82nd Annual Academy Awards Reaction
Tonight, March 7, 2010, is a night that will surely go down in cinematic history. This is the night where the elite of Hollywood gather for the most prestigious award ceremony in the industry. The Oscars have gone to some of the most memorable performances in the history of film. It can make or break a career. Every actor, director, producer, and fan prays for the Oscar to go to the movie of their liking. And once again, as I did with the Grammy awards, I will be here through the entire ceremony to catch all of my reactions and all the big winners. Be sure to comment as you see fit to tell me about what you think! Going into this tonight I am placing my bet on the following films, actors, and directors (in no particular order): Meryl Streep (My favorite actress! Who also has 16 nominations in her history making her the most nominated actresses in Hollywood history), Sandra Bullock, Anna Kendrick, Morgan Freeman, The Hurt Locker, Avatar, James Cameron, and Up in the Air these movies have shook the box offices, the actors have had a wonderful and successful year, and the directors definitely deserve whatever awards they have coming to them! Hosting tonight’s event are Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, two of the funniest men in Hollywood. With them at the helm this should prove to be a memorable Academy Award experience.
Let’s get this party started folks! The curtains have opened and the stage is lined with tonight’s nominees for Best Actors and Best Actresses, it must be a huge honor to see a stage full of such legends! Neil Patrick Harris is opening the awards with the “opening number”! Neil Patrick Harris has previously hosted the Tony’s and the Emmy’s and did an amazing job so it is no surprise to me he was asked to do this! After his performance the two hosts are dropped down from the sky, literally! Nice effects ABC! Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are already staring the night off with a joke, and then congratulating Meryl Streep, GO MERYL! Also on a side note, the number of Best Picture nominees has increased from 5 to 10 films this year to give a broader range of films an opportunity to win. No they are going from actor to actor making jokes about each one, it is cracking me up! And now a Toyota pun… This is actually pretty funny! Okay… going on 17 minutes now of just cracking jokes on actors.
Finally here go the awards! First up, Penelope Cruz is presenting the awards for Best Supporting Actor this category is going to be close, but I think Matt Damon will win it for his role in Invictus. And the winner is Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Bastards! Had I seen that movie, I may have seen that one coming! Now we have the first Best Picture Nominee presentation: The Blind Side. I have only seen bits and pieces of this movie but it is very good from what I hear and I would not be surprised at all if Sandra Bullock or the movie wins it all tonight! As much as I love Meryl Streep, I believe that she has some really tough competition tonight with Sandra Bullock.
After a commercial break we have Cameron Diaz and Steve Carell, two very famous actors! They are introducing the Animated Feature films that are nominated! My pick of Nominated films would be The Princess and The Frog because it was not only my favorite Disney movie this year, but it was one of my favorite movies at all this year! And the winner is, with no surprise Up. I did in fact see Up, but I personally wasn’t as impressed with it as I was other Pixar films. You can actually see my reaction to Up on YouTube. Just search for my page (skipper63845)! Now Amanda Seyfried (Sophie in Mamma Mia!) and Miley…. Ugh are presenting the award for Best Original Song. Again, I hope The Princess and The Frog will win with either “Almost There” or “Down in New Orleans”. This was really an amazing film for Disney. And the Academy Award goes to… a song from Crazy heart. Boo that! Okay, I don’t care if it was a good song or not, look at Disney’s track record! It’s unbeatable…. I’ve never even heard of this joker. I am not impressed with this award winner. Now for Best Motion Picture Nominee number two: District 9. This was a film about an alien invasion in South Africa. I did not see this movie because it did not even look remotely interesting to me, so, I personally do not care one way or another about it.
After break number two Alec Baldwin introduces Robert Downey Jr. and Tina fey who are presenting this year’s award for Best Original Screenplay, I actually hope that Up wins this one because it was the only nominated one I have seen but alas, The Hurt Locker won the Oscar. Now Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick are taking the stage to take a moment to remember director john Hughes. This man was an amazing director who directed some of the most popular films in history including Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Now for Best Picture Nominee Number three: Up. I don’t have much more to say on the subject of Up except that I do not believe it will, or shall win the award for Best Picture. Now two actresses, Carrie Mulligan and Zoey, yeah, I can’t spell that last name take the stage to present the award for Best Animated Short. These are like those little cartoons shown before Disney movies, I have never seen any of them, but the winner was Logorama which actually looks like a good animated film! Too bad it is in French otherwise I would look it up! Now the same two actresses are presenting the award for Best Documentary Short which went to Music by Prudence. Some random woman just ran up in the stage and scared the crap out of this guy who was talking! Apparently she was the other winner, I’m not sure! Anyway, now the award for best live action short is presented to The New Tenants. I have never seen any of these short films or documentaries that are being honored tonight so I do not have any say so over any of them! Now Ben Stiller is coming out dressed as a character from Avatar and James Cameron does not look happy about it. It is funny though. He is presenting the award for Best Make Up even though ironically Avatar is not even nominated! In this category I hope that Star Trek wins because the parts of this movie I have seen were amazing and the visual effects made it possible. And I was right, FINALLY! Star Trek wins the award. Jeff Bridges is taking the stage to present the fourth Best Motion Picture Nominee: A Serious Man. I have never seen this movie and I really haven’t even heard that much about it to have any view of my own. Alright folks we are now half way through the night’s awards but we haven’t even gotten to the big stuff! This ought to be a good way to end the weekend.
