2009-10

It's a Wonderful Night for Oscar! Oscar, Oscar! Who Will Win?

The time for prognostication and posturing has come to an end; the winners of the 82nd Academy Awards on Sunday night will be:

BEST PICTURE ✅

Will/Should win: The Hurt Locker (could be Inglourious Basterds or Avatar)

BEST DIRECTOR ✅

Will/Should win: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (lock)

BEST ACTOR ✅

Will win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (lock)

Should win: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTRESS ✅

Will win: Sandra Bullock (likely)

Should win: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR ✅

Will/Should win: Christoph Waltz (likely)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ✅

Will/Should win: Mo'Nique (lock)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ❌

Will win: Inglourious Basterds (in a dead heat with The Hurt Locker)

Should win: The Hurt Locker

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ❌

Will/Should win: Up in the Air (likely)

[Did win]: Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE ✅

Will/Should win: Up (likely)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM ✅

Will win: The Secret in Their Eyes (could be The White Ribbon or A Prophet)

Should win: A Prophet

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE ✅

Will/Should win: The Cove (likely)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ✅

Will win: Avatar (could be Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, or The White Ribbon)

Should win: Harry Potter and the half-Blood Prince

BEST FILM EDITING ✅

Will/Should win: The Hurt Locker (could be Avatar)

BEST ART DIRECTION ✅

Will win: Avatar (likely)

Should win: Sherlock Holmes

BEST COSTUME DESIGN ✅

Will win: The Young Victoria (likely)

Should win: Bright Star

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE ✅

Will/Should win: Up (likely)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG ✅

Will/Should win: "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart (lock)

BEST SOUND MIXING ✅

Will/Should win: The Hurt Locker (in a dead heat with Avatar)

BEST SOUND EDITING ❌

Will/Should win: Avatar (lock)

[Did win]: The Hurt Locker

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS ✅

Will/Should win: Avatar (lock)

BEST MAKEUP ✅

Will/Should win: Star Trek (likely)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT ❌

Will win: A Matter of Loaf and Death (could be Logorama)

Should win: Logorama

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT ❌

Will win: The Door (could be The New Tenants)

BEST DOCUMENTARY, SHORT SUBJECT ❌

Will win: The Last Truck (could be China's Unnatural Disaster)

[Did win]: Music by Prudence

Post-Oscars Analysis

Final score: 18/24, down from last year's personal best of 21.

Some decent moments; Mo'Nique's standing ovation was richly deserved, Jeff Bridges' long-overdue Oscar win was very satisfying to watch. But most satisfying was that The Hurt Locker did prevail in Best Picture and Best Director. The Academy made the right choice, and the best part is that it gives the film a huge level of exposure to the millions of viewers (tuning in to see Avatar win, presumably) who haven't even heard of let alone seen the film. If this can encourage them to go seek out the movie, then what more could I ask for?

The big surprise of the night, in fact, probably the biggest surprise of the last few years, was Geoffrey Fletcher winning Adapted Screenplay for Precious, upsetting Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner who were practically locked to win for Up in the Air. I do feel a bit bad for them because they had every reason to believe they would win, and they deserved it too, but I can't help but be so happy for Geoffrey Fletcher. He was clearly shocked but very moved to hear his name called, and while the big story of the night is about Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman to win Best Director, Geoffrey Fletcher made history with his win too. He's the first African American to win a writing award. It was one of the evening's greatest moments and definitely the biggest surprise.

In general, I feel the list of winners is a strong one, but the show itself: Disastrous, and it's got Adam Shankman's muddy fingerprints all over it. The very beginning of the show, had the ten lead acting nominees standing up on the stage like a lineup for American Idol, which was completely awkward and unnecessary. Speaking of awkward and unnecessary, what the hell is Niel Patrick Harris doing here? His opening musical number was an eyesore. It was gaudy and it had nothing to do with anything. Save that crap for the Emmy's. This is Oscars for Pete's sake! As for Shankman's other big dance sequence, I don't know what he was thinking with those street dancers breaking it down to the best original score nominees. The dancers were very impressive, I'll give 'em that, but the dance style and the choreography was in no way appropriate to the musical selections. Seriously, who does the robot to the theme from Up?

I also disparage that this year's honorary Oscar recipients who include silver screen legend Lauren Bacall and producer extraordinaire Roger Corman, didn't get to take the stage to enjoy their applause. Instead they got an awkward ovation from their seats in the audience. Obviously these people are too old to be allowed more than thirty seconds of air time. Heaven forfend that some viewers at home might not know who they are. But what do we get instead? We have to put up with presenters like Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. Those last two were particularly wooden. It was like watching two totem poles on stage! I won't even go into how disgustingly impatient the directors were with the winners' speeches. They were very quick to cut the mic. I die a little on the inside every time someone gets played off. It's distasteful and disrespectful. Ultimately, the thing that'll define this year's show in my mind is the conspicuous absence of the class and dignity that we usually see at the Oscars, but really do take for granted. Despite Bill Mechanic's valiant efforts to retain some of it (via the invitation of Almodovar and Tarantino to present, and the well-appointed clips), he couldn't save it. Even the hosts, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who seemed like a good decision on paper, couldn't save it. The material they were given to work with was sub-par (except for perhaps that Parnormal Activity gag), and their presence was not felt.

All-in-all, it was simply one of the worst telecasts I've seen in a while.