In the final analysis, there isn’t much to say other than: What a captivating way to put a bow on the worst and, ultimately, most boring Oscar season of all time. The 81st annual Academy Awards swiftly went down earlier this evening with few surprise winners and a classy new sheen. It was captivating and, at times, inspiring. Here are my thoughts on Hollywood’s biggest night:
The winners
I did extremely well with my predictions this year, nailing 21 of the 24 categories and making good with gambles in the foreign language film and short film categories. I stuck with my heart on Mickey Rourke despite the smart money being on Sean Penn, but regardless of the strong desire to see the former holding an Oscar in his hands and delivering one more barn-burning speech, it is, of course, impossible to argue with Sean Penn’s expert work in “Milk.” His heartfelt acceptance was a highlight and it all felt somehow more complete than it did five years ago.
That “Departures” win took the wind out of the sails of one of the year’s most ingenious productions and yes, this is a committee that still needs a major overhaul. I don’t think I could possibly say it enough. That should take nothing away from Japan’s victory, mind you, because their submission is a delightful film that won’t deserve most of the ill will coming its way from those who haven’t even seen it. But “Bashir” seems to have wrongfully faced an uphill battle from the start.
The sound categories (hotly debated all week) proved once again that the Academy doesn’t understand the impact of mixers and editors on animated films. “Slumdog Millionaire” took the mixing award (I’m kicking myself for changing that), while “The Dark Knight” took the sound editing trophy.
Regarding those shorts, by the way, Pixar remains winless in the animated field since 2001’s “For the Birds” (the gorgeous “La Maison en Petits Cubes” rightly won tonight), while “Toyland,” with its ambitious structure (for a short) and obviously baity subject matter reigned supreme in live action.
The only award I missed kind of irritated me, I have to admit: Best Documentary Short. “Smile Pinki” took down what I thought to be the best of the field (and being the most cinematic, the most likely winner), Steve Okazaki’s “The Conscience of Nhem En.” But there was a concerted publicity effort behind the former that maybe I should have paid more attention to.
(More, plus a full list of tonight’s Oscar winners, after the jump.)
The rest: anticipated. Winslet didn’t hypervenelate too much, Cruz gave a cute speech preparing her for the circuit once again next year and Heath Ledger’s family gave a touching acceptance on his behalf for what has to be considered the performance of the year in “The Dark Knight.” I couldn’t imagine a better way to close this chapter.
The show
Bill Condon and Laurence Mark deserve a big pat on the back for injecting more class into an evening that has largely fallen the way of pomposity and snooze-worthy pacing. Building the show to mirror a film’s journey to the screen was a simple but somewhat brilliant way into a hefty slate of 24 Oscar presentations.
Grouping the design categories and the post-production awards into separate segments made for an efficient and streamlined conveyor belt for seven of the night’s awards. I was shocked how far along we were 60 minutes into the thing.
Hugh Jackman, meanwhile, didn’t get in the way of the proceedings, had a healthy sense of humor and charmed the pants off the room. The opening number was great, though the Baz Luhrmann-choreographed ode to musicals midway through could have been trimmed down. I wouldn’t say Jackman set a new standard for Oscar hosting duties, but he certainly presented a well-argued case for less is more.
The acting award presentations were fascinating to watch. Even though I was reminded of “Superman II” at times, the quintet of past winners offering their praise to each nominee was a nice way of showing camaraderie during a night of competition and really embossing the idea that this is an evening that should be seen as celebratory.
The music medley worked for the most part, though John Legend wasn’t as vocally prepared as he could have been. The mash-up concept was really cool but shouldn’t be revisited unless it works well with the contenders like it did here. After all, a worldly-tinged toon tune sandwiched between two energetic Indian tracks kind of flows, but Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” might not have been so organic to the mix. Basically, I hope future producers take these fresh concepts on a year-by-year basis if they’re ever tossed around again.
I am happy to note that my trepidation was misplaced for the sing-through In Memoriam segment. Queen Latifah’s belting of “I’ll Be Seeing You” over a cleverly constructed montage of the year’s dearly departed entertainment figures was much more tasteful than I anticipated.
Oh, and probably the best presentation of the night, for me, was the screenplay categories, which boasted a hilarious intro and a nice overall comedic concept. Coming early in the show worked rather well, too.
And the stage was stunning. Bravo to all involved.
(UPDATE: I don’t know why I forgot to mention this last night, but the Seth Rogen/James Franco/Janusz Kaminski skit was absolutely hilarious. Anyone who’s ever talked to Kaminski knows how irreverent and funny he can be, so I loved seeing him up on that screen. But come on, you all know my feelings on “Pineapple Express.” Great to see it get some love on the show.)
