And the Oscar goes to...

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO....

Best Motion Picture
The King's Speech

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth - The King's Speech

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman - Black Swan 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale - The Fighter

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo - The Fighter

Best Achievement in Directing
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

David Seidler - The King's Speech

Best Writing, Screenplay based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Best Animated Feature Film
Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film 
In a Better World (Denmark)

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Wally Pfister - Inception

Best Achievement in Editing
Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall - The Social Network

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Robert Stromberg, Karen O'Hara - Alice in Wonderland

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Colleen Atwood - Alice in Wonderland 

Best Achievement in Makeup
Rick Baker, Dave Elsey - The Wolfman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Music Pictures, Original Score
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - The Social Network

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Randy Newman - "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3
  

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick - Inception

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Richard King - Inception

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, Paul J. Franklin - Inception

Best Documentary Feature
Charles Ferguson, Audrey Mars - Inside Job

Best Documentary, Short Subject
Karen Goodman, Kirk Simon - Strangers No More

Best Short Film, Animated
Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruheman - The Lost Thing

Best Short Film, Live Action
Luke Matheny - God of Love

My Wrap-up Commentary:

(Pic: CBS News)

Another year, another Oscars! It started high for me but came crashing down fast as the major awards were being handed out.  How'd I do? I got 12 out of 24 nominations correct.  Small consolation.  The night's big winners for Best Picture and Best Director were The King's Speech and Tom Hooper.  Which is a shame as The Social Network and David Fincher deserved them.  Two visionaries directors like Fincher and Christopher Nolan were relegated to their seats and didn't get up to receive any award.  That is a tragedy.  

It didn't help matters that newbie hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway were jittery and and jumpy.   Franco seemed to have lost his mojo.  Dressing in drag! Really, James? How is that hip and edgy?  Anne, on the other hand, overcompensated for everything and her co-host by putting on a brighter smile for everything.  Stop those pearly whites!  When Billy Crystal (my personal favorite host) made a brief appearance to talk about Bob Hope, I pleaded to him through the TV to come back and host the remainder of the night.  I wish he had. *sigh*

The Academy spread the love around this time as Alice in Wonderland picked up two, Toy Story 3 at two as well, The Social Network stalled at 3 and surprise, surprise Inception and The King's Speech both tied at 4 each.  I should be glad that it wasn't a whole The King's Speech sweep.  That would have been embarrassing.

I'm really happy for Natalie Portman's win.  She gave a knockout performance in her very first film, The Professional.  If you haven't seen it as yet, you must! I think she has more great stuff in her forte yet.  Poor Annette Bening though.  She escaped 'The Hilary Swank' curse, as she wasn't nominated for Conviction to be beaten by another young actress.  She, like Joan Allen, needs to have already won by now.  

Christian Bale, Academy Award Winner.  And also Batman!  It's about time.  I'm glad they didn't hold his comic book/superhero connections against him.  He, like Portman, impressed in his very first acting role at 13 in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, my favorite Spielberg film.  Bale has one, we need to campaign for Chris Nolan to receive one too.  

Roger Deakins, I'm sorry you got shut out of yet another cinematography award but I'm so pleased to see the Oscar go to Wally Pfister for Inception.  One of the key reasons Nolan's films are so stunning.  Kudos!

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has an Oscar!  This and the song category the Academy likes to reward new and something different.  I don't know why.  I personally have The Social Network soundtrack is on repeat on my iPod so I say, well done and well deserved.

Despite my frustrations with many of the picks (cough-The King's Speech-cough), the win for God of Love shows why movie and Oscar buffs watch the show is because of moments like this.  The genuine love and passion that the filmmakers have for making movies and the team spirit behind it.  The audience at the Kodak Theater was charmed by Luke Matheny too.  God of Love will be one short I'll definitely be looking out for.

While they did spread the it out, the major awards were all safe bets proving once again that the Academy likes to play it safe.  The last two years of awarding independent films with big heart have been erased.  Back to the safe and easy.  I, for one, am packing up on this year's Oscars and looking ahead to the next year.  We will have Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady and the mega collaboration of Peter Jackson's and Steven Spielberg's Tintin.  Here's to another year of good films.  

Memorable moments from the Oscars

• Morgan Freeman narrates Alec Baldwin's dream.  Don't we all want him to narrate our dreams?
• Justin Timberlake proclaiming, "I am Banksy."  I really want to know who he is.  I need to watch this documentary.
• Mark Wahlberg is an Oscar nominee, a Golden Globe winner and nominee as producer for Broadwalk Empire and Entourage but he will never live down the nickname "Marky Mark" and nor will we let him.
• Randy Newman's acceptance speech for calling it like it was.  You'll always be good television.
• Seeing Billy Crystal.  Please come back and host another Oscars.  No one, and I mean, no one inserts themselves into the Best Picture nominees the way he does and he thought of it first.  
• No one can take a joke at his expense better than Robert Downey Jr.  Watch and learn, Charlie Sheen!
• More AutoTune the movies!!! That was hilarious.  More please...
• And finally, it had been a long 5+ hours of non-stop Oscars coverage but seeing the PS22 Chorus perform, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" did thaw my cynical, bitter heart a bit.  Damn you, Oscars! I still care and oh, yeah, I'll be back next year.  As if I was going to go anywhere.  Before that, a mini-break from the blog!