Oscar history made in bad cut-to-cuts

A look at the 82nd Academy Awards

The Academy continued its tradition of honoring the best of the film industry at the Kodak theater last March 8, 2010, Philippine time. It proved to be a very historic ceremony, not just for expanding best pictures nominations for the first time in sixty-six years, but for being the first time a female director took home the Oscar for Best Director.

Program Highlights - All the show, without the songs

The 82nd Academy Awards opened with a song and dance number by Neil Patrick Harris reminiscent of the vintage Hollywood movie musicals, including a chorus line and showgirls decorated and draped with feathers. The opening production number brought in hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in an elaborate set piece that was lowered onto the stage, accompanied by more showgirls. The pair proceeded to open the ceremony by poking fun at each other and the rest of their audience. “The biggest change is this year, the Best Picture category has doubled.” Martin says in one quip, “And when that was announced, everyone in Hollywood thought the same thing, ‘What’s five times two?’”

That was the first and last musical production number of the evening, as the Academy decided to refrain from putting on performances of the nominees for Best Song. Other performances included a dance to the nominations of Best Musical Score, featuring the dance group, LXD. James Taylor also performed a cover of the Beatles’ In My Life for the memoriam segment. A separate tribute was made for director John Hughes, introduced by Matthew Broderick and Molly Ringwald, and closed by Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, and Jon Cryer, who were members of Hughes’ “brat pack,” and Macaulay Culkin.

Notable awards presenters for this year included Robin Williams handing the Oscar to fellow comedienne Mo’nique for Best Supporting Actress in Precious, and Barbra Streisand announcing “history is made” upon opening the envelope for Best Director. Ben Stiller also presented the nominees for Best Make-Up in N’avi face paint.

The ceremony also gave a nod to the honorary awarding to Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall. Her Oscar was given to her in a separate occasion, but clips were shown in the Oscar program proper.

With the main competition, it was especially tough for this year’s Best Picture. Precursors have put Hurt Locker neck-in-neck with Avatar, with a chance of Inglorious Basterds taking home the best picture prize. Hurt Locker ended up sweeping the awards with six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, while Avatar only went home with three awards: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Visual Effects.

Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow, who is also James Cameron’s ex-wife, was at a loss for words in her acceptance speech for Best Director. “There is really no other way to describe it, it’s such a moment of a lifetime.” She also says, “I think the secret to directing is collaborating” as she goes on to thank the many people who helped her make The Hurt Locker.

Among other firsts, Pixar’s Up won for Best Animated Feature while Sandra Bullock won best actress for The Blind Side. Comedienne Mo’nique took home her first Oscar for her first nomination as best supporting actress for Precious. Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for Crazy Heart, while Inglorious Basterds’ Christoph Waltz took Best Supporting Actor.

Reception

Barbra Walters reported that Oscar ratings were up by 8% compared to last year’s ceremony but was still compared to 2007’s telecast. Twitter was especially noisy about the Oscars, mostly with tweets chattering about the best and worst dressed on the red carpet, and fans getting upset about the absence of Farrah Fawcett in their memoriam segment.

Other viewers complained about the direction of this year’s Oscars. You didn’t have to be part of the film or TV industry to notice that something was off with the filming, as seen in the first commercial break when the camera lingered over stage hands changing the set for a minute too long. “The academy cannot give out an award for best editing until they themselves learn how to edit.” tweets acclaimed American writer and humorist, Tina Dupuy.

In the Philippines, ABS-CBN and its partner channels, Velvet and Studio 23 were the official broadcasters for the awards. Local viewers were annoyed by the overabundance of sponsors, which may have been the cause of delay for the telecast. “Bad marks to Velvet, who ruined the Oscar coverage. I will not buy any of your sponsor's products.” Maharhar says on plurk.

A complete list of nominees and winners can be found at the Oscar’s official website. The awards are held annually at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Nominees and winners are determined through a balloting process by the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Photo: Photo: “Oscars 2010” by Steve Garfield, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved. / “kathryn bigelow” by Diana, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.

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