Sunday Minute
No. 239 | February 26, 2012
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The Artist is the big winner of the night, with five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Hugo also picked up five Oscars, all in technical categories.
The Oscars are tightly scripted and short on suspense. If there was a surprise, it was Meryl Streep‘s Best Actress win for The Iron Lady, her first in nearly thirty years. That answered my question, “Will she ever win again?” As she noted in her speech, the answer to that question now is “No.” One pair of upset winners were the editors for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, who seemed genuinely surprised and at a loss for words. The most emotional speech was Octavia Spencer‘s. Jean Dujardin was was grateful in English, then overjoyed in French.
Billy Crystal is a class act and did a fine job, just about all you need for the Oscars.
I did pretty fine too in my predictions, with 18 picks out of 24 (one better than last year). Respectable, perhaps a shade better. (Any * below indicates a winner I predicted.)
Summary of Oscar wins by feature film:
The Artist — 5
Hugo — 5
The Iron Lady — 2
The Help — 1
Beginners — 1
Midnight in Paris — 1
The Descendants — 1
A Separation — 1
Rango — 1
Undefeated — 1
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo — 1
The Muppets — 1
Winners by category:
Best Picture*
WINNER: The Artist
Actor in a Leading Role*
WINNER: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Actress in Leading Role
WINNER: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Actor in a Supporting Role*
WINNER: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Actress in a Supporting Role*
WINNER: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Directing*
WINNER: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Writing (Original Screenplay)*
WINNER: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)*
WINNER: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
Animated Feature Film*
WINNER: Rango
Documentary (Feature)*
WINNER: Undefeated
Documentary (Short Subject)
WINNER: Saving Face
Foreign Language Film*
WINNER: A Separation
Short Film (Animated)*
WINNER: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Short Film (Live Action)*
WINNER: The Shore
Art Direction*
WINNER: Hugo
Cinematography
WINNER: Hugo
Costume Design*
WINNER: The Artist
Film Editing
WINNER: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Makeup
WINNER: The Iron Lady
Music (Original Score)
WINNER: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Music (Original Song)*
WINNER: “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets
Sound Editing*
WINNER: Hugo
Sound Mixing*
WINNER: Hugo
Visual Effects*
WINNER: Hugo
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The Pause Button
So wraps up another year in movies. Time for me to hit the pause button again. For a while longer…till next time.
Quote of note
“Perfect!”
—Al Zimmer (John Goodman), The Artist (2011)
…58…59…60.