84th Oscars

For the total tally of tonight's Oscar winners, The Artist won 5 including Best Pic, Hugo also won 5, and The Iron Lady won 2. Any other winners had 1 apiece. My correct predictions (15/24) are colored:

• BEST PICTURE: The Artist
• BEST DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• BEST ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
• BEST ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help
• BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris
• BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants
• BEST FOREIGN FILM: A Separation (Iran)
• BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Undefeated
• BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Saving Face
• BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
• BEST ANIMATED SHORT: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
• BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: The Shore
• BEST ART DIRECTION: Hugo
• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hugo
• BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Artist
• BEST FILM EDITING: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• BEST MAKEUP: The Iron Lady
• BEST MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE: The Artist
• BEST MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG: The Muppets
• BEST SOUND MIXING: Hugo
• BEST SOUND EDITING: Hugo
• BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Hugo

I was primarily glad to see that Hugo would only take the tech categories. Its story, as of viewing the film last night, seemed too "goody-two-shoes" to win top prize, with unreal dialogue that shattered my suspension of disbelief. Alexander Payne and Woody Allen know exactly what I'm talking about. If I'd not voted for Drive and Apes, it could have been my highest correct prediction yet. Glad Christopher Plummer is finally a winner at age 82, even older than Jessica Tandy was.

Chico, Rita & Hugo

I'll start with the better film here: Chico & Rita. What an excellent film it is! Visually spectacular because it both revels in traditional animation and incorporates 3D in a way that still resembles being painted. Great incorporation of Cuban jazz and a story that doesn't shy away from a sensual relationship are proof that it's not a Disney film, and it's all the better for it. Not all movies have to be made for kids. Rango will probably win, but I still would be rejoicing for this nom if it won instead.

Hugo, on the other hand, left me extremely disappointed. Yes, I know this is Martin Scorsese's first "non-R" picture in decades, specifically a so-called family film. Still, it felt too goody two-shoes for what it was striving for. It's certainly going to win some tech awards tomorrow, especially for art direction, but the lingering, Narnia-like screenplay itself ceased a suspension of disbelief for me. Note that while it has earned just over $100M, its budget was more like $170M, so it hasn't even broken even yet. That's all the more reason to give it to an indie like The Artist for Best Pic tomorrow!

The Shorts

I've only seen two of the nom'd animated shorts so far, but one's an obvious frontrunnner, while the other seems to go nowhere. The better of the two by far is The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. No dialogue is included, and it's so creative that none is needed. The other pic I saw, Dimanche/Sunday, also lacked dialogue, but was so unfocused that it seemed to have a non-ending. Until I see Pixar's La Luna, I'd say Fantastic Flying is the one to beat.

BAFTAs & ASC

So, The Artist appears to have painted 7 BAFTAs today, including Best Picture and Director! It even won for Cinematography over The Tree of Life! Lubezki has won the ASC award many times before, but never an Oscar... I would be okay with The Artist winning gold for Cinematography, but it's no match against The Tree of Life. Check out my updated predictions online here!

Good Times

What a great weekend that was! I was invited to speak in a TAT class by a former professor, Karen Davis, at my college of CSU Monterey Bay. I talked about entering the job world in this profession post college, and got to show some samples of my latest work. I included quite a spectrum; starting with The King Who Rained and Abrupt back-to-back itself should indicate no fear! But, I was particularly glad I could finally show NOH8: Is It Real Now? somewhere on screen, and close with it.

Speaking of good times, it appears the latest Academy Luncheon occurred today: