83rd Annual Oscars – LIVE BLOGCAST!!!

The 83rd Oscars are just under two hours away and I am prepping for Magic Lantern’s 1st live blogcast of this celebrated event. Really, it’s just me typing away my own personal (and at times, ridiculous) comments during the course of the night — what went well, what seemed embarrassing, the nice touches, those deserving, and those (like last year’s Monique) that simply made fools of themselves. I really can’t sit and watch the Red Carpet affair…that in itself seems like an inane activity. I don’t care what these people are wearing and I never hear any intelligent questions asked of the stars anyway. So I tune in at 8:30 and enjoy the actual ceremony.

Hope you have a great Oscar Night! I will see you then — and please feel free to comment yourselves…. 

So I had the E! Channel on mute then changed the channel. Having to watch Ryan Seacrest before such a big, exciting night just ruins it for me. I liken it to having a rain delay before a big post-season baseball game.

Oh goodie — another Jake Gyllenhaal flop to look forward to in April. Poor guy keeps trying so hard…

Opening Montage: Meh. Nicely edited….not as funny as it could’ve been. Hathaway was actually pretty funny, especially in The Fighter bit.  Why are we giving Baldwin so much attention and credit anyway? Stop encouraging this guy.

Hathaway was so energetic and lively. So adorable. She was terrific — too bad Franco forgot to bring it. I didn’t need to see their relatives though. Poorly written opening….and stiff (nice, James).

Art Direction & Cinematography: Holy shit! Huge upset already in the Art Direction category. Would have never guessed Alice in Wonderland! I thought Inception was a shoe-in. “Alice” was a beautiful movie to watch, I must say.

Oh, Mr. Deakins (aka Susan Lucci)….looks like you’ll have to wait a bit longer for the Award that should have been yours long ago. So sorry to see…though the cinematography for Inception was glorious.  

Oooo!!! Caught sight of Mr. Francis Ford Coppola in the back. He looks great. Still one of our very best filmmakers. And sending Kirk Douglas out there like that??? I thought this was kinda tacky and a little sad. Will he be doing New Year’s Eve with Dick Clark in December? This was terrible and not necessary.

Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo!!!! It goes to the most deserving this year!!! So awesome and she looks terrific. Knew you’d win an Oscar when I saw you on “Homicide” years back. Everyone needs to see Ms. Leo in this…she was superb. (written AFTER the telecast – And your big F-bomb? In hindsight, the evening’s only spontaneous moment. Nice play, Melissa.( Someone take Douglas off the stage please…

Animated Films: Cute Bansky reference. Was waiting for that. Justin looked nervous and was tight….killed the whole bit. Made it up a bit when he said, “you know” when they opened the envelope….and Toy Story 3 wins Animated Film….no surprise at all there. That was the LOCK of the evening. No chance in hell it takes Best Picture though. And excuse me, I just have to say, Mila Kunis…GORGEOUS!!!

OK, so really James Franco and Anne Hathaway are done for the night, right? I mean, they did their work…and I am assuming will be doing very little else for the rest of the evening. Ugh….

Screenplays: I always like when the Oscars flash back and pay homage to the Hollywood from years ago, but that was lame. What was the point of showing that 1929 footage when you do nothing with it? Josh Brolin always comes off more smug than me. No surprise with The Social Network winning adapted screenplay….It was very good (though I can’t stand Sorkin). Was pulling for the Coen Brothers and their great adaptation. OK, so what was with the silly showings of the script/dialogue that showed absolutely nothing about the process and art of screenwriting? The King’s Speech wins as predicted. Great “late bloomer” line by our winner….a wonderful acceptance speech. Very witty, intelligent and well spoken.

Sets up a great two-way showdown for ‘Best Picture.’ And now I must prepare to hold my breath and not turn the TV off when Russell Brand comes on. Lord help us all….when are his 15 minutes up?

Anne Hathaway – you’re a real sport. Nice job…totally committed. Bravo. Hugh Jackman, you tool. Haha! James Franco makes an awful looking woman…great text line though. Please — everyone — I beg of you…don’t pay good money to see the Arthur remake…rent the brilliant classic that can never be duplicated. RIP Dudley…

I’m not doing so hot on my predictions. Surprised at the Foreign Language film. Dogtooth was brilliant, but oh-so deeply disturbing. I really thought it would go to Incendies.

