First, in typical Oscar fashion I want to thank Art and Kim for writing on this blog with me. I think it'll help provide a variety of opinions and Art is a much better blogger than me as well. But on to the show.
I'll have to give the same disclaimer as Art, I haven't seen all of these movies. But that won't stop me from judging the winners and losers. Also, I don't really want to comment on the show other to say that Billy Crystal is a decent host - nothing too flashy and there was seemingly a good, but random movie montage in the first 20 minutes of the show. I'm not really sure what clips of Forrest Gump, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jaws have to do with this year's Oscars, but whatever. Also, it was great to see Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) from Community win an Oscar for adapted screenplay for The Descendants. He did a nice little Angelina impression.
Also, on a side note it was unfortunate that the NBA All-Star game coincided with the Oscar. It caused a lot of flipping back and forth, but clearly the Oscars had precedence. The All-Star game usually doesn't matter until the end if they players decide to make it a game, which they did this year. I thus missed Will Ferrell and Best Original Song too see LeBron get the East back in the game, only to throw the ball away after a Deron Williams 3 point miss.
Surprises. There were 3 surprises for me. First, was Meryl Strep beating out Viola Davis for Best Actress. After Octavia Spencer won for Best Supporting Actress, I figured it was a foregone conclusion it would be Davis. It almost seemed as though Meryl might have thought so too based on her reaction. It seemed like Viola's year and that too many would see the Iron Lady as just another good Meryl Streep role. I guess not. The second surprise to me was Hugo winning over Rise the Planet of the Apes for Visual Effects. I actually saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes and was surprised that it was a pretty decent movie. (I read one review lamenting that a decent to good Planet of the Apes movie only means that we'll have to sit through decade of bad sequels.) I haven't seen Hugo, but I figured that when you have one of your main characters be completely motion capture and a half the cast also be motion capture you would have a fairly decent shot. The third surprise to me was when Hugo again won for Best Cinematography. I saw The Tree of Life and thought it was visually stunning, The parts that show the beginning of the universe and the live action scenes in Texas were both incredible.
Most Deserving - Original Score: The Artist. I can't claim to have seen the other movies in this category except Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (others were The Adventures of Tintin, Hugo, and War Horse), but right after I saw The Artist I thought that it deserved this award. The score definitely enhanced the movie and was vital to its success. For a silent, or near silent movie to succeed it has to have a decent score to fill what would normally be dialogue and sound effects.
Best Picture. I was fortunate enough to see three of the Best Picture nominees: The Tree of Life, The Descendants, and The Artist so I thought I share my quick impressions of each.
The Tree of Life: The Tree of Life is like an abstract painting. I think your almost supposed to watch it like you look at a painting. You sit there and stare and try and guess the artist's intent. You ask questions and glean answers, but in the end your left with more questions than answers. Its probably a movie that if you see it multiple times you'll see different themes. It is definitely the most thought provoking movie I've seen this year. It literally goes from the beginning to the end of time. I still think the dinosaurs were odd and Sean Penn's role was short and confusing.
The Descendants: This was a movie I enjoyed and reminded me of Sideways, another Alexander Payne film. It reminded me of Sideways, because the story and the characters seem genuine. The movie has a nice blend of humorous and serious moments and feels understated in a good way. I enjoyed it because there are no "good" or "evil" characters. Each of the characters has depth. They all are dealing with their flaws and with what life throws at them.
The Artist: The Best Picture. I think it deserved it. It was probably the movie I most enjoyed in theaters this year. It was fun watching a black and white, silent film. It made me want to go back and see some Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin films. It made me want to watch Singin' in the Rain again, of which it seems loosely based. I thought the acting was great. Jean Dujardin deserved his Oscar. He seemed genuinely like a silent film star and was very effective in the way he used his facial expressions and body language to convey his thoughts instead of words. I thought the limited use of sound was extremely effective and probably the most memorable moments of the film. The silence of the movie definitely enhanced these sound moments and the director took full advantage. The Artist seems like a nostalgic, classic movie about Hollywood with the rise and fall of actors. That being said I have read some criticism of the film which I somewhat agree with. The criticism mostly is that it is a weak Best Picture winner. While I believe it deserved to win I see there point, The Artist doesn't really tackle new ground. It is a nostagic, tribute to that era, which was a theme this year with Hugo and My Week with Marilyn as well. It is pretty light hearted with some serious themes, but it doesn't have (i)the intensity compared to movies like No Country for Old Men or Schindler's List, (ii) the character development in A Beautiful Mind or Silence of the Lambs, or the (iii) scale of Gandhi, Lawrence of Arabia, Ben Hur, or The Return of the King. While I agree, it still is this year's best picture. Furthermore, it is well-made, successful film, which is silent and in black and white, in an era of increasing digital effects and 3D. (And I didn't even mention the dog, who played a great supporting role)
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