My feeling about the 80th annual Academy Awards is......huh? What happened? Did we really wait out the writers' strike for this?
Everything just seemed so bland...from the dull selection in dresses, to Jon Stewart's safe hosting duties...to the expected wins. There was nothing shocking or gasp-inducing. Even Marion Cotillard's win for Best Actress had been presaged by her Golden Globe, BAFTA and Cesar wins. Not such a huge surprise when you think about it. Her performance as Edith Piaf relied on a complete physical transformation....and Oscar loves a young pretty actress getting ugly for her art. Think of Charlize Theron for Monster...or Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry.
However, it's exciting to see that Hollywood is looking beyond just English language films at last.
Of course, they're not looking far enough to award Persepolis with the best animated feature prize! It was totally predictable that Ratatouille would win here, even though I feel that Persepolis broke new ground in demonstrating how animation could be used to tell thought-provoking, grownup stories.
I was thrilled to see The Bourne Ultimatum take home three prizes, albeit in tech categories. Makes me wonder if it could have been a contender in some bigger categories if it had been released later in the year.
And finally, I was disappointed that There Will Be Blood didn't win Best Picture. All the nominees were excellent films this year, so I'm not sad to see the Coen brothers rake in the goodies...but I do feel that Paul Thomas Anderson's tale of capitalism and religious fervor deserved the highest accolade. It was a dark story....as was Michael Clayton and No Country, and perhaps it didn't have the perverse humor that the Coen brothers managed to inject into their western. Everyone loves a villain, and Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh was the more colorful bad guy...complete with silly hair and a coin-tossing gimmick. Perhaps Daniel Plainview was just too damn human.