So the Oscars have come and gone.  I thought all in all, not too shabby.  Some of the live performances were badly put together and the sound was off.  And did anyone have a lag between sound and video for awhile?  I hate that.  So here’s some quick thoughts, completely biased, I haven’t seen all the movies, I don’t get paid to watch movies… if only.

Best Motion Picture: “No Country for Old Men.”
 YES!  This movie is so good.  You leave going, “What the hell just happened?” And that’s a good thing.

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Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood.”
 YES!  He’s the man, I mean, he just is, the rest of the nominees, good actors, but come on
 this guy is a different creature, they were all in a race for second.

Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose.”

 Ummmm, okay.  I didn’t see this, but I will.  Until then, good for her.  And she said she  felt sparkles, which I think was a good reaction.

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Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men.”
 See Best Motion Picture comment.  He was disturbing, not just the hair, but the whole  package, Disturbing.

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton.”
 Have not see this movie, will, but she is always good.  I wouldn’t give my agent the Oscar,  but I’d take him out for one hell of a dinner.

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Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men.”
 Again, what can you do, these guys have Hollywood by the tail. 

Foreign Language Film: “The Counterfeiters,” Austria.
 Did not see this… did not…so…

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Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men.”
 I liked the comment that the only other thing they adapted was the Odyssey so they must  know how to pick good material. 

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, “Juno.”
 She was the best.  Rock that tat girl.  I look forward to what else she brings us.

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Animated Feature Film: “Ratatouille.”
 Okay.  I’m so sick of the animated films having their own category, it’s like their  considered second rate or something. 

Art Direction: “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
 Yes, it did look good.

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Cinematography: “There Will Be Blood.”
 Throwing them a bone much?

Sound Mixing: “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
 I have no idea how to judge these tech. categories, but the sound was good in the Bourne films.

Sound Editing: “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
 Again, no clue, but I enjoyed the work.

Original Score: “Atonement,” Dario Marianelli.
 Again, Bone thrown?  Probably not, the music in this is pretty good. 

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Original Song: “Falling Slowly” from “Once,” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
 Who knew, seriously, three songs from one film nominated and this little song that could,  BAM! Oscar.  They had great acceptance speeches and John Stewart bringing the woman out so  she could do hers was classy.  Biggest night of her life and now she has no regrets,  classy.

Costume: “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.”
 I’ll go along with that, though I think Sweeney Todd was pretty crazy good too.
Documentary Feature: “Taxi to the Dark Side.”
 I have no clue, I can’t get out to see the regular movies let alone track down this stuff.   Sicko didn’t win, which I find surprising.

Documentary Short Subject: “Freeheld.”
 See previous comment.

Film Editing: “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
 There is some crazy editing in this for the chase and fight scenes. 

Makeup: “La Vie en Rose.”
 What?  I have no idea.

Animated Short Film: “Peter & the Wolf.”
 Okay, yay!

Live Action Short Film: “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets’).”

 This looked interesting from the clip, but again, the odds of me seeing it, not good.

Visual Effects: “The Golden Compass.”
 What were the other contenders this year?  Good for it, good for it.

Well, we got our awards show fix, that is the truth.  I thought John Stewart was really funny and the fake montages were good.  I’m going to go ahead and think that they do the In Memoriam in order of death during the year and not order of importance.  Sad losses this year, sad indeed.  I was a little curious why they didn’t include Brad Renfro in that, I would have thought he was worthy of some acknowledgement. 

In Memoriam – Brad Renfro

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