Wrap Up of the Oscars

In the end I was 14 out of 24 for my predictions, nearly 60%. Not terrible but I could have done better. My last minute change in Best Adapted Screenplay cost me, I should have stuck with Precious, as I had previously predicted.

I was surprised at the number of awards The Hurt Locker ended up taking home. It ended up winning Picture, Director, Editing, Screenplay, and both Sound awards. I am quite shocked that it took both Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. It’s not that The Hurt Locker does not deserve to win one of these awards, but I fully expected to see Avatar or Star Trek take at least one. I am a bit surprised that it won Best Original Screenplay. It is very well deserved, the story is very compelling and it is the best Iraq War movie to date. I would make the case for Inglorious Basterds again, but what’s done is done.

I am not surprised The Cove won for Best Documentary, other than the fact that Food Inc. got people in the theaters and talking about the subject matter. I am not surprised that Avatar won for Cinematography, Art Direction, and Visual Effects. It extraordinarily deserves to win in those categories. I should not be surprised that Kathryn Bigelow won as well as The Hurt Locker. I did fully expect for Best Picture and Best Director to represent different films. But of course the Academy needs to be progressive, and awarding Geoffrey Fletcher, the first African-American screenwriter to win an Oscar, was just not enough.

The one major lesson I learned from my Oscar picks this year: I should not underestimate the liberality of the Academy.

History will be the final judge for these movies and their nominees. These are my ideas as to what will happen. I believe that both The Hurt Locker and Avatar will have long, healthy shelf lives. Up will have a large audience from my generation showing it to their children with the best of the Pixar Pack. Up in the Air will be remembered by some. Inglorious Basterds will join the rest of Tarantino’s canon, and it will be remembered for his brilliant character work. Precious could be used for more liberal fodder by the Academy, in the way they use Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar win. It should, however, by honored and watched for its moving, emotional story.

Sandra Bullock may try to do more serious roles, but they will probably never measure up. This is her big moment to shine, and she has a long career left in her. Jeff Bridges may get another opportunity or two to hoist the trophy and deliver a speech filled with “man”s. Possibly even next year for True Grit, maybe. I hope to see more from Christoph Waltz. And of course James Cameron is not going anywhere. All of the directors nominated this year will go on to make some more wonderful movies.

I thought the award ceremony was good. What I saw of it was entertaining, but not very memorable or groundbreaking. I did like the idea of two hosts, and Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin did a great job. In summation here are the winners in full, hopefully next year I will do better, but we’ll just have to see.

Best Picture – The Hurt Locker*

Best Director – Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker

Best Actor – Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart*

Best Actress – Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side*

Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds*

Best Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique – Precious*

Best Original Screenplay – The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal

Best Adapted Screenplay – Precious – Geoffrey Fletcher

Best Animated Feature – Up*

Best Animated Short Film – Logorama

Best Documentary Feature – The Cove

Best Documentary Short – Music by Prudence

Best Foreign Language Film – El Secreto de Sus Ojos

Best Live Action Short Film – The New Tenants

Art Direction – Avatar – Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair*

Cinematography – Avatar – Mauro Fiore*

Costume Design – The Young Victoria – Sandy Powell*

Film Editing – The Hurt Locker – Chris Innis, Bob Murawski*

Makeup – Star Trek – Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow*

Original Score – Up – Michael Giacchino*

Original Song – The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) – Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett*

Sound Editing – The Hurt Locker – Paul N.J. Ottosson

Sound Mixing – The Hurt Locker – Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

Visual Effects – Avatar – Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones*

(I did not include Best Visual Effects in my prediction post, because I forgot to add it, but there was no way that Avatar was not taking the trophy.)

* Denotes my correct predictions.