I'm just going to say it flat out: this was the most disappointing Oscar show in all the years I have been doing this. The big reason: sound mixers Kevin O'Connell and Greg Russell did their best work ever this year in Transformers, and yet the Academy decided to ignore it, just as they have ignored this duo 30 times before. And because the Academy wanted to anger me more, they decided not to give a single award to Transformers. You can say what you want about the film's story-telling, but it provided the best visuals and sound in years. The audience clearly thinks so, so why doesn't the Academy?
Then the disappointments kept on coming. Jon Stewart wasn't annoyingly offensive like Chris Rock but he was boring and uninspired, one of the worst Oscar host performances in years. However, I'll cut him some slack knowing that he only had a week to prepare for this, while most hosts have months. But couldn't he have taken the advice he received last time and not made it political. At one point in the monologue, he made an almost seamless transition from film jokes to political satire. Don't we watch the Oscars so we can escape politics for a night?
The presentation wasn't even that good. There were no skits or unique presentations, just a couple of montages. Oddly enough that didn't help cut down on the runtime. The musical numbers were well-done, particularly Glen and Marketa doing "Falling Slowly." Then there was that skit with Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill playing Halle Berry and Judi Dench. Didn't Adam Sandler and Chris Rock do the same thing three years ago? I know the writers came in late, but they could have written better stuff.
So I accurately predicted 15/24, same as two of the last three years. As far as I can tell, the only websites to beat me are Kris Tapley at In Contention who got 18 and Nathaniel and Film Experience who got 17. In retrospect, the only stupid choice I made was Jesse James over Blood for cinematogrpahy. But I also had some smart unlikely ones like Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton, and Bourne for editing. But there were many surprises that nobody was expecting (Elizabeth for costumes, come on!), and I bet a lot of people did more poorly than usual. Also, I said it last year and I'll say it again this year: the age of the sweep is over. Like the last three years, no film won more than four or five Oscars. I guess they are getting better at spreading the love. Also, an interesting note: the BAFTA seems to be more of an accurate precursor now. It agreed with the Oscars in many categories including the suprises: Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton, Bourne for editing, Compass for visual effects, and Bourne for sound.
So my thoughts about the individual categories are below. The winners are in BOLD and my personal pick is in Italics, and they are ranked by how I was predicting them.
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Best Picture 1. No Country for Old Men 2. There Will be Blood 3. Juno 4. Michael Clayton 5. Atonement |
So the obvious choice won, even though many had their reservations about the film's ending. It seems odd for a film like No Country to join the ranks of best picture winners, but it was a weak year, and without Sweeney Todd nominated, I guess they deserved it. |
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Best Director 1. Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) 2. Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will be Blood) 3. Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) 4. Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) 5. Jason Reitman (Juno) |
So now hardcore film pundits can stop saying that the Coen Brothers are overdue for a directors Oscar. Among a slate of first-time nominees, I believe the duo deserved it. Of course it was at this point in the evening that I knew for sure that No Country was going to win picture. |
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Best Actor 1. Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will be Blood) 2. Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) 3. George Clooney (Michael Clayton) 4. Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah) 5. Viggo Mortenson (Eastern Promises) |
Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis had by far the best performance of the year. And his acceptance speech was noble, classy, and makes me wonder why he hasn't been knighted. But I'm still disappointed that Johnny Depp will have to wait longer before he finally wins an Oscar. He and Laura Linney now move from semi-due to overdue for an Oscar. |
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Best Actress 1. Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) 2. Julie Christie (Away From Her) 3. Ellen Page (Juno) 4. Laura Linney (The Savages) 5. Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) |
Yes! This gave me one of the few moments of pleasure of the evening. They actually gave the award to the best performance, even if it required reading subtitles, a first time for this category. But I'm happier that I accurately predicted Cotillard while the vast majority were predicting Christie. I've still got some predicting talent in me. Also I love seeing winners who are truly surprised and ecstatic to win their award, and Cotillard was one of the few. I am happy for her. |
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Best Supporting Actor 1. Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) 2. Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild) 3. Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) 4. Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James...) 5. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War) |
So Javier Bardem officially swept the awards circuit. Check the precursor chart, there's nothing he was nominated for that he didn't win. I guess he deserved it, but now Tom Wilkinson is really owed a consolation win. Hope he gets it some day. |
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Best Supporting Actress 1. Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) 2. Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There) 3. Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) 4. Ruby Dee (American Gangster) 5. Saorise Ronan (Atonement) |
Yes! Another unlikely prediction I got correct! Most were saying Blanchett, and quite a few were saying Ryan and Dee as well. But I had a gut feeling Swinton's BAFTA win meant something and I was right. You can tell she was genuinely shocked as well with those big green creepy eyes of hers. |
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Best Original Screenplay 1. Juno 2. Michael Clayton 3. Ratatouille 4. The Savages 5. Lars and the Real Girl |
I guess Diablo Cody is like the Jennifer Hudson this year, in terms of the rags to riches Oscar success story. You could also tell she was genuinely happy and on the verge of tearing up. If Juno was going to win somewhere, I'm glad it was here. |
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Best Adapted Screenplay 1. No Country for Old Men 2. There Will be Blood 3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 4. Atonement 5. Away From Her |
