Every year, the Academy Awards bring out mixed feelings in all of us.
This year proved no exception.
Jon Stewart returned to the Kodak Theatre this year with some decent material, despite the long-lasting writer’s strike. Not all of it was good, mind you, for what would the Oscars be without those atrocious montages?
Sure, most are entertaining and heartfelt. Yet even at Stewart’s admission, some served the sole purpose of filling time. Thanks for wasting my life with two minutes of binoculars.
As predicted, “No Country for Old Men” ran a near sweep of the awards, winning four awards for Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture, while the other film set in the old west, “There Will be Blood,” won twice for Best Leading Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Achievement in Cinematography.
As a result of this, “No Country for Old Men” wins the second place in my quota of Western movies to see for the year, after “3:10 to Yuma,” which deserved some recognition for either its thrilling score or enthralling sound mixing.
Instead, “The Bourne Ultimatum” took both Achievement in Sound Editing and Achievement in Sound Mixing. No offense to all you die-hard Bourne fans, but I nearly fell asleep in the latest Bourne flick.
Another disappointment came from the Visual Effects award, where “The Golden Compass” beat out “Transformers” for the Oscar. Really, Academy, global warming would be the last thing those armored polar bears have to worry about when Optimus Prime reduces them to a small pile of smoldering ash.
In all seriousness, the visual effects in “Transformers” far outweighed that of “The Golden Compass.” The robots interacted perfectly with the environment, looking as real as I’ve ever seen a giant robot. On the flip side, “The Golden Compass,” for me, offered only average effects … and nothing that really left me in awe.
The Oscars were not, however, without justice.
One of the most morbid musicals in recent memory, “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” won for Achievement in Art Direction against “The Golden Compass.” Looks like Sweeney and I both got our revenge.
“Ratatouille” also received a well-deserved Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.
Another win worth acknowledging is the award for Best Original Song. Against three nominated songs from the astoundingly annoying, yet somehow equally entertaining Disney film, “Enchanted,” the song, “Falling Slowly” from “Once” took home the gravy. This had to have been a close decision next to “August Rush’s” nominated song “Raise it Up,” in which we saw a stunning performance on the show.
So another year has gone by, and with it another Academy Awards. Every year after seeing the winning pictures, I wish I had seen them in theaters to experience them on the big screen, rather than wasting my life with “Next” or “Mr. Woodcock.”
Perhaps equalizing this year’s victories and defeats on the red carpet lies the fact that we will all forget who won what and who lost to who by next week.
