Alright, alright, so I didn't get around to doing predictions this year, so freakin' sue me.
So, another Academy awards ceremony has come and gone, and honestly, I thought this was a huge improvement over the last two. Considering the last two Best Picture winners have been a black-and-white silent film, and a formulaic pot-boiler about a bloke with a stutter who just happened to be the king, we knew going in that the winner this year would be a huge improvement, and while Argo seems like less of an accomplishment than it's rival going in to the show, Lincoln, it is worth noting that I haven't seen Argo yet, and it certainly looks a hell of a lot better than the previous two winners.
Which is why it absolutely baffles and astounds me that Ben Affleck was on the receiving end of quite possibly the worst snub in the history of awards, yes, worse than Christopher Nolan not even being nominated for Inception. How, tell me, how can a film that was apparantly the best film of the year not have it's director even nominated for Best Director. It's almost like a book winning "Best Book" at the... "Book Awards" and the author somehow not being nominated for best author. It's utterly ridiculous.
I could also have done without Michelle Obama presenting the award for Best Picture (yes that did actually happen, for those who haven't heard, although the fact that I just typed that out does still seem a little surreal). It's the most prolific awards handed out for the medium of film, I want to see someone somehow connected to the world of film handing them out.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Anne Hathaway. Now don't get me wrong, I like Anne Hathaway, I wanted her to win, I felt like she should have won, and I was very happy for her when she did, but that girl just cannot give an awards speech. I thought the BAFTAs were bad, but this was worse. It just didn't seem real, at all. Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that she was incredibly overwhelmed by the emotion and that it was certainly the crowning moment of her acting career, and she truly did feel humble and overcome, but it just didn't come accross that way at all. Sorry Anne.
But it's not all gloom and doom. Seth McFarlane did an ok to pretty good job, in my opinion, his jokes worked on a broad scale and he's naturally charismatic, although I do wonder if he has the kind of star power that an event like this needs, plus he only was one fairly mediocre film to his name. But I enjoyed his performance, I thought he hosted well, although I really think they should get someone more versed in out-and-out stand-up comedy to host next year.
I felt that most of the awards went to the right films, at least out of the films that were nominated. It was a shame that The Dark Knight Rises went home empty handed though, it was more than good enough to merit an Oscar, with Best Cinematography being it's best shot although that went to the big winner of the night, Life of Pi, which claimed four awards, including a second Best Director prize for Ang Lee. I think Lee deserved it more than Spielberg, despite Lincoln being a tremendous film, Lincoln is memorable for a different reason...
Daniel Day-Lewis is as good an actor as there has ever been. You may disagree with his methods, although why people do so continues to baffle me because the results are unparalleled, but Day-Lewis deservedly made history as the first person to ever win Best Actor three times, and he did so with one of the finest performances one is ever likely to see. Day-Lewis is utterly spellbinding as the eponymous Lincoln, in what was easily the best performance of the last year and possibly the best performance of the last decade. Day-Lewis also gave probably the nights best acceptance speech (Take notes Miss Hathaway) It was a sweet, funny, charming and very humble speech when it would have been incredibly easy to have a little more bravado, given that he had just made history, and was probably the high point of the evening...
Or at least it would have been, had it not been for Adele's breathtaking performance of what is in my opinion the best Bond theme there has ever been, "Skyfall". Ironically, given the evening was supposed to be dedicated to films, it was probably the part of the show that I was most looking forward to, and I wasn't disappointed. I've heard it said that the backing orchestra was too loud and it drowned Adele out a little bit, but I personally didn't think so. Maybe the vocals could have been a little higher in the mix, but a singer as talented as Adele could make a pub band sound like a world class musical force.
On the whole, it was an enjoyable show, it flowed nicely, the awards were given to the right nominees for the most part. Although I think Lincoln should have won Best Picture, it didn't put too much of a damper on things, and it makes me a little more optimistic going into 2013, hopefully the Academy can continue the trend.
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But, awards season is not over yet, because the most prestigious awards of the year have yet to be announced, yes, that's right, it's time for the 2nd Annual BWAP awards, hosted by me, right here on Ph.D.
Here is the schedule:
The catagories and nominees for them shall be announced on the 15th of March, with the awards themselves being held on the 31st of March. Keep an eye peeled. Until then, good night, and good day.
