I loved the Academy Awards last night, more than I have in a long time. For the first time in many years, there were no politics. All the oscars that were given were based on the performance and quality. But let’s start at the beginning…
I was very surprised to see so much color on the red carpet this year. And I mean color. Lots of blues, some reds, a bit of orange and a lot of silvers and golds. All in all, almost everything was bright. But hands down, my favorite dress of the evening goes surprisingly to Kristen Stewart. I have never seen her look so beautiful on the red carpet before. Her strapless midnight blue, or black as it looked on TV, gown was simply gorgeous on her. The drapery was perfect for her shape and her hair in a classic updo with no big time overdo on the jewelry. Simple and elegant. She really does have a natural elegance when she does it right. I think a very close second was Queen Latifah. Once again, she has never looked so gorgeous on the red carpet. The light pink was perfect for her skin tone and the silver, diamond straps crossed her torso were placed just right, showing all the right angles.
I wasn’t so thrilled with Zoe Saldana’s dress, and a little disappointed actually. I love the top half, but once it got furry on the way down, it was over. Although I don’t think she would ever have a problem rocking a big dress like that, it just wasn’t a very well designed big dress. And although I loved the dress Vera Farmiga was wearing, it was too much dress for her as well. That kind of dress belongs on the runway, left for supermodels to work, not actors.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Niel Patrick Harris and his opening number. But I loved it, even if it seemed a little misplaced. But that’s probably because I love NPH a little too much. LOL. I was never quite sure how the dual hosts would work out with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. I was even surprised at how much I laughed at their opening number. I guess, if they got two people that could work well off each other, then it would work. I should have figured Martin and Baldwin would be able to pull it off. Although there may have been too many of them, their references to Meryl Streep were all hilarious. But I think the best of all their jokes they pulled off right at the beginning, with Christoph Waltz, refering to his character Colonel Landa, the Jew Hunter in “Inglorious Basterds”. “Well, Christoph,” Martin motioned to the audience, “the motherload.” LOL.
Speaking of Christoph Waltz, I was very excited to see him win Best Supporting Actor. Not even can stand Tarintino movies, including my mother. She started watching it with me, and walked away within the first 15 mintues, which I thought were absolutely brilliant. There are only so many actors that can pull off an opening scene like that, and completely understand Tarintino when he said he would never be able to do this movie without an amazing actor that can do Col. Landa. But an actor with the talents of Christoph Waltz, anything is possible.
Which brings me to the awesomeness that is Mo’Nique. LOL. Although I have yet to see “Precious”, I have seen enough of her performance from clips and sneek peaks to know that she deserved to be a nominee and I’m sure, deserved the oscar. Other than Kathryne Bigelow, I enjoyed her acceptance speech the most. “To my amazing husband Sidney, thank you for showing me that sometimes you have to forego doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right.” He couldn’t be more right about that.
For someone who wants to be a screenwriter one day, I was very happy how the Screenwriting awards turned out. I knew I wanted Mark Boal to win Original Screenplay, but was even happier finding out it was his first script, that he was so young, and used to be a journalist. It’s impressive once again to see such an new writer in the business win an oscar, and it was the third year in a row. Diablo Cody won for “Juno” and Dustin Lance Black won for “Milk”. Although he had written for TV before, “Milk” was his first feature film. It was also nice to hear all the acceptance speeches from “The Hurt Locker” winners include a dedication to all the soliders in the military.
Although I’m sure Jeff Bridges deserved the award for “Crazy Heart”, but I really wanted Jeremy Renner to win for “The Hurt Locker”. I have been a fan of his for a long time, and I hope this film and being nominated for this movie gets him more work and into more quality films that can make it to the Oscars again. I loved the introductions that were given by past or current co-stars of both the Leading Actors awards. When Oprah was talking about Gabby Sidibe, it had to be one of the best moments of the night. Her owns tears almost drove me to tears. And Colin Farrell’s friendly badgering of Jeremy Renner, co-stars years ago in “S.W.A.T.” was one of my other favorites.
