The Hosts :(
James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted this year's ceremony. Like pretty much everyone else after hearing they were would be hosting... I was surprised. I like both of them, but the fact Academy was trying appeal to a younger demographic seemed kind of weird. The hosts even poked fun at that at the beginning of the night.
Overall, I wasn't too happy with these hosts. Anne Hathaway is gorgeous and James Franco is a good actor, but the two didn't always deliver. Hathaway was actually trying, she had some funny moments, good charisma, and tried to look somewhat interested. Franco, on the other hand, was as bland as bland could be. The only really memorable moment was Franco dressed in drag and making a Charlie Sheen joke. Maybe it was them, the writing, the producers, or a combination of the three, but the Franco and Hathaway won't exactly be getting an Oscar for hosting... lets just say that.
Natalie Portman Wins Best Actress :D
As I've made it clear on this blog and to pretty much everyone I know... I am a huge fan of Natalie Portman. She's a dedicated, classy, talented, and gorgeous actress who brings a unique personality and charisma into all of her roles (alright... the Star Wars prequels weren't exactly her best performances but most of what she's done is really good!). So yeah, needless to say, seeing Portman win the Oscar for her performance in Black Swan was one of the highlights of the evening... for me at least.
The Wolfman Wins For Best Makeup
I saw The Wolfman a while back, it was a pretty fun movie. Nothing special, pretty standard horror remake, with some decent visuals, passable suspense, and an enjoyable cast. Its not so much that I was rooting for this one to win or anything, in fact I was convinced it wasn't going to. Its just always a pleasant surprise to see a horror film win an Oscar, even if it wasn't a major category. Also to see Rick Baker take home his 7th Oscar win (geez, maybe that guy should share the wealth a little) and the second one of his Oscars to win for a werewolf movie (I told everyone to watch An American Werewolf in London on my last blog entry, if you haven't seen it yet... go watch it now!).
Christian Bale Wins For Best Supporting Actor
Okay, let me make something clear about Christian Bale. His infamous flip out on the set of Terminator Salvation was really really stupid of him. It was a dick move and I doubt he would argue with that. Maybe the guy acts like that all the time or maybe he was just caught in a bad moment... I really don't know. That being said, the guy is one of the best actors working today. With what seems like one stellar performance after the other... the dude has skill. But there's more than just that. You know how Natalie Portman starved herself to get into her character for Black Swan? Well, Bale has done that so many times that I imagine his life has been probably cut short by a few years. I can't think of any other actor who has starved himself and bulked up as many times as Bale. To think, in spite of all that, the guy never got an Oscar nomination... until now. So yes, Bale earned his Oscar, not just because of his performance in The Fighter, but with the hope that the guy actually might live past age 50. So now that he finally got his Oscar... maybe he'll finally lighten up a little bit and choose less intense roles... no, I don't think so either.
Melissa Leo's Acceptance Speech :)
I was happy to see Leo win her Oscar for The Fighter. She did a really good job as the dedicated mother/manager of Mark Walberg and Christian Bale (though Steinfeld was my pick for the year, but Leo was great too). I enjoyed her acceptance speech for a couple reasons. Her sincere and genuine delivery, along with her modesty, was one of the most enjoyable speeches. And to hear her say, "When Kate Winslet did this, it looked so fucking easy" was pretty funny too!
Kirk Douglas Presenting the Oscar For Best Supporting Actress :)
Right before Melissa Leo was announced as the victor for the said Oscar, Kirk Douglas decided to draw out his speech as long as he could. On top of him being funny and sincere, its always great to see film veteran like himself present an award. Some were not particularly happy with a 90-year-old actor like himself stumbling over his speech, but his sincerity, humor, and personality was something that was by-in-large missing from this year's ceremonies.
The Best Picture Award
This is actually the first year that I had seen all of the Best Picture nominees before the ceremony... so for once, I can actually critique all of them.
Black Swan
As I've said time and time again, this was my favorite movie of the year. I would have loved to see this one win the award, but I wasn't holding my breath. Movies with such dark and intense subject matter seldom go down well with the Academy. Though this and the other nominations, plus Natalie Portman's Oscar victory made me quite happy :)
A well made drama with great performances from its cast. I enjoyed the movie enough to include it on my top 10 movies of the year, at number 10. I ultimately found it to be a good if not by-the-numbers drama that owes a lot to previous movies of the genre. Worth the nomination definitely and the awards for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo though.
Inception
A lot of movie geeks were rooting for this one. Christopher Nolan's epic sci-fi action film was praised by critics and audiences as one of the film creatively unique movies in a year where creativity was lacking. It swept most of the technical awards but the baffling snub of Christopher Nolan for a best director nod still has fanboys flipping their lids. It would have been nice to see this one win Best Picture, but I can't say I'm surprised that it didn't.
