Sunday, February 22, 2009

Instead of Doing Work I Watched the Oscars!

The 81st Academy Awards was doused with refreshing new cologne provided by Hugh Jackman's wonderful song and dance routines, the touching 5 person presenters for the acting categories, and beautiful movie montages. The Big Winner this year was definitely underdog favorite Slumdog Millionaire, which won in 8 categories. The speeches of the ceremony, Dustin Lance Black (winner Best Original Screenplay for Milk ), Penelope Cruz (winner Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Heath Ledger's parents and sister (winner Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight), were really heartbreaking and emotional. The tributes to Jerry Lewis as well as those who have passed away this year added a sad little cherry to the festivities of the night. Cruz's "Art, in any form, is and has been and always will be our universal language" pretty much summed up the international ode to the night. Although there were a few technical flubs and several nervous actors messing up their lines, the show was touching and lots of fun! Old Hollywood glamour of cinema was truly paid an homage tonight.

Here are the winners:

Actress in a Supporting Role - Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Writing (Original Screenplay) - Milk
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Slumdog Millionaire
Animated Feature Film - Wall-E
Short Film (Animated) - La Maison en Petits Cubes
Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Costume Design - The Duchess
Makeup - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire
Short Film (Live Action) - Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Actor in a Supporting Role - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Documentary Feature - Man on Wire
Documentary Short - Smile Pinki
Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sound Editing - The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing - Slumdog Millionaire
Film Editing - Slumdog Millionaire
Music (Score) - Slumdog Millionaire
Music (Song) - "Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire)
Foreign Language Film - Departures
Directing - Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Actress in a Leading Role - Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Actor in a Leading Role - Sean Penn (Milk)
Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

Congrats to all the winners! 3 out of my 5 predictions is not bad...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

do you know the historical context of Will Smith's "boom goes the dynamite"? Pretty fascinating! Look it up if you dont.