Oscar thoughts

This year's Oscars were...decent. I wasn't exactly bored by them, and Rock was an entertaining host, but there was something missing amongst it all...first of all, the bad:

• Gil Cates' ridiculous changes to the ceremony. The nominees on the stage thing wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it was still an awful idea that didn't make the awards any more interesting, and just served to embaress the nominees who didn't win by subjecting them to a 'walk of shame'.Giving certain awards in the audience just looked hilariously tacky, and completely out of tone with the show in general.
  
• Swank. Her acceptance speech was not only boring, overlong and cringeworthy, she was really acting like it was the first time she'd been up there. I mean, come on girl, no-one cares if you're from a trailer park. And we don't need you to tell us Clint is great. We know.
• Beyonce.
  
• As much as I love you, Sean Penn, Chris was only joking about Jude. No need to get so touchy.
  
• Complete lack of surprises! I guess I've learnt my lesson (looking back, I don't even know why I predicted Okonedo).
  
• Not enough Chris Rock! He was hilarious, but severely underused.
  
• Beyonce.
  
• BEYONCE!?
  

...the good:

• Morgan - very gracious, very cool, and very likeable.
  
• Foxx trying to do something meaningful with his speech - whether you liked it or not, kudos to him for trying.
  
• Charlie Kaufman! The guy completely deserved his win, and his speech was so honest and sweet, I couldn't help but love him.
  
• Banderas' performance of the Motorcycle Diaries song.
  
• Sidney Lumet's clever and not too long acceptance speech. And how about the footage from his new movie? Vin Diesel=Oscar winner?!
• The Incredibles win, and Brad Bird's fantastic speech!
• Lots of recognition for The Aviator's fabulous artistic and technical achievments.
  
• In memoiram, with Yo Yo Ma. Very beautiful, and aptly concluded on Brando.
  
• Chris Rock, of course. That man rocked the house down. Sadly, there weren't enough of him...

There, think I covered everything. So, all in all, not too bad a ceremony. There was the good, there was the bad and there was the ugly, but all in all the disappointing bits are nothing to cry over. So, stay positive folks.

Of the catagories I predicted, i got 6/10 - pretty crappy. Next year I'll be doing proper predictions, for all the catagories.

Final Oscar Predictions

Gah. It's exteremely difficult this year, so in a few catagories I'm going with my gut more than anything else, but here it goes...

BEST PICTURE
The Aviator
alt/Million Dollar Baby

BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
alt/Martin Scorcese, The Aviator

BEST ACTOR
Jamie Foxx, Ray
alt/Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator

BEST ACTRESS
Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
alt/Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
alt/Clive Owen, Closer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda
alt/Cate Blanchett, The Aviator

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Vera Drake
alt/Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Sideways
alt/Million Dollar Baby

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Incredibles
alt/Shrek 2

BEST MUSIC (SCORE)
Finding Neverland
alt/Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Garden State & 2046

Zach Braff, best known as J.D. from the hilarious TV show 'Scrubs', makes his directorial debut with this enjoyable, touching and well-intentioned romantic comedy. Somehow, Braff has managed to assemble one of the best ensembles of the year for his first feature: Saarsgard and Portman are both terrific, as always, inhabitating their characters perfectly. Holm is underused, but still makes an impact. Braff himself is only adequate, but manages to deliver his annoying 'this is the moral of my film' narratives without any cringe factor, and for that he deserves a lot of praise. His use of music is also very effective, especially the final song, Frou Frou's 'Let Go'. Overall, a fantastic debut. ****1/2 out of 5.


Easily one of the most beautiful movies of all time, Wong Kai Wai's long-in-development '2046' was recently given a limited UK release. There's no denying the movie takes some patience and a long attention span - it may be only two hours and nine minutes long, but it feels much longer. But its slow paced style is the only way the film could have been shot, in my opinion, and the final product is one of masterful artistic vision and proves minimal use of visual effects can be just as effective as using it in every frame. It's somewhat pointless to try and summarise the plot of a Wong Kar Wai movie, but it basically follows Chow (Tony Leung) through his life, his writings (especially his novel 2046), and his various relationships, none of which last long. The film covers a variety of themes with some speed, before slowing down in the final third. You're encouraged to makes your own opinion of what the film is supposed to represent, and what exactly it is about. However, I was happy to just marvel at its beauty, and enjoy the fabulous performances from Leung, a scene-stealing Ziyi Zhang, and Maggie Cheung, who has little more than cameo, but completely takes control of the movie during her brief screen-time. ***** out of 5.