COMMENTARY | The 84th Academy Awards, the biggest night in movies, aired live on Sunday, Feb. 26, on ABC. Everyone looked forward to the ninth return of host Billy Crystal; second only to Bob Hope in number of times hosting the show. Once the stars finished walking the Red Carpet, they sat back and waited to see which of their peers would bring home little Oscars. “Hugo” and “The Artist” came out on top with five Oscars apiece. The awards also used this year as a way to impart movie history to audiences.
Host Billy Crystal opened the show with a montage of some of this year’s Oscar nominated movies. Justin Bieber even made a cameo in the “Midnight in Paris” clip. He made a joke about how “Hugo” couldn’t be a Martin Scorsese film because nobody got shot or whacked. Basically, he did the same thing he’d done in his past eight times as host of the Academy Awards, including singing a song about the Best Picture nominees.
“Hugo” and “The Artist” proved that a look at the past yielded Oscar gold this year. “Hugo” came right out of the gate, winning the first two awards presented — cinematography and art direction. The movies final three awards were for sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects. Martin Scorsese, though, didn’t get the big awards of the night.
“The Artist” made history, becoming the first silent film to win best picture since the first Academy Awards. The 1927 film “Wings” won the honor. (Movie buffs will enjoy learning about the making of “Wings”). “The Artist” also took home trophies for best actor Jean Dujardin, best director Michel Hazanavicius, original score and costume design. The winners showed real joy when they received their awards.
The 84th Academy Awards continued being a historic night for winners and nominees. Christopher Plummer won his first Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in “Beginners.” At 82 years old, Plummer became the oldest actor to win an Academy Award. Jessica Tandy and George Burns won Academy Awards at 80 years old. Plummer said that he’s been practicing his Oscar speech since birth, but thankfully for the audience, he forgot it. Plummer also thanked his long-suffering wife.
Other interesting historic tidbits of this year’s Academy Awards continued trickling in during the night. For instance, audiences learned that “Moneyball” is the first baseball film to be nominated for Best Picture since the 1989 film “Field of Dreams.” Kristen Wiig became the ninth “Saturday Night Live” performer to receive an Academy Award nomination. She earned a nomination for original screenplay for the comedy “Bridesmaids.” “A Separation” made history by becoming the first film from Iran to bring home an Oscar.
There were some expected wins for the night. Octavia Spenser won for best supporting actress in “The Help. The most competitive category of the night belonged to best actress category. It was a two-woman race between Meryl Streep and Viola Davis. The two women have split award wins this year, so audiences wondered who would get the statue. Critics lauded both actresses for portraying strong women who had to overcome different forms of adversity. Meryl Streep prevailed for her role as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” I think she was a little surprised to win her third award, her first since winning for “Sophie’s Choice” in 1982.
Cirque Du Soleil gave an acrobatic performance of what it’s like to go to the movies. It was a beautiful display, but I really miss performances of Academy Award-nominated songs. I hope the Academy considers bringing back live musical performances. I thought the two nominated songs could have been very entertaining, memorable segments of the show.
Billy Crystal did an adequate job hosting the Academy Awards. I really enjoyed the historic elements of the show, including the fun facts and the people dressed as old-time movie theater workers. I know the show runs long, but I really miss the musical performances of nominated songs. Because the previous year had so many good movies, I’m sure winners in each category will be up for debate, as well as the people who seemed to be snubbed this year. No matter what, all of the winners deserve a standing ovation for producing quality work.
Complete List of Winners and Nominees:
Cinematography
“The Artist” – Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” – Robert Richardson (winner)
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” – Janusz Kaminski
Art Direction
“The Artist” – Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ – Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” – Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo (winner)
“Midnight in Paris” – Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Helene Dubreuil
“War Horse” – Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Costume Design
“Anonymous” – Lisy Christl
“The Artist” – Mark Bridges (winner)
“Hugo” – Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” – Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” – Arianne Phillips
Makeup
“Albert Nobbs” – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ – Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady” – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland (winner)
Best Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” (Belgium)
“Footnote” (Israel)
“In Darkness” (Poland)
“Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada)
“A Separation” (Iran) (winner)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Berenice Bejo – “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help” (winner)
Film Editing
“The Artist” – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” – Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall (winner)
“Hugo” – Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” – Christopher Tellefsen
Sound Editing
“Drive” – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – Ren Klyce
“Hugo” – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty (winner)
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Ethan Ban der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren and Bo Persson
“Hugo” – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley (winner)
“Moneyball” – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse” – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lose 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated” (winner)
Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango” (winner)
Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo” – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning (winner)
“Real Steal” – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh – “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill – “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer – “Beginners” (winner)
Max von Sydow – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Music (Original Score)
“War Horse” – John Williams
“The Artist” – Ludovic Bource (winner)
“Hugo” – Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” – Alberto Iglesias
“The Adventures of Tintin” – John Williams
Music (Original Song)
“The Muppets” – “Man or Muppet” Music and Lyrics by Bret McKenzie (winner)
“Rio” – “Real in Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyrics by Siedah Garrett
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” – Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (winner)
“Hugo” – Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” – Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” – Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” – Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” – Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” – Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” – Written by Woody Allen (winner)
“A Separation” – Written by Asghar Farhadi
Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore” (winner)
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”
Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face” (winner)
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” (winner)
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”
Directing
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist” (winner)
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Woody Allen – “Midnight in Paris”
Terrance Malick – “Tree of Life”
Actor in a Leading Role
Demian Bichir – “A Better Life”
George Clooney – “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin – “The Artist” (winner)
Gary Oldman – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt – “Moneyball”
Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close – “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis – “The Help”
Rooney Mara – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady” (winner)
Michelle Williams – “My Week with Marilyn”
Best Picture
“The Artist” (winner)
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”