The 85th Academy Award Oscar Winners….
Oh, we’re a picky bunch of Oscar viewers, aren’t we? You hate Seth. You think Seth was hilarious. I say it’s all in how you approach the Oscars and what you expect to get out of the evening. If you expect to get entertained, you may be disappointed each year. If you complain about the length and yet still watch it each year, I can’t help you. I thought Seth MacFarlane was just fine. He was confident, self-deprecating and did his own thing without imitating anyone else who came before him. At least he didn’t dance with Snow White or show up in a coma like James Franco.
Some say he was too offensive or not classy enough. I don’t buy it. Chris Rock and Whoopi were more offensive (and even then, I didn’t care). Let’s remember, we’ve seen the Oscars hosted by the likes of David Letterman and the limp duo of Franco and Anne Hathaway. So, whether you realize it or not, this was a step up. But again, it all depends on what you’re watching the telecast for.
More on the show in a minute, but first, here’s the winners….
BEST PICTURE – “Argo”
BEST DIRECTOR – Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE – Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE – Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Christolph Waltz, “Django Unchained
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Writing (Original Screenplay) – Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) – Chris Terrio, “Argo”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – “Brave”
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – “Amour” (Austria)
BEST DOCTUMENTARY FEATURE – “Searching for Sugar Man”
DOCUMENTARY Short – “Inocente”, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
ANIMATED Short – “Paperman”, John Kahrs
Live-Action Short – “Curfew”, Shawn Christensen
ART DIRECTION (Production Design) – “Lincoln”, Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
CINEMATOGRAPHY – “Life of Pi”, Claudio Miranda
COSTUME DESIGN – “Anna Karenina”, Jacqueline Durran
FILM EDITING – “Argo”, William Goldenberg
MAKEUP – “Les Misérables”, Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
MUSIC (Original Score) – “Life of Pi”, Mychael Danna
MUSIC (Original Song) – “Skyfall”, music and lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
SOUND EDITING – (tie) “Zero Dark Thirty”, Paul N.J. Ottoson & “Skyfall”, Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
SOUND MIXING – “Les Misérables”
VISUAL EFFECTS – “Life of Pi”, Bill Westenhofer, Guillame Rocheron, Erik-Jan DeBoer & Donald R. Elliott
I watch the show each year for the acceptance speeches, the presenters and to see how it will all turn out. The speeches can be quite heartfelt or extremely awkward, while the presenters can often fall flat (Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy) or offer some fun spontaneity (Mark Wahlberg and Ted). While it’s fun to see certain actors, like Avengers men, up on stage, last night was a good reminder that writing for these presenters is crucial.
Unfortunately, not many speeches stood out to me this year. I thought Quentin Tarantino’s speech for Best Original Screenplay (“Django Unchained”) was great! The sloppily-dressed auteur was genuinely excited could care less about decorum or class – I liked that. Sure, it’s the Oscars and there’s tradition and all, but why not loosen up a little? I also like the speeches given by Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence (the best bits by these two though came as they answered press questions after the show. Look it up.), but other than that, not many standouts.
Yet there were some surprises this year, upsetting many Oscar pools. The first of the evening was Christolph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor (“Django Unchained”) and then later on we saw Ang Lee winning Best Director (“Life of Pi”). Both were worthy, but still surprises nevertheless. Of course, the tie-breaker (the 6th ever!) in the Sound Editing category was something no one could’ve predicted. Those Oscars went to “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Skyfall”. The only win for the Kathryn Bigelow film and one of two for the James Bond film (the other, of course, was Adele winning for the title song, “Skyfall”).
Some may have been surprised to see Pixar’s “Brave” win for Animated Feature, especially after Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” had won accolades in other awards shows. I wanted “Wreck-It Ralph” to win, but deep down I kind of knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Some other surprises? “Lincoln” , which had the most nominations at 12, yet only earned 2 (for Day-Lewis and for Production Design) and “Silver Linings Playbook”, which had 8 noms and walked away with just the one award for Lawrence.
Without a doubt, the big winners of the evening were “Argo” and “Life of Pi”, which I’m alright with. “Argo” is a solidly crafted thriller, evoking those 70s political thrillers that received awards back in the day. Somewhat like last year’s Best Picture winner, “The Artist”, it’s a film about filmmaking, or at least the comedic relief aspect of it is, which makes the Academy voters happy, I suppose. “Life of Pi” cleaned up in most of the other technical awards and in the splendid score by Mychael Danna.
Much will be said in the next few days about the show and its host. It seems regardless of what a host tries, it’s been a while since any of them were asked back for another shot. We’ll soon forget about it all though. In a few months, we’ll probably even forget that we were offended, what we laughed at, how long it was and who won.
Keeping It Reel isn’t quite done with the films of 2012 though. I’m sure there’s more movies from last year that we’ll be reviewing.
Feel free to comment below with your thoughts on how the evening went!