Rachel McAdams and Jake Gyllenhall are taking the stage to present the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In this category I hope that Up in the Air wins this one because again, it’s the only one that I know anything about. I should really watch it, because I hear it is very good. And the winner is… Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. I do not understand why we cannot just call it Precious but apparently the film people get offended by it. Okay, now Steve Martin is introducing Queen Latifa, one of my favorite actresses! She is talking about the Governors Awards ceremony that the Academy puts on to recognize the film makers. Now Robin Williams is taking the stage to present the award for Best Supporting Actress. In this category I hope that Penelope Cruz wins for her role in Nine, although she has some competition from Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga from Up in the Air, and also Monique for her role in Precious. Actually I do not know who is going to win this one, it’s a tough category! All of these actresses are amazing in their films I hear. The winner is… Monique! Good for her! The audience seems very pleased by their decision. Now we have Colin Firth presenting the fifth Nominee for Best Motion Picture: An Education. Again, as with the past nominee I have not seen this film or even heard anything about it so… No comment on it.
After a commercial break Sigourney Weaver is taking the stage to present the award for Outstanding Art Direction. I believe that Avatar will win this because seriously, who is going to go against Avatar. The winner is with absolutely no surprise to me, Avatar. Now the hosts introduce Tom Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker to present the award for Best Costume Design. I hope that Nine wins this award strictly because again, it’s the only one I know anything about, however the Oscar went to Sandy Powell for her work on The Young Victoria, a film that I had never even heard of two hours ago. Now Charlise Theoren is presenting the sixth Nominee for Best Picture: Precious, based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire”. I have never seen this movie and to speak the honest truth, I have no desire to see it. It does not even look like an appealing film to me. Now Steve and Alec are talking about their scary night together! Haha. Okay guys now we have two of the biggest names in Hollywood taking the stage: Taylor Lautner and Kristin Stewart, the stars of Twilight and New Moon. I am actually surprised that Robert Pattinson isn’t with them. I love the Twilight book series but I am not a huge fan of either film. I also think that the world has gone completely overboard with this phenomenon, but Hey, I’m sure they love it. Anyway they are here to honor the horror films that rarely ever have a place at the Oscars even though they are the most widely recognized films. They are showing a segment of scary parts from various films both old and new. From Scream to Samira; from Freddy to Frankenstein horror is one of the oldest genres and it is not going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Now Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick are taking the stage to present the award for Best Sound Editing. In this category I have a feeling that Avatar will win, but it is up against four other amazing films. And the winner was The Hurt Locker. Now they are presenting the award for Best Sound Mixing. I have a feeling that this award could go to the same person but then again, it is up against Avatar. I want Transformers to win it though. I was correct about The Hurt Locker winning back to back because it just did. Now Elizabeth Banks is taking to the stage to talk about the Sci-Tech awards but seeing as there are so many award winners they have their own awards ceremony and she was just talking about it. Now John Travolta is taking the stage to present the seventh Nominee for Best Motion Picture: Inglorious Basterds. I could possibly see this film winning but I haven’t seen it so I can’t make much of a decision about it.
After another commercial break Steve Martin is introducing Sandra Bullock. She is here tonight to present the award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography. After hearing the nominees I am shocked to hear that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has been nominated in this category. I would absolutely love to see this film win considering I am such a huge Harry Potter fan. But it is up against Avatar so I am not going to get too excited. And the winner is… Avatar. No surprise here. Congrats to Avatar for all it has won so far! Now Demi Moore is taking the stage to honor those who have passed this year. This segment in all award ceremonies is a very special part because it allows everyone to reflect on those who have passed so that they can be remembered for their life’s work. They may be gone but they will never be forgotten!
After yet another commercial break Jennifer Lopez and Sam Worthington take the stage to present the award for Best Original Score. The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers will be dancing to the select numbers from each score. I think that Avatar will win this one just because again, it is Avatar! But again, I am wrong and the Oscar went to Up! For a movie that I did not care for it sure has won its fair share of awards. Now Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler are presenting the award for Outstanding Visual Effects. Now let’s try this again, I think that Avatar will win this award because I do have to say that it is an amazing film visually. I was right here, the winner was Avatar! Now Jason Bateman is taking the stage to present the eight Nominee for Best Motion Picture: Up in the Air. I can see this film being a good contender for Best Film. If it does not win, I can definitely see it in the top 4 or so!
