Oscar Post Mortem

The above snapshot in time shows how they killed it less than halfway into the show last night. James Franco, who was brilliant in 127 Hours, seemed about as interested in being there as I was in listening to Colleen Atwood read her monotone acceptance speech for Best Costume Design for Alice in Wonderland (it was the right winner, but she literally read off a tiny scrap of paper in a monotone voice making no eye contact and going over time). Anne Hathaway was happier to be there, but she acted like she was the unpopular girl invited to the cool kids' party. "Look I've got a dress on, yay! Look a movie star, wowie!"

I was happy that it was going at a quick pace, though I still think they need to set a moratorium on thanking your illegal alien garderner Manuel and your British Nanny as well as Craft Services in your acceptance. That being said the guy who thanked his mom for doing Craft Services for his short was hilarious. No one cares about someone they've never heard of thanking their grade 3 teacher after they win Best Sound Editing. Kirk Douglas was more entertaining with his lines than nearly all of the winners were with their acceptance speeches. Other than Melissa Leo dropping the f-bomb and the documentary makers commenting on Wall Street CEOs not being in jail (kudos without going Michael Moore on it), there wasn't anything noteworthy said...though I might want to see Colin Firth's dancing.

Of the 18 categories I cared enough to have an opinion on, I got 8 of them right, though I have no idea how to judge Sound Editing versus Mixing. They're the same idea in my head and I have no idea why they don't just have one Sound Oscar. I saw 8 of the 10 Best Picture candidates (Toy Story 3 and Black Swan being the exceptions) and for once felt qualified to offer opinion on the films and nominees, as you can judge in my past posts lately...

Good: Christian Bale getting recognized and giving Dicky Ecklund the shoutout; Inception and Social Network winning 7 between them, showing that the Academy isn't all that out of touch (though Christopher Nolan should have been nomiated for Best Director); Colin Firth being crowned; Trent Reznor winning an Oscar; Alice in Wonderland being recognized for their stunning artistic achievement (art literally - winning Art Direction and Costumes); The Kids are Alright being shutout.

Bad: True Grit and 127 Hours both being shut out; lame acceptance speeches nearly across the board; the fact that Billy Crystal got more applause than the hosts did all night long; Celine Dion's ego overshadowing the "In Memorium" piece of the show; Halle Berry deciding that Lena Horne was somehow more worthy of singling out for a memorial than any of the others who passed this year (um Dennis Hopper anyone?) I'm sorry, it may sound bad, but I just don't think one person deserves that extra recognition over all the others who passed.

Ugly: for a night of stars, when they showed shots of the audience, I saw fewer stars than I recall seeing at the Oscars for years. It used to be everyone was there, even if they weren't up for anything. Thanks to Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks for showing up (I realize they both had movies they were involved with be up for awards, but I can't recall them not showing up in past years, whereas I didn't see a lot of the usual crowd.) Maybe Oscar just isn't the big show it used to be, or maybe, which I think is more likely, their hosts this year just gave no one any spark of anticipation or wanting to be there.

All in all, a rather tedious 3+ hours with a few good moments thrown in, and no real surprises at all. I was expecting at least one or two instances where the 2 front runners would split votes allowing third place to sneak out the win. No movie won more than 4 Oscars this year, which is fair because the there were a bunch of great films this year and each had their own strengths.

Kudos to the Coens for their reply to having 10 nominations for the great True Grit: "Ten seems like an awful lot. We don't want to take anyone else's." I think since both they and Jeff Bridges already have Oscar gold on the resume, it was easier to overlook the movie this year, and good for them having such a great attitude about it. (I also think 127 Hours suffered from the director already having his Oscar success - Danny Boyle [Slumdog]).

Also be sure to check out Steve's Oscar breakdown.

Now I look forward to Summer movie season and all the Marvel superhero flicks!!! Popcorn Action...yay.

The Fighter: Christian Bale's movie.

The first on my double bill of Oscar films on Toonie Tuesday at the Movies: The Fighter Christian Bale is phenomenal in this film. He dropped over 30lbs to portray Dicky Eklund, Micky Ward's older (half) brother. Although Mark Wahlberg's name is at the top of the billing for The Fighter, this is Bale's movie. When he's not on screen, you're waiting for him to be back on, and when he's not in a scene, it's a notch less visceral than when he's on.

Dicky is almost 10 yrs older than Micky, and was a boxer as well, who even fought Sugar Ray Leonard in the late 70s, but is now a crackhead, as well as Micky's trainer. The story may be about how Micky finally gets a shot, gets himself together and out from under his mother and brother's shadows, but the far more interesting story is about Dicky. Bale is so good, so scene stealing, it makes others pale in comparison. Mark Wahlberg is good as Micky, most of his acting coming from showing the conflict between loyalty to Dicky and his family, and wanting a chance to make it.

Amy Adams and Melissa Leo both got nods for Best Supporting Actress for their roles as Micky's girlfriend and mother respectively. Adams is an actress I can't stand, so she must be good if I didn't despise her in this film. Leo is great because of how much I despise her portrayal of Micky and Dicky's mother Alice. Leo creates a character that's just so living in denial about Dicky's drug issues and the fact that he's 40yrs old and won't be having a comeback, that she's ruining the potential of Micky, and using his career as a way to run her life. I'd hate to be one of the 5 daughters, as Alice obviously loves Dicky more than any of them, with Micky a distant second.

One pivotal scene has Micky forcing his mother to accept that he needs a chance, and he needs to be the focus for once, and not Dicky. Solid acting and I won't be disappointed if she walks away with the Oscar. But on the whole, this isn't a Best Picture winner.

Christian Bale should walk away with Best Supporting Actor (though I've yet to see Geoffrey Rush's performance in The King's Speech [I will in the next 48 hrs]). His performance is so powerful and he inhabits the role so deeply, you'd think it was who he was all the time. For me, there are a few scenes where Bale simply rises to another stratosphere: when he's in prison and going through crack withdrawl in his cell; when he gets out of prison and leaves the gym saying he has to go somewhere (code for crackhouse); and in the final fight scene when he tells Micky that it's his time to take it, because he (Dicky) was never good enough.

Great performances in this film, Bale first and foremost, but without that, it wouldn't be nearly what it is.