The season
Well, it’s over, isn’t it? The writing has been on the wall since December and, for some of us, since late November. No one can argue with how sluggish the year has become, but as I’ve noted, it’s bittersweet for me because my favorite film of 2008 just won eight Oscars
Yes, I wanted to see Wally Pfister up there. Yes, “WALL-E” deserved more notice for certain technical aspects. Yes, there is still irritation left over from the nominations announcement a month ago. But this, the first relative sweep in five years, seems to have been a great way to cleanse the pallette. Bring on 2009, which looks to have an interesting exciting sense of variety.
But we’ll get into that tomorrow.
Congratulations to all of the night’s winners, but specifically to Danny Boyle, one of the most exciting working directors, finally with an Oscar to his credit, and the folks at Fox Searchlight who’ve been working hard for major AMPAS recognition for over a decade. This was their year and they stuck the landing. Bravo.
The night’s big winners:
Best Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Original Screenplay: “Milk”
Best Art Direction: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Cinematography: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Costume Design: “The Duchess”
Best Film Editing: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Music (Original Score): “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Music (Original Song): “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight”
Best Sound Mixing: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Animated Feature Film: “WALL-E”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Departures”
Best Documentary Feature: “Man on Wire”
Best Documentary Short: “Smile Pinki”
Best Short Film (Animated): “La Maison en Petits Cubes”
Best Short Film (Live Action): “Toyland”
Tally:
“Slumdog Millionaire” — 8
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — 3
“The Dark Knight,” “Milk” — 2
“Departures,” “The Duchess,” “Man on Wire,” “The Reader,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “WALL-E” — 1
Comments
85 responses to “‘Slumdog’ takes 8 trophies as Oscar keeps it under 190 minutes”
Even worse than last year. Not only was Hugh’s singing and the other montages of “singing” medleys terrible in every way, but the awards were lame and predictable across the board. I won’t be watching next year.
Agreed. Perhaps the most boring show I’ve seen.
I really liked it. Boring in terms of predictability but felt fast-paced and enjoyable (with the exception of the acting awards, which dragged a bit).
Good, I’m glad you two won’t be watching anymore. I thought Hugh was humble and spectacular. His humor was simple and not overly-offensive. There were a few surprises, such as Sean Penn (I think we all thought Mickey had it)… and Slumdog winning Sound Mixing. I loved the different sets set up for the different awards and the lack of cliche scores to cut short speeches, something that that for once didn’t come up. what’s wrong with you people?
Great, great show. Hugh was great, the opening number was a blast, and I loved the changes (especially the collection of past winners presenting the acting awards). The hit a home run.
Yeh thanks Q Mann, the 5 past winners each for every acting nomination was unexpected and very appreciated
Matt and Miles: if you guys watch the Oscars in hopes of being entertained by the host’s singing and jokes as well as the montages, I don’t really know what to tell you, except, the rest of us watch the show because it honors film.
I thought Hugh was OK, I thought the set was fantastic. I am glad they didn’t cut speeches short, and I really liked the new way of presenting acting awards.
I totally agree. Probably the first Oscars since 1998 that I really cared for — mostly because I watched the most films that turned out to be Oscar-nominated and because I cared about who was nominated and who won — I was rooting for Slumdog, Winslet (The Reader), Penn and Wall-E the moment after saw the four films.
I think I could do without the long, drawn-out intros for the 4 acting categories. Other than that, I really liked the format of this awards.
Even the In Memoriam segment was nice with a beautiful song accompaniment.
Hugh Jackman was a great host, but the song-and-dance numbers were one-to-many (and there were 2 or 3?)
I liked the consecutive award-giving as well.
I’m watching my local news right now, and even the newscaster and reporter said this was the best show in a long time.
I thought Hugh Jackman did a wonderful job as host. Very good song-and-dance man. As for the awards themselves, pretty predictable. I did think after Black and Penn won for Milk, that it may upset Slumdog in Picture.
I don’t want to be sour with the results but Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black, enough with the victimhood routine. I’m tired of people telling those who voted for Proposition 8 that they are homophobic and/or intolerant. Listen, if we as a society allow homosexuals to classify their union as a “marriage” then we mine as well allow men and women to marry more than one spouse.
This is not to demean or patronize the homosexual movement. The problem is for a community who claims to be tolerant, you sure have a funny way of forcing your beliefs on everyone else, and if there those who disagree, you label them accordingly. As the big book says, “They have been given over to an irreparable mind.”
Great Show!
