So how did you guys do in your Oscar pools? Did any of you actually follow my predictions, and if so, was it good enough to win you some cash? Even though I will probably spend the day remarking how predictable the whole ceremony was, I only went 17 for 24 on my Oscar predictions. I scored on some of the big ones, correctly calling Sean Penn and Penelope Cruz winners, but missed Milk for screenplay, Benjamin Button for makeup, and both the sound mixing and editing categories. I didn't even bother predicting the shorts here, but in the bets I made against my friend, it wasn't pretty.
But hey, there's no harm and no foul in predicting the Oscars, really, and there was lots to enjoy even when my predictions were way off the mark. Below is a rundown of how I did on the major awards, along with some brief thoughts on how things went.
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
I and every other Oscar prognosticator out there called this one, so there was no real suspense going into the biggest award of the night. And while stuffy, responsible producer Christian Colson got to give the speech, he was flanked by Anil Kapoor and a fleet of Jamals and Latikas, all of them beaming awkwardly from their place in the sun. If we couldn't have a surprise, that was good enough.
Best Actor: Sean Penn
We may resent him for years for taking away Mickey Rourke's shot at an Oscar, but Penn definitely deserved recognition for his amazing Harvey Milk. He gave an acceptance speech that, while not nearly as crazy and rambling as Mickey Rourke's might have been, reminded us why we've kept him around all these years despite being a giant jerk. Oh, and I predicted he would win, so gloating goes here!
Best Actress: Kate Winslet
The format of having five previous winners salute the nominees worked way better in the female categories than it did for the men, and the highlight of this whole thing might have been Anne Hathaway's genuine tears when Shirley MacLaine saluted her talent. But Kate's speech, as she gasped for her and maybe inappropriately fondled her Oscar statue, was lovely as well, from thanking Peter Jackson (who cast her in one of her first roles in Heavenly Creatures) all the way down to her salute to deceased The Reader producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack. And on a side note about deceased people, this year's dead people montage was nice and quick. Well done.
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Forgive me for not feeling the wave of emotion, watching Ledger's parents accepting his statue. I guess something struck me as strange, receiving an Oscar statue instead of the rest of your son's life. The Ledger family gave a great speech, and the standing ovation was well-deserved, but I'm actually kind of glad that all this speculating about the awards prospects of a dead man can finally be done. We'll be missing Ledger for years, but now we can finally let him rest in peace.
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
The new, five-presenter format was great for supporting actress, giving also-rans like Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson a moment to be appreciated by some of the greats. But then again, it also robbed us of our chance to see Javier Bardem hand a statue to his girlfriend Penelope. She gave a great speech, and looked predictably gorgeous, and gave a shout-out to her home country in Spanish. But still, that Spaniard-on-Spaniard Oscar handoff would've been pretty great.
Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk
I badly wanted Wall-E to take this, but hey, Andrew Stanton got to give a speech when he won Best Animated Feature. And Dustin Lance Black gave a marvelous speech, reflecting on how much Harvey Milk meant to him growing up as a gay kid, and making an appropriate political statement about Proposition 8 and the future of gay rights. He's irresistibly cute and young, and I can't blame Oscar for wanting to honor him.
Best Adapted Screenplay Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog won 8 out of 9 possible awards, It absolutely didn't deserve to win here, but in a weak category, it's hard to complain too much.
As for the rest of the awards, despite a surprise here or there (I guess we're all going to have to see Departures now), they got handed out pretty much as they should have been. The ceremony was entertaining throughout, though given that I was part of an Oscar party with its own entertainments, that's not the most objective opinion.
And best of all, we can finally stop thinking about 2008 movies and move on to the gems of 2009 so far! Like, uh, Fired Up! And Madea Goes to Jail! Oscars 2009, you cannot come too soon.
