My Oscar Predictions – Part 5: The Results

Another year, another 24 Oscars awarded.  Who won this year?  How did my predictions stand up?  Let’s find out.

First, let’s talk about the show.  Steven Martin and Alec Baldwin were the host, but I found they were quite wooden in their line delivery.  There were some good jokes there, but nothing outstanding.

I want to give the academy props for how they treated the lesser categories like the shorts and the sound editing and mixing.  Instead of sweeping them under the rug, they tried to educate people on what they actually mean to the movie industry and their importance.  Good for them.

Ben Stiller dressed up in full Avatar was pretty hilarious, unfortunately that was about it for entertaining presenters.  No big Will Ferrall/Steve Carrell hilarity this time.

BEST PICTURE:

Winner:The Hurt Locker

My Pick: Up in the Air

This is a sign that I made my predictions too early.  I thought it would be Up in the Air, but as we came closer to Oscar night, it was becoming clear that it was a race between Avatar and Hurt Locker, and I became pretty certain it would be Hurt Locker.   However, I had made my choice and decided to stick with it, even though I was sure I would be wrong.

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DIRECTING:

Winner: Katheryn Bigalow – The Hurt Locker

My Pick: Katheryn Bigalow – The Hurt Locker

I thought that even if Avatar did pull off the win for Best Picture, Bigalow would take home best director.  She took home both.

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ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart

My Pick: Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart

Yeah, I figured he would win.  He was definitely the favourite.  I like Jeff Bridges a lot, so I’m happy for him.

Gotta say though, I hate that actor’s panel thing they started last year.  One of the big criticisms of award shows is that they pat themselves on the back too much.  Well, this isa pretty huge example of that.

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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side

My Pick: Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side

This wasn’t a big surprise.  Proving once again how political these acting awards can be.  I do think its pretty funny that she won the Oscar and Razzie in the same weekend.

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ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

My Pick: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

This was pretty much the most predictable award of the night.  Well deserved, a brilliant performance.

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ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: Monique – Precious

My Pick: Monique – Precious

Another pretty obvious award here.  Didn’t take a lot of deduction to figure this one out.

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ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Winner: The Hurt Locker

My Pick: Inglourious Basterds

Disappointed.  I didn’t think that Hurt Locker’s story was really that great.  The directing was great, the acting so-so, but the story was muddled.  Tarantino deserved this.  And I really wanted to see him give a speech.  Damn.

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ADAPTED  SCREENPLAY:

Winner: Precious

My Pick: Up in the Air

Wow, I didn’t think they would shut out Up in the Air.  But thy did.

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Winner: The Secret in their Eyes

My Pick: The White Ribbon

Wow.  Who saw this coming?  How did White Ribbon not win?

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ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Winner: Up

My Pick: Up

Again, being the only animated movie nominated for Best Picture, this was a shoe-in.  Also, a wonderful movie.

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ART DIRECTION:

Winner: Avatar

My Pick: Avatar

Hard not to give this one to Avatar.

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CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Winner: Avatar

My Pick: Avatar

I was actually less sure on this one, but I guessed right after all.

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COSTUME DESIGN:

Winner: The Young Victoria

My Pick: The Young Victoria

What did I tell you: Victorian era movies always win this category.
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FILM EDITING:

Winner: The Hurt Locker

My Pick: The Hurt Locker

The editing in this movie was really very good.  They made a good pick.

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DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Winner: The Cove

My Pick: The Cove

This was the most notable of the nominees and even though I haven’t seen it I have heard that it is masterfully filmed.

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MAKEUP:

Winner: Star Trek

My Pick: Il Divo

I’m pretty surprised by this, but since I love Star Trek, I can’t be upset.

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ORIGINAL SCORE:

Winner: Up

My Pick: Up

I’m on a role.  up’s score was just great and fit the story perfectly, and I was really hoping the academy would recognize that.  They did.

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ORIGINAL SONG:

Winner: The Weary Kind – Crazy Heart

My Pick: The Weary Kind – Crazy Heart

With a name like T-Bone, how could he not win?
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SOUND MIXING:

Winner: The Hurt Locker

My Pick: Avatar

Dang, I missed on this one.  I thought that Avatar would have the Jurassic Park effect (non-existing or nor longer existing creatures), but they decided to pair up the mixing and editing sound categories this year.
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SOUND EDITING:

Winner: The Hurt Locker

My Pick: The Hurt Locker

See? War films.  They love giving this one to war films.

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VISUAL EFFECTS:

Winner: Avatar

My Pick: Avatar

Considering the effects were absolutely groundbreaking, this wasn’t much of a surprise.

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DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

Winner: Sound of Prudence

My Pick: Rabbit a la Berlin

Dang.  These short categories are gonna kill me.

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ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

Winner: Logorama

My Pick: A Matter of Loaf and Death

Good for the academy for not going with the tired and true Wallace and Grommit and giving someone else a chance.

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LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:

Winner: The New Tenants

My Pick: Kavi

0 for 3 for the shorts.  That will take a chuck out of my overall score. Oh well.

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MY SCORE: 15/24 = 63%

Not great.  The shorts killed me, I knew I had best pic wrong, and the screenplays completely surprised me.  But there we have it, until next year.