I thought the personal address by previous oscar winners to the nominated actors was a great touch. It made it feel so much more special watching at home. Although where were Daniel Day Lewis and Javier Bardem?
I little bit disappointed about Mickey Rourke but still pleased with Sean Penn (oh and he wasnt a stuck up arogant prick for a change).
hated the way the show was done, but Heath, Sean and Slumdog winning greatly made up for especially Sean Penn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also: a big thanks to Kris, Guy, John and the rest that make IC such a great read during these Oscar seasons. This was the first year I went head-deep into this silly little niche, and it was a blast. Thanks guys!
Last year’s show was much better. This is one of the worst I can remember.
Re: the “personal address by previous oscar winners”
I thought some of the actors/actresses that came out were really odd .. Michael Douglas? Sophia Loren? Shirley McLaine? Adrian Brody?
Where were Tom Hanks? Denzel Washington? Judi Dench? … Ok, maybe it’s my bias showing.
I just didn’t like this format, and wish they’d shown clips of the performances that were nominated. I could do without the sugar-laden platitudes.
Loved the show, and Penn winning. And I also think Dustin Lance Black gave the speech of the night. Jackman deserves to come back again.
I concur. You guys all do a great job of commenting/predicting/criticizing these awards/nominations with unique and honest perspectives. i look forward to next year
The show itself was phenomenal. Jackman was maybe the best host in years, an excellent showman through and through.
The winners, well, I’m happy Curious Case lost so many, and Slumdog continued to win a bazillion. The only problem was it was a tad too predictable. There weren’t really any upsets… But that’s alright.
All around one of the best Oscar shows I’ve seen in ages. Bring Jackman back! He’s Wolverine for goodness’ sakes.
I’m not a big “Slumdog” fan, but I really enjoyed tonight. I thought it was endowed with a real love of the movies, more so than previous years.
Yep, I hope Jackman is back next year. Proof that you don’t need a comedian to host the show, as long as he/she knows how to entertain an audience.
Boring show. I’m sure it would’ve been fun if I was actually there, like Boyle pointed out. Other than that, terrible in terms of how the awards panned out. I’m not entirely disappointed that Rourke didn’t win; I’m more disappointed about Slumdog winning almost everything. Wall-E deserved Best Song and Score. It’s all politics. Seeing Chris Nolan there just made me sad, honestly. He deserved to be recognized, as did the film for Best Picture. The Best Picture nominees were boring and safe. I don’t have too many complaints about the production of the actual telecast, though. My main one is that the opening number was a bit embarrassing and too Tony-esque. My favorite moments were probably the presentations of the acting trophies (although there should’ve been clips of the performances), and the montage sequences of the different genres.
If anyone is interested/cares, I found Dustin Lance Black’s award remarks: http://bit.ly/I9pLw
A little preachy, but effective I guess. If anyone knows where I might find Sean Penn’s, please share .. I missed the first part of it.
Thank you.
Idon’tcare: That same argument was being used to justify why blacks shouldn’t have rights or marry whites. Perhaps next time you should educate yourself before you make such ridiculous remarks.
I loved the show, especially the opening number. I wasn’t really surprised with any of the wins, but I was expecting Mickey Rourke to take Best Actor.
You’re the man, Kris! Congrats on your 21/24–goes with your impressive commentary and predictions all year long. The show was a gorgeous improvement over the past few years, the tone of the proceedings both elegant and dignified, and most of the speakers said something of which was worth listening. And I loved the global feel of it, as well as the beautiful retro look and sound.
Idon’tcare, it figures that some bigot like you would be the one to gripe about that. No one wants you around, so don’t bother saying that sh*t here ^_^. Black’s speech was great and it’s necessary. It’s not about the marriage; that’s just symbolism. It all (the proposition) represents homophobia, not the banning of gay marraige. Ergo, it’s about attaining equal rights, and it’s highly necessary for them to be open and bold with their speeches so that we move forward, not back, plain and simple.
hugh jackman did a great job in the intro song (loved how they sweded all the movies, including dark knight and the reader especially, haha). yes, the awards were predictable, and i wanted mickey rourke to win, but sean penn did a hell of a job in his role too, and if it was to be anyone else, penn was the man. loved the actor/actress intros, but some of the chosen were random. great show, enjoyed it much, jai ho!
this year will go down as a year to be ashamed of! none of the 5 best picture contenders were good enough to win even 4 oscars, let alone 8! there was some really good mainstream hollywood(tdk,wall.e) and some really good indie pieces, in bruges for instance. but they chose some mediocre movies for the top 5.
come on, slumdog really triumphed because it was a “feel good, charming movie” and maybe it acted like a painkiller for moviebuffs in these time of economic trouble,
i don’t live in america, so i can’t possibly understand all this hype about slumdog and i am sure in 5 years everyone feel like me.
one year we have some of the best movies of modern era in top 5 contenders(NCFOM, TWBB even diving bell(although it was a direction contender))and one year later some crap named “slumdog” makes an evening beautiful!
with all due respect(and being a long time reader)you have been taken by the hype.
