All eyes fell on Hollywood last night (March 7th 2010) as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences distributed their honours in the 82nd Academy Awards; the biggest night in the award season. No awards are as prestigious as the 'Oscars'. No night means more in the film industry. The Academy Awards are watched by millions around the world; by film enthusiasts and fashionistas alike. As per tradition, Los Angeles played host to the awards, and anyone who is anyone was found walking the 500 foot red carpet that leads to the Kodak Theatre in central Hollywood. Despite blue skies, Hollywood's greatest were at times rained on as they made their way inside.
The Kodak Theatre looked simply amazing inside, with 1000's of LED lights twinkling away as if it were Christmas. The ceremony began with the nominees for the 'Best Actor' and 'Best Actress' taking to the stage. Ironically, the first two to be introduced were the eventual winners; Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock respectively. The show was opened by Neil Patrick Harris (a surprise performer; his participation in the night had been kept under wraps), in a typical show-tune fashion, complete with showgirls. You couldn't fit another sequin on Harris' tuxedo if you tried. Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin descended from the ceiling, and then promptly began their opening monologue. The jokes were pure cheese, an example being;
Martin: "Hey look, it's that damn Helen Mirren,"
Baldwin: "It says 'Dame' Helen Mirren..."
It was the third time that Martin had acted as host, and the first Academy Award show to have multiple hosts since the 59th ceremony in 1987.
It was a night of firsts as Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to ever win the Academy Award for 'Best Director'. 'The Hurt Locker' went on to become the first film directed by a woman (Bigelow) to win the 'Best Motion Picture' honour. Also, Geoffrey Fletcher became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Writing when he took the honour for 'Best Adapted Screenplay' for his work with 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'.
The big surprise for me came in the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category. Pundits had pretty much settled on the idea of the German film 'Das weiße Band' ('The White Ribbon') taking the prize, with the Israeli nomination ('Ajami') being the second-in-line. The Academy Award for 'Best Foreign Language Film' in fact went to Argentina's 'El Secreto de Sus Ojos' ('The Secret in Their Eyes'). I felt this was the curveball of the night.
Many would argue that the unstoppable success of 'The Hurt Locker' at the Academy Awards was unforeseen, but I think that previous award-show victory had the film as a major contender, and Hollywood always loves an underdog. For me it was no great surprise when the gritty war film, made for the tiny sum of $11million, triumphed over its major competition, the highest grossing film of all time, 'Avatar' (which incidentally was made for $237million). The 'Best Motion Picture' award had always been a two-horse race. Amusingly, the directors of 'Avatar' and 'The Hurt Locker' (James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow, respectively) were once married, and this fact was joked about in the opening monologue of show.
The four awards for acting ('Best Actor/Actress in a Leading Role' and 'Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role') were all dead certs. Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock took the awards for 'Leading Actor/Actress' whilst Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz took the awards for 'Supporting Actor/Actress'. Both Waltz and Mo'Nique had already won the BAFTA for the same roles. Sandra Bullock had been 'honoured' only the night before with the 'Razzie' (Golden Raspberry) award for 'Worst Actress' for her role in 'All About Steve'. It was the actress' first Academy Award nomination. Jeff Bridges is a Hollywood favourite; it was his 5th nomination and his first win. Mo'Nique summed up the night perfectly when she told E!'s Ryan Seacreast that the night was "not a competition, but a celebration." The talk-show host and comedienne has made the transition to actress seamlessly, winning one of the highest accolades for her début role.
In total, 'The Hurt Locker' took home 6 of the 8 awards it was nominated for. 'Avatar' took home 3. The big winner of the night was most definitely Kathryn Bigelow. Her work on 'The Hurt Locker' is an amazing achievement, and the film is a very deserving winner of the 'Best Motion Picture' award; for being gripping, thrilling and yet maintaining eerie realism. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you do. In the UK it's available on DVD from all good retailers. Some cinemas are planning to show the film for a limited time; check your local listings.
No Oscar review would be complete without a nod towards the fashion on display last night. Kudos to Maggie Gyllenhaal for daring to wear bold prints on the red carpet, and to Carey Mulligan for her Prada dress that was decorated with tiny knives, forks and scissors. The worst-dressed award would have to go Mariah Carey, who was wearing a dress that looked two... maybe three sizes too small for her frame. E! gave us amazing red carpet footage in their 'Live from the Red Carpet' programme that was apparently watched by 180million households in 120 countries.
The Academy Awards are truly a global phenomenon.
For a full round-up of the winners, please visit the official Academy Awards homepage:http://www.oscars.org/
You can catch 'Live from the Red Carpet' when it's repeated all week on E! - Sky Channel 151, Virgin 156.
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