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Tearing out the red carpet

A recap of Sunday night’s 83 Academy Awards

By Angela Espinoza

here’s always a twinge of
"Tiss when I remind myself

that not everyone understands
or appreciates film. Many forget that a
movie isn’t just a ‘movie’; they either
don’t realize or don’t care that it’s a
combination of multiple art forms that
requires hundreds upon thousands
of people to physically create a new
experience for their audience. When it
comes to the Academy Awards, though,
one can’t deny that there are few other
events that can bring the world toa
standstill — particularly for three hours.
But before I blather on about what there
is to love and hate about the Oscars (and
there was a lot of both this year), let’s cut
to the chase.

And the Oscar goes to...
In what should be the correct order of
their recipients:t

“Best Art Direction” went to Art
Director Robert Stromberg and Set
Decorator Karen O’Hara for the otherwise
teeth-grating Burton adaptation of Alice in
Wonderland.

“Best Cinematography” was
presented to Wally Pfister for his
work on /nception. While there is an
overwhelming joy in knowing this,
the weekend buzz was in favour of its
competitor, True Grit.

“Best Supporting Actress” went to
the night’s lovely chameleon Melissa Leo
for her role as an intrusive mother in The
Fighter. This was especially surprising
as the nominations for this category
(including co-star Amy Adams) were all
equally deserving. Leo herself clearly
wasn’t expecting it, providing us with one
of the best moments of the night (which I
shall address later).

“Best Animated Short Film’, to the
expected shock of the general public,
went to Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun
Tan for The Lost Thing.

“Annual Pixar Prize”, I mean “Best
Animated Feature” obviously went to Lee
Unkrich for Toy Story 3.

“Best Original Screenplay” went to
the adorable (and oldest recipient of the
award) David Seidler, who was partly
inspired by his own speech impediment to
write The King’s Speech.

“Best Adapted Screenplay” went to
Aaron Sorkin for turning Ben Mezrich’s
2009 book, The Accidental Billionaires,
into The Social Network.

“Best Foreign Language Film” went

to Susanne Bier for Denmark’s Jn a Better
World. Not that it didn’t deserve the

win, but many were disgruntled by both
Biutiful (Mexico) and Incendies (Canada)
losing out.

“Best Supporting Actor” went to
a starry-eyed and furry-faced Christian
Bale, who portrayed a drug-addled ex-
boxer in (again) The Fighter.

“Best Original Score” went to Atticus
Ross and Nine Inch Nails’ front man Trent
Reznor for The Social Network.

Both “Best Sound” awards went to
Inception —Lora Hirschberg, Gary A.
Rizzo, and Ed Novick for “Mixing” and
Richard King for “Editing”.

“Best Costume Design” went
to the multi-Oscar winning designer
Colleen Atwood for her work on Alice in
Wonderland.

“Best Makeup”, sadly, went to
Rick Baker and Dave Elsey for The
Wolfman. They’ re indeed talented artists,
but unfortunately The Wolfman is now
officially an Oscar-winning film. “There’s
no emoticon for what I’m feeling.”

“Best Documentary Short Subject”
went to Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
for Strangers No More, about a small
school that brings children of multiple
backgrounds together.

“Best Live Action Short Film”
went to Luke Matheny for God of Love,
who presented one the night’s best and
heartfelt acceptance speeches.

“Best Documentary Feature” went
to Charles H. Ferguson and Audrey
Marrs for Inside Job, which tackles the
shady subject of the U.S.’s large financial
difficulties spanning over the past three
years. :

“Best Visual Effects” went to the
team of Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould,
Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb for the
ridiculously awesome lengths they went
to for Inception. Z

“Best Film Editing” went to Angus
Wall and Kirk Baxter for The Social
Network, an equal rival against its four
other nominees (all of which were
selected for “Best Picture’).

“Best Original Song” went to twenty-
time nominee Randy Newman for “We
Belong Together”, the theme song to Toy
Story 3. Newman’s speech, in context of
his long career, was arguably the best and
most honest of the night.

“Best Director” kicks off the big
four, going to Britain’s Tom Hooper for
The King’s Speech.

“Best Actress”, of course, went to the
glowingly beautiful Natalie Portman for

her role as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.
“Best Actor” went to the charmingly
overwhelmed Colin Firth for his role as
Prince Albert, AKA King George VI in
The King’s Speech.
Finally, “Best Picture”, amidst
nine other excellent films, went to Iain
Canning, Emile Sherman, and Gareth
Unwin for The King’s Speech.

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As was addressed in the night’s
opening speech, it was obvious from
the start what the Academy was trying
to accomplish with its young hosts.
Many a mixed word had been passed
around over the past month regarding
the decision to allow James Franco and
Anne Hathaway to host. While Hathaway
was pleasantly chipper, Franco appeared
completely disinterested (perhaps arriving
via Pineapple Express?). This made their
hosting duties extremely awkward—albeit
somewhat expected. Assuming she spends
more than five minutes preparing next
time, I could see Hathaway hosting again;
Franco’s probably not getting a call-back.

One of the Academy’s more
successful attempts at being ‘phresh’,
however, was the auto-tuning of various
popular movies. For our generation, this
is one of those skits that may not age so
terribly, assuming the use of auto-tune
doesn’t instil manic depression upon you.

If any joke geared towards us failed
though, it was probably during Justin
Timberlake and Mila Kunis’ presentation
for the “Best Animated” awards. In case
you missed it, it involved Timberlake
using an ‘app’ on his iPhone (presumably)
to change the image on the screens behind
them—to the setting of the Shrek series.

W

Again, “Best Supporting Actress”
winner Melissa Leo provided the first
of many fantastic speeches that night.
Her face in utter shock upon hearing her
name, Leo approached the stage on the
verge of tears. She was at first speechless,
but when the words began to bubble
out, so did one of the Academy’s only
ever-heard F-bombs. Best of all, it went
uncensored throughout Canada.

Other strong if not sweet speeches
were provided by “Best Live Action
Short Film” winner Luke Matheny,

“Best Documentary” winner Charles H.
Ferguson, “Best Original Song” winner
Randy Newman, and, unlike last year,
“Best Director” winner Tom Hooper.
Also unlike last year, whether or not the

(Pe auKte

   

speeches were truly excellent, they were
all thankfully solid. Teams often had one

person selected to speak for them, or each
member spoke and kept it relatively short.

One of the more moving moments
of the night came from “Best Supporting
Actress” presenter Kirk Douglas.
Douglas, who is 94 and suffered a stroke
several years ago, was able to deliver his
hilarious speech with an unmatched touch
of class.

The “In Memoriam” tribute was
unfortunately bittersweet. Yes, Celine
Dion can sing, but her own status
uncomfortably outshone that of the
presentation she was giving. Her rendition
of “Smile” was lovely, but they should’ ve
picked someone else to sing it.

Speaking of singing, Hathaway’s
minor musical romp not only proved
she has quite the splendid voice, but was
followed by Franco’s best bit of the night;
appearing in drag as Marilyn Monroe.
The Academy also brought back the “Best
Original Song” performances; there was a
great deal of backlash last year when they
had chosen to cut them out.

All in all, while the Academy still
struggles to entertain wider and younger
audiences, this ceremony was far better
than last year’s. The biggest low point
was the hosting, but again, at least
Hathaway was able to pull through. It was
also amusing to see none of the winners
let the cut-off music stop them from
pouring their hearts out. What probably
made the night best of all, though, was
that so many of the films nominated -
were all equally deserving; there were
no handouts this year. The key to a good
Oscar ceremony, besides entertainment,
is anticipation, and for the first time in a
while, this year managed to balance out
both pretty well.

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