
SPEAKING OF THE DUDE. Finally Jeff Bridges was awarded a long awaited Oscar for his role as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart, which is well deserved not only for this role, but all the great roles he has played over 40 years. He was just great to watch, and he was visably excited and extremely happy to win, letting out childlike giggles. The way he held the award to the sky and looked fonding up, showed the love and appreciation he has for his passed mother and father, Lloyd Bridges.
In the female category, Mo’nique unsurprisingly took supporting actress, and deservedly so, for such an ugly yet powerful portray in Precious. A few years ago, i would never have dreamed this annoying comedienne would be up on an Oscar podium, but here we are, and im glad, and she accepted with grace and dignity.
Speaking of dignity, Sandra Bullock proved she was no Eddie Murphy and made history by winning both the Worst Actress of the year at the Razzie Awards for All About Steve (which she attended and handed out copies of the movie, champ) and winning the Best Actress gong for The Blind Side. While it seems to be not the greatest performance by a woman in history, and the seemingly weaker competition, despite the presence of Streep and Mirren, we all know that she deserves it for just being her. The way she stood humbled on stage, thanking all who helped her over the years, the way she still couldnt believe she’d be up there, yet also being her kooky self, it was just awesome. Kudos.
Heres the rest of the awards. I must say its great to see District 9 (merely for being nominated), Up, Star Trek and Crazy Heart all getting some lovin’ -
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Christoph Waltz
(Inglourious Basterds)
Best Animated Feature Film:
Up
(Directed by Pete Docter)
Best Original Song:
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)”
Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
(Crazy Heart)
Best Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker
(Mark Boal)
Best Animated Short Film:
Logorama
(Directed by Nicolas Schmerkin)
Best Documentary Short:
Music by Prudence
(Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett)
Best Live Action Short Film:
The New Tenants
(Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson)
Best Makeup:
Star Trek
(Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow)
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
(Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Mo’Nique
(Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire)
Best Art Direction:
Avatar
(Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg – Art Direction; Kim Sinclair – Set Decoration)
Best Costume Design:
The Young Victoria
(Sandy Powell)
Best Sound Editing:
The Hurt Locker
(Paul N.J. Ottosson)
Best Sound Mixing:
The Hurt Locker
(Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett)
Best Cinematography:
Avatar
(Mauro Fiore)
Best Original Score:
Up
(Michael Giacchino)
Best Visual Effects:
Avatar
(Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones)
Best Documentary Feature:
The Cove
(Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens)
Best Film Editing:
The Hurt Locker
(Bob Murawski and Chris Innis)
Best Foreign Language Film:
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
Argentina
(Directed by Juan José Campanella)
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Jeff Bridges
(Crazy Heart)
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Sandra Bullock
(The Blind Side)
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Best Film: Kathryn Bigelow Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker)
Some other great moments included the tearjerkingly beautiful tribute to the late director John Hughes, though film and the actors whose careers he helped launch, the tribute to horror films (under appreciated), Ben Stiller again proving hes one of the greatest award presenters in Oscar history, George Clooney being the funniest crowd member, only adding to his awesomeness (his face during the Jeff Bridges joke, priceless), they way they re-used the actors talking about the actors nominated before the big awards, highlighting how good they all are, and how Tom Hanks presented Best Picture the list goes on.
My only disappointments would be snubbing Quentin Tarantino yet again, especially for script which he so deserved. He has only won once for Pulp Fiction in 1994 for script, but he deserves more. Its great he has remained quality and shall do so for many years to come we hope, and one day, he may be appeciated by Oscar. Also merely highlighting the lifetime achievement award Oscar was also a shame. The broadcast was highly glitchy at times, sometimes the worst, loosing sound in crucial moments, which is INSANELY annoying. And the lack of the signature grin that is Jack Nicholson in the front row is also a shame.
But in all, a fantastic ceremony.
*SPOILERS END*
It must be said that the Red Carpet ceremonies also were insanely hilarious because of how shit all the interviewers were, especially douche Ryan Seacrest for E!, who constantly tried to introduce celebs to other celebs. He however recieved a great BURN from Woody Harrelson, who completely rejected him on the Red Carpet, freaking awesome. It was also great watching George Clooney being an awesome dude, running about across the street greeting and signing/possibly giving numbers to all the screaming females. Great stuff.
