Talking About Stuff, with Mike and Christiana

I got a little bit of a late start tonight, but I'm on a slight delay that should be diminished as we get a couple of commercial breaks. Right now, I'm laughing at Chris Rock's monologue. Sent $80 to Cuba Gooding Jr., Jude Law making cupcakes. Hee hee.

I think, from what I've seen so far, he's doing a pretty good job of walking the line between edgy and offensive. We'll see how long he can keep that up. Anyway, I plan to continue updating this post live as the show progresses, so watch this space!

Best Art Direction

Aviator won, and it was both my pick and my prediction, but truth be told, I would have kinda liked to see A Very Long Engagement win it.

Best Supporting Actor

I wanted Thomas Hayden Church to win for Sideways, but I predicted Morgan Freeman, and I was right. I like him an awful lot, but that Million Dollar Baby just didn't do it for me. I wish he could have won for a better film.

Robin Williams is funny. It's weird though, he's doing the same routine that I had heard he would have to cut. Maybe he only had to make a few changes. Apt though, for him to be talking about animation. The impressions are good, but I prefer when he does his own material.

Best Animated Feature

If Incredibles doesn't win this, it will be a complete travesty...
Shark Tale was kinda funny, but that was all...
Shrek 2 was also funny, but didn't have the same emotional impact that Incredibles did...

And Incredibles wins! Damn Straight. That movie was awesome! Brad Bird is pretty cool too. With Iron Giant and the Incredibles under his belt, the man has earned some serious trust in my book. I'd go to see anything he put out.

Cate Blanchett is always great. Very classy, but also with a great sense of humor.

Best Makeup

Lemony Snicket and The Sea Inside were both pretty good, but frankly it's a snub that The Passion didn't get nominated for anything else, so it damn well better win for this.

But no. Lemony Snicket wins it. Oh well, that one was good too. Glad to see it win something. The Passion has it's $400 million dollar box office to comfort it.

Beyonce singing "Look to Your Path" from The Chorus. Didn't see the film, but it sure is a nice song. I don't really have a strong opinion on the songs this year, but I heard Beyonce's going to be singing three of the five nominated songs tonight. Not sure how that happened.

Chris Rock making a funny issue of what movies people really like. Albert Brooks is awesome! Martin Lawrence. Haven't seen him in a while. Wonder what he's been up to.

It's weird that they're having the presenters all over the place this year. Weird, but kinda cool. May get gimmicky though.

Best Costume Design
Yes!!! Edna Mode helping present! That's awesome!!! For the category, I liked Lemony Snicket the best personally. Some really fun stuff in there. They were all pretty good though.

And the award goes to... The Aviator. Looks like The Aviator might be in for a sweep Let's hope so, because I would much rather it win than Million Dollar Baby, and Scorsese should win Best Director. He's freakin' due!

Best Supporting Actress

I'm rooting for Cate Blanchett. Her Hepburn was just too much fun. Virginia Madsen winning sure wouldn't hurt my feelings either though, she was fabulous in that. Sophie Okonedo in Hotel Rwanda was really good as well. Laura Linney was good, but she was mostly just 'the wife' for me. I didn't see Closer, so can't comment on Natalie Portman. I like her in general though.

And the winner is...Cate! Yes. The Aviator definitely appears to be sweeping. Doesn't hurt my feelings any, because it's a fantastic movie, and I just don't want Million Dollar Baby to win.

Best Documentary
Leo's out to present Best Documentary. It's not really the front-runner, but of the three I've seen, I have to go for Super Size Me. It just really made a statement in a fascinating way. Story of the weeping camel was nice, but that was all really, for me. Tupac Ressurection was really interesting as well. Didn't see Born into brothels or Twist of Faith.

The winner is Born Into Brothels. Haven't seen it yet, but I've heard it's really good. It is coming to the theaters near me though, so I'll have to check it out.

Best Film Editing

The Aviator was the only film where I really noticed the editing in a good way. I hope it wins. And it does! Good job. It was fantastic.

Mike Myers is such a funny guy. What the hell happened with Cat in the Hat? That was one of the worst movies I have EVER seen. Accidentally In Love is an okay song, for all that, but it strikes me as a little generic. Like the sort of thing that you might hear in the background of a falling-in-love montage. Oh wait! Isn't that what it was used for in the movie?

