As always, we like to have the results of the big awards ceremonies here for all to see, and tonight was the biggest of them all: the 82nd annual Academy Awards.
This, the king of all awards shows, has faced much criticism the last few years, and their nominations this year did not help bring validity to their cause. Many of the films and actors were very deserving of their nominations, but many others were passed over in lieu of some big box office successes of questionable overall quality. And though they made a valiant effort to increase the excitement of the show with 10 Best Picture nominations, the end result was frustrating to we the film lovers of the world?
In the end, some fantastic films and performances were justly awarded, and as always, there were a few that rubbed the wrong way. Continue on over to the other side to see all of the final results!
Being someone who wasn’t big on Hugh Jackman as an Oscar host, I was quite excited for Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to host. Sadly, their opening bit was really, really choppy, forced, and not very funny at all. This was depressing, but what can ya do. The night had plenty more to come.
After some awards were handed out, one of the high points of the evening — if not the very highest point — was presented. This was a special tribute to film maker John Hughes, who shockingly passed away in 2009. After an introduction from Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick, a fantastic video was played celebrating the works of Hughes. After that, a group of actors who had starred in various Hughes films came out and said some kind words. It was a very moving memorial tribute to a great talent that we lost far too soon.
Another great part of the show was when the Academy put together a salute to horror films, which are rarely involved with the Oscars nominee wise. This cool idea was pretty handily damaged when they decided to not only have the clueless kids from Twilight introduce the salute, but they even included a New Moon clip in the tribute! Many people were heard getting sick as this happened.
One of the worst mess-ups we’ve ever seen happened when the yearly In Memorium video was played. For some inexplicable reason, actress Farrah Fawcett was completely missing from the group of people mentioned, including Michael Jackson, who died the same day and was never in that many films.
As for the big boy categories, it actually came down to the possibility of the first woman Best Director winner and her ex husband James Cameron. Would Kathryn Bigelow win for Best Director and The Hurt Locker take Best Picture, or would Cameron and his Avatar win out?
In the end, it was Bigelow becoming the first woman to win a Best Director award, and before she could even get off the stage, she was coming back out as The Hurt Locker became the new Best Picture, much to the delight of those worried Avatar would actually win.
These are simply my thoughts on the 82nd annual Academy Awards; now it’s your turn! Read over all of the winners below and share all of your pros and cons of tonight’s show!
Best Picture
* Avatar
* The Blind Side
* District 9
* An Education
* Up in the Air
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* A Serious Man
* Up
* Precious
Best Director
* James Cameron Avatar
* Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker
* Quentin Tarantino Inglourious Basterds
* Lee Daniels Precious
* Jason Reitman Up in the Air
Actor in a Leading Role
* Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
* George Clooney in Up in the Air
* Colin Firth in A Single Man
* Morgan Freeman in Invictus
* Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Actress in a Leading Role
* Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
* Helen Mirren in The Last Station
* Carey Mulligan in An Education
* Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
* Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
Actor in a Supporting Role
* Matt Damon in Invictus
* Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
* Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
* Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
* Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Actress in a Supporting Role
* Penélope Cruz in Nine
* Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
* Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
* Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Best Original Screenplay
* The Hurt Locker Written by Mark Boal
* Inglourious Basterds Written by Quentin Tarantino
* The Messenger Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
* A Serious Man Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
Best Adapted Screenplay
* District 9 Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* An Education Screenplay by Nick Hornby
* In the Loop Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* Precious Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
* Up in the Air Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Animated Feature Film
* Coraline Henry Selick
* Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson
* The Princess and the Frog John Musker and Ron Clements
* The Secret of Kells Tomm Moore
* Up Pete Docter
Art Direction
* Avatar Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith
* Nine John Myhre, Gordon Sim
* Sherlock Holmes Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
* The Young Victoria Patrice Vermette, Maggie Gray
Cinematography
* Avatar Mauro Fiore
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Bruno Delbonnel
* The Hurt Locker Barry Ackroyd
* Inglourious Basterds Robert Richardson
* The White Ribbon Christian Berger
Costume Design
* Bright Star Janet Patterson
* Coco before Chanel Catherine Leterrier
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Monique Prudhomme
