The Complete Oscar Afterglow

Posted by Michael Dance

THE 2009 OSCAR WINNERS:

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Animated Feature: WALL-E
Documentary: Man on Wire
Foreign Film: Departures
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Song: "Jai Ho", Slumdog Millionaire
Art Direction: Benjamin Button
Costume Design: The Duchess
Makeup: Benjamin Button
Visual Effects: Benjamin Button
Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Animated Short: La Maison en Petites Cubes
Live-Action Short: Toyland
Documentary Short: Smile Pinki

THE TALLIES:

Slumdog Millionaire: 8 Oscars
(Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Score, Song, Sound Mixing)

The Curious Case of Benjamin button: 3 Oscars
(Art Direction, Makeup, Visual Effects)

Milk: 2 Oscars
(Actor, Original Screenplay)

The Dark Knight: 2 Oscars
(Supporting Actor, Sound Editing)

Everything Else: 1 Oscar

THE GOOD:

Hugh Jackman's opening number.
The decision to group the smaller categories thematically -- a masterstroke which both provided the show more cohesion and sped it up.
The comedic appearances by Steve Martin and Tina Fey, Ben Stiller (channeling Joaquin Phoenix), and the re-appearance of Pineapple Express duo Seth Rogen and James Franco.
Basically all the speeches. Nobody dragged on, the music didn't cut anyone off, the gay rights pleas from Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn were both very eloquent, and the Slumdog winners had an infectious excitement. (Danny Boyle gets points for being the kindest man in the world, imitating Tigger and actually complimenting the ceremony itself -- something I've never seen anyone do.) Bonus: Philippe Petit's magic trick during his Man on Wire acceptance.
Heath Ledger's victory. I was so worried they were going to screw it up.
The promo midway through the show for Jimmy Kimmel Live featuring Tom Cruise. Hilarious.

THE BAD:

Hugh Jackman's second musical number. It was awkwardly staged, belonged at the Tony's, and the theme ("The musical is back!") is at least six years too late -- Chicago won Best Picture in 2003. Because of the involvement of Beyonce Knowles and the choreography of Baz Luhrmann, they couldn't in their right mind cut it. But they should have.
That car ad campaign that repeated about three times with the tagline "Identity theft can happen to anyone." You're not a commercial about identity theft. Your tagline is just confusing us.
The decision to present the acting categories with five former winners. Yes, it was nice to see former winners saluting each nominee, and Robert De Niro was funny in his tribute to Sean Penn. But it was talky, overlong, and I continue to think just showing clips of each nominee in their role would be better. That way the folks at home can play along, making snap judgments about who's the best. Trust me: fewer people care about Sophia Loren honoring Meryl Streep than you think.

THE REACTIONS:

Roger Ebert loved the show, and disagrees with my about the acting categories: "What they did do was make the time seem to pass more quickly, and more entertainingly. And they finally cleared the logjams involved in simply reading the names of nominees. By bringing out former winners to single out each of the acting nominees and praise their work, they replaced the reading of lists with a surprisingly heart-warming new approach. I had a feeling Hugh Jackman would be a charmer as host, and he was."
On the other side of the fence, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily hated the every-loving crap out of it, announcing that the Academy "publicly commited suicide." Apparently you can't please everybody...
...But Jackman, producer Bill Condon, and the Academy can breathe a sigh of relief: ratings were up 13% from last year's historic low, to 36.3 million viewers. That's still the third-lowest amount ever, and one can't help wondering how many more people would've tuned in had The Dark Knight been a contender for Best Picture and Director, but it reversed the downward trend effectively.

AND FINALLY...

I got 20 out of 24 predictions correct, making for my second-best year ever (after 2004, the year Return of the King swept, in which I had 21 out of 24 correct). I only erred in Best Documentary, Best Song, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short.

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The Complete Oscar Afterglow

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