Oscars

The Oscars were on Sunday. The pinnacle of awards seasons, the zenith, the climax. This is what is all comes down to. Having only watching the highlights, damn you Sky movies, I can’t say I whether it was a good ceremony. James Franco and Anne Hathway seemed to do an ok job, improving as the night went on according to my sources (makes me sounds like a spy!). However it appears likely they’ll bring back a comedian next year. Personally I liked the good old days when Billy Crystal hosted.

Also my favourite dresses of the night were worn by Hailee Steinfield; a creamy chiffon dream, Amy Adams; sparkly and blue, Mila Kunis: a lacy, lilac number and Natalie Portman; regal in purple. I tried to upload pictures and failed. My apologies.

Now back to business. Here I my judgments on the winners.

Best Picture – The King’s Speech

Personally I still think Inception and The Social Network were the stronger contenders in this category, however The King’s Speech is more Oscar material; they love royalty and an underdog. Initially I was pretty fuming about this considering I never thought The King’s Speech was an exceptional film, but I’ll save my ranting for something I’m more infuriated by. Plus it’s good that a British film has been recognised; much to the chagrin of Tom Hanks apparently.

Best Actor – Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)

To be honest I’m glad he won just so he had to give an acceptance speech, because I could hear him talk forever. So very British and very classy, Colin as usual gave a very dry, humorous speech and especially after seeing his Oscar clip (the crying scene) I happen to think he is most deserving. Good one Colin, good one.

Best Actress – Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

I felt a little bit sorry for the other 4 actresses in the category because they needn’t have bothered turning up, this one was pretty much guaranteed. And so it should have been, in terms of the Oscar statistics, Portman was on par with Michelle Williams (Annette Bening and Nicole Kidman have both won before and Jennifer Lawrence has never been nominated) and Portman has certainly gained the most buzz and accolades so far. The speech was very gushing and emotional, but her performance in Black Swan was so good I can forgive her.

Best Supporting Actor – Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Christian Bale is like marmite to use such a well coined phrase; you either love him or you hate him. Some think he’s one of the best actors of his generation, others can’t stand him. To be honest it depends what he’s in. I liked him in 3:10 to Yuma and The Prestige, but sometimes he appears to take himself too seriously; The Machinist or Rescue Dawn come to mind. Either way after seeing The Fighter you can’t deny it was a very kinetic and full-on performance, certainly when you see real footage of Dicky Ekland at the end, you can see how right he got it; to conclude I’m glad he won. But this could just be because I didn’t much care for the other nominees, if Andrew Garfield had been nominated however I might have a different opinion. And yes I’m still angry about that. Bale’s speech was also unusually humble and grateful and I liked the f-bomb joke; proof that he doesn’t take himself seriously all the time.

Best Supporting Actress – Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

WTF is up with Melissa Leo???? I thought she was one of the those unassuming, not-ostentatious people who just loved their job and was glad to be there. But here she appeared like an attention seeking b****. Firstly, she released for your consideration publicity shots funded by herself, which apparently is not the done thing, now I don’t mind a little bit of self-promotion but she was pretty much a shoe-in for the award anyway and then she goes and acts unbelievably shocked. Now of course there is the possibility that that was completely genuine and she was so blown away by it all she couldn’t help by look like a baby deer that had stumbled in front of the headlights. By then again it all seemed very fake. Plus she swore. In context its not so bad, but still, another publicity stunt I imagine. And what makes it worse is that her performance was completely deserving of the award. After this it really made me wish Hailee Steinfield had won just because she’s so darn eloquent and mature, unlike Melissa Leo here. Shame on you.

Best Director – Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

WHAAAAAAAAAT!? Is this a joke? Obviously not. I really was quite surprised when Hooper’s name was called out; well not actually because I’d already read on imdb that he’d won, but you get the gist. After David Fincher had picked up the Bafta, I imagined it would be him or preferably Darren Aronofosky. But then I guess if The King’s Speech had won best picture it seems more appropriate to award the director who created that film. I don’t have anything against the guy, I just happen to think Fincher and especially Aronofosky directed their films with more conviction, mastery and style.

Best Adapted Screenplay – Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

One of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read. It could have only been Sorkin.

And the rest…

Yes the cinematography was expertly done in Inception, but I still can’t believe after 9 nominations Roger Deakins wasn’t awarded.
Toy Story 3 was the only worthy animation of the year IMO, it would have been a travesty had it not won.
I thought Black Swan was better edited than The Social Network, but nothing I have a particularly strong opinion on.
And Inception was definately deserving of best visual effects.

The End. Looking forward to next year’s awards.