Cinemascope

So how did we do?
Actually, not too bad, at least as far as it goes for the top ten categories where I pulled an almost perfect 9 out of 10. I called both actress upset, predicting Cotillard and Swinton winning. My only mistake - more of a folly in hindsight - was trying to predict an upset for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” for Best Adapted Screenplay, which went to the predictable front runners, the Coen Brothers.
And as far as I saw, no one on the web except me predicted correctly that “The Golden Compass” would win Best Special Effects.
But I bombed on the rest of the tech categories. I went for “Butterfly” and missed out on “Bourne”. But I did get best Short Documentary and Live Action Short right.
So in contrast to the impressive 9 out of 10 in the top 10 categories, I scored a measly and unimpressive 14 of 24 in total. So I’m proud and ashamed at the same time.

As for the top categories: my hunch was correct - the BAFTAS are better precursors than the Golden Globes. The acting awards in the Oscars were identical to the BAFTAs.

The highlights of the Oscars:

#1:

True, “Once”’s music was captivating, but the Oscar telecast distilled “Once”’s charm in a frame: it was Marketa Irglova, the Czech singer/actress playing “The Girl” in the film that made us adore the movie. She seems plain at first, but quickly wins over with her radiance and soul. Oscar producers picked up on it and gave her a rare encore at the ceremony and thus hitting the bull’s eye. This was a magical moment, which went along with “Once”’s best attribute: its heart.

#2:

One of the night’s moments sure to be treasured in upcoming Oscar best-of montages is Javier Bardem movingly speaking on the stage to his mother in Spanish. Bardem hails from a family of famed actors and directors.

#3

Although I only so-so liked “Michael Clayton” I was genuinely delighted to see Tilda Swinton getting an Oscar, the woman with the perfect voice (she has the most beautiful speaking voice on an actor since James Mason), and sporting an unusual yet breathtaking look. Hollywood noticed her only after her role in “Vanilla Sky” but before that she was Derek Jarman’s muse, appearing in many of his movies, and was a brave and uncompromising actress in many British films. Her quip “Happy Birthday, man” to her golden statuette will surely pop-up in future clips on Oscar’s birthdays.

#4:

Isn’t is incredible to realize that the roaring monster of a man that was Daniel Plainview was actually played by a soft-spoken, shy and gentle pirate sporting a haircut worse than Anton Chigurh’s?

#5

Many like to mention Diablo Cody’s past as a stripper (the subtext being “Come on, Diablo, please show us your breasts”) but I would like to point something else: Diablo Cody is the first blogger to win an Oscar. Sure, many screenwriters started writing blogs in recent years, and many of them started one during the recent writers-strike, but Cody is the first to go the other way round: the blogger that became an author that became a screenwriter that became an Oscar winner. As a blogger and wordsmith (yet fully clothed, even when in the privacy of my den) I am both impressed and envious. But more surprising: even this cool chick, who has become a hipster symbol of cynicism and detachment, choked up while receiving an Oscar. I guess it is an overwhelming experience that would make even the toughest nut soft (Joel Coen excluded). But this has to be said: “Juno” is the first screenplay to win for its puns, rather then for it’s structure and character study.