Luke
stu-kicks
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoOSCARS 2007 RESULTS & THOUGHTS
February 27th 2007 03:29
Okay, okay, okay... the Oscars.
I had to drag my TV out to the lounge room because that's the only place we have an aerial port in our house. So I did this, and I settled down in a nice comfy armchair, and I watched and waited for the Oscars. I had to turn the TV off or turn the sound down in every Channel 9 newsbreak during and preceding the Oscars just in case they spoiled some of the winners for me (they actually did this last year!). Anyway, on with the show, these are just snippets of my thoughts on various aspects of the show...
I'll just get this out of the way... during the red carpert special it was said that the theme this year was famous film quotes. Aside from the few odd words splashed across the background graphics whenever a clip was shown, I saw no sign of this theme whatsoever. We didn't even get a montage of famous lines! This disappointed me a bit.
The opening sequence showing all the nominees was fun, a bit better than the usual tryhard on-the-pulse parodies of the last year's films. Ellen Degeneres was a warm and laid-back host, she played very safe and helped these Awards to be one of the least dramatic (and boring) in terms of hosting.
At first it looked like 'Pan's Labyrinth' was going to sweep all it's nominations and cause a controversy in regards to it's lack of a 'Best Film' nomination, but when they cut to an Oscar analyst early on, discussing the current tally of wins per film, he didn't even acknowledge 'Pan's Labyrinth' - despite it having the most wins so far! They made a big deal at the start about these being the most 'international' Oscars ever but let's face it - it's all for show, the Academy still doesn't take foreign films seriously enough to include them as the 'Best of the Best' (unless, of course, they're about the holocaust - right, Roberto Benigni?), which is a shame because Pan's Labyrinth is a great film.
Anyone randomly tuning in to this year's Oscars might've been forgiven for thinking it was a campaign special for Al Gore... even I started wishing he was running for President, and I don't even live in the damn country. He definitely seems a lot more down-to-earth (if you'll excuse the pun) and worthy of leadership than America's current President. His grandstanding got a bit tiring by the end though.
The first big surprise of the evening was Eddie Murphy not winning the Best Supporting Actor. I was really happy to see Alan Arkin get it and I began to hope 'Little Miss Sunshine' might be a serious contender for Best Film. Arkin has been doing some great unsung work for decades now and it was nice to see him finally get some kudos.
You've really got to question American values and sensibilities though when a montage of Best Foreign Film winners shows people being shot and killed but opts to censor out the action of someone sticking their finger up. Good one Academy... this montage was one of the few moments I've ever truly despised the Oscars.
At first I was happy to see Ennio Morricone's outstanding work get recognised... but then the Academy went and ruined his music with Celine fucking Dion. I almost threw my glass at the television screen at this point.
One of the highlights (for me) was Jerry Seinfeld's introduction to the Best Documentary category. He was hilarious, and - unlike Degeneres, or Jon Stewart - he seemed completely at ease in front of such an intimidating audience. Here's hoping his bit was an audition for getting to host next year's Oscars... he'd be great.
There were no real susprises in any of the big categories. Someone had spoiled Scorsese's win for me, so I was spared the suspense. It was great to see him up there with his peers, talking at a hundred miles an hour, every bit as frenetic and fast as his films. 'The Departed's win was nice too... a different kind of film to what the Academy usually honours. Once Scorsese won for Best Director I kind of hoped that 'Little Miss Sunshine' would get it though. Oh well.
I felt bad for Peter O'Toole too. I kind of knew Forest Whitaker would get Best Actor, but after seeing Alan Arkin win (and knowing in advance that Scorsese would win), I kind of hoped this might be the year for the Academy rectifying some (big) past mistakes... but it wasn't to be. I'd forgotten that O'Toole is British and is hence exempt from the generous nostalgia that probably led to Arkin and Scorses winning. I guess the Academy's prestige truly doesn't extend beyond America's borders. The cunts.
O'Toole is probably going to be dead within a year, his performance in 'Venus' - whilst not as flashy as Whitaker's - is easily on par and ah fuck he just deserved to win. It's a fairly widely-acknowledged fact that the Academy is resentful of British actors taking home their awards... to deny Mirren would've been too obvious, but with O'Toole they once again they held back on a deserving non-American nominee, making the Academy Awards that little bit less the most prestigous film awards in the world, and that little bit more the most prestigous film awards in America. I'm not saying that Whitaker didn't deserve to win, it just rankles me because if O'Toole had been an American with only five unrewarded nominations it would've been made up to him with a win (look at Pacino's win for 'Scent of a Woman' back in the 90s). Anyway, enough griping.
Helen Mirren's speech was good. I was a little miffed that 'Children of Men' didn't win Best Editing, but Thelma Schoonmaker is an unstoppable force... she'll probably win a few more times before she retires too. Jennifer Hudson's win was predictable and I didn't really have any problems with it. Abigail Breslin handled herself pretty well for a child actress, hopefully she doesn't do that whole slide into obscurity-hell that most charismatic child stars fall prey to.
Anyway, here's a complete list of winners...
BEST FILM - 'The Departed'
BEST DIRECTOR - Martin Scorsese
BEST ACTOR - Forest Whitaker
BEST ACTRESS - Helen Mirren
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Alan Arkin
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Jennifer Hudson
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - 'Little Miss Sunshine'
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - 'The Departed'
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - 'Pan's Labyrinth'
BEST EDITING - 'The Departed'
BEST ART DIRECTION - 'Pan's Labyrinth'
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - 'Marie Antoinette'
BEST SCORE - 'Babel'
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - 'An Inconvenient Truth' ('I Need to Wake Up' - Melissa Ethridge)
BEST MAKE UP - 'Pan's Labyrinth'
BEST SOUND - 'Dreamgirls'
BEST SOUND EDITING - 'Letters From Iwo Jima'
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE - 'Happy Feet'
BEST FOREIGN FILM - 'The Lives of Others' (Germany)
BEST DOCUMENTARY - 'An Inconvenient Truth'
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Personally i don't agree with the sympathy oscar theory, it just highlights how behind the times they are....Peter o Toole should have won for The Stuntman back in the 80's.
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
- I haven't seen Dreamgirls, so I can't really comment, but I was hoping that the little girl from Sunshine would have won.
- Maybe the reason that Scorcese didn't win all these years is because people knew he'd make a fast-forwarded speech in a hypersonic voice. Also, I think he should dye his eyebrows white.
- I think Volver was the best of the year, and was disappointed that it wasn't even nominated.
Comment by Luke
Book Club
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
Cibby... Hounsou was great in 'Blood Diamond'. I don't think he'll too much trouble getting nominated again.
Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Luke (in reference to your comment on Mind Orgasms)
....where's the fashion???
I didn't watch the (T)Oscars.
Too much of a mass wank for me.
Although I am pleased that Alan Arkin won an award...this guy is brilliant..he's a sci-fi writer as well as a musician... "The Banana Boat Song" anyone.
Comment by Luke
Book Club
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
The fashion is the most boring bit as far as I'm concerned hahahaha.
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Luke (from another computer)