Some thoughts:
A very predictable choice of winners. Nothing surprised me (except maybe one of the shorts).
I think Best Actor (though I’m sure it was very close) is tell-tale that perhaps many of the Oscar bloggers, with all due respect, got too caught up in loving Mickey to see than Penn was always the most likely winner.
Nay-sayers of the show should hush. There’s a lot of people (Nikki Finke, etc.) who would hate the show no matter what they did and some hate the show because their favorite film didn’t win/get nominated. Jackman, Condon, and company did a great job. Bringing showmanship back to the Oscars.
emad,
Kris saw Slumdog way before the hype machine started, and even before it was released, much like I did, and I loved it. So I’d like to think our thoughts on the film weren’t perverted or subjected to awards season hyperbole like for a lot of films.
It was great tonight. Hugh did a pretty good job, and I was suprised that I actually enjoyed the changes to the show.
Also, shocked and disappointed that Mickey didn’t win, but he’s back now. One day, hopefully.
I got 19/24 for my predictions. I can’t believe your gut feeling on Departures was right Tapley!
I was just happy to see Heath Ledger win the Oscar. Rightfully deserved, in my opinion.
I also thought Hugh Jackman was a good host, very entertaining. I thought it was better than last year’s, although it felt much more… mainstream? I think that’s what they were going for at least.
However, I do agree that for the most part, it was very predictable. I am tired of hearing about Slumdog Millionaire for the time being. Good movie, don’t get me wrong, but immensely overpraised.
I’d like to start griping about something , because it pisses the shit out of me that people do this (and have in this thread):
Stop hating on Slumdog Millionaire because it won 8 Oscars.
I have loved following this awards season, but what amazes me is the pretentiousness that the Academy Awards are surrounded by. People hold the award in such esteem, that they start attacking when something threatens the traditional.
Juno nominated into Best Picture? Let’s attack it, even if it was a small delightful little indie movie that was made without any awards expectations.
WALL-E with the potential of a Best Picture nomination? Let’s attack it, because OUR Oscar five should NEVER have an animated movie.
Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 Oscars? Let’s attack it because it’s not the cinematic classic that it should be to win SO many of those gold statuettes.
Give me a break. It was a weaker year for movies, and Slumdog was the one film that galvanized a VAST majority of its viewers. Please, please, please, avoid attacking Slumdog because it won an award, or in this case, a lot of awards. If you want to talk about the movie reasonably, let’s have that discussion. If you blindly attack a movie because of how it has been received — and how that works against your belief on how it should be received — let’s not have that discussion. Here or anywhere. Please.
One of the best shows in a LONG time.
Very well said, McGuff.
Show way waaaay drawn out and Jackman was cheesy. Very excited for Penn and I agree that Dustin Lance Black had the best speech. The Original Song performances were good and it was great seeing the whole cast of Slumdog on stage at the end.
Where was Jack??
Great show, Jackman did well. But I expect the ratings to be barely above last years.
I was also wondering where Jack was! I expected him to be seated in the front row with his sunglasses like every year. Haha.
Hollywood better give Ms. Anne Hathaway every movie musical available. Hathaway was such a gracious loser. She was extremely elated for Kate Winslet’s win. I pray & hope Hathaway continues to take artistic risk- like Brokeback & Rachel Getting Married. She’s a triple threat!!
Hugh was magnificent, nuff said. I liked how they presented the acting awards, but imo, it got kinda long and tedious with the past winners going way overboard with their flowery and gushing praise of the nominees. Nevertheless, It was a fine watchable show, and I expect Hugh to be a constant fixture from now on as host.
Dustin Lance Black was way too preachy for my liking. Sean Penn was borderline. Yes I didn’t want either to win so that does cloud my judgement. I liked the presenting of the acting awards but it just drug on and on. Beyonce again, really? Like honestly? Isn’t that her fifth performance? Seven if you count the dreamgirls extravaganza as three separate. Why Steven Speilberg? I thought this was about 2008 in film? Ok, sure Indiana Jones but thats not a good reason. It should’ve been someone from The Dark Knight. Original Song? That shit was fucking horrible. Sorry about the language but honestly it’s not wonder why Peter Gabriel didn’t want a part of the show. John Legend singing Down to Earth next to AR singing Jai Ho? Worst idea ever? Probably. Jackman wasn’t half bad though.
