12:03AM:
Tom Hanks got up. Tom Hanks opened his mouth. Tom Hanks announced the award. Talk about brevity! I had no time to even digest what was happening before The Hurt Locker was declared the winner. Not a surprise based on what happened, The Hurt Locker was the clear preference of critics all season, and the will of the populace (exceeding $600 million) could not overtake it.
I thought Inglourious Basterds stood more of a chance, but The Hurt Locker was unquestionably the selection of the Academy. Hard to find fault with this call. A film almost without flaw, tackling a present-day subject riddled with adversity and challenges, it brought a new perspective on the inner complications of a hazardous war.
Congratulations to Bigelow and the rest of her crew for a job superbly done. Imagine how improbable this all must have seemed on a tight budget, going virtually unknown except for the notice of critics. This just proves that a quality film will get recognized if enough people give it a chance.
11:56PM:
Kathryn Bigelow was already the favorite for Best Director, and the events of the evening seem to encourage the possibility even more. Barbara Streisand alluded to the historical aspect immediately, and that is not to be taken lightly. As expected, Bigelow triumphs!
Calling it a “moment of a lifetime,” Bigelow’s reward represents far more than one woman’s struggle to achieve a dream. How can it be, really, that no woman has won before? Astounding. Congratulations!
Note: James Cameron seemed legitimately happy for his ex-wife. Whether that was fake or not, we’ll never know, but I bought it. Sort of a nice moment.
11:49PM:
Five greats introduce five greats. Forest Whitaker teed off, presenting favorite Sandra Bullock. Michael Sheen tapped into a familiar line of fawning over the timelessness of Helen Mirren’s beauty. Peter Skarsgard really chimed the right notes in plugging costar Carey Mulligan from An Education. Oprah was inspiring as she honed in on the unlikelihood of Gabourey Sidibe’s nomination. And Meryl Streep, no stranger to being nominated, gets a great endorsement from Stanley Tucci, highlighting her prolific tenure at these ceremonies.
And Sean Penn comes out to share the final word. It’s Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side. Those who put Streep, experience a steep decline. Everyone else stays at the same level of contention.
Many will sneeze at this one, and while Bullock would not have been my personal choice on the merits, I can at least acknowledge that a fine lady won tonight, who wanted this desperately and appreciated it fully. Parallels will be made, inevitably, to Julia Roberts’ win for Erin Brokavich.
One thing worth commending Bullock for. Just this week, she made an appearance at the Razzies for All About Steve and handled the dubious honor with incredible dignity.
11:40PM:
Three categories left, and they are significant: Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture. Here are the favorites for these three, based on what’s happened so far:
Actress: Sandra Bullock
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Picture: The Hurt Locker
Meryl Streep, James Cameron, and Avatar are the top challengers. Lots of upset-hopefuls put their stamps on Streep, so Best Actress could boggle things up.
11:33PM:
A mixed-gender company of presenters provide introductions on the five Best Actor nominees. Michelle Pfeiffer, always classy, kicks it off with a strong endorsement for Jeff Bridges, the person. Vera Farmiga, co-star in Up in the Air, focuses in on George Clooney’s humanitarianism and dreaminess (his date did NOT seem amused). Julianne Moore promotes Colin Firth, although I’m sure a slew of Austen fanatics would have loved to tout the virtues of the once-Mr. Darcy. Tim Robbins, Shawshank Redemption costar, goes personal and comedic in announcing Morgan Freeman. Lastly, Colin Farrell (a year off his career-skyrocketing performance in In Bruges), gives a speech like a Best Man for Jeremy Renner.
Kate Winslet, absolutely ravishing year after year, promenades out to name the winner (with Titanic’s score playing). No surprise. Jeff Bridges wins, keeping order in Oscar pools and eliminating those who went for a daring upset pick.
And the Dude abides, with an enthusiastic, but chill acceptance speech. No urinating on this red carpet.
11:20PM:
What a remarkable pair of presenters for Best Foreign Film: Almodovar and Tarantino. Not an uplifting quintet of contenders, The White Ribbon is probably the most known, despite its disturbing subject matter.
Here comes another MAJOR surprise! For the second year in a row, Best Foreign Film results in an upset. The Secret in Their Eyes pulls off the unthinkable against The White Ribbon, just like Departures over Waltz with Bashir in 2008. This is almost certainly a consequence of the must-see-all-five-films rule. Under these requirements, people make an informed decision based on the quality of the films and not on what they happened to hear at some grapevine, watercooler, or other popular hangout.
11:10PM:
The Hurt Locker takes film editing! It has been a spectacular night for the The Hurt Locker so far, with the only disappointing moment coming in Best Cinematography. At this point, The Hurt Locker has to be seen as the favorite going forward towards Best Picture, but Avatar is still very much in the race. I would estimate The Hurt Locker’s chances at about 65%. Inglourious Basterds is effectively out of the running, barring a miracle.
11:05PM:
Documentary is another pivotal category, with strong contenders in Food Inc., Burma VJ, and The Cove. All of these were great efforts.
