2010 Academy Awards Review
Posted on March 8, 2010 | Categories: Entertainment, Reviews, Style | Tags: movies
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Even though I never manage to see all the Best Picture nominated films, I always am very excited for the Oscars each year. I love the glitz and the glamour and seeing some of my favorite stars get recognition for their work. This year’s Oscars was made all the more better by Neil Patrick Harris’ opening act and the rather squee-worthy “upset” in the Best Picture category!
Below is my take on the 2010 Academy Awards. This covers both the red carpet (an abbreviated version compared to the one I did for the Golden Globes as my list was starting to get too lengthy with my elaboration) and the results of the awards portion of the evening.
The Red Carpet
Hits: Amanda Seyfried, Anna Kendrick, Cameron Diaz, Carey Mulligan, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Kristen Stewart, Meryl Streep, Penelope Cruz, Queen Latifah, Rachel McAdams, Sandra Bullock
Misses: Charlize Theron, Diane Kruger, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sigourney Weaver, Tina Fey, Zoe Saldana
The Awards
Highs
- Christoph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor (Inglourious Basterds)
- Up winning Best Animated Feature Film
- The Young Victoria winning Best Costume Design
- Sandra Bullock winning Best Actress (The Blind Side)
- Kathryn Bigelow winning Best Director
- Avatar not winning Best Picture
Lows
- The Princess and the Frog not winning Best Original Song
- Up in the Air walking away empty-handed
I haven’t seen An Education so I can’t make a case of Carey Mulligan deserving the Oscar over Sandra Bullock, nor have I seen The Hurt Locker so I can’t argue that it fully deserved to win Best Picture, even though I’m told it’s a phenomenal movie. Still, I am very happy that Bullock won Best Actress because she truly was amazing in The Blind Side and the Oscar could not have gone to a more deserving person. As for Best Picture, I’m just really glad Avatar didn’t win. A Best Picture winner needs the full package – directing, editing, script, acting, etc. Just special effects alone isn’t enough to get a movie to win the Best Picture.
Overall, it was a pretty good Academy Awards. I felt that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin weren’t as funny as I expected them to be, but they were decent enough. Neil Patrick Harris’ entrance, though, was by far and away the best part of the evening in terms of the presentations/presenters. I also thought it was a little unnecessary to have the dancers perform to the nominated songs in the middle of the awards, particularly as the awards organizers were so insistent on trying to minimize the length of the ceremony. And while I still think that having 10 Best Picture nominees is a little excessive in an age where there really aren’t that many amazing movies made each year, I’m pretty pleased with most of the awards results.
Michi
I agree to most of what you’ve said above. I’m really happy that Sandra won. I just adore that woman to pieces! And she looked beautiful that night too! :D Although I haven’t seen An Education yet as well as the other movies where her fellow best actress nominees are a part of, I really think she deserved it as she did wonderfully in The Blind Side. I also thought NPH did a great job with his entrance. I thought he could’ve done a better job at hosting the Oscars than Steve and Alec. And I couldn’t help but LOL at “Avatar not winning Best Picture” under Highs. :D
Caity
Nice highlights. I have to admit, I didn’t watch it but I always enjoy seeing what people have to say. I am curious to hear why you think Avatar shouldn’t get best picture. I do agree with you (even though I did think the movie was good, not OMGFANTASTIC) but I want to see if we agree on the same points. Uhh… what did win best picture, lol?
Manda
Why I thought Avatar didn’t deserve Best Picture:
It wasn’t overwhelmingly original in terms of the plot, it was too lengthy (therefore, not enough editing), and I think the special effects outshone some of the film’s weaknesses.
The Hurt Locker won Best Picture.
Caity
Yeah, I agree. I felt like there were just a whole bunch of stereotypes flung together to make one big humble jumble. I loved the idea of the avatar and being able to go into their bodies through the technology being merged with it but that was the only innovative thing about it.
Obviously more goes into a film than special effects to make it win Best Picture. I didn’t even see The Hurt Locker! Ahhh! Guess what movie just got pushed all the way up on the top of my to-see list?
Marie
I definitely agree with you about Christoph Waltz and Up in the Air. I don’t think it deserved to win Best Picture, but at least one award would have been nice. I personally wanted Carey Mulligan to win Best Actress, but I definitely think Sandra Bullock deserved to win, especially after her emotional acceptance speech.
I’m in full agreement with you about Avatar – I was so happy when it didn’t win. The fact that the script and the actors weren’t nominated for anything clearly shows that the movie is only popular because of its visual effects – like you said, it didn’t have the “full package”.
I loved Neil Patrick Harris’ opening act, and I thought that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin worked well together, even though they could have definitely been funnier. It really annoyed me when they brought on the dancers, mostly because it was nearing 11 o’clock by that time (for eastern time), and the dancing only made the ceremony that much more longer.
Crissy
I am apparently a movie fail. I saw Avatar, and liked the first hour. I honestly couldn’t stand the second half. I mean, good effects and all, but every step was so predictable it was crazy. I was so worried it would win best movie that I almost didn’t watch. I may not have seen the Hurt Locker, but i’m sure it was better.
Carey Mulligan deserved the award just because she was on Doctor Who. But there’s no bias here :)
Adam
Up is very cool, but I think I favour Fantastic Mr. Fox over it. Perhaps I’m biased considering it was one of my favourite childhood novels, and was happy it had an excellent screen adaptation.
I haven’t seen The Hurt Locker either, but I do plan to get around to it.
Oh, and nice to see someone sharing my concern that ten Best Picture nominees is too many. I think that the more nominees you have, the less of an achievement being nominated is. Plus, a bunch of them had no hope of winning, anyway.
Manda
I think I favor The Princess and the Frog over Up. Not to knock Up at all as I think it’s absolutely fantastic and definitely one of Disney/Pixar’s best, but the The Princess and the Frog was so good, too! Plus, The Princess and the Frog is just like the Disney princess movies of my childhood so I think I have some sentimental bias towards it.
Melody
Be warned, I go on and on about films and awards. :D
I originally thought that having 10 nominees was a good idea, because then more good (but maybe indie) films will make it to the cinema in Hong Kong instead of straight to DVDs. As it turned out, most of the nominees this year would have been in cinemas here anyway and that the Academy were only including more films with commercial success. I stand corrected, indeed.
I love Sandra in The Blind Side, her character was so endearing. I felt like hugging her like Michael does in the movie. Having said that, I feel like Gabby would have been the most deserving winner. She just ripped you heart in pieces in Precious. It was also a good choice to award the Best Adapted Screenplay award to, as much as I loved “Up in the Air”. Christoph Waltz and Mo’Nique’s wins were the most predictable, but also made me the happiest.
I definitely agree with you in terms of the hosts. I miss Billy Crystal and Jon Stewart, and hey, even newbie host Hugh Jackman was funnier!
Kaylee
I completely agree with you about Avatar! I haven’t seen The Hurt Locker either, but I just didn’t want Avatar to win :P
Sandra Bullock’s speech made me love her even more, and NPH was sooo awesome.
I actually liked the random street dancing, but I was watching it on my PVR and I fast-forwarded some parts (e.g. any time Martin/Baldwin came out), so the whole ceremony wasn’t as long.
Manda
I didn’t mind the dancing in itself, as the performance was very good. But I thought it was unnecessary and added to an already lengthy ceremony. When you consider the fact that they limit the winners of categories such as Foreign Language, Short, and Documentary to about a 30 second acceptance speech in order to allow room for dancing troupes to perform, I think that’s a little unfair.