Emad:
Take your rude self elsewhere and soothe it with a drink or something. For you to come here and say that we have been taken by hype is preposterous. Some of us saw this film way before people even knew the film existed. (I watched it way back in early November when it was showing in only 2-3 theaters in the entire country).
And I cannot think of a film in the last 10 years that has had this much unanimous support since Titanic. No other film has brought people of all walks of life and creed to agree that it is something worthy of praise (first) and accolades (second).
Plus, the backstory of what SDM could have been (a-direct-to-DVD) was, I believe, one of the most appealing factors of it for many people – and voters. That a small film, filled with unknowns in these parts of the world, could resonate with so many people is just outstanding.
I was not thrilled that The Dark Knight didn’t get nominated in more significant categories (Best Picture, Best Director) … but rest assured, it won all the awards it did deserve to win.
Hugh was great, the new acting presentations were wonderful, the big musical number was a little off the mark, the pace was about right, we needed a little more funny and a little less dancing, but otherwise it made the grade. I hope Hugh hosts again.
I thought the new format was entertaining. The Supporting Actress bit was good, but men staring into each others eyes never looks good on camera.
The winners were just bad, is all. I liked that Cruz won, but Rourke was robbed.
The big thumb down for me, aside from Rourke’s loss, was the best song medley. It just felt off, and Legend was off key at the start. But then, Legend’s never seen Wall-E (fact), and his lack of enthusiasm was to be expected.
I hope that if they continue the past-winner-gushing-intro thing next year, they switch it up…
Former Best Actor winners intro the Best Actress noms .. and Former Supporting Actress winners intro Supporting Actor noms … get my drift?
And they add in clips of the nominated roles.
“That same argument was being used to justify why blacks shouldn’t have rights or marry whites. Perhaps next time you should educate yourself before you make such ridiculous remarks.”
I don’t understand why liberals like you demonize the black civil rights movement by comparing it to the homosexual/Pink Hand intimidation movement. Blacks never had a choice in skin color. Homosexuals choose to be what they are. Which is fine and dandy. Whatever they want to do in the privacy of their home is fine by me, and the state cannot regulate something like that. Homosexuality is an abnormality. As decades have past, this behavior has become acceptable, to the point where people want to intimidate the opposition into redefining terms, which are sacred.
Homosexuality is a choice. Period. You liberals can say this or that, but I hate to break it to you, most people do believe that. The only way your argument will become legitimate is if they can prove it is not a choice. So get over it; I mean Obama doesn’t even support gay marriage.
Dude (Idon’tcare), stop. Neither time nor place.
Things that I could say that actually have to do with Milk:
1. I came around last week or so and decided I thought Penn gave the performance of the year over Rourke. I rooted for Rourke to win however, just to hear the speech.
2. I thought Dustin Lance Black’s script was lacking something. Kris has quantified that for me, and made me realize it didn’t have any grit.
3. I blame Gus Van Sant for not creating enough pathos at the end of the movie. I, and others from what I’ve read, just weren’t invested enough at the end. That’s very problematic.
4. I thought Emile Hirsch gave the best supporting performance. But I recognize that I might think that because it’s more showy and physical than Brolin’s. I’m not a student of acting.
Refute those. Don’t refute others politics. (Sorry to act like some moderator here, but this is Oscar Night! I want to talk Oscars!)
Worst Oscar show ever. I’d never thought I’d say this, but bring back Gil Cates. Hugh Jackman is talented, but he was out of place here. He’s much better suited for the Tonys. Steve Martin and Tina Fey were marvelous during their presentation and one wished that they could have taken over hosting duties from Jackman. Jackman aside, the embarrasments are too numerous to mention: the claustrophobic set, which along with the music made it seem like the show was being broadcast from the basement of a jazz club. The way the acting awards were presented were cringe worthy – the tributes by past winners made it seem like the nominees were up for the Nobel Prize. The fact that the Academy chooses films that nobody cares about is another matter altogether – the general public just doesn’t care about these films. Perhaps next year’s Awards should be broadcast from Tyler Perry’s house – people seem to care about him.
Even though I wanted Mickey Rourke to win, I get the feeling that if he did it would have been mostly out of pity and just a patronising pat on the back.
I didn’t really have an opinion of the guy before I saw The Wrestler because I somehow managed to avoid pretty much every film he ever did, but I’ve grown to like him. Hopefully he gives another great performance and wins next time.
lol@Idontcare
My biggest problem with Milk was the score. Danny Elfman was not the right choice. Other than that, brilliant film deserving of its two wins.