I have to admit that with a three year old, I rarely get to see movies in the theatre anymore. This can be painful for me as most Academy Award nominated films are not out on DVD before the time the ceremony airs. But, it seems that each year, I get to see one nominated movie and put all my money on that one. So far, my husband and I are three for three. We did get to see Crash two years ago and last year, we were fortunate enough to see The Departed.
This year, I had to put all my hopes in No Country for Old Men. Although I do want to see Juno, Atonement, and There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men was the only film I managed to see. Plus, I love the Coen Brothers, so with eight nominations, I was hoping they would win big.
There Will Be Blood also had eight nominations this year, but there was no sweep (not that one was really predicted by anyone). No Country for Old Men only took home half of the Oscars it was nominated for, but they were big ones – Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director (or Directors as the case may be), Best Supporting Actor, and of course, Best Picture. There Will Be Blood pulled off the award least likely to be a surprise last night – Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor. It also won Best Cinematography (which was a mouthful for presenter Cameron Diaz), but that was all. The Bourne Ultimatim took home three Oscars – Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Film Editing – a surprise to some because it only received three nominations.
Juno won an Oscar for newcomer Diablo Cody for Best Original Screenplay. I thought Best Actress was a bit of a shock – going to Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose. It seemed that most people thought Julie Christie was taking that one. It also looked like Enchanted was a lock to win Best Song – three songs from the movie were nominated, but it was “Falling Slowly” from Once that walked away with the award. And, how cool was it that Jon Stewart brought winner Marketa Irglova back up to the stage to give her acceptance speech after the orchestra cut her off with her own song? I doubt you will ever see THAT happen again!
Atonement won only one Oscar, for Best Musical Score. Michael Clayton also only saw only one win – Tilda Swinton for Best Supporting Actress. Who was the biggest loser of the night? It may have to be Cate Blanchett, who Jon Stewart so humorously said was so good, she could play anyone, even him. She lost out in both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.