The Kids Are All Right
This was a good but imperfect movie. It was actually one of the few nominees on this list to actually include a solid poignant message in its script. Although it had performances ranging from great to just okay, and some scenes in the movie felt quite forced. I liked it but I wasn't reallying rooting for this to win Best Picture. Would have been nice to see this get the award for Best Original Screenplay though.
The King's Speech
The winning movie! I'll write my thoughts on this movie in the next section.
127 Hours
This was a solid movie, with a great lead actor and a fantastic director. It had well executed technical filmmaking to go alongside what was essentially a one-man show. I also liked how it incorporated its "inspiring story" without coming off as overtly-cheesy like so many of these kinds of movies do. Still, I thought there were better movies on this list, but it definitely deserved all of its nominations.
The Social Network
This was the film that was giving The King's Speech its competition. All I can say is this... aside from Black Swan, I was really hoping this movie would take home the victory. Not only did it deliver the most poignant message of the year, but it boasted great performances, fantastic cinematography, clever editing, and a memorable score. While the Best Picture movie is usually decided by the best acting and to a lesser extent best script, that really shouldn't be the case. The Best Picture needs to be decided on the movie as a whole, including acting, script, technical execution, and how the director is able to engage the said script. The Social Network took what was a fairly generic story consisting mainly of a bunch of guys typing code and turned it into one of the most engaging, prolific, and dynamic movies of the year. This is a best picture film in every sense of the word! It should have been the winner, or at least won instead of King's Speech!
Toy Story 3
Not only is Toy Story 3 a worthy nomination for the sake of a it being an animated film, but also because its a sequel, which are almost as seldom acknowledged by the Academy as well. Toy Story 3 was definitely a good nomination though, as it was a film that tackled some heavy subject matter for any film, especially a family flick. It was also well animated, had great voice acting, and was a profoundly entertaining movie. Would have been cool to see it win Best Picture, but that was a long shot.
Winter's Bone
Winter's Bone was the Academy's soul acknowledgement of indie cinema this year. Consider this the best movie of 2010 that nobody saw. I didn't see this before I made my Top 10 of 2010 list, but if I had, I probably would have included it on the list. It was a well made drama with great performances and an intriguing story. Jennifer Lawrence holds her own in a challenging leading role, alongside some experienced acting vets. Consider her the 2nd best breakout star of the year (2nd only to Hailee Steinfeld). Not my personal choice, but a good movie and a good nomination.
The King's Speech Wins Best Picture :l
Let me make this clear before I go on my rant about The King's Speech. In spite of any negative things I might say about it, I LIKED THE MOVIE! It was a well made movie with good filmmaking and great performances, and it deserved most if not all of its Oscar nominations. That being said, the only Oscar I honestly think it deserved to win was Colin Firth for Best Actor. He was the only truly outstanding part of the movie and he earned his Oscar. Ultimately, The King's Speech is a movie that was made for the sole reason of reeling in Oscars. Its a movie that plays to the large Baby Boomer demographic of the Academy by setting the movie in WWII, opts for a heartwarming ending, includes previously nominated performers, and puts way more emphasis on its actors than anything else.
Let me make this clear... the Best Picture award cannot be judged solely on the acting! This happens almost every Oscar season. Yes, acting is an integral part of filmmaking which can (and often does) make or break a film... BUT, the Best Picture award is not the "best cast" award. Best Picture implies best overall movie... acting, story, directing, cinematography, editing, special effects, etc should all be considered, but they seldom are. The only Best Picture winner I can think of off the top of my head that had the full package was Return of the King... the catch was that Lord of the Rings had to try three times before it finally landed that coveted Oscar.
The King's Speech was well made, I'm not denying that. The thing about it that I didn't like was that it was using unoriginal and typically uninspired methods. The film that was giving it the most competition, The Social Network, was definitely the better movie.
Severe Lack Of Enjoyable Extras:(
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but you know those little short videos, tributes, sketches they like to intersperse in the runtime of the Oscars? Well, I really enjoy them. Its always nice to see a short funny video poking fun at some of the year's more popular movies, to see a tribute to a genre, or a heartwarming dedication of a legendary filmmaker or actor. This year, they did their typical "In Memorium," a short tribute to Lena Horne, and a decent opening sketch where the hosts were put into the Best Picture nominees, but that was about it.
Overall
The Oscars this year... yeah, they kinda sucked. When the most memorable moments are James Franco in drag, a Charlie Sheen joke, and Melissa Leo saying fuck... , that's pretty unimpressive. As for the Awards, the Oscar bait movie swept most of the major categories and the underdogs (for lack of a better word) had to settle for sweeping the technical categories. At least two of my favorite actors (Portman and Bale) were the victors of their Oscars... so I can take comfort in that. But yeah, lets hope the awards turn out better next year.
