Vagrant Rant M o v i e s . G a m e s . M u s i c . "L i f e".

So I missed the live broadcast of the Oscars this morning on account of work, but I’ve been pretty successful in keeping a media blackout going, so I shall now watch the recorded version and write my thoughts on the big awards here as I see them, then post them tonight. How exciting!

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

This one was arguably pretty open but I was still surprised that the favourite, Tommy Lee Jones, didn’t win. Very pleasantly surprised, that is, because Christoph Waltz was AWESOME in Diango Unchained and I had pretty much assumed that the Academy would ignore his turn because he had already won quite recently. Two wins from two nominations!

Best Animated Short: Paperman

Shown before Disney’s Wreck It Ralph, which I still haven’t seen. Ugh.

Best Animated Feature: Brave

The only nominee that I’ve seen, so I guess I’m cool with it, although the reviews for Wreck It Ralph suggested it was the superior film. Perhaps the Oscar voting type didn’t actually see a movie they thought would just be all about video games? Hmmmm.

Best Cinematography: Life of Pi

Makes sense. Even the trailers for this film could show you that it’s eye-bleeding technicolor Oscar material. Also, that cinematographer guy seemed eccentric to say the least.

Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi

A tough category, because all the nominees were pretty impressive, but Life of Pi, again, made sense as the winner. That music drown-out at the acceptance speech was pretty ruthless.

Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina

Sure.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Miserables

Quite funny that “hairstyling” is now part of this award’s title. Les Miserables was a worthy winner; some of those scenes were deliciously grubby thanks to the combination of close-ups and great makeup.

James Bond Musical Tribute

Such a well-put-together sizzle reel! Stylish and nostalgic. Plus Shirley Bassey’s still got it. 76 years old and bringing down the house. Wow.

Best Live-Action Short: Curfew

Can’t comment on this one, but it certainly looks good.

Best Documentary Short Subject: Innocente

See above. It’s interesting that the Academy tried to get the lesser awards out of the way so early this year.

Best Documentary Feature: Searching For Sugar Man

This category once introduced me to the excellent Inside Job, so I might try to watch Searching For Sugar Man, although that looks easier said than done.

Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Amour was nominated in the biggest category of the night as well, so a no-brainer really.

Movie Musical Tribute

Man how good was Chicago back in the day? Can’t believe it has already been ten years since Catherine Zeta-Jones sung All That Jazz in the Best Picture winner. Dream Girls and Les Miserables had their moments as well, of course.

Best Sound Mixing: Les Miserables

Well all the singing was live after all, and everyone made a big deal about that, so fair enough.

Best Sound Editing: Tied – Zero Dark Thirty & Skyfall

Well, that was certainly unexpected. People looked a little confused, understandably, when Mark Wahlberg announced a draw. But I am definitely cool with Skyfall getting some kind of recognition, even if it isn’t in the big categories. That movie sounded amazing.

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway

How very, very surprising. Anne was incredibly short odds to win. Saw Les Mis though, and I’d say she deserved this one. Yeah, it was basically for one song, but what a song!

Best Film Editing: Argo

That’s about right. You don’t build tension like that felt in Argo without some pretty impressive attention to film cuts.

Best Production Design: Lincoln

Can’t actually say too much about this one, sadly; haven’t seen Lincoln yet. Sets for period movies usually have a good chance of winning in this category, in any case.

In Memoriam

Some true greats on the list this year, as with every year. R.I.P. guys. And hey, Barbara Streisand can still sing.

Best Original Score: Life of Pi

Eh, would’ve preferred Argo or Skyfall to win, but that’s probably the story of the whole night anyway, so well done Life of Pi.

Best Original Song: Skyfall

The best Bond Song in ages thoroughly deserved this award. Adele’s performance of it earlier in the night was breathtaking as well. Man, I want to watch that opening sequence again! Was that songwriter’s loose hair strand annoying anyone else?

Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo

Into the big six now and what an awesome win for Argo in a truly tough field. If y’all haven’t seen that film yet, it’s out on Blu-Ray soon so check it out. Do it.

Best Original Screenplay: Django Unchained

Yes! Quentin Tarantino’s first writing win since Pulp Fiction was well deserved. The man lampshaded how incredibly competitive the competition was this year in his speech and he certainly wasn’t off the mark, but Django jumps right off the page.

Best Director: Ang Lee

I maintain that this seemed a slightly hollow victory in light of Ben Affleck’s unbelievable absence from the list of directing nominees, but Ang Lee was an upset winner anyway and so I was quite pleased indeed with this result. The man has done some awesome stuff in his career and it was good to see him get some more Academy recognition.

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence

Very pleased with this one. Lawrence was awesome in her last nominated role, for Winter’s Bone, and she brought the fire in Silver Linings Playbook. She kept her speech short and sweet, which was refreshing to see. She fell over, though. How embarrassing.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

Expected, but I’m sure it was deserved. I keep hearing more and more good things about Lincoln, so I really want to give it a watch. Also, he’s a Pom? No way. I literally thought he was American all this time.

Best Picture: Argo

In truth, I haven’t been happier about a Best Picture Oscar win in a long time. Ben Affleck’s sublime thriller Argo continues the fine form he carried over from Gone Baby Gone and The Town, completing a remarkable reputation turnaround from a decade ago with this historic win. You can read my Argo review here, if you feel so inclined.

The Whole Show

Overall this year’s show was pretty enjoyable, a little less uptight than previous years thanks partially to Seth MacFarlane’s surprisingly omnipresent hosting. Sure, a few of his jokes fell flat, but that’s the Family Guy formula: Throw plenty of them out and some are bound to connect. It was great to see most categories actually filled out with five nominees for the first time in a while, the various Hollywood musical references and performances ranged from cool to downright show-stopping, the running time of the whole thing came in at well under four hours for once and some of the awards actually went to slightly unexpected recipients. Still some criminal nomination snubs, of course, but I’ve seen worse ceremonies. No film really swept the categories, either, which was nice, and the only real luckless case was Zero Dark Thirty, which lost out in some undoubtedly close calls.

And there goes another year of Oscars!
Here’s to another year of excellent movies, and perhaps one that sees a bit more justice when it comes to Academy nomination time.