Oscar Post-Mortem

Well, kids, it’s time for the Oscar post-mortem. As it turns out, my picks weren’t exactly “right on,” but I was still pleased by the outcome in every place I missed. Still, before we move on to look at the winners, and there were several, let’s look at the ceremony itself.

Jon Stewart did one hell of a job as host this year. He was funny, genial, and, best of all, he expressed a genuine interest and excitement in the awards that I think really connected with the audience or, at least, me. Particularly nice was Stewart’s clear joy at seeing Once take home best original song, even bringing the song’s co-writer back onto the stage after commercial to give the speech that she was tragically cut off from giving. Further, Stewarts monologue was funny, without being too jabby (although it did veer off into the purely political a bit much). His prepared video bits, while not as funny as his Homosexuality in Western Movies bit from a couple of years ago, were cute.

The clip reels were a bit of a disappointment on the whole, particularly the all to obviously CGI opening. The “In Memoriam” was nice, as always (hard to screw that up) and actually showcased a number of people whom I didn’t know were dead.

The musical numbers were good, if not great. Particularly odd was the cute as a button Amy Adams signing “Happy Working Song” – which she sang while starring in Enchanted - without any sort of production behind her, while Kristin Chenoweth (who wasn’t even in Enchanted) gets the full production value for a different song that Amy Adams originally sang.

Finally, the big surprise of the night, which I won’t really get into below, was the three Oscars won by The Bourne Ultimatum – sound editing, sound mixing, and editing. Admittedly, these aren’t seen as big deal awards, but, still, no one expected Bourne to take these.

And, since I mentioned it last time, my favorite dress for the night was the foxy number Renee Zellweger was wearing. I’m not normally a Renee guy, but, well, woof.

Now, let’s look at those winners.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis
Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis

Like I said, this was Daniel’s from the start. Way to go.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Winner: Javier Bardem
Pick: Javier Bardem

Again, there was little doubt that Javier was taking this home. Really, this would prove to be No Country for Old Men’s night and it’s fitting that this amazing performance, the anchor of the movie, was the first win of the night.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Winner: Marion Cotillard
Pick: Julie Christie

Marion Cotillard won for La Vie En Rose, a biopic about singer Edith Piaf. Now, I haven’t seen the movie, but it looks like Ms. Cotillard is very good in it. Worth noting: I didn’t see Julie Christie’s movie either.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Winner: Tilda Swinton
Pick: Cate Blanchette

This was my first big miss of the night and I couldn’t have been happier. Cate Blanchetter was the obvious pick in that she played a dude and Oscar loves that sort of thing. Still, Tilda Swinton ruled in Michael Clayton and I’m thrilled to see her win this.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Winner: Ratatouille
Pick: Ratatouille

What? Like Surf’s Up was going to win.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner: There Will Be Blood
Pick: No Country for Old Men

Poor Roger Deakins. After years of brilliant work behind the camera, he effectively cancelled himself out by shooting the two best looking movies of the year: No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Still, There Will Be Blood is a really good looking movie, too, so I won’t complain.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Winner: No Country for Old Men
Pick: Atonement

Yeah for the Coen brothers. They’ve deserved an Oscar for years and now they have it. I was going against public opinion by guessing Atonement anyway and, frankly, the Coens really deserve this Oscar and I’m glad to see them get it.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Winner: Juno
Pick: Juno

Diablo Cody takes home the Oscar for her first ever screenplay. I’ve noted that I thought she’d become immediately insufferable if she did win, but she gave one of the best, most heartfelt and emotional speeches of the night, so good for her. I look forward to seeing what else she’s got.

DIRECTING

Winner: No Country for Old Men
Pick: No Country for Old Men

No surprise here and another well deserved wins for the Coens. Can they win a third pair?

BEST PICTURE

Winner: No Country for Old Men
Pick: There Will Be Blood

Yes, they can. I didn’t think the academy would go for No Country as best picture, but they did and that’s great. This was the Coen’s year and it’s long overdue.