There was a time (and a long one at that) when the Academy Awards was the only award show that I knew about, because it was the only one that was telecast live in the Philippines for many years. It wasn't until the last few years that certain local and cable channels started showing other prominent awards shows like the Golden Globes.
I watched the Oscars even before I realized that I had a fascination for movies. Since the Sunday US telecast translated to Monday in the Philippines, I missed school and work for many years because of the Oscars. So, when I decided to include awards show posts in this blog, I was looking forward to writing about the Oscars.
Here are some of my comments, random thoughts, best of show picks and burning questions relating to the 84th Academy Awards. Or you can just skip ahead and check the results. :)
- What would it take to get Neil Patrick Harris to host the Oscars? After Eddie Murphy decided to drop out from hosting, I fervently prayed and signed any online petition I could find to get NPH to host.
- While I was disappointed that NPH didn't get the job, I still enjoyed the promo spot "Off the Grid" they produced to mark Billy Crystal's return as the show's host for the ninth time. No, he didn't turn into a yeti.
- Sacha Baron Cohen in character as The Dictator brought an urn of Kim Jong Il's ashes, which he "accidentally" spilled on the very much surprised Ryan Seacrest. Ryan spent the rest of the E! Red Carpet special explaining why he looked dusty.
- Billy Crystal and George Clooney kissed! Billy kicked off the show with his signature movie spoof montage, featuring The Artist, The Descendants, Moneyball, Midnight in Paris, The Help, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, and Best Picture nominees song number. Billy and George kissed! On the lips!
- Best nomination commentary: There's something magical about Jason Isaacs' commentary clip featured during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2's nominations for Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects.
- This year's theme is celebrating the movies. I love the montage featuring the celebrities talking about their first movie experiences, favorite movies and why they became actors.
- Sandra Bullock, presented the Best Foreign Language Film award, reached out to the Chinese audience by speaking in Chinese with a German accent.
- So, Bradley Cooper... you still haven't gotten rid of that mustache.
- Loved the Cirque du Soleil performance.
- Robert Downey, Jr. brought a camera crew that closed in too much on him and Gwyneth Paltrow, supposedly for a documentary called The Presenter. Which will supposedly be available on Netflix by midnight.
- Best monologue: Haven't seen you in a long time, Chris Rock. Nice hair. And great monologue about doing voice acting work in animated films.
- I still hate that The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn was not included in the Best Animated Feature category.
- Best presenter: Emma Stone celebrated her first time presenting an award by acting like a beauty queen and enthusiastically making suggestions to Ben Stiller on how to better present the award for Best Visual Effects.
- Best use of props: Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis presented the award for Best Original Song. They came out banging cymbals... right in front of Brad Pitt's face.
- Yes, Angelina Jolie, show that leg. And yes, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, pose in that exact same way while Alexander Payne accepted your award for Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay.
- The Bridesmaids and the bride present the "short" awards. Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph presented the award for Best Live Action Short Film with a very shady monologue about size, length and heft. Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy, presenting Best Documentary - Short Subject, brought back the Scorsese drinking game, which was introduced during the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
- Esperanza Spalding performed "It's a Wonderful World" during the In Memoriam segment. The sound bytes were beautifully timed with the song's pauses. And Esparanza's voice was just so... sublime and buttery.
- When did you stop aging, Tom Cruise?
Best Picture: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Writing - Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation (Iran)
Best Documentary - Feature: Undefeated
Best Documentary - Short Subject: Saving Face
Best Live Action Short Film: The Shore
Best Animated Short Film: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Original Song: "Man or Muppet" by Bret McKenzie, The Muppets
Best Sound Editing: Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty, Hugo
Best Sound Mixing: Tom Fleischman and John Midgley, Hugo
Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, Hugo
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, Hugo
Best Makeup: Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, The Iron Lady
Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, The Artist
Best Film Editing: Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Visual Effects: Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Benn Grossmann and Alex Henning, Hugo
You can get the full list of nominees from the official Oscars website.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Award Show, Film, Oscars
