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.

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The Globes Were Good (For Once)

Tonight was the 66th Golden Globes, and usually the Globes string together a mess of disappointing wins. Not tonight. For once they got almost all of the categories right.

The high point of the night was Kate Winslet's double win. She notoriously gets overlooked during awards (both the Oscars and the Globes), and tonight she won for The Reader and Revolutionary Road. The latter was so well-deserved and I'm very happy for her.

Also, Slumdog Millionaire won a slew of big awards, including Best Picture - Drama, Best Screenplay, Original Score, and Director. Fantastic and the right choices all around.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona won Best Picture - Musical or Comedy. Surprising, yet the right choice. Go, Woody Allen.

Some other great wins:

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Animated Feature: WALL-E
Comedy Actor (TV): Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Comedy Series (TV): 30 Rock
Comedy Actress (TV): Tina Fey (30 Rock!)
Comedy Actor (Film): Colin Farrell (for In Bruges, a great movie that hopefully won't be overlooked anymore)
Drama Series (TV): Mad Men
Lead Actor, Drama: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Actually, there aren't any awards here that I'm upset with. Kind of the perfect ceremony. If only the Oscars go this way, too....

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Review: Revolutionary Road

When reduced to the basics, there are two types of stories: comedy and tragedy. Revolutionary Road is a film so gripping that being a fly on the wall of a suburban home has never been such an emotional drain, except in maybe one other film--American Beauty. Not coincidentally, both films are directed by Sam Mendes.

Revolutionary Road takes in a short time span of the lives of Frank and April Wheeler, two 30 year-old people living in the 1950s. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play the leads, and again, prove why both of them are two of the best actors of this generation. The film almost immediately has our two characters break into a fight about how their lives are going. Right away it's clear that Frank is one to talk things out so they can be resolved quickly. His words are often so truthful and penetrating that they hurt. April, the complete opposite, believes that silence is the answer. She just needs to think. As with all relationships, when the members have the opposite ideas as to how to solve a disagreement, like Frank and April do, it ends badly.

Frank is stuck in a boring day job that he hates. He admits he hates it. His father worked at that company for twenty years, and he always hoped to God that he wouldn't end up the same. The only place he'd ever felt alive was when he visited Paris.

Despite having two kids, Frank and April's marriage can best be described as failing. April has given up on her aspirations to be an actress and now stays at home with her two kids. Monotony and routine are killing this family. And suddenly, on a whim, April thinks to move to Paris. They have money saved up. Frank can figure out his calling. She can get a secretarial job to support them. It seems perfect. This is their fantasy, their hope, their dream, and it resuscitates their marriage. They tell their friends and finally feel like they're living again, while ignoring a few practical problems, the looming one being that in the 1950s it was completely unacceptable, socially, for the woman to support the family by herself.

The cast of this film is small, but each character pulls one of the strings to the story. A 'insane' son of the Wheeler's friends is introduced to our protagonists to help him be rehabilitated. The Wheelers are seen as the perfect couple from the outside, but they are anything but that. Instead of the normalcy of the Wheelers rehabilitating this insane man, his lack of tact and reserve tugs the truth out of others, forcing them to realize their faults out loud instead of letting them brood.

The film is a refreshing example of how strong a film can be with bare essentials. To tell a fantastic story we don't need million dollar special effects or a huge cast. You need real, true human emotions, human problems. When watching this film, you may sympathize with both Frank and April, but undoubtedly feel that one is 'right' and one is 'wrong.' Each person will have a different opinion and a different reason why. That is why this film is so great--the concepts of right and wrong are blurred to the point where nothing is discernible other than what these characters feel.

Rating: 7/7

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