As we go to commercial I notice that we are down to thirty minutes. This could become one of the most remembered thirty minutes in all of film history. As the announcer just said the award for Best Director will prove to be huge deal no matter who the winner is. It could be the first female to win, the first African American to win, or James Cameron or Quentin Tarentino (who have both previously held the title). Being the first of your kind, literally, to win, or even be nominated for, an award of such caliber must be an amazing feeling for these two individuals. As we come back from break Alec Baldwin is introducing Matt Damon who is here tonight to present the award for Best Documentary Feature. I really hope that Food Inc. wins this award. It is not only the only one I have seen, but it was very good. The winner was the Cove. I’ve never seen it so… eh. Now Tyler Perry is taking the stage to present the award for Best Film Editing. I would imagine that Avatar will take this award, but again, I have been wrong in judging before. The winner is… The Hurt Locker. Now Keanue Reeves or Ke-nu-nu as I have so commonly referred to him as is taking the stage to present ninth Nominee for Best Picture: The Hurt Locker. This is one of those films that I haven’t heard much about the plot just that it is a good movie. I probably wouldn’t care for it because I do not like war movie but who knows! I could easily see this movie taking it all home tonight if Avatar wasn’t in its way. It’s kind of funny because the director of this film and James Cameron, director of Avatar, used to be married. They could have made some very good film making children!
We go again to commercial with only eighteen minutes remaining. Upon returning we have the hosts introducing Pedro Almadovoir and Quentin Tarentino who will be presenting tonight’s award for Best Foreign Language Film. I have obviously never seen any of these because I only speak one language and I do not speak it correctly! The Oscar goes to… The Secret in Their Eyes, and Argentinean film. Now our hosts are introducing Kathy Bates, one of my all time favorite actresses, who will be presenting out tenth and final Nominee for Best Picture: Avatar. This movie is one that I feel will win. Avatar has broken just about every record available. James Cameron has really outdone himself but what would you expect from the man who brought us Titanic?
Here we go folks, the final and most coveted awards of the evening. First off: Best Actor in a Leading Role. The nominees include Morgan Freeman, Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, and Jeremy Renner. This category is a very, very hard one to call. I would love to see all five of these men take home an Oscar for their amazing roles in these films. Morgan Freeman is one of my absolute favorite actors so I really want him to win it, but he has a really hard group of men running against him! I mean George Clooney was Batman! It is not easy to beat Batman! Presenting the award is Kate WInslet, last year’s winner for best supporting actress. The winner of the Oscar is… Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart! Congratulations Jeff! You beat Batman and God himself (Morgan Freeman)! Next we have the award for Best Actress of a Leading Role. The nominees include Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Helen Miran, Carrie Mulligan, and Gabourey Sidibe. If I thought the men’s category was going to be hard to call I obviously had never thought this was coming! Again, like the men, I would love to see all five nominees take home and Oscar. This competition between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock is proving to be the most intense part of tonight’s awards! I will be very pleased to see either actress win! I have circled both of them on my ballot! Bullock’s performance in The Blind Side was quite possibly the best in her career, while veteran Streep plowed down the competition in Julie & Julia. Both actresses have huge careers and again, I hope one of them win! I would not be surprised one bit however to see that Gabourey Sidibe wins for her role in Precious: based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire. This award is anybody’s game even though I hope for either a win for Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock. Presenting the award is Sean Penn who last year won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. And the winner of the Oscar goes to… man, this is a very exciting moment… the winner is… Sandra Bullock! Oh wow, this is a big deal! The first ever Oscar in her career! And she did not cry just like she said she wouldn’t! I was right, well one of my two selected actresses won the award! Uh-oh she stated crying… but she has earned the right to cry if she wants to. Kudos to you Sandra Bullock! May you win many more!
Now taking the stage is Barbara Streisand to present the award for Best Director. The nominees include James Cameron for Avatar, Katherine Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, Quentin Tarentino for Inglorious Basterds, Lee Daniels for Precious, and Jason Reitman for Up in the Air. This is the category where history could be made tonight folks! This one is also anybody’s game, but I believe that James Cameron will take home the prize for Avatar. And the Oscar for Best Director goes to… Katherine Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. This is the first time ever, in the 82 years of the Academy Awards that a woman has won such a prestigious award. And against such a large group of huge directors! Congratulations to you Katherine Bigelow.
Now for our final award of the night to be presented by Tom Hanks, the award for Best Motion Picture! This ceremony has already presented its ten nominees, as have I, along with my personal views on each one. So here we go the most important award of the evening. And the Oscar for Best Motion Picture goes to… The Hurt Locker, with much surprise. I thought that surely Avatar had this one in the bag, but I guess this just goes to show that the Academy Awards are very unpredictable. Congratulations to The Hurt Locker for everything you won tonight! Four out of a possible nine awards were won! I would imagine that Avatar came in a very close second place!
Tonight was a huge night for film and history was indeed made. I would like to express my gratitude for all of you who have taken the time to read this massive blog that has taken me four and a half hours to type! I hope you have all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed typing it! Thank you! I’ll be back for the Tony’s! My favorite awards show! Again, please comment and express your views on this wonderful experience that was the 82nd Annual Academy of Motion Picture Awards. Thank you and good night!
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