quick notes on the oscars

[wingblossom]

*I cheered my lungs out when Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director and Best Picture for The Hurt Locker -- beating out Avatar in those two categories, along with four other awards that I expected James Cameron to walk away with. I still can't believe that this is the first time a woman has ever received the first award! (Also, I will admit that a small, petty part of me gloated that Avatar didn't sweep the Oscars like I expected. I'm less than fond of Cameron himself, and Avatar's racefail is on par with with every single "mighty whitey" narrative told on-screen in the last twenty years or so.) Anyway, The Hurt Locker was a good film and deserved the honors it got.

*A lot of people are really invested in seeing what actors and actresses wear on the red carpet, but personally? I've always been more interested in seeing the montages that crop up before and after each award is handed out. This time, there wasn't much, except for a really long clip from past horror movies, and a memorial reel for John Hughes. As always, Moon River started playing at one point. XD On a related note, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were great as this year's hosts; I doubt their banter was actually scripted by them, but it was still awesome and made of win.

*Shame on you, Oscar committee, for not giving Ponyo a deserved nomination!

Still, the intros to the animated film nominees were pretty cute all in all. I was half-expecting Coraline to win, and vaguely saddened that it didn't -- I loved the adaptation, and Henry Selick really deserves more credit -- but who would begrudge Pixar another victory? (Hint: not me.) If anything, it reminded me that: 1) I should try to find Up's soundtrack, because the main theme = love, and 2) when is the next Toy Story movie coming out, anyway?

*Actually, I liked all the shorts shown, both live-action and animated. Plus, I have a bunch of new films to look into now, like Nine, In Victoria, Up in the Air, Logorama, and An Education. Whee. *g*

Anyway, watching the Oscars always has the strange effect of making me want to direct films, even though I've never filmed anything in my entire life. :D