oscar night ’10 recap

I think everyone can agree, when it comes to the Oscars, even if you love to watch them and love the movies even more, they will still be quite boring. Unlike the Grammys, and definitely unlike the super bowl. I mentioned those because they generally fall in the same season. But, for what it’s worth, I was entertained and not completely bored out of my mind like I was a few years ago for some awards show I can’t seem to remember, but just remember the boringness of it all.

Many of the winners I predicted had one. Many didn’t. I didn’t feature a full list here, but I did cast my votes of the bigger categories. I didn’t make a prediction for some of the others until either before the winners were announced, or I didn’t vote at all. To be fair, I counted the ones I didn’t vote for as a missed answer. So ultimately, I predicted 15 out of 24 correctly. (Major award predictions here.)

A surprise upset was for Best Adapted Screenplay that went to Precious. I can’t say I saw that one coming at all, as I had predicted Up in the Air. I may have been wrong but I wasn’t upset. It was nice to see them get another award besides the Best Supporting Actress which many of us saw coming since film festivals of last year.

Speaking of Mo’Nique, a lot of the press seems to be up in arms about her acceptance speech. She thanked the Academy for voting for her performance, not the politics. She didn’t make the awards rounds like many others do when given the nomination. I believe she also wanted money to appear at these functions. But whatever. Or at least that’s how I feel about it.

Another non-surprise was Christoph Waltz, whom I thought had a great speech. It was colorful in fun words thrown together that seemed poetic and original. As if nothing was repeated. I heard they were metaphors of something or another, I didn’t care, it sounded great.

Sandra Bullock, also the front runner and non-surprise had one of the best speeches as well. A total class act, I believe, giving credit where credit is due and most importantly acknowledging the other nominees. I love how she gets along so well with Meryl Streep.

I’m happy Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director. Once it occurred to me she’d be the first female to win the award, I was in her corner. And yes, specifically for that reason. Also, because the film wasn’t that bad either. I’m not against Cameron, I just like him a little less. I’m not at all surprised with all the nods Avatar received, it really only won the technical/special effects prizes.

Also, along with tech specs, some fun facts I learned or observed over the years of Oscar watching:

• If you win for either one of the sound categories, you are more than likely going to win for both of them. Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.
• You will more than likely probably win Best Costume if your film takes place in Victorian times. One day I will further research that fact, but from what I’ve seen, if you have a people wearing clothes from the time we had kings and queens or maybe you were in a Jane Austen tale, you will probably get that award.
• On that note, kudos to that winner of Best Costume for also acknowledging the other costume designer nominees.
• Also kudos to Michael Giacchino, Oscar winning composer for Up. True story, I voted for him, then changed my vote to Avatar, then changed it back to him again. So glad I did. But he deserves the win for creating a score than instantly conjures up that sentiment and heart which Up is centered around. Oh, and he is also the composer for LOST.
• I won’t lie, I didn’t want Avatar to win Best Picture because I didn’t think it was. I was better for Hurt Locker taking it, which it did.
• For what it’s worth, I’m glad District 9 and Inglorious Basterds got some recognition. I thought they were good movies, and plus I like seeing Tarantino on stage. Hopefully one year he’ll win Director or Film. He’s young, he’s got time.
• Neil Patrick Harris came out of nowhere and did an awesome opening. Better than last year’s with Hugh Jackman? Debate.
• How about that lady pulling a Kanye? Debate.

Lastly, our hosts. I think Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin need to hit the road together. Never going to happen, but I can dream. I was genuinely entertained by them. I would be glad to see them come back next year.

I didn’t tweet or live-blog as much this year. I blame my internet connection. My mother persuaded me to watch the show on the big screen, so it took me out of my “command center” which diminished my internet access. But the show went on. Next year, however, I may be planning an Oscar party. Hopefully by then, I’ll probably still be live-blogging, but I’ll have pictures of the party, maybe even some video. We’ll see. Congrats to all the winners. Let’s see what we got going on for this year!