The 83rd Annual Academy Awards opened up on an humorous upbeat tempo with new Oscars hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco spoofing scenes from all the Best Picture nominees. The big winners of the night were Inception (4 Oscars), Social Network (3 Oscars), and King’s Speech (4 Oscars). The biggest losers True Grit, 0-10 and 127, 0-6.
Natalie Portman, now pregnant, took her first Oscar as Best Actress for her role in Black Swan. Colin Firth, the favored Oscar pick even by Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Cross-Eyed Possum’, won Best Actor for King’s Speech.
Melissa Leo dropped the f-bomb during her acceptance speech for her supporting role in The Fighter saying that “Helen made it look fu$%ing easy.” But later apologized for having a vast English vernacular. Leo’s co-star Christian Bale also won for Best Supporting Actor. The film has also been praised for the cast’s perfect Boston accent.
Anne Hathaway had seven wardrobe changes. James Franco even wore a dress that was similar to the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore inGentlemen Prefer Blondes. Billy Crystal, who has hosted the Oscars for seven years, commended Hathaway and Franco as hosts saying they did a great job and he thought it was nice to sit out and enjoy the ‘long’ Oscars. And Oprah Winfrey told her three times, “YOU DID GREAT!” on her post Oscars show.
A standout nomination was the film Biutiful. For the first time an actor who spoke entirely in Spanish in a role was nominated for Best Actor: Javier Bardem (who also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in No Country For Old Men). The film Biutiful was also nominated for Best Foreign Film, giving Mexico its eighth Oscar nomination in a category it has yet to win. Biutiful’s director, Gonzalez Iñarritu said, “I am very happy for myself, very happy for the movie, very happy for Javier, very happy for all the people who worked on this film. The fact that it was our colleagues who voted makes it very special.” Another standout nomination was Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop. It was the first time a street art/graffiti-based film was nominated for Best Documentary Film. And No, Mr. Brainwash did not make the Oscars red-carpet.
Halle Berry honored the late great actress Lena Horne, who passed in 2010. Berry reveals that the late actress is her biggest role model. I kind of wished that she had also given tribute to Black Cinema, being that it is Black History Month. During the ‘In Memoriam’ segment they forgot to mention actor Corey Haim. Some critics say that Kirk Douglas presenting the Best Actress segment was a good call…I found him to be uncomfortably decrepit to watch. Amusingly, Anne Hathaway said it was their way of keeping the Oscars young and fresh. The Oscars aren’t known for perfection…so I guess we shall move on.
WINNERS – BY FILM:
“The King’s Speech” – 4 Oscars (Writing (Original Screenplay), Directing, Actor in a Leading Role, Best Picture)
“Inception” – 4 Oscars (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Visual Effects)
“The Social Network” – 3 Oscars (Music (Original Score), Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Film Editing)
“Alice in Wonderland” – 2 Oscars (Art Direction, Costume Design)
“The Fighter” – 2 Oscars (Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Supporting Role)
“Toy Story 3” – 2 Oscars (Animated Feature Film, Music (Original Song))
“The Wolfman” – 1 Oscar (Makeup)
“In a Better World” – 1 Oscar (Foreign Language Film)
“Black Swan” – 1 Oscar (Actress in a Leading Role)
“The Lost Thing” – 1 Oscar (Short Film (Animated))
“God of Love” – 1 Oscar (Short Film (Live Action))
“Strangers No More” – 1 Oscar (Documentary (Short Subject))
“Inside Job” – 1 Oscar (Documentary (Feature))
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