Yes! I'm now completely caught up from my delay. You are now getting my commentary LIVE in Christianavision!!

Ha ha! Adam Sandler and Chris Rock as Catherine Zeta Jones. A bit obvious, but funny anyway.

Best Adapted Screeplay
Okay, I'm wanting this to go to either Before Sunset or Sideways...

And the Oscar goes to... Sideways! That's great, because it was such a great movie, and a fantastic screenplay. My only worry is that this will be the only statue for that great movie tonight. Alexander Payne is so classy, sharing his award with the cast.

Best Visual Effects
Lots of good stuff this year. I, Robot sucked, but the effects were good. Harry Potter had some really great, and original-looking stuff. But Spiderman 2 better win. It was perfect, and come on! It's freakin' Spiderman!!

And the Oscar goes to... Spiderman 2! Yeah baby! Spiderman rules the earth!

Wow, the show is just moving right along this year. Guess they're saving time for the long speeches later on.

Nice, a good, classy shout-out to the troops.

Al Pacino coming out to award the honorary Oscar to Sidney Lumet. I'm looking forward to seeing him in Merchant of Venice. Sidney Lumet has made a lot of great movies, but I can't say I know all that much about him.

Ha! Did everyone see Morgan Freeman's wink at the camera? He's great. I'm glad he won an Oscar even if I didn't like the movie.

Okay, Learn to be Lonely from Phantom of the Opera, Beyonce singing again. Hmm, as I listen to this again, I find that the song is actually just reminding me of things that annoyed me a little about the movie. It's okay, I guess. But the song from The Chorus is my favorite at the moment.

Okay, Jeremy Irons with Best Live-Action Short. I haven't seen any of these. What was that banging sound though? Laura Linney with Best Animated Short. Didn't see any of these either, though I'll get a chance to see a few of them in a couple weeks.

Best Cinematography

Okay, Kate Winslet presenting the Cinematography award. Some really amazing films this year. I would be just fine with any of them winning, frankly. They are all fantastic.

And the Oscar goes to The Aviator. Yet another check mark on the list. This is looking good, though most of the categories so far have not been the ones that Million Dollar Baby is nominated for. Still, there's hope!

Best Sound Mixing

All pretty good, but The Incredibles was the only one where I really noticed the sound as being good. Besides, I want that film to win anything and everything it can!

And the Oscar goes to... Ray. Hmm... pretty good, I guess. It is definitely a good sounding movie, but for me there was too much of an obvious switch between Jaime Foxx's speaking voice and Ray Charles singing.

Best Sound Editing
Incredibles! Incredibles! Incredibles!!!!

And the Oscar goes to... The Incredibles! Yay! A minor award, but since the acting awards are pretty much out and it won the Best Animated Feature already, that's all that's left! Still, Yay!

Okay, the fourth nominated original song, from Motorcycle Diaries. It's nice that they gave us a bit of the lyrics in English. Antonion Banderas and Carlos Santana! Cool! Hmm, it's a good song, but I think I liked it more in context with the movie. It feels a little too... busy here, for some reason. Anyway, I would place it as my second favorite of the evening.

Best Documentary Short Subject... haven't seen any of these either. Seriously, I don't understand why they don't downplay these a little more, since less than 5% of the audience will have seen any of them.

Best Original Score
Incredibles should have been nominated, but oh well. Give it to the Passion!! Many good ones, but The Passion was incredibly powerful.

And the Oscar goes to... Finding Neverland. Oh well, it was a good score, I guess, but it seems to me that The Passion is getting totally snubbed.

Yay, Marty!! Scorsese rocks. Giving out the humanitarian statue. Motion picture fund, film preservation. Roger Mayer.

Annette Bening announcing... what? Oh, the tribute to actors etc. who have died...
Yo Yo Ma is fun to say.
Sorry, I'm being serious...
Ronald Reagan, the gipper. Okay, these are going too fast for me to comment on. Janet Liegh, Christopher Reeve. Those stung. Christopher Reeve's autobiography was really an amazing book. Rodney Dangerfield, Tony Randall, Marlon Brando. Some really major losses this year.

Puffy out to announce the fifth original song.
Hip and creative? The Polar Express? Okay, if Puffy says so, it must be true.
Beyonce again. Slightly creepy movie, slightly cheesy song.

Of the five, I vote for Look to Your Path from The Chorus, with a close second of the song from Motorcycle Diaries.

