Oscar Palooza

So on Sunday, I was busy doing my laundry when all of sudden the Oscars started. Things happen a lot sooner on the West Coast. So I made myself a Sidecar (which wasn't very good; I think the lemon must have been bad), and settled in the for the night. I was a little disappointed though as I found the evening a little lackluster. Last year I was more excited about the movies and who would win (Meryl or Kate?! Sean or Mickey?!) I had a lovely party with friends and brie and wine. And Hugh Jackman hosted--how can you top that? You can't.

So then Neil Patrick Harris came out and sang, and I was like is this the Tonys or the Oscars? There was a lot of dancing later on too, for like Best Score or something? I don't know. I also didn't find Alec and Steve very funny, even though Alec kills it on 30 Rock. Tina Fey should write the Oscars; her presenting bit was one of the funniest. Like every year, I didn't see the documentaries. And unlike last year, I didn't see the short films. I also didn't see the foreign films, but I hadn't even hear of The Secret in Their Eyes from Argentina, though I did hear a lot about A Prophet (France) and The White Ribbon (Germany).

So Up won Best Animated Feature because it's Pixar. It was also nominated for regular Best Picture. Greedy much? Star Trek won Best Makeup, and The Young Victoria won Best Costume Design. I liked Sandy Powell's speech when she said the award was for all those costume designers who don't do movies about dead monarchs or glitzy musicals. Avatar won Best Cinematography, Visual Effects, and Art Direction which was fair. Avatar was a visually stunning film, but that's about it. And The Hurt Locker cleaned up the other technical awards with Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (which I think should be combined for one award--Sound Editing & Mixing--don't you?) and Best Editing.

So I judge screenplays mostly on dialogue as well as the overall story and plot, and while there's more than that to writing, that can be affected by directing and editing and whatnot. Anyway, I think Quentin Tarantino should have won Original Screenplay for Inglourious Basterds. Have you seen it?! There are two 20-30 minute scenes of just people sitting and talking, but you can't breathe because they're so fraught, which is also due to Tarantino's direction. Well, The Hurt Locker won and it's a good movie, but I don't remember much of the dialogue (or plot for that matter). I also wanted Up in the Air to win Adapted Screenplay. Jason Reitman (and Sheldon Turner) created Vera Farmiga's and Anna Kendrick's characters out of thin air because in the novel everything's happening inside Ryan (George Clooney) Bingham's head (or so I've heard). That's impressive. Also, in a movie that could have easily been cliche ridden, the film transcends every cliche (except for Ryan's aha moment which we've all seen many, many times). Up in the Air was also my favorite movie of last year (even though I saw it this year). It's out on DVD today. Instead Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire won. I wonder if it was in Sapphire's contract when she sold the rights to have that godawful subtitle. Precious was a hard movie to sit through at times, but I had pretty much forgotten about it by the next day. So, yeah. Maybe that was just me.

So Mo'Nique won Best Supporting Actress just as she has won every award this season. Which is fine because it was an emotionally wrenching performance, especially coming from a stand-up comedian. But I loved Vera Farmiga's performance in Up in the Air more. Hopefully we'll see more of her. Penelope Cruz was up for Nine and she did fine, but it's not exactly an Oscar worthy performance. It doesn't come close to her award-winning role in Vicky Christina Barcelona last year, and I heard she was much better this year in Broken Embraces. Anna Kendrick also did fine, but again, Oscar worthy? And I haven't seen Crazy Heart, but I love Maggie Gyllenhaal. Critsoph Waltz likewise won Best Supporting Actor, which I support, for Ingourious Basterds. I haven't even seen the other four supporting actors' films.

It was also no surprise when Jeff Bridges won Best Actor which was finally due, so good for Jeff and his standing ovation. Now I haven't seen Crazy Heart but it's about a broken-down country singer making a comeback which first of all sounds like a country song but also sounds suspiciously like last year's The Wrestler and Mickey Rourke's acclaimed performance (even if Sean Penn won). George Clooney also gave one of his best performances, but I'm sure he'll win another Oscar one of these years.

So really there were no surprises in the Acting categories. Even Sandra Bullock won the Golden Globe and the SAG for The Blind Side which I had forgotten about, and I was like oh, Sandra's nominated for an Oscar. That's cute. Now I haven't seen The Blind Side but from what I've heard, her character is a fairly archetypal uppity white woman who doesn't take any guff which the Academy loves (see: Erin Brockovich). Also, everyone in Hollywood loves Sandra Bullock. The night before the Oscar's, she even showed up in person to accept her Razzie Award for Worst Actress for All About Steve. How cool is that? However, Meryl Streep also won a Golden Globe for Julie & Julia for her iconic portrayal of Julia Child and everyone loves Julia. Everyone loves to nominate Meryl Streep too, they just don't love to vote for her. The Academy just needs to effing give Meryl one more Oscar before it's too late. Seriously! I haven't seen The Last Station, but I'm sure Helen Mirren was great. Carey Mulligan was effortlessly lovely and perfect in An Education. I'm excited to see more from her, and she'll be back. Everyone's also saying we're going to see more from Gabourey Sidibe, but I don't know. There just aren't a lot of roles for large black women who aren't Queen Latifah. Sidibe did a great job, but it was also a very internalized performance. We'll see. So yeah, Sandra won, and her hair was dark, shiny, smooth, and very pretty. And I will always be upset until Meryl wins at least one more time.

Finally Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director for The Hurt Locker. She's the first women to do so. I thought Sofia Coppola had that distinction, and while she was nominated for directing, she won her Oscar for Best Screenplay. It's even better because Kathryn Bigelow used to be married to James Cameron. I would also have been happy if Quentin Tarantino or Jason Reitman had won.

Finally we come to Best Picture. There were ten nominees this year; 1944 was the last (and only?) time there were ten nominees before, but this might be a new thing going forward? I don't know. I have only seen six of the ten nominees. I really wanted Up in the Air to win, but I was pretty sure that was just wishful thinking. I just really, really did not want Avatar to win. Well, I think the Academy hasn't forgiven Cameron for Titanic, and The Hurt Locker won. (Also acceptable: Inglourious Basterds.) I saw The Hurt Locker back in the summer, and it's a good film and a masterwork of suspense. I need to see it again.

Well that pretty much sums it up. My ABC reception is a little fuzzy, so I don't have any great fashion notes for you. I was really happy that Avatar only won three minor awards. Other than that, there were no real surprises. And the hosting was a little boring. Bring back Hugh Jackman!