Finally, the dread has backed down, the gloom has cleared up, the sky has turned blue again, the birds are chirping, the clouds... OK, let's not go that way. OSCARS winners is in! I missed the whole show, which I've read and heard was a good one (of course, when you put somebody like John Stewart, it'll be a hell of a funny show).
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN ruled the night, bagging 4 awards including the major cajones of Best Director for the Coens and Best Picture. And the dark characters of Daniel Day-Lewis got the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor to Javier Bardem and his horrible haircut. I am very pleased as well the lovely and deserving Marion Cotillard bagged Best Actress for her tour-de-force performance as chanteuse Edith Piaf in LA VIE EN ROSE (Cate Blanchett, looking so surprised and so happy when Cotillard's name was announced, aww bless her). So far, so good, my bets have all won, and I still have to watch MICHAEL CLAYTON to see Tilda Swinton's supposed-to-be corporate bitchy character as she won the BEST SUPPORTING NOD. I'm so happy for ONCE as well for winning the Best Original Song!!!
Probably the best speeches goes to Tilda Swinton. Damn that woman! She can make a concise, funny, shamelessly direct, and intelligent speech in a matter of seconds! She first looked surprised and astonished, but then started talking about how the Oscar statue "and bottocks looked like the spitting image" of her American agent, and George Clooney's "Batsuit, you know, with those nipples". What a woman. Marion Cotillard's speech was truly heartfelt and tender and she was definitely moved and stunned by her win, as she said "Thank you, life. Thank you, love. It is true that there are angels in this city". But who could ever forget John Stewart's gimmick as nominating the pregnant women of the night, with Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman as nominees and hollered "the baby goes to.." It was Angelina Jolie who won, and apparently, Stewart tells the audience "she can't be here because it's hard to hire 17 babysitters at an Oscar night". Classic.
Here's the result. Winners are painting the town red:
BEST PICTURE
ATONEMENT
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
MICHAEL CLAYTON
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
JUNO
BEST ACTOR
Johnny Depp - SWEENEY TODD
Tommy Lee Jones - IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
Daniel Day Lewis - THERE WILL BE BLOOD
George Clooney - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Viggo Mortensen - EASTERN PROMISES
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Laura Linney - THE SAVAGES
Marion Cotillard - LA VIE EN ROSE
Ellen Page - JUNO
Julie Christie - AWAY FROM HER
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Tom Wilkinson - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Hal Holbrook - INTO THE WILD
Casey Affleck - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES
Philip Seymour Hoffman - CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan - GONE BABY GONE
Cate Blanchett - I'M NOT THERE
Ruby Dee - AMERICAN GANGSTER
Saoirse Ronan - ATONEMENT
Tilda Swinton - MICHAEL CLAYTON
BEST ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS
RATATOUILLE
SURF'S UP
BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Tony Gilroy - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Jason Reitman - JUNO
Paul Thomas Anderson - THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Julian Schnabel - THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Sarah Polley - AWAY FROM HER
Christopher Hampton - ATONEMENT
Ronald Harwood - THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Paul Thomas Anderson - THERE WILL BE BLOOD
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody - JUNO
Nancy Oliver - LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
Tony Gilroy - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Brad Bird - RATATOUILLE
Tamara Jenkins - THE SAVAGES
BEST ART DIRECTION
AMERICAN GANGSTER
ATONEMENT
THE GOLDEN COMPASS
SWEENEY TODD
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES
Seamus McGarvey - ATONEMENT
Janusz Kaminski - THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Roger Deakins - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Robert Elswit - THERE WILL BE BLOOD
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
ATONEMENT
ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
LA VIE EN ROSE
SWEENEY TODD
BEST EDITING
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
INTO THE WILD
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort"
"The Counterfeiters"
"Katyn"
"Mongol"
"12"
BEST MAKEUP
NORBIT
LA VIE EN ROSE
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
ATONEMENT
THE KITE RUNNER
MICHAEL CLAYTON
RATATOUILLE
3:10 TO YUMA
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Falling Slowly" - ONCE
"Happy Working Song" - ENCHANTED
"So Close" - ENCHANTED
"That's How You Know" - ENCHANTED
"Raise It Up" - AUGUST RUSH
BEST SOUND EDITING
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
RATATOUILLE
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
TRANSFORMERS
BEST SOUND MIXING
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
RATATOUILLE
3:10 TO YUMA
TRANSFORMERS
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
THE GOLDEN COMPASS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
TRANSFORMERS
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
NO END IN SIGHT
OPERATION HOMECOMING: WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE
SICKO
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE
WAR/DANCE
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
"Freeheld"
"La Corona"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
"I Met The Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis"
"My Love"
"Peter and The Wolf"
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
"At Night"
"Ill Supplente"
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets"
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"
Till next year, lads and gals.