Supporting Actor: I knew Bale would win when I saw it in November. I really didn’t go out on a ledge with that one. Don’t care for the guy, but as I stated before, he truly deserves this award. One truly heartbreaking and courageous performance. Bale looked somewhat humble — nice to see.

Is it me — or is this Academy Awards a bit anti-climatic? Seems a bit boring. The presentations for all the awards are so dull….Zzzzzz.

Some nice excerpts from the Best Score nominees. A bit surprised that Reznor took this one, though hearing a small protion of it again, reminded me of how good it was. Interesting that the Academy didn’t go the “safe” route with Desplat’s work on The King’s Speech.

OK, so here is where Inception wins two more awards (for sound categories). And…SCARLETT!!!! Giddy up! Not sure what she was wearing, but still…SCARLETT!!! No surprise at all with these two sound statues….get my batting average up a bit.

Oooo – Marisa Tomei….always up for a Marisa sighting. She should make anyone’s Fantasy 5. And she doesn’t need a sidekick. She looked stunning. Simply stunning.

Make-Up: Lousy nominees. Wolfman is very deserving, but there were many films this year with great make-up work. Should be a much more exciting category than it is every year. This was a lay-up, people.

Costume Design: Great nominees. Tough category. Look, I got another one right! Getting better as we go along. Gorgeous work by Ms. Atwood. She did look stiffer than James Franco though. There go two more awards — and the boring telecast continues! This is the worst in years, no?

Best Song: Randy Newman…same song, different title (even though I picked you to win). Uh…what was that watching everyone’s favorite song bit? That’s what they came up with to introduce this category? Someone needs to be fired. Nice to see the clip from Once – one of the best songs to win the award in recent memory. Weak category this year…very weak.

Hollywood is going to keep ramming this guy down our throats until we just accept him — for all his pathetic inadequacies. Way to even fuck that short bit up, Jake. You don’t get 30 takes to come off as semi-authentic on live TV. I won’t even pretend that I saw the shorts this year. I usually rent them when they come out on DVD. So no – I did not predict or project in these two categories. Though crazy hair guy gave a sweet acceptance speech, capped off nicely with a nice nod to his gal.

Musical nominee remix bit — the night just keeps getting sadder, doesn’t it…No wonder Jack doesn’t bother showing up. And Oprah, why are you here??? Go away…go away now! Haha, Joel Coen looked more bored than idiots like me who insist on keeping this sleepy show on.

Good docs this year (though thought Restrepo was a bit underwhelming). I kinda figured Inside Job would take this one. I’m like Mark Texeira…I started out really slow, but picking up steam now. Good mini-political statement and yes, you should watch the film…it’s alarming to say the least. Great, Downey and Law coming up….could Sherlock Holmes get any shittier the second time around?

Billy Crystal!!! Never thought I’d say this but GOD I MISS YOU TONIGHT!!! Robert Downey – no wonder the brilliant Gervais made fun of you. He had every right. Feel happy in your safe confines here? This show needs some Gervais — am I right???!!!!

4 technical Oscars for Inception. Very impressive. OK, we’re almost done with this people…thank God. When is the montage of those we lost in Hollywood this year? I always like that…Tony Curtis is my odds-on-favorite for most applause.

So I got 12 out of 16 right so far….not too shabby. Not shabby at all. Just sayin’….

Inappropriate movie title bit…it just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it? This is close to an abomination. Who did the writing of the jokes this year? Hey — who is the Enya wanna-be? And Gwyneth looks like she is going for heroin-chic. This award is between Toy Story 3 and 127 Hours, I think…Randy Newman not only won this Oscar (not deserving at all, but I did pick him), but he placed third in the Roger Ebert look-alike contest held in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kudos, Randy.

Even the stars in the audience are bored to tears! This was the first year there was no applause during the montage of those who passed away this year. Maybe they were all asleep too and didn’t realize it. Once again– R.I.P. Dennis Hopper!