So the Coen Brothers won three awards tonight. Do you think that's too much? Now I'd say P.T. Anderson is really overdue for a screenplay win. Also, I'm glad to see that I got these top eight categories all correct, something I don't think a lot of people did this year. |
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Best Art Direction 1. There Will be Blood 2. Sweeney Todd 3. Atonement 4. The Golden Compass 5. American Gangster |
I was not expecting this, but I was happy for it. I loved Sweeney Todd and was glad to see it win at least one award, and this was certainly a deserving one. Tim Burton films never get the Oscar love they deserve. But wins for actor and costumes would have also been nice. |
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Best Cinematography 1. The Assassination of Jesse James... 2. There Will be Blood 3. No Country for Old Men 4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 5. Atonement |
This was a strong year for cinematography so it is hard to pick a winner. But I still feel bad for Roger Deakins who now goes seven nominations without a win. Every year the Academy gives at least one overdue individual an Oscar. This year it was none. FORSHAME! |
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Best Editing 1. The Bourne Ultimatum 2. No Country for Old Men 3. There Will be Blood 4. Into the Wild 5. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly |
Bourne editor Christopher Rouse deserved it, and he also deserved it last year for United 93. I was genuinely surprised that Bourne managed to win all three of its awards. It won the second-most tonight. And at least we don't have to deal with the awkwardness of what to do if Roderick Jaynes were to win. |
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Best Costumes 1. Sweeney Todd 2. Elizabeth: The Golden Age 3. Atonement 4. La Vie En Rose 5. Across the Universe |
This was the first big surprise of the evening. At least I was right by not going with the Atonement consensus. This is actually the third time in a row that costumes went to a terrible film. What we can learn: the costumes category doesn't care about the quality of the film, just the flashiness of the costumes. |
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Best Makeup 1. La Vie En Rose 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 3. Norbit |
This wasn't much of a surprise to anybody. But this marks a rare instance in which aging makeup was the winner as opposed to creature/fantasy makeup. And I feel bad for Pirates' loss. It gave us so many well made-up characters in the trilogy. |
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Best Visual Effects 1.Transformers 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 3. The Golden Compass |
What!!!??? This made no sense. Nobody saw it coming, and I'm sure nobody agrees with it. How can The Golden Compass, whose effects would only be considered good for seven years ago, beat Transformers, which innovated so many new technologies, had greater detail, greater authenticity, and much more of a challenge? I would have been happier even with Pirates. There is seriously some sort of unfair conspiracy against this film. |
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Best Sound 1.Transformers 2. No Country for Old Men 3. The Bourne Ultimatum 4. Ratatouille 5. 3:10 to Yuma |
This is the number one reason why the evening was a big letdown. It is clear to me now that members of the sound branch have absolutely no idea what great mixing is, and simply enjoy kicking people while they are down. Kevin, Greg, I'm sorry. I blame myself for not campaigning hard enough. I'd like to say there's always next year, but I find it hard to imagine topping the work done in Transformers. Hey Academy, big FORSHAME!!! |
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Best Sound Editing 1. Transformers 2. The Bourne Ultimatum 3. No Country for Old Men 4. Ratatouille 5. There Will be Blood |
Again, there is some sort of conspiracy against Transformers here. How did one of the biggest successes and both visually and aurally advanced films ever manage to lose all three nominations? Sure Bourne was good, but do you really think it is easy to come up with sounds for alien robots? FORSHAME! |
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Best Score 1. Atonement 2. The Kite Runner 3. Ratatouille 4. 3:10 to Yuma 5. Michael Clayton |
I guess Marianelli deserved it. Everybody predicted it and it happened. Whoopdeedoo. Really, nothing can cheer me up at this point. |
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Best Song 1. Once ("Falling Slowly") 2. Enchanted ("That's How You Know") 3. August Rush ("Raise it Up") 4. Enchanted ("So Close") 5. Enchanted ("Happy Working Song") |
This was one of the few moments of pleasure. We all knew Glen and Marketa were going to win, and they did, possibly the most deserving win of the night. Then the director of the show has to ruin it by cutting of Marketa's speech. Even though this win brings me great joy, it can't outweigh my disappointment. |
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Best Animated Film 1. Ratatouille 2. Persepolis 3. Surf's Up |
Well, I guess there's no harm in giving a second Oscar to Brad Bird. Of course, that is only the case when the ignorant Academy decides to snub The Simpsons Movie from the list in favor of crud like Surf's Up. You know, there are three easy ways to win an Oscar: either make a documentary that exhibits all views of the left-wing, make a foreign-language film about the holocaust, or make a film about penguins. It's that easy. |
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Best Foreign Language Film 1. The Counterfieters 2. Katyn 3. Beaufort 4. 12 5. Mongol |
In a year where all the best foreign language films were ruled ineligible, there was still one that everybody could agree on to be the winner. Of course, as is typical of the Academy, they go for the Holocaust film. Is there any subject for a film that appeals to Jews besides WWII and Israel? |
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Best Documentary Feature 1. No End in Sight 2. Taxi to the Dark Side 3. Sicko 4. War Dance 5. Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience |
One disappointing thing was for sure: a liberal propoganda film was going to win. So it did. But I'm at least glad it wasn't the most liberal, and not the most Bush-bashing. Still, this category in general always disappoints me. |
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Best Documentary Short 1. Freeheld 2. Sari's Mother 3. La Corona 4. Salim Baba |
I think practically everybody was predicting this. Lesbians everywhere rejoice in the success of this film. |
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Best Short Film 1. Tanghi Argentini 2. At Night 3. The Mozart of Pickpockets 4. The Substitute 5. The Tonto Woman |
Once again I prove that I can't predict this category. Actually, I got it last year. This makes me think, Americans should make more short films so it's not all Euro-trash. |
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Best Animated Short Film 1. I Met the Walrus 2. Peter and the Wolf 3. Madame Tutli-Putli 4. Even Pigeons go to Heaven 5. My Love |
Having seen Peter and the Wolf I should have known it was superior to the others. I just thought the John Lennon aspect of Walrus was too tough to ignore. |