Everyone knew Sandra Bullock was going to win for her role in “The Blind Side”. I knew it too, no matter how much I would have loved to have seen Gabby Sidibe win for “Precious”. I guess I was just a little spoiled with some of the shocking results of last year’s acting awards. Sean Penn winning for “Milk” when everyone expected Mickey Rourke to win for “The Wrestler” was probably the best moment of the night. He was so beyond honest in that moment, shock still written all over his face and his hands trembling. And it wouldn’t have been a Sandra acceptance speech without her friendly banter. LOL.
Then the two awards that everyone has been talking about all awards season. Best Director and Best Picture. Although I have been rooting for “The Hurt Locker” all along, I really didn’t think they would take both awards. I assumed, as has happened in oscar history before, that the awards would be split. I thought Cameron would take Best Director and “The Hurt Locker” would take Best Picture. I am so glad that I was wrong. As a hopeful future filmmaker that is a woman, I am very proud that the first woman to win an oscar for directing was Kathryne Bigelow. There truly is no one better. I can’t imagine being her, not even off stage for five minutes before Tom Hanks annouces that “The Hurt Locker” also wins Best Picture. LOL. I wouldn’t be able to wrap my head around it.
As for “Avatar” not winning the best prize, I believe that the Academy did right in giving the award to “The Hurt Locker”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in it for the political reasons, although I do believe that there are many smaller independent films that are far and above many mainstream films that are nominated for Best Picture every year. I was a very happy movie fan when indi films started to get recongized for their achievements, are are often times, much better quality than many that have won Best Picture over the years. Like many, I wasn’t too sure about the expansion this year, having ten films nominated instead of just five. Although it wouldn’t have been very hard for me to decide this year if I was a member of the Academy, I can imagine it being impossible for me in the years to come if it stays this way. Although, if they were doing this to give more mainstream or blockbuster films a chance to be nominated, or a chance to win, it didn’t exactly work this way. Even with ten nominations, I still believe there was a film that was snubbed for a nomination: “Star Trek”. Maybe that’s the scifi geek that is in me that wants to protest, but honestly, I’m not the only person that believes this. “Star Trek” is a science fiction masterpiece, and should have been recongized as such. I would have been good if it took “Avatar”s place on the list. But, I guess they can’t make everyone happy.
Anyway, as I was saying, “The Hurt Locker” definitly was the best film of the year, over and above “Avatar”. Don’t get me wrong, I loved “Avatar” and went back to the theater to see it many times. Was even one of the people at Comic Con last summer that was ecstatic to be the first to preview 25 minutes of the film in 3D. But it wasn’t the best of the year. When it comes down to quality of writing, acting and the simplicity of the story, “The Hurt Locker” deserved the oscar. James Cameron has never been the best writer. That’s clear with the screenplay of the “Titanic”. Although I have to agree, that this script was better than “Titanic”, it wasn’t as good as “The Hurt Locker”. Now I know, Iwas talking about Best Picture than went back to screenplays…but the screenplay is where a good movie begins.
There are three major parts that make a Best Picture deserving of the oscar: the writing, the directing, and the acting. Now, “The Hurt Locker” had all three, a perfect collaboration as said by Kathryne Bigelow herself when accepting the award after winning Best Picture. “Avatar” on the other hand, only had about one and a half. Nowhere near the writing or acting that “Hurt Locker” had.
And when you get down to the simple foundations of the story, “Avatar” is something we have seen a million times over. Where as the story of “The Hurt Locker” is original, raw, and almost too authentic. And in times like these, it’s the kind of story that stays with you and “Avatar” will eventually blend into the background of science fiction, no matter how much of a game-changer it was for cinema.
The simple fact is, “The Hurt Locker” is true film and story power, that punches you in the gut with it’s truth. That’s why it won Best Picture.