Best Original Song
Ha! Prince! He's in that weird category that I can't quite call cool, but he sure is something. Anyway, The Chorus! or Motorcycle Diaries!

And the Oscar goes to... Motorcycle Diaries. It's a great song. I don't know why the performance this evening didn't quite do it for me. Glad to see that movie win something though. It's great. EXCELLENT! A sung acceptance speech, en espanol! That's awesome!

Best Actress
What's with Sean Penn's inability to take a joke re: Jude Law? That was bizarre. He sounds drunk or something. Anyway, my favorite here is Annette Bening, but Hilary Swank was pretty damn awesome, even if I didn't care for the movie. Catalina is a heck of a discovery, but she's got time. Imelda from Vera Drake was good too, but the direction got repetitive near the end. Kate Winslet was great and quirky. But the movie came out too long ago. That's death in the Oscars.

And the Oscar goes to... Hilary Swank. *nods* She's good, I have to give her that. I really like her in general. My problems with that movie were not with the acting anyway, so I don't begrudge her this, even though she wasn't my favorite. Super classy thanking the other nominees. Not as thrilled with thanking the screen-writers. Wow, it's a long speech, but that's why they rushed the earlier ones.

My accountants would like a word with you!!! Ha ha! I love Jude Law, but dude, Sean, he can freakin' stand up for himself.

Best Foreign Language Film

I'm rooting for The Sea Inside, simply because it's the only one I've seen, well, and because it's good. I imagine the others are too, but... what can you do?

And the Oscar goes to... The Sea Inside! Yay... I guess. I'll get back to you when I've seen the others. Thanking Ramon Sampedro, the man the film was based on. Javier Bardem, a truly wonderful performance...

Best Original Screenplay

All excellent this year, except for Vera Drake, which was a good movie, but half of it was improvised for Pete's sake!

And the Oscar goes to... Charlie Kaufman for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! Yes! That is a great screenplay, and I love him as a writer, so it's neat to see him win. Way to go, dude! 29 seconds... 27 seconds. He's awesome.

It's interesting that they aren't doing the Best Picture Nominees as they go this year. I wonder how they'll handle that at the end.

Best Actor
Charlize Theron. She was so great in Monster last year. Lots of great performances this year. I can hardly choose, but I have to give a tiny, tiny edge to Jaime Foxx, simply because he surprised me so much this year with both Ray and Collateral. Leo, always great. Don Cheadle, always great. Johnny Depp, always great. Clint... well, I'm pissed at him for the movie, so I want him to lose. Any of the other four would be fine with me.

And the Oscar goes to... Jaime Foxx!! Yes! He's great in that movie, really captured Ray Charles, which is hard for such a publically known person. Yay Jaime! Ohhh, Ahhhh! Nice! Wow, what a charismatic guy. Taking the responsibility. Great speech.

Huh, that's weird, I thought they were going to do Best Director too, before the next commercial break. Oh well, guess they'll do it back-to-back with Best Picture. Makes sense.

Oh man, another medical drama? Jeez.


Best Director

Give it to Scorsese!!!!!

And the Oscar goes to... Son of a bitch! Marty is never going to get a freaking Oscar! WTF!! Clint Eastwood. This probably means he'll get Best Picture too. I'm really pissed at Eastwood for making me not like him. I want to like him, but I didn't like his movie... so I'm pissed.

Best Picture

The Aviator, a briliantly told tale of a complicated, larger-than-life man.
Finding Neverland, a sweet touching tearjerker.
Million Dollar Baby, a cruel, manipulative bait-and-switch
Ray, a fun, wonderful, biopic about a tremendous entertainer.
Sideways, a funny adult human drama that entertained me more than any movie this year.

And they did it. They gave away the Oscar to that bait-and-switch garbage. It's well directed. And well acted. But here's the thing. You can have the best chef ever living, but if you give him a crappy piece of meat to cook, there's only so much he can do with it.

In this case, we have Clint Eastwood, who is a great chef, but he picked this piece of meat, so apparently he has crappy taste. At least, in my own opinion. *sigh* This sucks. I would have preferred any of the others over this one. Boooo!!!! Hiss!!!!

Okay, I'm over it now. I may suffer a few flashbacks, but right now, it's past my bedtime. Buenas nochas you no-taste Acadamy members!