Oscar Recap

Clocking in at just under three and a half hours, from Hugh Jackman's opening monologue to the Best Picture award, the Oscars failed to surprise. But is that a bad thing? Most certainly not. Except for some tiniest of tiny upsets, the winners were as they should have been. How was the actual show, itself? Let's just say that Jackman was an entertaining host, and Hollywood clearly cares more about their actors than anyone else.

Grabbing numerous prizes was the favored Slumdog Millionaire, which was, quite simply, the best film out of the nominees. It took home 8 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Danny Boyle), Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), Score, Song, Editing, Sound Mixing, and Cinematography. The love was not shared this year, with Slumdog possessing what seemed like a monopoly on all categories, ranging from the 'Big Eight' to the 'Techies.'

Deservedly, Sean Penn won Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in MILK (which also won Original Screenplay). Kate Winslet took home her first Oscar--finally--for her performance in The Reader. The Reader, while an interesting movie, was not worthy of its Best Picture nomination. Kate Winslet winning was not unexpected and is nothing to dismiss, but she should have been nominated for Revolutionary Road, which was a superior film in every aspect.

Michael Shannon was nominated for a supporting role in Revolutionary Road, but the winner was Heath Ledger for his Joker. I think it's a safe assumption that he got no less than 90% of the votes--but we will never know for sure. Some may have been sympathy votes because he has passed, but his performance was the best of the bunch. His Oscar will be kept by Michelle Williams, his ex-fiance, until his daughter is 18. At that time, it will go to her. The Dark Knight ended up taking home two Oscars: Ledger's, and Sound Editing.

Penelope Cruz gained an Oscar for her role in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona,' which received only a sliver of love from the Academy (not even a Screenplay nod for Woody Allen). Yet, the Academy never fails to embrace beautiful, exotic women. Cruz had this one in the bag from day one.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, lackluster as it was, still managed three Oscars in tech categories. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie both went home empty-handed, but I'm sure Brad Pitt's time will come soon. If not, as long as he lives until his 80s, he'll at least get an honorary Oscar.

WALL-E, while nominated for six Oscars and one of the year's best, was stuck with a win in only the Best Animated Feature category. It seems like Pixar can't get a break outside of that mold, no matter how good their films are.

As for myself, I got 21 out of 24 predictions correct, missing only Animated Short, Documentary Short, and Foreign Language film. We can all learn something from this: I should plug my predictions into contests instead of just posting them on my blog, and you should copy my predictions next year.