So last night was the big night and I must say that it was much better than the ones in the recent past. It garnered more than 41 million viewers, greater than five million more than last year, and I can see it going in an upward trend. The 10 nominees for Best Picture had its advantages and disadvantages. While it recognized many great box office hits, it also had the back fire of having some films nominated for Best Picture who went home with nothing. Among them was Up in the Air, which is by far one of the best films of the year. It was expected to take Adapted Screenplay, but that prize surprisingly went to Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire.
One of the biggest shocks of the evening came from neither The White Ribbon or Un Prophete winning Best Foreign Language Film. Instead it went to some Argentinian film that nobody gives a damn about. For me the most upsetting win of the evening was Sandra Bullock for Best Actress. Nothing against the actress, but there were so many better performances this year that it's dissapointing that they chose her. I swear to god, the only reason it won is because of the box office performance of The Blind Side. However that didn't help Avatar out, leaving the evening with only Visual Effects, Cinematography, and Art Direction trophies which were really the only things it actually deserved.
The Hurt Locker was the big winner last night, taking home Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Original Screenplay, Director, and of course Best Picture. As for the show itself, it did a good job maintaining the sense of occasion that was missing from past years. The segments they showed from nominated films were all very enjoyable, and should bring up attendance for some of the lesser known nominees. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were very planned out in their stint as hosts, but seeing as many of the jokes were genuinely funny I'm not complaining at all. The Best Original Score dancers were a particular highlight of the show, as was the opening number by Neil Patrick Harris. I have a hope inside me that he hosts next year, because he is just phenomenal in everything he does.
The show got a little bit slow towards the end, with the friends of the nominees for Best Actor and Actress presenting the awards. At the end however it happened far too quickly. I'm disappointed that Tom Hanks didn't announce the nominees for Best Picture, after they took all that time with the Best Actor and Actress categories. Still for the most part the show was brilliant. Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey prove once again why they are two of the funniest people in hollywood. The horror montage was a welcome surprise, but I'm dismayed that they left out the best horror film of the past year, Drag Me to Hell and somehow found a place for Twilight: New Moon. Nothing was more priceless than the look on James Cameron's face when The Hurt Locker won Best Picture. Overall I have few problems with last nights ceremony. I hope that they do it like this again in the coming years. Congratulations Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, and executive producer Adam Shankman. You pulled it off.
So now that the Oscars are over, what the hell am I going to do with this blog? Ideas?
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