I debated against writing this article.  Personally, I don’t put a whole lot of stock in the Oscars.  The awards are rigged in such a way to encourage consumers to spend the most money possible.  That’s the main objective of the Academy Awards… to sell tickets to movies that are still in theaters, and to stimulate video pre-sales.  The Academy is one of the ways that the movie industry manipulates the audience.  Like it or not, there’s little to debate about whether or not movies benefit from an Oscar, and whether or not an Oscar can have a significant impact on an actor’s career.  After all, the Academy Awards is not a democracy.  These are all industry insiders voting on the winners.

It seems that I’m not the only person who feels this way as viewership for the Academy Awards has been declining.  People just don’t place the importance behind this event that they used to.  That, however, doesn’t mean that I can’t offer my take on the results of last night’s ceremony.  A lot of work went into the event to make it stand out from previous years’ events, and having Hugh Jackman as host was a departure from the “traditional” form of the event… which is a good thing!

The Stand-Outs:

The first notable thing for me was the stand-out performance of host, Hugh Jackman. I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of his performance, but I was actually impressed.  It’s obvious that Jackman and the production team put in a lot of effort into making this installment of the Oscars an event to remember.  I got giddy at times watching the elaborate dance steps, and his humorous interactions with the other celebrities.  And I loved how much fun he was obviously having doing this performance, as he could barely contain his laughter on several occasions.

I used to dislike Ben Stiller’s style of comedy, but his appearance reminded me of Joaquin Phoenix’s Letterman interview and had me laughing out loud.  It’s been said before that Phoenix will “never work again in Hollywood again” due to his embarassing display, and with people like Stiller giving him crap for it, it’s easy to see why.  I’m starting to develop a respect for Ben Stiller, and his courage to be like a jester in a day and age when political correctness reigns supreme.  And speaking of political correctness…

“I know it’s a touchy subject, but someday we will all have to confront the notion that our silly gods cost the world too greatly.” – Bill Maher

Bill Maher using his duty as a presenter of the “Best Documentary” award to insert his own opinion about religion struck me as a little bit selfish.  If he had won the award himself, I wouldn’t have had a problem with the statement.  However, being a presenter means that you are there to honor the award that you are giving.  I’m sure that the Academy was aware that he might say something like that though, because they wouldn’t have invited him otherwise, with his reputation for being controversial.

The Fashion:

This subject isn’t my forte, but it’s something that discussed after every event of this style.  Some people actually consider the best/worst dressed list to be more important than who won the awards, which is silly.  However, I’ll go ahead and dip my toes into the cold water of fashion.

Male actors such as Jack Black and Ben Stiller chose to let their personality shine through instead of cleaning up for the event.  It brings up an insteresting point.  Does this sort of behavior cheapen the event, or is it a way for these people to break conformity and look the way that they want to?  I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments below.

On the other end of the spectrum, I felt that Mickey Rourke looked sharp as hell in his white suit.  Playing the pimp, Rourke was able to look good without sacrificing his personality.  Sean Penn looked sharp as well in his black getup.

Here are my opinions on the best and worst dressed women:  

-Best Dressed:  Sarah Jessica Parker  

-Worst Dressed: Tilda Swinton 

Since I’m not a big fashionista, I came to my opinions about the dresses with the help of my wife, Julia.  I understand that Tilda Swinton has her own unique taste, but she looked like she was wearing a blanket around her chest.  As for Sarah Jessica Parker, I felt that her dress had the best combination of style, class, and sexiness.  It’s all right to look sexy at the Oscars.  I mean, it’s the freakin’ Academy Awards, not a royal banquet!  

The Results: 

 

-Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire   

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Frost Nixon
  • Milk
  • The Reader

I think that Slumdog Millionaire will benefit greatly from this award.  It’s wonderful to see movies like this get chosen above the more “obvious” choices.  However, I still disagree with the exclusion of “The Dark Knight” in the nominees.

 -Best Director: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire 

  • Stephen Daldry – The Reader
  • David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
  • Gus Van Sant – Milk 

I am saddened that “The Wrestler” was left out, as it would have done my heart well to see David Fincher, Ron Howard, Danny Boyle, AND Darren Aronofsky compete for this award.  There was a heck of a lot of talent in the nominees this year, and it was hard to pick a winner.

I would have rather seen Ron Howard take this award, but I’m not too disappointed with Slumdog Millionaire as the winner either.  It’s great to see Danny Boyle take home an Oscar, because I thought his work on “28 Days Later” was phenominal. 

-Best Actor: Sean Penn – Milk  

  • Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
  • Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
  • Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler 

Okay, seriously. There was some stiff competition here. Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke, and Sean Penn all had oscar caliber roles. However, I am still convinced that Heath Ledger should have been nominated for this award. No other role was talked about more, and hyped up this year, and he STILL lived up to the hype and delivered in a big way.

