2009 Oscars are Over.

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Okay, let's see who won! [My votes]

Best Motion Picture of the Year :
- The Hurt Locker
Oh my goodness gracious. Who saw this coming? The movie buffs, maybe. But the general public, no. Avatar got soooo much press and commentary (even throughout this broadcast), only a few people (and, most of those just wanted Avatar NOT to win) were staking claim on this to win. Kudos to one and all.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role :
- Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
Even my husband saw this one coming. I still never remember who Jeff Bridges is. #fail for me. Oh, and double fail in that I don't know what Crazy Heart is about.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role :
- Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
If I set aside my personal bias, I would have picked the woman. But I didn't, and that's okay. I have mixed feelings on her gown, but that's besides the point. I truly congratulate her. It was beautiful that she mentioned the other nominees in her short speech as well. Which leads me to ask... are there no limits to how long the Lead Actor and Lead Actress can speak? It sure didn't seem like they had a limit this time!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role :
- Christopher Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
I had gone with Matt Damon for no good reason.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role :
- Mo'Nique for Precious
well, I could say I saw it coming. But, I don't think there's a reason for that. I will say, however, that I hated Mo'Nique's dress and hair.

Best Achievement in Directing :
- Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
well, James Cameron (or Jim, as his friends seem to call him) didn't win. BUT, a WOMAN did. That's a win for humanity, folks.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen :
- The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
I managed to actually miss this one being awarded, but I guess this makes it official... I'll have to see this movie.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published :
- Precious (Geoffrey Fletcher) [I did vote for this one]
Strange clips shown in some of these selections, including the winner. But, maybe I'll check the book out of the library... I need a new reading selection anyway.

Best Achievement in Cinematography :
- Avatar [I did vote for this one]
Um, I got it right... but should it count since everyone on Earth knew who would win this category?

Best Achievement in Editing :
- The Hurt Locker
hmmm... no comment.

Best Achievement in Art Direction :
- Avatar
I do not agree with this. And this is one of my favorite categories. boo on them.

Best Achievement in Costume Design :
- The Young Victoria (Sandy Powell)
Again, nothing to say except, for a costuming award, Sarah Jessica Parker AND the winner both looked atrocious. And, starting your speech with "well, I already have two of these" ain't cool.

Best Achievement in Makeup :
- Star Trek [I did vote for this one]
Ben Stiller was really cool-looking as a Na'vi from Avatar, hehe. And he had some good jokes. I'm also happy that Star Trek won, and rather intrigued that the other two nominees' videos were so strangely non-makeup-y.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score :
- Up (Michael Giacchino)
Everyone saw this coming, and I should have as well. But I held out hope for the beauty of Hans Zimmer's music until the bitter end. Nice speech by Giacchino, I like encouraging kids in the arts.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song :
- Crazy Heart - Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett ("The Weary Kind")
A lot of people voted for this one. I was not in that majority.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing :
- The Hurt Locker
Um, the one film in this category I didn't see, won. I guess it must have blown the other four away in this category, in a way that I must not be able to imagine.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing :
- The Hurt Locker
I thought Samuel L. Jackson did a good job of explaining everything about sound, and it was nice to see some Dark Knight again, LoL. This movie had a lot of people pushing for it, so although I didn't see it, I agree it must be good, LoL.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects :
- Avatar [I did vote for this one]
I'm sorry... was there a single voter for the Academy who even bothered to read the list of nominees? Avatar was so purely perfect in this area. Cheers to it winning.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year :
- Up
The only one I saw ended up winning. Too bad I voted for something else.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year :
- El Secreto de sus Ojos (Argentina)
At least the winner gave a speech (mostly) in English, LoL. Nice joke about Na'vi being a foreign language, lmao.

Best Documentary Feature :
- The Cove
Well, with all of the press on SeaWorld right now, I guess it's good that people will go out and learn more.

Best Documentary Short Subject :
- Music by Prudence
All I really have to say about this one is that I didn't like the winners' words at the mic.

Best Animated Short Film :
- Logorama
This was my second choice, if I had to pick one. I'm a little sad that Wallace & Gromit didn't win, but what I've seen of Logorama was really neat, so I guess I'm happy for them.

Best Live Action Short Film :
- The New Tenants
um, ok.

Last thoughts:
42 men and 1 woman got recognition at the SciTech awards... we need more females out there, folks.
Avatar walked away with just 3 wins... don't know how expected that was!
A woman finally won for Best Director.
I managed to do WAY WORSE than last year, with just 4 correct... I had 10 last year!! oh well.

Further Reading:
Critical Confabulations did a very comprehensive examination over several posts. It links to the first one.
Tea to Pour wrote about actors. and actresses. and supporting actors. and supporting actresses.
Katie has some great and concise thoughts.
The Critical Condition is always good. Here's more from him. And more.