Written By: Jessica Fralick

The 82^nd Academy Awards went off without any major glitches this year.  Hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin with various presenters from newcomers Kristen Stewart and Zac Efron to veterans such as Kate Winslet and Tom Hanks giving speeches that ranged from confusing and choppy to almost perfection.  It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it had its memorable moments.

Neil Patrick Harris opened the 82nd Academy Awards with a song and dance which was rather thrilling for all people who thought that he may have been the best choice as the host of the event and Martin and Baldwin went on to address each person that was nominated for an award in the evening.  It was smooth sailing from there as one by one each of the awards were presented and the winners gave their speeches.

It was a battle coming into this night between two fantastic films: The Hurt Locker and Avatar.  One directed by James Cameron and the other by his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow.  The ex- husband and wife just added to the tension and the excitement of who would walk away with the most awards.  Both came into the night with nine nominations including Best Director and Best Picture.

Avatar walked away with three statues including Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects and The Hurt Locker took home 6 including the coveted Best Picture along with Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Screenplay.  I wouldn’t call it a knock out fight, but when so many thought that Avatar was going to sweep the awards they must have felt the sting a little.

Not at the awards this evening was Nicholas Chartier a producer of The Hurt Locker who was banned from attending the awards after he sent out an email to the voting members urging them to vote for The Hurt Locker and not the “$500 million dollar movie” which clearly is in reference to Avatar.  The sweep of The Hurt Locker makes one think that maybe this tactic worked.  I would have been shocked if Avatar did not take home the statue for Visual Effects as would most of the world, but I was not so sure on all the other fronts.  It was a nail biter, but in the end the underdog rose to the challenge.

Jeremy Renner got the only acting nomination for either movie for his role in The Hurt Locker, but he lost the Leading Actor Oscar to a well deserving Jeff Bridges for his role in Crazy Heart.  This was not a surprise to individuals who follow the awards circuit as he previously won the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild for the same role. Mo’Nique won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire which was no surprise to the viewers either and Christoph Waltz won Supporting Actor for his role in Inglourious Basterds.

The most touching and humble moment of the night went to Sandra Bullock for her Best Leading Actress win over sixteen-time-nominee Meryl Streep. Not only did Bullock acknowledge her fellow nominees, but she said wonderful things about all of them.  Calling Gabourey Sidibe exquisite,  Carey Mulligan graceful beautiful and elegant, Helen Mirren family, and Meryl Streep “such a good kisser. “ As her role in The BlindSide was about being a mother she spoke about her own mother and there could not have been a dry eye in the house when she was done.  She thanked her for teaching her “that there was no race, no religion, no class system, no colour, nothing. No sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else we are all deserving of love.”

There were a few changes this year in the live show which included not having the Original Song nominees perform on the night.  Instead they had a dance piece constructed around each of the nominees for Original Score.  This was probably to make room for the 10 nominees for Best Picture that were highlighted throughout the night by different presenters.

The tribute to John Hughes who passed away last year may have been a highlight for anyone who grew up watching 80’s classics like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Jon Cryer, Macaulay Culkin among others all came on stage and spoke after the tribute to Hughes had played.  It was a wonderful reunion of the stars of the past and a great tribute to a man and his family who had such a big impact on a genre of film.

The annual “In Memoriam” that the producers of the show put together of all the stars that had passed away in the last year left out two very loved actresses : Farrah Fawcett who passed away after a long battle with cancer last year and Bea Arthur who was on the long time running show Golden Girls.  It is common for the producers to miss someone in this tribute, but stars as big as Fawcett and Arthur being excluded shocked many of the viewers.  This may end up being the most talked about blemish on an otherwise well executed program.

Not ending on a sour note however, all the females in the film industry, particularly in the directing area of film, pumped their fists tonight when Kathryn Bigelow won her Best Director award becoming the very first female to take home that trophy.  Whenever there is a first at the Academy Awards it feels like history is being made.

After wrapping up a smooth night with one last joke from Martin and Baldwin the show was over.  People all over the continent turned off their televisions and most likely chatted about whether or not The Hurt Locker was deserving of the final award and half an hour later it was probably out of their minds completely.  So until next year and another movie battle, this has been an Oscars review – over and out.

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker

Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Leading Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

Leading Actress
Sandra Bullock - The Blindside

Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker

Adapted Screenplay
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Animated Feature
Up

Art Direction
Avatar

Cinematography
Avatar

Costume Design
Young Victoria

Documentary Feature
The Cove

Documentary Short
Music by Prudence

Film Editing
The Hurt Locker

Foreign Language Film
El Secreto de Sus Ojos

Makeup
Star Trek

Original Score
Up

Original Song
The Weary Kind - Crazy Heart

Short Film Animated
Logorama

Short Film Live Action
The New Tenants

Sound Editing
The Hurt Locker

Sound Mixing
The Hurt Locker

Visual Effects
Avatar

Written by :

Jes

 

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