Ah, I love when Oscar plays the race card. Doesn’t come off as patronizing at all. Another ineffective segment for your viewing pleasure.

Best Director: Ms. Bigelow won for that very reason…because she is a woman. Sorry folks. Someone had to say it. You’re all thinking it!!! Holy shit, Tom Hooper wins — that’s a sign for your Best Picture winner right there. I screwed that call up big time. I would call this a minor upset even though The King’s Speech was the odds-on-favorite. I did not find him to be deserving of this — but that is just me. Nice speech though, Mr. Hooper. Was cute. (BTW, James Franco — you brought NOTHING tonight. You’re better than that, dude.)

Brownlow/Coppola/Wallach – the night’s best moment. And they let it slip through their fingers. Couldn’t let them speak? They even fucked that baby up.

Speaking about her co-host for the night: “A fabulous job hosting tonight” — wow, Anne…you CAN act. Nice big fat lie.

JEFF BRIDGES!!!! THANK YOU, GOOD LORD!!! Look how fucking awesome he is. Just listen to this guy. So sincere, so prepared. And yes…still the best hair in Hollywood. Jeff — you remain THE MAN!!!

Best Actress: Oh where are you Ms. Noomi Rapace? Jennifer Lawrence looked beautiful – and you rocked, girl. This was such a weak category this year. A number of others that were so well deserving not here. Ms. Portman was very deserving, given the competition. It was a raw, multi-layered and brave performance in a very good (but not great) film. I’m glad they didn’t go politico and vote for Bening. A nice speech…seemed very genuine. She looked good too — way to go, LONG ISLAND GAL!!!!

Best Actor: Sandra Bullock — what the fuck you do with yo hair, girl??? JEFF BRIDGES…I have no shame in saying I have great man love for you. Jesse – just get on your knees and thank God that you are even part of this evening. Your nomination robbed so many others who were so well deserving. I have no gripe here…Colin Firth was excellent. It was a wonderful performance (though I do wish Bridges took it home). Sandra was very entertaining and playful here, but that “none better than you” statement to Franco was a bit too much. Mr. Firth – nice speech. Boring….but nice.

Best Picture: When Hooper won for Director it kind of let the steam out of the suspense. I think The King’s Speech was a very good film…a solid 3-star film, but am so surprised it took home the Award this year. Then again, nothing really stood out as an unbelievable or remarkable film, especially of the twn chosen here. BTW, hated the “King Speech” voiceover to all ten nominees — give each film its due and show a nice clip from all ten. This was another blundering decision. Weinstein campaigns himself to another Best Picture win…no one does it quite like him. Franco couldn’t look more disinterested at the end (as well as all evening through) – did he have reservations somewhere?

Eh…I predicted 15 out of 21. Not terrible. Not great, but not so terrible. How did you do at home? That is…if you are still up watching this travesty of an awards show. Maybe I should start watching the Spirit Awards again, just to see a bit of energy.

Tomorrow – I’ll make sure to write a brief write-up of my overall thoughts of this Oscar ceremony. Not much to say…just how terribly, terribly boring it all was. I’m sure most media outlets will be spewing the very same thing – BUT YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

Thank you so much to the handful of readers of this site who followed along with me tonight — and of course, for adding your own personal commentary. Always great to read what others are thinking and I thank you for taking the time to share with me. Greatly appreciated. 

THE WINNERS:

Best Film Editing – The Social Network
Best Costume Design – Alice in Wonderland
Best Art Direction – Alice in Wonderland
Best Cinematography – Inception
Best Make-Up – The Wolfman
Best Visual Effects – Inception
Best Sound Editing – Inception
Best Sound Mixing – Inception
Best Documentary Feature – Inside Job
Best Documentary Short Subject – Strangers No More
Best Live Action Short Film – God of Love
Best Animated Short Film – The Lost Thing
Best Animated Feature – Toy Story 3
Best Score – The Social Network
Best Original Song – “We Belong Together” (Toy Story 3)
Best Foreign Film – In A Better World
Best Original Screenplay – The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network
Best Supporting Actor – Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Supporting Actress – Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Best Actor – Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
Best Actress – Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Director – Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Best Picture of 2010 – The King’s Speech