And The Winner Is…

82nd Annual Acadamy Awards

Well, I can honestly say I was rather worried I’d be sitting here at my computer this morning, ranting away about how James Cameron’s Avatar swept the entire Academy Awards. I thought I’d be decrying multiple, major rip offs. But the stars have fortunately aligned, and the members of the Academy awarded Oscars to deserving and worthy recipients. At least, for the most part.

In all categories, I guessed ten out of twenty four correctly. I’ll admit, its not my best showing, but I went against my gut and voted safely on a few categories. Consider it lesson learned. However, I got it right where it mattered in most cases. Go to http://www.popcultureislife.com/2010/02/03/my-2010-oscar-picks/ to see my predictions for this year.

The ceremony itself this year was kinda…bad. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were complete flops in my opinion. Most of their stand up routine fell completely flat; it was more abusive and rude than it was actually funny. Though, I will give them kudos for the Paranormal Activity skit and the snuggy bit. And why did they virtually disappear after the opening? I thought they were HOSTING…it seemed like you only saw them on stage a time or two after the intro, and for a bare minimum of time at that. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that the best part of Steve and Alec’s performance was the introduction by Neil Patrick Harris. He was funny than both of them combined. The Academy needs to take a look back at the hostings by Ellen DeGeneres, Jon Stewart, and Chris Rock, and then compare them to last night’s performance. Vast difference.

Ben Stiller; I still don’t like you as an actor. But that Na’vi bit for the award for Best Makeup was probably the highlight of the evening. Bravo.

The tribute to John Hughes was something memorable and special. May the man rest in peace. Plus, we got to see the (much older) Brat Pack together on stage. That one was a pleasant surprise.

Plus, the honorable mention of the Horror Genre was very cool. Perhaps the Academy acknowledging the fact that a Horror film hasn’t been nominated in years will light a fire underneath the Horror creators out there; its time to step it up and do something original, fresh, and brilliant. For example; STOP doing remakes of classics.

And I’ve got to say it…what was that break dance thing even for? No disrespect to the dancers themselves; the act was well done. But using that sequence to preview the nominees for Original Score? It was confusing, odd, and downright out of place.

But, on to the winners of the night.

Inglourious Basterds creator Quentin Tarantino has once again gotten completely ripped off at the Academy. He did, in fact, have the best Original Screenplay present, but was overlooked for The Hurt Locker in that category. It just doesn’t make sense. I don’t care if Mark Boal did get his inspiration from his war time journalism; not only can no one write dialogue like Tarantino, but he had the guts to rewrite history and do so in a beautifully gruesome way. I don’t know that he’ll ever get his Oscar now, and that’s just sad. I do have to say kudos to Christoph Waltz for his win for Best Supporting Actor. He was the only choice in my opinion.

I’m glad to have been wrong about the Music (Original Song) category. Usually its safe to be on a Disney flick, but T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham deserved the Oscar for their collaboration “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart. Speaking of, it was great to see Jeff Bridges take home the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as a broken and washed up country singer in Crazy Heart. It really was the performance of the year, and it couldn’t have been awarded to anyone better than The Dude himself.

Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire took home the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Mo’nique won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film. I predicted she would, Hollwood thought she would, and she did. I’d love to see her do more films like Precious and stay away from films like Soul Plane.

There was too much momentum for The Blind Side for Sandra Bullock not to win the Oscar for Best Actress. She really earned it, though. She’s another actress I’d like to see learn from this; Sandra, stop trying to be America’s Sweetheart forever. Move on, take on more dramatic roles like this one.

Now for the two big guns. It irritated me to an extent that all any critics and news shows could talk about in the weeks leading up to the awards was the face off between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Sure, it was the big budget blockbuster versus the independant political think flick. Sure, Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron used to be married to one another. But there were eight other flicks nominated, and some were actually contenders, i.e. Inglourious Basterds, Up In The Air, An Education. Even the a few of the presenters alluded to these two film dominating the awards. It was just crude and disrespectful to the other nominees.

I am, however, stoked that Avatar only took home three Oscars: Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects. Its not that I didn’t like Avatar; in fact, I love it. Great visual Blockbuster. But just because a film is the number one grossing film of all time doesn’t make it Best Picture worthy. It just doesn’t, no matter what way you cut it.

The real winner of the night was of course The Hurt Locker with six wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Best Original Screenplay. I disagree with the Best Original Screenplay win, but it was more than worthy of all the other Oscars. The Hurt Locker has everything you look for in a solid film; great acting, great directorial vision, intense and gripping sequences, and a deep, thought provoking plot. Plus, major kudos to Kathryn Bigelow for being the first female in Oscar’s history to win the Best Director Award. I thought your ex-husband would win it, but it doesn’t surprise me that you took it home. Congrats.

Next year, Oscars, lets keep the broadcast at the three hour time slot intended. The show was so rushed that Tom Hanks had to blurt out the winner of Best Picture at the end with no introduction as the show ran an hour over time. Fire this year’s producer, please.

So until next year, watch more movies. And I’ll be attempting to successfully predict my 8th Best Picture winner in a row.

For a complete list of winners, go to http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners?cid=10_oscars_gridLayout_hot