On that note, I was very pleasantly surprised to watch Bigelow take the top honors. I haven't seen The Hurt Locker yet so I can't truly say just how deserved it was, but it was still pretty damn cool to see history be made with her win and for an indie film to take home the prize. I personally was rooting for A Serious Man, but I knew that it really didn't have much of a chance in that respect. Also, for as much as I enjoyed Avatar I was actually very relieved to see it lose Best Picture. I respect Cameron's vision as well as his passion and commitment in bringing us to Pandora, but Avatar really didn't have a whole lot going for it other than that. The story was a serviceable retread of the hero's journey at best and bordering on outright theft at worst, not to mention having any and all political "subtext" land with an audible faceplant (it seriously felt like Cameron was standing behind my seat swinging a frozen sledgehammer into the back of my head whilst screaming, "Get it?! I'M... BEING... RELEVANT!!!!").
Despite the heat for Best Picture, everything else seemed to fall right into the places everyone expected, especially the acting awards. Admittedly I only saw Christoph Waltz's turn as Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds, but I can safely say he gave cinema one of its most chilling villains in a long time. I personally felt like Fred Melamed should have gotten a nomination for his wonderfully slimy turn as Sy Ableman in A Serious Man but hey, you can't win 'em all. While I've been giving Sandra Bullock a lot of grief, I'll admit that I've yet to see the role she won for but it really doesn't look like anything more than wall to wall formula. So until I see it I'll officially reserve my judgment on The Blind Side from here on out, but it still doesn't change the fact that Melanie Laurent should have at least been nominated for her role in Basterds as Shoshana. It was also nice to see Jeff Bridges up on the stage and from his rambling acceptance speech, I would estimate that the Dude abides.
I don't have too much to say about the technical awards, but I will say this: WHY THE FUCK DID AVATAR WIN BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY?!?!?! Seriously, it shouldn't have even been nominated, it was 75% computer generated at least! Anything that wasn't CG was pedestrian at best and nothing more. I personally felt that it should have gone to Robert Richardson for IB. You know, a film shot on actual FILM? Something that actually requires you manually adjust the camera to get the shots and lighting you want? Something that put up against the (relative) ease of shooting digitally STILL turned out better looking than any other movie this year that wasn't a CGI orgy? Anyone? Bueller? (speaking of, I thought that the John Hughes tribute was very well done) Moving on though, I was very happy to see Michael Giacchino take home Best Original Score for Up (btw, a Best Picture nominee by Pixar taking home Best Animated Feature? Yeah, that was a surprise). The one moment in the theater during 2009 that I actually cried was during the opening of Up. A virtually wordless ten minute cartoon that only had Giacchino's music behind it, and it was the only moment this year when I was moved to tears. THAT'S the power of music for you.
Also, I don't know how many other people saw this but it very nearly made me lose what little faith I have left for humanity. It was during the Red Carpet (yes, I watch the Red Carpet) and it was an interview with Taylor Lautner. Whoever it was who introduced him (I can't remember because I was blinded with rage at that point) needs to fuck off and die in a fire because she introduced him as, and I believe these were the exact words used, "The most famous werewolf in cinema history."
I'm going to stop now because if I don't I'm most likely going to end up doing grievous bodily harm to either myself or whoever happens to be in my nearest vicinity.
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