Well, they certainly didn’t last night. But how cool is it that on International Women’s Day, I can not only wish our good friend and new mom Carolyn a happy birthday, but also congratulate the lovely, gracious, and talented Kathryn Bigelow on winning both the first Best Director Oscar ever awarded to a woman AND Best Picture for The Hurt Locker? Our daughter, who has seen the film and long loved Bigelow, was so excited that when she called Castle Drax (where the food, fun, and fellowship were excellent as ever, despite my shocking alleged failure to buy Girl Scout cookies from young Ms. Drax, an incident of which I have no recollection) at midnight as the telecast ended, she was barely coherent.
In general, however, excitement of either the positive or negative kind was in relatively short supply. Having Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-host sounded great on paper, yet while each is always a welcome presence, their material was neither brilliant nor brilliantly delivered, and Ben Stiller’s appearance as a Na’vi from Avatar fell flat but far short of a train wreck. Although a few of the recipients rambled on a little long, none of the speeches seemed outrageously overlong or out of left field, and we had no totally cringe-worthy moment like Adrien Brody’s face-sucking vampire. And despite the usual contingent of unflattering outfits, there was none that made you bolt upright in your seat and say, “What the @*#&$^%?!”
We were spared the production numbers of the nominees for Best Original Song, albeit subjected to the bizarre spectacle of all five nominees for Best Original Score (won by Up, as was Best Animated Feature) rendered as an interpretive dance; perhaps next year we’ll treated to an elaborate shadow-puppet performance. Since the show seems obligated to drag on for four hours, that bought them enough time for a lengthy tribute to John Hughes, in addition to the customary montage of industry personnel who passed away during the preceding year, aptly accompanied by a performance of the Beatles song “In My Life” by James Taylor.
As expected, Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Mo’Nique (Precious, which also won Best Adapted Screenplay) were anointed as Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and of course I was delighted to see Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart, which also won Best Original Song) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) receive their respectively long-overdue or presumably-once-in-a-lifetime Best Actor and Actress Oscars. Speaking of the Best Actress nominees, I’ve just been watching Meryl Streep in her earlier Music of the Heart, and although her performance was customarily outstanding, what really impressed me was that Wes Craven was allowed to do something so far off his usual beat, and did it very well. Had I the skills, I think it would be hilarious to make a faux trailer with a voiceover that started something like, “From the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Last House on the Left, and The Hills Have Eyes comes the story of a woman who faced a challenge she could never have imagined,” using artfully selected clips to make it look like a horror film (an oft-ignored genre to which, by the way, the Academy presented an effective but somewhat inexplicable tribute last night).
Perhaps the biggest surprise, considering how heavily favored the ex-Mr. and Mrs. Cameron’s entries were, was the fact that the expected Avatar steamroller never really materialized. Sure, Ed Wood would have been thrilled to make a movie that won three Oscars in any categories (Best Art Direction, Cinematography, and Visual Effects). Yet it didn’t secure any of the major awards, and although it richly deserved those it got, I frankly never considered it Best Picture material since the story didn’t captivate me like, say, Cameron’s The Abyss.
Still, as I’ve pointed out, Cameron has again won the enviable Highest-Grossing Picture non-Oscar and has a boatload, as it were, for Titanic, so I’m not shedding too many tears for him today, much as I admire his oeuvre. In fact, the night’s biggest loser might be considered not Cameron but Quentin Tarantino, whose Inglourious Basterds was beaten by The Hurt Locker in six of the seven categories for which both were nominated, which in addition to the big two included Best Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. He’s probably among the few who are not cheering “You go, girl!” this morning. Or, if he’s a big enough man, maybe he is.
BRADLEY ON FILM 
As much as I love Tarantino, and the film in question, it was not only time for her to be recognized but also–and under the circumstances more importantly–the more deserving of the two films in question. INGLORIOUS BASTERDS was a phenomenal film that I enjoyed immensely, but THE HURT LOCKER was the over-archingly superior film–except maybe in its capacity for repeat viewing without wanting to slit your wrists. And also, Tarantino, in my book, was lucky to be nominated for such huge categories at all–he is a far cry from the typical Osacr-bait filmmaker. Plus he took the only category she didn’t, with one of his actors winning, and frankly while that was what I wanted, it was not what I expected, so I’m glad of it really. His supporting actor was far more exemplary in his role than her lead was. I felt that of all the nominations for that film, the one that was most deserved was that one.
The Oscars as a ceremony were terrible, but I did (not surprisingly) enjoy the crazy dance bit–it was about time they had at least something interesting to watch that night if not relevant. In fact, it was the first time I did not get outrageously angry at something they did, despite my having some disagreements as is inevitable. So who knows, maybe they’re getting better, maybe this is a fluke. I don’t know. But I will say I am very happy with this year’s awards.
Oh, and as much as I love Cameron and enjoyed AVATAR, that movie did not deserve the vast majority of the awards it was nominated for, and won the only ones it did deserve. So I do not in the least bit feel bad. Sorry, Cameron, but no…your ex- is better than you, and more consistently so.
Have to take your word for it on the relative merits of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and AVATAR vs. THE HURT LOCKER until I can see the latter. I, too, was surprised to see BASTERDS get so many major nominations, but since I’ve consistently loved Tarantino’s work, it’s not surprising that I’d be rooting for him without further information.
Thanks for the recap. I must say it was my most memorable Academy Award night ever: I was at Madison Square Garden watching my Sabres beat the Rangers 2-1 in over time. Wheeee!
LET’S GO BUFFALO!
From Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar acceptance speech: “And I’d like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world and may they come home safe.” More reason to root for Bigelow, HURT LOCKER admittedly sight unseen on my part, over AVATAR along with James Cameron’s false accolades for the troops.
Know nothing about Cameron’s accolades, but with you otherwise. As I repeatedly said to the mirth of my companions, I also consider this a belated win for STRANGE DAYS!
I stand by K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER as well. “…The committee ruled that because it was not wartime, and because it was merely an accident, they were not worthy of the title hero. What good are honors from such people?”
Yeah, so does Alexandra. Just waiting for the right moment to see it.