Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Live-Blog Bonanza: Oscars 2011 (Part II: The Ceremony)

And here...we...go.

5:30 PM: We're introducing all the films nominated for Best Picture in one sequence to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' "In the Hall of the Mountain King." You know, from the score that won't win Best Original Score tonight.

5:34 PM: I'm in love with this sequence. "Alec likes for me to narrate his dreams." Don't we all, Morgan Freeman? Not loving the random Back to the Future scene, though.

5:38 PM: Anne Hathaway looks to be having the time of her life. James Franco...kinda just along for the ride.
"You look very appealing to a younger demographic."
Hee hee. Getting the mom and grandma of the hosts involved was a fun gag too.

5:42 PM: Okay, I get it. We're really keen on honoring the history of film this year. But does the reference to Titanic so early bode well for the comparisons for The King's Speech? Will the wrong film sweep?

5:44 PM: Best Art Direction. My pick just switched from Speech to Alice in Wonderland... and it was a good swap. The win goes to Alice.

5:46 PM: Now we're on to Best Cinematography. Roger Deakins should take this for True Grit...but it goes to Wally Pfister for Inception. Well, this means something...but what?

5:50 PM: Wait. They just aired a Jeff Bridges Hyundai ad--didn't they prohibit that last year because Bridges was up for Best Actor? He is again this year!

5:51 PM: I can't help but feel that bringing Kirk Douglas out wasn't in bad taste. But whatever. Best Supporting Actress. Might I be right? Nope, it's Melissa Leo for The Fighter. Apparently the Academy did "Consider" her. And we should also consider her cursing--well done, Melissa. Keeping it classy. I'm really having a pretty disastrous night so far--one for three.

6:00 PM: "It's the young and hip Oscars!" They're playing with the whole image of it so well. Then they have Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis come out and deliver their lines with zero charm. Bleh. Best Animated Short is up...hoping for "Day & Night" but betting I'm wrong. Yep, it's "The Lost Thing," which I, of course, have never heard of. Oh, well. I'm keeping my record of missing the Short categories alive.

6:05 PM: Best Animated Feature, which I'll get right simply because it's the easiest lock of the night. Toy Story 3 for the win. Yep, Toy Story takes it.

6:10 PM: Let me take this commercial break just to recap how I'm feeling right now.

UGH.

That's all. I'm liking the show overall, though.

6:13 PM: The screenplay categories are up. Aaron Sorkin for Best Adapted Screenplay--of course! The screenplay was the star of The Social Network, after all. Loving this orchestrated version of "Hand Covers Bruise," and loving the callback to Paddy Chayefsky's win for Network thirty-five years ago. Great speech--a well-deserved win.

6:17 PM: We're about to hear David Seidler speak as he wins the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for The King's Speech--it's a gift to hear him speak.
"My father always said to me, I would be a late bloomer. I believe I am the oldest person to win this particular award. I hope that record is broken quickly and often. I'd like to thank my daughter, Maya, my son, Mark, for having faith in their dad as I have faith in you."
Great speaker. Such a talent. I also love how he called it the "Melissa Leo F-word".

6:24 PM: This reworked version of "On My Own" is nothing short of amazing. Anne Hathaway can sing. I'm counting on In a Better World to win Best Foreign Language Film...and it does! Five for eight!

6:29 PM: Best Supporting Actor is up now. If Bale doesn't win this, we'll have a night of surprises ahead of us. But of course it goes to Christian Bale! I don't love the performance, but what a magnificent career.
"Melissa... I'm not going to drop the F-bomb like she did. I've done that enough already."
She's never living this down.

6:36 PM: If Alexandre Desplat loses Best Original Score for The King's Speech after the break, it's over for that movie's Best Picture chances.

6:43 PM: It goes to TRENT REZNOR AND ATTICUS ROSS FOR THE SOCIAL NETWORK! My winner for Best Use of Music wins! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

6:46 PM: We're on to Best Sound Mixing, but I'm still on a high from the last win. Such a good score. If you don't own it, buy it. The Oscar goes to Inception. With the last three (two wins and a miss), I'm at seven for eleven.

6:49 PM: Best Sound Editing is up--should go to Inception as well. Not a surprise--it does.

6:52 PM: Let's recap. Eight categories called correctly out of the twelve announced so far. We're at the halfway mark. The show is running really efficiently so far, and it looks like The King's Speech is headed for some major losses. Inception has three wins under its belt and it's headed for a fourth. Also: THE SOCIAL NETWORK WON BEST ORIGINAL SCORE! I'm really happy about that.

6:56 PM: Best Makeup is up. I'm betting on The Wolfman. And it wins! Though as Cate Blanchett says:
"That's gross."
Such a funny Oscar winner, she is!

6:58 PM: Colleen Atwood wins her third Oscar out of nine nominations for Alice in Wonderland, tying her record to Sandy Powell's, The Costume Design category doesn't allow many others to win. The King's Speech loses once again--it's done. Ten for fourteen.

7:03 PM: Wow, being on the West Coast makes this ceremony so early. I'm liking this. Randy Newman, go home. You wrote "We Belong Together" in your sleep, didn't you? Not that "I See the Light" is any better--this was rejected from Beauty and the Beast, wasn't it?

We're at a commercial break and we're more than halfway through. Might as well start another post!

1 comment:

Shaq said...

This is good Kevin! I'm following along with you! :)