Oscar Recap

(Winners are in Red)

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor"
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn in "Milk"
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler"

My thoughts:
Well, I guess it’s a little unfair to Mickey Rourke that I didn’t watch his entire movie. But this would have been a hard decision. They all did pretty well, I’d say. Not to make less of Sean Penn’s win, but I could have seen this go to any of these guys.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Josh Brolin in "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt"
Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road"

My thoughts:
First off, I admit I don’t really even remember who Josh Brolin or Michael Shannon played in their respective films (politician and crazy neighbor, right?) Doesn’t bode well for them… As I mentioned in my “review” of Doubt, Philip Seymour Hoffman always seems to overact, which bothers me. That said, I’d like to think that Heath would have won regardless of his untimely death, but I guess we’ll never know if that influenced the decision or not.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling"
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep in "Doubt"
Kate Winslet in "The Reader"

My thoughts:
The Reader was one of my favorite films of this year’s lot. I can’t complain about this outcome. I love Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, but it was Kate’s turn.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in "Doubt"
Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis in "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler"

My thoughts:
Once again, not a good sign when I can’t remember who two of the ladies were… And I hardly saw Marisa Tomei so I can’t judge that performance. Amy Adams has gotten herself pigeon-holed into a certain type of character (see: Enchanted, Miss Pettigrew, Julie & Julia) and she needs to break out of that ASAP or her star is going to burn out really quickly. Doubt was really no different than those other movies. I can’t stand Penelope Cruz, but at least most of her dialogue was in Spanish. And man, can she yell!

Best animated feature film of the year
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

My thoughts:
I must be getting soft in my old age – I almost cried during two of these three movies. I can understand why WALL-E won, but I think Bolt was a close second.

Achievement in costume design
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

My thoughts:
No reason to expect this would have gone to any other film. People tend to like the drama of period pieces. Corsets and frilly underwear is a lot more interesting than pencil skirts or purple-paisley shirts. (Yes, I just quoted a Goodwill commercial.)

Achievement in makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

My thoughts:
Yes, yes, it took a lot of effort to age Brad Pitt. It was creepy actually. But isn’t it more fun and interesting to create imaginary creatures? Eh. Can’t win ‘em all.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (score)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

My thoughts:
I thought it was wonderful, the use of Hello Dolly! in WALL-E. Although I suppose that didn’t count in the score part, huh? I guess I don’t really pay attention to background music too much…

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (song)

Down to Earth from "WALL-E"
Jai Ho from "Slumdog Millionaire"
O Saya from "Slumdog Millionaire"

My thoughts:
I still find it hard to believe that there were no other original songs this year. And wasn’t “Jai Ho” written for a different movie? Why wasn’t it disqualified (see: “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge)?

Best motion picture of the year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

My thoughts:
I just wasn’t that impressed with Slumdog. It won so many awards… If these were my five choices, I’d go with The Reader. I also really enjoyed The Visitor.

Achievement in visual effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

My thoughts:
I don’t know about this one. What visual effects were in Benjamin Button that didn’t involve Brad Pitt’s appearance? Both Dark Knight and Iron Man had so much more cool CGI action stuff.

I’ve got no comments on these categories (mostly because I'd have no idea what I'm talking about):
Adapted screenplay
Original screenplay
Achievement in art direction
Achievement in cinematography
Achievement in directing
Achievement in film editing
Achievement in sound editing
Achievement in sound mixing