I would have rather seen Mickey Rourke take this award, but I don’t want to take away from the stellar performance of Sean Penn.  I think that his protrayal of Harvey Milk will be talked about for years to come, and with that in mind, he was probably the best choice for this award.  

-Best Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader 

  • Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
  • Angelina Jolie – Changeling
  • Melissa Leo – Frozen River
  • Meryl Streep – Doubt 

She has had this award coming for a long time. 2009 seems to be the year when people are finally ready to take Kate Winslet seriously as an actress, and she truly deserves it.  I completely agree with this selection. 

 -Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight 

  • Josh Brolin – Milk
  • Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
  • Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road 

This was a tricky one. Even though I felt that Ledger was snubbed for Best Actor, I wanted to see Downey, Jr. take home this award. His protrayal of a method actor was pure genius, and completely stole the show.  So considering that Heath Ledger should have been in the Best Actor category, I think that it’s a good thing that he won Best Supporting Actor. However, this is unfortunate, because I think that Robert Downey, Jr. deserved the award. 

 -Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona 

  • Amy Adams – Doubt
  • Viola Davis – Doubt
  • Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler 

I don’t really disagree with this selection. In my opinion, the competition wasn’t that stiff for this award.  It did seem like Penélope Cruz was due for some recognition.  I’ve never been a huge fan of her work, but I can respect her acting ability.

 -Best Animated Feature: WALL-E – Andrew Stanton 

  • Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
  • Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson 

This was a no-contest for me. How anyone could have voted for anything besides WALL-E would confuse me. WALL-E was exactly what I have come to expect from Pixar: a high quality story, with adorable characters and top of the line rendering.  Like I said, no contest.  

-Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Greg Cannom 

  • The Dark Knight – John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army – Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz  

There was some real competition in this category.  I felt that “The Reader” should have been nominated for the way that they aged Kate Winslet.

I agree with the selection of Benjamin Button.  It has been argued that most of Pitt’s performance wasn’t legit, due to all of the special effects involved, but there’s little argument that this film was a great accomplishment in makeup.   

 

 

And The Rest Of The Awards:

 

 

 -Best Original Screenplay: Milk – Dustin Lance Black 

  • WALL-E – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
  • Happy-Go-Lucky – Mike Leigh
  • Frozen River – Courtney Hunt
  • In Bruges – Martin McDonagh  
-Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy 

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
  • Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan
  • The Reader – David Hare
  • Doubt – John Patrick Shanley  
-Best Foreign Language Film: Departures (Japan) in Japanese – Yojiro Takita 

  • Revanche (Austria) in German – Götz Spielmann
  • The Class (France) in French – Laurent Cantet
  • The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German – Uli Edel
  • Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew – Ari Folman   
 -Best Animated Short: La Maison En Petits Cubes – Kunio Kato 

  • Lavatory – Lovestory – Konstantin Bronzit
  • Oktapodi – Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
  • Presto – Doug Sweetland
  • This Way Up – Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes  
-Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo 

  • Changeling – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
  • The Dark Knight – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
  • The Duchess – Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
  • Revolutionary Road – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt  
-Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle 

  • Changeling – Tom Stern
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
  • The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
  • The Reader – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins 
-Best Costume Design: The Duchess – Michael O’Connor 

  • Australia – Catherine Martin
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West
  • Milk – Danny Glicker
  • Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky 
-Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire 

  • Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)
  • Encounters at the End of the World
  • The Garden
  • Trouble the Water  
-Best Documentary Short: Smile Pinki 

  • The Conscience of Nhem En – Steven Okazaki
  • The Final Inch
  • The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306  
-Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens 

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall 
  • The Dark Knight – Lee Smith
  • Frost/Nixon – Mike Hill, Daniel P. Hanley
  • Milk – Elliot Graham  
-Best Live Action Short: Toyland (Spielzeugland) 

  • On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
  • Manon On the Asphalt
  • New Boy (Ireland)
  • The Pig (Grisen) 
-Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman 

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
  • Defiance – James Newton Howard
  • Milk – Danny Elfman
  • WALL-E – Thomas Newman  
-Best Original Song: “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics) 

  • “Down to Earth” from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman (music), Peter Gabriel (lyrics)
  • “O Saya” from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman and M.I.A.  
-Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight – Richard King 

  • Iron Man – Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
  • Slumdog Millionaire – Tom Sayers
  • WALL-E – Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
  • Wanted – Wylie Stateman  
-Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire – Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty 

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
  • The Dark Knight – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
  • WALL-E – Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
  • Wanted – Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt  
-Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron 

  • The Dark Knight – Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
  • Iron Man – John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan