The Winners and Surprises
By Chris Sabga
A month ago, I posted the nominees and my predictions, which
you can read again by clicking
here.
Seth MacFarlane ("Ted," "Family Guy")
was the best Oscar host in years. He was charming, funny, and just
inappropriate enough give the ceremony a much-needed edge without ever going
overboard. The skits involving him and William Shatner as Captain Kirk made for
the most hilarious and memorable Oscar opener in a long time.
The heavy amount of music during the ceremony likely pleased
some and irritated others. I personally thought there was too much of it – but
to be fair, the host did let us know it was going to be a musical evening. Adele
and Streisand both performed beautifully.
The tie for Sound Editing was a shocker and made me wonder
if something like that could ever happen in the Actor, Actress, or Best Picture
categories this year. It has actually happened fives times before, with the
most famous example being for two 1968 movies: Katharine Hepburn won Best
Actress for "The Lion in Winter" while Barbra Streisand also won for "Funny
Girl."
In a night with no truly great speeches, Quentin Tarantino came close with his bizarre but endearing acceptance of the Best Original Screenplay award. Daniel Day-Lewis might have been even weirder, comically playing on his stiff reputation as an intense method actor. It was hard to tell when he was joking – if he was – and when he wasn't. Ben Affleck ended the night on the perfect note with his touching, sincere, and very classy speech for "Argo."
The full results, and my thoughts, are below. The winners
are listed in BOLD.
And the Oscars go to...
Best Motion
Picture of the Year
Amour: Margaret Ménégoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka,
Michael Katz
Argo: Grant Heslov,
Ben Affleck, George Clooney
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael
Gottwald
Django Unchained: Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward,
Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi: Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
Silver Linings Playbook: Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen,
Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison
Thoughts: My
heart was with "Silver Linings Playbook" but there's no denying that "Argo"
was an intense, effective thriller that also skillfully blended in bits of comedy.
Its most impressive feat was looking like a true period piece, right down to
its old-school WB logo at the beginning.
Best Performance
by an Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Denzel Washington for Flight
Thoughts: There
was never any doubt that this was Daniel Day-Lewis's award to win. His transformation as the 16th President was
staggering. This victory also puts Day-Lewis in the history books as the first
person ever to win three Best Actor Oscars. Still, part of me was rooting for
Bradley Cooper anyway. In any other year, I think it would have been his. Regardless,
Cooper has proven to any doubters he may have had (I was never among them) that
he's a genuine talent with incredible range.
Best Performance
by an Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence for
Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible
Thoughts: At the
last minute, I became convinced that "Amour's" Emmanuelle Riva was a
lock. Obviously, I was wrong. Lawrence
was incredible in "Silver Linings Playbook" and was very much worthy
of winning the statuette.
Best Performance
by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin for Argo
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Christoph Waltz for
Django Unchained
Thoughts: Friends
of mine and other media outlets called this one, but it was still a complete
shock to me. I was convinced that the race was between De Niro and Tommy Lee
Jones. Maybe they split the vote?
Best Performance
by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for The Master
Sally Field for Lincoln
Anne Hathaway for Les
Misérables
Helen Hunt for The Sessions
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook
Thoughts: Along
with Daniel Day-Lewis, this was probably the least shocking winner. Hathaway
was considered all but a given, and to no one's surprise, she won here for her
role as Fantine.
Best Achievement
in Directing
Michael Haneke for Amour
Ang Lee for Life of
Pi
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Thoughts: Another
upset, at least to me, but Lee is a director of great skill. His previous win
(for "Brokeback
Mountain
Best Writing,
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Amour: Michael Haneke
Django Unchained:
Quentin Tarantino
Flight: John Gatins
Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal
Thoughts: For
some reason, this one surprised me. But maybe it shouldn't have. Tarantino has
a writing "voice" that's uniquely his, and he was rewarded this year.
Part of me was rooting for "Moonrise
Kingdom
Best Writing,
Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Argo: Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi: David Magee
Silver Linings Playbook: David O. Russell
Thoughts: Another
surprise. "Lincoln "
and "Silver Linings" were the front-runners in my mind. But there's
no doubting what a thrilling ride "Argo" was. Besides, it probably
has the most memorable line of any of the movies nominated: "Argo F***
Yourself."
Best Animated
Feature Film of the Year
Brave: Mark Andrews,
Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie: Tim Burton
ParaNorman: Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits: Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph: Rich Moore
Thoughts: I assumed
all along that "Brave" would win, and it did. I personally loved
"Wreck-It Ralph" though. It was a fantastic love letter to video
games. (I was also thrilled to see "Paperman" win in the Best
Animated Shorts category. It was shown before "Ralph," and truth be
told, it was the better of the two.)
Best Foreign
Language Film of the Year
Amour (Austria
War Witch (Canada )
No (Chile )
A Royal Affair (Denmark )
Kon-Tiki (Norway )
Thoughts: This
may have been even more obvious than Day-Lewis's victory. Of course the only
foreign film also nominated for Best Picture was going to win in this category.
__
Here are the rest of the categories and winners:
Best Achievement
in Cinematography
Anna Karenina: Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained: Robert Richardson
Life of Pi: Claudio
Miranda
Skyfall: Roger Deakins
Best Achievement
in Editing
Argo: William
Goldenberg
Life of Pi: Tim Squyres
Silver Linings Playbook: Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty: William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor
Best Achievement
in Production Design
Anna Karenina: Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent,
Simon Bright
Les Misérables: Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi: David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Best Achievement
in Costume Design
Anna Karenina:
Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables: Paco Delgado
Mirror Mirror: Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman: Colleen Atwood
Best Achievement
in Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock: Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Peter King, Rick
Findlater, Tami Lane
Les Misérables: Lisa
Westcott, Julie Dartnell
Best Achievement
in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Anna Karenina: Dario Marianelli
Argo: Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi: Mychael
Danna
Skyfall: Thomas Newman
Best Achievement
in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Chasing Ice: J. Ralph ("Before My Time")
Les Misérables: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg,
Herbert Kretzmer ("Suddenly")
Life of Pi: Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree ("Pi's Lullaby")
Skyfall: Adele, Paul
Epworth ("Skyfall")
Ted: Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane ("Everybody Needs a
Best Friend")
Best Achievement
in Sound Mixing
Argo: John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García
Les Misérables: Andy
Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes
Life of Pi: Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Skyfall: Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson
Best Achievement in
Sound Editing (TIE)
Argo: Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained: Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi: Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
Skyfall: Per
Hallberg, Karen M. Baker
Zero Dark Thirty:
Paul N.J. Ottosson
Best Achievement
in Visual Effects
The Avengers: Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel
Sudick
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Joe Letteri, Eric
Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi: Bill
Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott
Prometheus: Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley,
Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil
Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson
Best Documentary,
Features
5 Broken Cameras: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers: Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle
Fialon
How to Survive a Plague: David France, Howard Gertler
The Invisible War: Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
Searching for Sugar
Man: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
Best Documentary,
Short Subjects
Inocente: Sean Fine,
Andrea Nix
Kings Point: Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine :
Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart: Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption: Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill
Best Short Film,
Animated
Adam and Dog: Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole: PES
Head Over Heels: Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Paperman: John Kahrs
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare: David Silverman
Best Short Film,
Live Action
Asad: Bryan Buckley, Mino
Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys: Sam French, Ariel Nasr
Curfew: Shawn
Christensen
Death of a Shadow: Tom Van Avermaet, Ellen De Waele
Henry: Yan England
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