The 84th Annual Academy Awards

Well, that was one hell of a streamlined show. The Oscars receive a lot of criticism for being too bloated, running too long, and just overall being too much. Not last night. Last night, Billy Crystal started out with a segment I've long missed, a trip between all of last year's big movies, interacting with some stars, and adding a nice comedy to the mix. Then he moved into a song about the nine nominees, which I honestly couldn't hear because the music drowned him out. I did catch all he had to say about Extremely Loud, though: "Hanks has gone away." All that movie got. Good.

This is the first year since 2003 I have not seen all of the nominees for Best Picture. The only one I never made it to was Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. I almost did a time or two, then decided I didn't like The Reader, so why should I like this one. Why should I even acknowledge its existence in the Oscar race? So I didn't. I'll just pretend Max von Sydow was up because, well, he's Max von Sydow.

One thing that seems to have become more common for Oscar is to spread the wealth a bit. Hugo and The Artist were both the top nominated films, and I didn't expect Hugo to win as much as it did (I predicted it would win two awards, and it ended up winning 5). On any conventional year, one would expect Hugo, after nearly sweeping the technical categories, to go along to start taking Screenplay, Director, and Picture. But the gears shifted back into the Artists favor, much as last year when The Social Network cleaned house early, before The King's Speech took over for the rest of the evening.

I'm all for acknowledging several movies, but shouldn't the best edited film be the best film? I attended a panel Saturday morning featuring five of the seven nominated editors (two for both the Artist and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), and while I would agree that GWTDT is certainly well edited, it runs on way too long. There is at least another ten to fifteen minutes after the central mysteries are solved that drag on and on, and I feel that the best edited film should not be the won you were hoping the next scene would be the last. I like Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, but even they seemed surprised by their win.

Editing was the biggest upset, though Meryl Streep winning over Viola Davis was also fairly surprising. She's now been nominated 17 times and won 3 times, making her the best actor of all time according to the Academy. A lesson I've learned: don't vote for poor Viola Davis. I put a vote for her back in 2008 for Doubt, and that didn't work out, and when she was the sure thing, it makes me doubt (haha, get it) that she will ever win. Which is a shame, because she is a fine actress.

Billy Crystal should just host the show until he gets really old. He is very comfortable up on that stage, and though his song and dance routine is hackneyed, his self-deprecating winks were commendable (before the song, he said, "C'mon, you didn't think I wasn't going to do this?") The best line of the night came from him, when he said, "Nothing helps the economic crisis more then watching a bunch of millionaires give each other gold statues."

Overall, I liked this year's Oscars. Straight to the point. No bullshit. There was one fantastic number by Cirque de Soleil, but otherwise it was concise and to the point, and came in under three hours. Not bad. The only thing I would vote? Delete the Best Original Song category. With only two nominations this year, it was as irrelevant as ever.

Here is the rundown of what I guessed right, and what I didn't. My score is one worse this year, 16/24. Oh well.

Original Screenplay

Prediction/Winner: Midnight in Paris

Adapted Screenplay

Prediction/Winner: The Descendants

Visual Effects

Prediction/Winner: Hugo

Sound Mixing & Editing

Predictions: War Horse

Winner: Hugo

Live Action Short Film

Prediction: Tuba Atlantic

Winner: The Shore

Animated Short Film

Prediction/Winner: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Original Song

Prediction/Winner: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"

Original Score

Prediction/Winner: The Artist

Makeup

Prediction/Winner: The Iron Lady

Foreign Language Film

Prediction/Winner: A Separation

Film Editing

Prediction: The Artist

Winner: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Documentary Short

Prediction: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Winner: Saving Face

Documentary Feature

Prediction/Winner: Undefeated

Directing

Prediction/Winner: The Artist

Costume Design

Prediction: Anonymous

Winner: The Artist

Cinematography

Prediction: The Artist

Winner: Hugo

Art Direction

Prediction/Winner: Hugo

Animated Feature

Prediction/Winner: Rango

Supporting Actress

Prediction/Winner: Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Leading Actress

Prediction: Viola Davis in "The Help"

Winner: Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"

Supporting Actor

Prediction/Winner: Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"

Leading Actor

Prediction/Winner: Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

Best Picture

Prediction/Winner: The Artist

That's all!

The 84th Annual Academy Awards: My Predictions

This year, I didn't post a ten best list. Partly because I didn't see enough films, but also because I didn't feel like there was any one film I could truly name my favorite for the year. I would have gladly released a top 5, if there was something that I thought deserved to be on top. As it is now, my five favorite films would be The Descendants, Drive, Hugo, Moneyball, and 13 Assassins. And maybe Moneyball is my favorite?

So as it goes with this year's Oscars, there seems to be a unanimous opinion on what will clean house this year. The Artist is a behemoth, cleaning up most of the guild awards in its path. Some will argue it has not been seen, but The Hurt Locker had only grossed $17 million when it won, beating out the $7 billion grossed by Avatar. The Artist has grossed $31 million so far, though that is far less then the $100 million that The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire had garnered by Oscar time. Of course this is because it is Black and white and Silent; most people hear that descriptor and immediately go, "No thank you!" Maybe The Artist should win, so that people will go see it and discover hey, silent films aren't so bad!

We are of course operating under the presumption that people go see movies because they win Oscars, and I believe they do. A film wins Best Picture, which has to make you curious as to why, if nothing else so you can join in the sudden uprise of haters who wonder how this film, though decent, became best.

Me, I liked the Artist well enough. I saw it back in early December, before it had garnered hype. It's a cute film, though I feel it wears out its welcome about midway through. Think of Singin' in the Rain, if Singin' in the Rain was actually silent and had a darker climax. It's a delightful film, but nothing I'd consider the best. But then again, I don't know what I would consider the best.

Alright, enough rambling. Here are, plain and simple, my predictions. I've gone with the general consensus as far as the major categories are concerned (though I know there's an upset in there somewhere, and I fear it may be Max von Sydow, who though I adore, is in that Stephen Daldry-trite Extremely Loud). The tech categories, though, have led me to take greater risks in a few categories, mainly costumes. I've learned that the most extravagant costumes, and a quick google image search led me to my conclusion.

Best Original Screenplay:

Midnight in Paris

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Descendants

Visual Effects

Hugo

Sound Mixing

War Horse

Sound Editing

War Horse

Live Action Short Film

Tuba Atlantic

Animated Short Film

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Original Song

"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"

Original Score

The Artist

Makeup

The Iron Lady

Foreign Language Film

A Separation

Film Editing

The Artist

Documentary Short

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Documentary Feature

Undefeated

Directing

The Artist

Costume Design

Anonymous

Cinematography

The Artist

Art Direction

Hugo

Animated Feature

Rango

Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Leading Actress

Viola Davis in "The Help"

Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"

Leading Actor

Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

Best Picture

"The Artist