The Cove wins!!! Something to keep in mind is that Documentary is not only about the best topic, but also about the film executed most expertly. The Cove was such a popular candidate because it was a documentary that managed to feel like a feature film. Compared to the Bourne Identity, true life can be quite riveting sometimes, it seems, especially when it involves insensitive poachers in Japan and a ragtag team of animal rights activists.
10:56PM:
Best Visual Effects: Avatar. This was the indisputable lock of the night. If you didn’t have Avatar here, you must not have been doing all that well, so sit back and enjoy the rest of the show.
10:54PM:
Performances for Best Song may be out, but the Academy seems to be fond of interpretive dance for the scores. I’m not sure what exactly this dance is to Hans Zimmer’s Sherlock Holmes, but I can’t imagine Sir Arthur Conan Doyle approving of it (or the film, for that matter).
The Hurt Locker’s dance is even more absurd. What is going on here??? I am trying to be open-minded about this, but I just don’t see the artistic value in these bizarrely-choreographed stunts, especially since there is such little semblance to the actual films. The dancers are enormously talented, but what does this have to do with the movies??? I would much prefer to see these scores as associated with the films, so we can interpret the quality of music-imagery coordination.
And Giacchino wins for Up! I wrote an extensive feature on the Original Score category, and I endorsed Up while applauding the whole crop of contenders. What makes Giacchino’s composition so effective is how well it moves with the animation on screen. Excellent choice among excellent contenders.
10:37PM:
Avatar strikes back! A HUUUUUGE win in Cinematography keeps the night shrouded in mystery. Things were not looking advantageous for Avatar after dropping the sound categories, but Cinematography is often a soothsayer when it comes to Best Picture.
If you have Avatar on your ballot, take a deep sigh of relief. No need to turn all blue just yet (har har).
10:28PM:
The Hurt Locker is soaring right now after taking Sound Editing. Now two-for-two in contested categories, it has directly wounded Inglourious Basterds and Avatar.
Avatar can make a comeback with a Sound Mixing win, splitting those categories. No! Another win for The Hurt Locker. While these sound categories do not necessarily predict the bigger awards, things seem to be landing awfully nice for The Hurt Locker. I would be feeling pretty good if you have it atop your Best Picture list.
10:22PM:
In an unexpected turn, the Academy decides to showcase the horror genre, which it freely admits to boycotting from Oscar consideration. That would be great, except wasn’t Silence of the Lambs a horror movie?
Not exactly a chilling montage, although I imagine those in the camp of Team Edward were absolutely horrified by seeing Kristen Stewart present with Taylor Lautner.
10:13PM:
Costumes could potentially be the defining category of the evening. HUGE decision here. And the Oscar goes to…
The Young Victoria!!!
We are now seeing Oscar pools take shape. Major credit goes to colleague Nate Freiberg, who kept insisting that The Young Victoria fits that period piece mold of prior victors in our podcasts. He was absolutely correct.
Speaking of Nate, if you aren’t aware of his phenomenal Web site, www.moviecontests.org, which catalogs all the films of the last decade with blurbs, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and an intriguing scoring system, please go check it out right now. One of my favorite aspects of seeing a film is being able to add it on his site afterward.
10:08PM:
Art Direction was one of those KEY categories I mentioned earlier, and Avatar takes it! Good news for Avatar fans, who now have something to build on. While this does little to foretell Best Picture, there are many who staked their strategy on Avatar cleaning up the technical and artistic categories.
All eyes now on Cinematography, for a huge Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker showdown!
10:01PM:
Mo’Nique grabs the Best Supporting Actress award, as expected. Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga had the misfortune of being from the same film, and Mo’Nique’s challenging role really resonated with viewers.
Really a touching acceptance soliloquy from Mo’Nique, who seemed deeply grateful and profoundly affected. Good for her.
I want to make a point of highlighting An Education, which never really got much popular notice, but was an extraordinary effort worthy of being watched. Go find some medium for experiencing it and delight your senses for a couple of hours. Carey Mulligan was just winsome.
9:54PM:
And there is your second showstopper of the night, once again in the screenplay category. Precious! Most saw Up in the Air walking away with this one. What a steep decline for Up in the Air, once seen as the prohibitive favorite for Best Picture, and now left without even Adapted Screenplay. If not Up in the Air, I thought for sure it would be An Education.
Precious apparently reached somewhere deep within enough voters to summon votes. An emotional acceptance speech from an unlikely winner, these Oscars are not proceeding as many thought. What other surprises could be on the docket? Oooh…suspense! We may not need that extra cup of coffee after all.
9:48PM:
Here’s your movie-meter as of now:
Avatar: Unknown
The Hurt Locker: Looking VERY GOOD after taking Best Original Screenplay.
Inglourious Basterds: Suffered a crushing loss in Original Screenplay. Not a good sign of things to come, but stranger things have happened.
I see Best Picture as a two-horse race now, between Avatar and The Hurt Locker.
