Headline: “Seth MacFarlane: Ok-ish as Oscar Host.”
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The white cake |
We got to salute Django
with white cake early on in the evening (well, we waited until the commercials
to cut it) when Christoph Waltz won the night’s first award for Best Supporting
Actor for his performance as bounty hunter Dr. Schultz. Winning his second
Oscar for a Tarantino film after his Best Supporting Actor win for 2009’s Inglourious Basterds, Waltz made history as the first male
actor to win two Oscars for performances in films by the same director. The
feat has been done only once before, by actress Dianne Wiest, who won Best
Supporting Actress for her performances in the Woody Allen films Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994). Oddly
enough, Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen are my favourite directors!
Tarantino won Best Original Screenplay for Django, besting Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty. Boal’s script for The Hurt Locker beat Tarantino when he
was last nominated for Basterds.
Other wins for the record books came from two of the night’s
most forgone conclusions: Adele’s “Skyfall” became the first song from a James
Bond movie to win Best Original Song, and Lincoln’s
Daniel Day-Lewis is the first actor to win Best Actor three times. The night’s
two other acting winners, Anne Hathaway (Les
Misérables) and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver
Linings Playbook), were well-deserved wins. All the actors gave gracious
speeches, although Jennifer Lawrence won the prize for Most Excited when she
tripped on the large train of her dress and slipped walking up to collect her
prize. Don’t worry Jennifer, this means that your win will always be
remembered!
Other notable wins of the night included a tie for Best
Sound Editing between Zero Dark Thirty and
Skyfall (the last tie was in 1969
when Barbra Streisand and Katherine Hepburn tied for Best Actress), and Anna Karenina’s scoop of Best Costume
Design for Jacqueline Durran’s impressive work. It was nice to see the best
film of the year acknowledged. Among the highlights of the show were Meryl
Streep’s 'wedgie,' Jack Nicholson’s hilarious reaction shots, and Best Actress
nominee Quvenzhané Wallis, who stole the broadcast by showing off her pipes. Also
good were some of the night’s song performances, especially the tribute to
contemporary musicals sung by Best Supporting Actress winners Catherine
Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Hudson, and Anne Hathaway (along with the cast of Les Mis). Hudson’s performance of “And I
Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls
was one of the few moments when our party of twenty fell silent. (The other was
for Adele’s performance of “Skyfall,” naturally.)
Also worth noting is how well Canada was represented at the
Oscars even though we lost the prize for Best Foreign Language Film to Amour. Among the Canadian winners were
composer Mychael Danna and visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron, both
of whom took home prizes for Life of Pi.
Best Director winner Ang Lee also thanked the Canadian crew and Life of Pi author Yann Martel.
Canada
also got a welcome, but unnecessary, word of thanks from Ben Affleck as he
thanked those who participated in the film and in the story that the film
depicts. Affleck had come under consistent criticism by ex-Canadian Ambassador
Ken Taylor and some members of the Canadian press, who charged that Argo put Taylor in the backseat in order
to amplify the hero role for Tony Mendez. According
to the CBC, Taylor was satisfied with the acknowledgment made during
Affleck’s Best Picture speech. Taylor and his wife Pat also received a special
shout-out from Argo screenwriter
Chris Terrio, who won Best Adapted Screenplay. Argo's win continues to boost the impact of Canada's top festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and shows TIFF's impact on the Oscars since it was the runner-up for last year's People Choice Award. The festival's big winner, Silver Linings Playbook, didn't do too badly, either.
Argo’s win capped
off a good broadcast that paid tribute to old-style entertainment. Argo is a worthy winner to stand for a
strong year at the movies. I was generally pleased with the winners overall.
Even though many of my top picks didn’t win, most of the prizes went to second
choices and/or contenders who were equally worthy. I did alright with my
predictions, too, getting a score of 20/24. I missed Supporting Actor, Sound Editing,
Live Action Short, and (grumble) Production Design. Overall, it was a good show
to end a great movie year. Here’s looking forward to Oscars 2014!
Best Picture
Argo - Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
Best Director
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Best Original Screenplay
Django Unchained,
Quentin Tarantino
Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris
Terrio
Best Film Editing
Argo, William GoldenbergBest Cinematography
Life of Pi, Claudio MirandaBest Production Design
Lincoln - Rick Carter, Jim Ericksom
Best Costumes
Anna Karenina, Jacqueline DurranBest Score
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour – Austria
Best Documentary
Best Sound Editing
SkyfallBest Sound Mixing
Les MisérablesBest Hair and Make-up
Les Misérables
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature
Brave
Best Short Film - Live Action
CurfewBest Short Film - Animated
Paperman (watch)Best Documentary Short
InocenteFinally, it wouldn't be an Oscar recap without my picks for the Best Dressed actresses of the night. I think the room voted for Jennifer Garner, but I pick:
Best Dressed - Halle Berry:
Honourable Mentions:
Nicole Kidman |
Naomi Watts |
Jennifer Lawrence |
Rachel Mwanza (Rebelle) |