I know it’s parochial but big-ups to Bret McKenzie for taking home a glorious golden Oscar statue on Sunday evening for his muppet/man identity disorder song Man or Muppet. There were only two nominees in the best original song category this year, but it went to the right guy - I think the song is brilliant, so do my 5-year-old son and mother, it’s a cross generational gem!
I know it’s parochial but big-ups to Bret McKenzie for taking home a glorious golden Oscar statue on Sunday evening for his muppet/man identity disorder song Man or Muppet. There were only two nominees in the best original song category this year, but it went to the right guy - I think the song is brilliant, so do my 5-year-old son and mother, it’s a cross generational gem!
The rest of the awards unfolded much as I’ve suggested over recent weeks. It’s not much to crow about though as this year’s winners were predictably predictable, with The Artist going home with the big awards - best film, best director, best actor, along with best costume and best score.
Meryl Streep wore gold to match her Oscar, Christopher Plummer made history as the oldest (he’s 82) and one of the most charming actors ever to win an Oscar, and Octavia Spencer’s did a “Gwyneth” and sobbed her way through her thank you speech. The Artist’s Jean Dujardin beat George Clooney to the best actor Oscar, and it was great to see The Descendants and Midnight in Paris acknowledged for their witty scripts. Martin Scorsese missed out on the glamour prizes but he deservedly scooped the technical awards for his detailed obsessed and visually magical Hugo - you can’t get 11 nominations and go home empty handed!
Billy Crystal was, well, retro. His performance was bland and safe and I think 9 bashes at hosting the Academy Awards is probably enough (… please spare us any more singing). Sacha Baron Cohen’s stunt on the red carpet might have reeked of a marketing ploy for this latest film The Dictator, but it was most amusing watching Mr.TV Ryan Seacrest flounder as he tried to work out how to handle the situation.
The dresses were laden with trains, bling and sequences, the stomachs were flat, the faces tight and the male facial hair looked like it had been cultivated and preened for months. Gold, white, black and red all “trended” on the red carpet, and now that it’s over Hollywood can get back to eating!
Full list of the 2012 Academy Award winners are listed below.
On another note, the beginning of a new month means the beginning of a new featured director in our Directors Showcase. Throughout March we’re showcasing the work of Oscar winner Jacques Tati every Sunday night at 8.30pm. In the 1930s, after a stint as a professional rugby player, Tati began his career as a music hall entertainer and after serving in the French Army during World War II he began directing comedy feature films. Tati wrote and stared in all of the 6 feature films he made; four of them featured his signature character, the pipe smoking Monsieur Hulot.
This Friday 2nd March at 7.25pm we’re playing a wonderful introduction to Tati called The Magnificent Tati, which documents his rise from the Parisian Music Hall to his Oscar winning films of the 1950s.
Highlights this month must sure be Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (M. Hulot’s Holiday - Sunday 11th March, 830pm) and Mon Oncle (My Uncle - Sunday 18th March, 8.30pm).
WINNERS OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS 2012
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, The Descendants
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: A Separation (Iran)
Original Score: The Artist, Ludovic Bource
Best Original Song: Man or Muppet, The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
Best Achievement in Art Direction: Hugo
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Hugo
Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated
Best Documentary Short Subject: Saving Face
Best Animated Short Film: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Live Action Short Film: The Shore
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Hugo
Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Art Direction: Hugo
Costume Design: The Artist, Mark Bridges
Sound Editing: Hugo, Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Sound Mixing: Hugo, Tom Fleischman and John Midgley