9:44PM:
Things had been mildly humorous and straightforward until Ben Stiller showed up, dressed as a member of the Naavi people from Avatar. Whoever did that makeup job deserves some kind of award! Stiller looked just like the blue people, even down to the yellow eyes. And his tail is attached to a fishing rod. Nice touch, Academy.
And Star Trek wins Best Makeup! Somewhat of a competitive category, Star Trek seemed to be the popular choice, at least within Hollywood circles. No shock here, but this could separate some Oscar pool candidates.
Jeff Bridges, who owes much of his career to the Coen brothers, accommodates them well in presenting A Serious Man. You may be seeing Bridges again tonight…
9:38PM:
Animated Short happens to be one of my personal favorites, as these little efforts are often more inspired than the longer features (although not this year. Animation has never been at a higher apex). Logorama, the film about corporate takeovers (as in, everything is a corporate sponsor. Sort of like a NASCAR race), takes it! A slight upset over Wallace & Gromit, although W&G has won so many times, maybe the Academy was ready to exalt something else (as Kit Bowen astutely pointed out). Let’s see if anyone gains ground in Oscar pools with this mini surprise.
For Best Documentary Short, Music by Prudence gets the nod. With so many depressing options, Music by Prudence provided a hopeful perspective within a grim situation. A girl born horribly disfigured, she emerged from near death to sing beautiful resonances. Just a wonderful, touching story.
For Live Action Short, The New Tenants claims victory in a wide open category. Acceptance speeches have been restricted, it seems, which is a shame for these categories so unaccustomed to the spotlight.
9:23PM:
A wonderful tribute to John Hughes, who masterminded all those 80’s Brat Pack films that gave our generation a sense of entitlement. The next time your teenage daughter comes home blitzed and gives you the middle finger, you can thank John Hughes. But those were great films in their own way, and the dedication was in excellent taste.
One note about the Up for Best Picture presentation. What a beautiful film. Pixar works at a level so altogether above the rest of the universe.
9:18PM:
A hilarious intro from always-uproarious Robert Downey Jr. and the inescapably popular Tina Fey. Downey Jr. of course delivers the lines with great finesse, pairing up perfectly with Tina Fey… or was that Sarah Palin.
The Academy has really gotten inventive this year, using creative techniques to explain what these categories actually are. For Best Original Screenplay, they actually show a scene, along with the words on the screen (and narrated). Very clever!
And the winner is… The Hurt Locker! This is a bit of a surprise, as most pundits had Inglourious Basterds as the likely winner. Take this as an extremely positive sign for The Hurt Locker’s chances as a Best Picture winner, while those who hung their ballots on Basterds (cough…$%&@#$%&#) have reason to fret. So far, Round 1 to the Hurt Locker.
9:04PM:
No performances of Best Song this year, although we get a songstress for a presenter in Miley Cyrus. Cyrus showed off her linguistics, nailing the French accent for Loin de Paname fairly well (much better than Alicia Keys last year). The favorite, The Weary Kind, wins a weak showing of candidates. As noted before, Ryan Bingham happens to be the same name as the lead character in Up in the Air. Just one of those interesting coincidences.
This should be the first of two awards for Crazy Heart, as Jeff Bridges is the heavy favorite in the Best Actor category, which will occur in 12 hours or so.
8:58PM:
Cameron Diaz joins Steve Carell to present Animated Film. We all knew Up would take this one (the only one nominated for Best Picture), but the presentation of these animated films was extraordinary. To introduce each nominee, they showcased an animated character from each film. Symbolic, perhaps, of how real these images have truly become? Congratulations to Up, which is one of the most romantic, profound portrayals of human loss ever projected on screen, live action or animated.
8:44PM:
After a refreshingly funny and lighthearted opening from consuls Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin (they both worked extremely well together, unlike some other fabled duos), we kick things off with Best Supporting Actor. Christopher Plummer finally gets a nomination at 80 years of age, but even the sentimentality behind any endorsement has no chance against the obvious choice: Christoph Waltz.
It’s difficult to even imagine Waltz as anything but an amusingly sadistic Nazi. Sporting a beard and a great deal of heartfelt graciousness, we are reminded of just how spectacular he was as an actor. A nice guy who played a viciously savage man to perfection. Also, kudos to Penelope Cruz for being as brief as possible, while still managing to infect her audience (at least those with testosterone) with lustful admiration.
8:33PM:
After immense contemplation and anticipation, the Oscars are finally here! I’m thrilled to be here tonight, providing a companion piece to your Oscar viewing experience.
Best Picture has been whittled down to three films in most people’s eyes: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, and Inglourious Basterds. Look for patterns early on in the evening. If Avatar drops some of the technical categories, that’s a Pandora’s box (pun intended). Film editing is often an indicator of what’s to come as well, so play close attention there.
Three key categories that could make or break Oscar pools: Best Cinematography, Best Costume, Best Art Direction.
I will be there to help you interpret what it all means, all through the night. Lots of foreplay before the big climax for us, and yes, it’s possible you could be out of the running one hour in (which is like 1/47 of the ceremony, right?).
Thank you for joining us, and best of luck!
It’s so important to buy a dress that is beautiful AND good for your body!