* Nine Colleen Atwood
* The Young Victoria Sandy Powell
Documentary (Feature)
* Burma VJ Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
* The Cove Nominees to be determined
* Food, Inc. Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
* The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
* Which Way Home Rebecca Cammisa
Documentary (Short Subject)
* China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
* The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
* The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
* Music by Prudence Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
* Rabbit à la Berlin Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
Film Editing
* Avatar Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
* District 9 Julian Clarke
* The Hurt Locker Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* Inglourious Basterds Sally Menke
* Precious Joe Klotz
Foreign Language Film
* Ajami Israel
* El Secreto de Sus Ojos Argentina
* The Milk of Sorrow Peru
* Un Prophète France
* The White Ribbon Germany
Makeup
* Il Divo Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
* Star Trek Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
* The Young Victoria Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Music (Original Score)
* Avatar James Horner
* Fantastic Mr. Fox Alexandre Desplat
* The Hurt Locker Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* Sherlock Holmes Hans Zimmer
* Up Michael Giacchino
Music (Original Song)
* “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Loin de Paname” from Paris 36 Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “Take It All” from Nine Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Short Film (Animated)
* French Roast Fabrice O. Joubert
* Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
* The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) Javier Recio Gracia
* Logorama Nicolas Schmerkin
* A Matter of Loaf and Death Nick Park
Short Film (Live Action)
* The Door Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
* Instead of Abracadabra Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
* Kavi Gregg Helvey
* Miracle Fish Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
* The New Tenants Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Sound Editing
* Avatar Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
* The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson
* Inglourious Basterds Wylie Stateman
* Star Trek Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
* Up Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Sound Mixing
* Avatar Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
* The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
* Inglourious Basterds Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
* Star Trek Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Visual Effects
* Avatar Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
* District 9 Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* Star Trek Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Happy about Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, and Mo’Nique.
I know Sandra Bullock was the popular vote AND the upset, but I didn’t see the film so can’t judge, but I don’t think she’s a *bad* actress. Good for her for taking on a dramatic role and wanting more for herself than just rom-coms.
While I really enjoyed Avatar, I think it deserved technical awards, but little else. No actors from the film were nominated, so what does that tell you about the performances? I think we can all agree that they weren’t all that great; and at times, the dialogue was painful and story nonsensical. I don’t think it should have won just because it’s a big-budget blockbuster. Inglorious Basterds is best picture material — it will hold up over time.
Oh, and Star Trek won Best Make-up, woo hoo!!! [Deserved more, I think, but happy that it got at least 1 Oscar].
I’m sure James Cameron knew Avatar wasn’t going to win, going in. Just like Spielberg knew his films weren’t going to win.
Mo’Nique (Yippee)
Jeff Bridges (Righteous)
Christoph Waltz (Brillant)
Sandra Bullock (Felt like a “mercy choice”)
I appreciated Hurt Locker when I saw it, but I didn’t leave the theater feelin’ like I’d want to see it again. I was wishing I had a remote, after the first 15 minutes of Avatar :-)
Eve,
I agree with all of that.
I really do.
I have a confession to make, I can’t really get that worked up over the Oscars.
Maybe I need to watch hurt locker again because I didnt think it was that good. I mean its good but not oscar worthy but congrats to Kathryn Bigelow Oscar gigolo… Wait a minute I forgot…. SCREW THE OSCARS!!
I’m just glad Avatar didnt clean up at the awards, only fit to clean the toilets IMO, but it should have got a hype award and a style over substance award… I’m such a hater :)
Glad Trek got an award though!
I, for one, am disappointed that Avatar didn’t win. So it’s a decent, but not great, story. So it’s got some uneven performances. I believe the same can be said of the other nominees, frankly. But it’s been a long time since I was astounded by what I saw. Avatar (in 3D) did that. It raised the bar for what is possible with filmmaking. No other movie did that this year.
I loved Inglorious Basterds, and understand why people should argue it should have won. It was a great film–certainly much better than Hurt Locker, which was one of the more forgettable of the films nominated. But, the Best Picture of the year was Avatar, warts and all.
i agree with most of thepost. I don’t really get into reward shows. The trailers for Avatar didn’t even look that good. i’m glad for most of the winners
I definitely agree in your thinking that Tarantino was snubbed. He and Basterds was very deserving of more than just a best supporting actor oscar.