My Oscar Monday

Well, I can pretend that I was out partying until all hours of the night at various star-studded affairs and say that is the reason for this fashionably late post, or I can tell you the sad truth; my sinus infection and NyQuil kicked my butt hard last night. I didn't wake up until 12:30 pm!!

Either way, I had already decided I was putting book love on a break for this week to give you my own reflections on last night 84th Annual Academy Awards. So, here's to hoping that late is truly better than never!

Billy Crystal as Host

While I was really looking forward to Eddie Murphy's hosting debut this year, you'd never hear me complain about the return of Billy Crystal to the event's stage. He was, as always, brilliant!

When Colin Firth came out to present the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, I turned to my husband and said, "Oh no! It's almost over!" He astutely pointed out to me that the fact that I did not feel like I was waiting forever and ever for the end to approach was a sure sign this was a good show.

We both credited Billy Crystal, of course, but I think he was just one piece of the puzzle for me. From the moment the show started with Billy Crystal's parody of the opening of the scene in The Artist, I was ready for Hollywood to recognize those who I loved and admired this year.

My Favorite Book to Movie

You may expect me to say Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2  was my favorite book movie of the year, but it was not. Unequivocally, it was my most anticipated book movie of the year and it did deliver on much of the excitement that had built up for so long, but it was not the best of the Harry Potter films and, in turn, not my favorite book to movie of the year. There was another. There was The Help.

I found out The Help was being made into a movie in the midst of me reading it. I thought that was a very good move, but I did not think Academy Awards at the time. When I saw the movie I was pleasantly surprised that the entirety of the book seemed to be captured. My husband, who had not read the book, got to know the stories and the characters as I had known them. The women who portrayed the women in the book seemed to come right off the page and on to the screen. Even then, after seeing the movie I didn't hink of Oscar.

Last night, when Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Help I was extremely happy for her (as well as for all of the recognition The Help got throughout the award ceremony), however I was still unsure. My comment to my husband was, "It is so hard for me to tell if she deserved the Oscar, or if her character was just so well-written. I mean, does everyone just love her character?" In other words, does the Academy want to give the award to Octavia Jackson or to Minny Jackson? But in that question lies my answer, doesn't it? If the two are so intertwined, then Ms. Spencer did an award-winning job! (I think this sinus infection is affecting my comprehension of normal things!).

The Happiest Movie of the Year

I go to the movies for all types of reasons - entertainment, laughter, maybe to learn something, but every once in awhile there comes a film that in the midst of all of its other purposes all serves up a big giant serving of happiness. I'm not even sure this can happen every single year, but 2011 was one year that will go down in the books for me because this year was the year of The Muppets (which is coming on DVD on March 20th YAAAAY!!!). Let me say this as calmly as possible: if The Muppets did not win the Academy Award for best song this year, I am not sure I would have been able to watch the Academy Awards EVER again. In all honesty, there are a number of sings on that soundtrack that should have been nominated, so I thought they had it hands down, but this is the Academy so you never know...

I am happy to say that The Muppets won all of the Oscars it was nominated for this year!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

How many, you ask? Well... um... do numbers really matter? The movie is awesome and if you haven't seen it yet, you need to go buy is next month.

They won one Oscar. It was for this magnificent song, Man or Muppet:



I think I am a Muppet of a person, so this song really speaks to me personally.

THE Movie of The Year

I've written about this before. Now I feel a bit validated. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of Best Motion Picture of the Year according to the Academy Awards and Nicole Rivera is The Artist. I was incredibly nervous about this one. While I believed that the film was beyond deserving of every nomination it received, I can't say that I have I huge amount of trust in the Academy's choices over the years. And when the night started with the Hugo love-affair, I thought, for sure my movie love of this year was doomed for sure.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

Although it seems impossible for a Scorscese film to be conquered on all fronts (Hollywood loves Marty!), The Artist pulled through with some pretty incredible wins for the night.

ORIGINAL SCORE

“The Artist” Ludovic Bource

COSTUME DESIGN

“The Artist,” Mark Bridges

BEST ACTOR

Jean Dujardin

BEST PICTURE

The Artist

In my eyes, this truly was one of the best films I have seen in a very long time. 

The Glitz and the Glamor 

I'm not normally one to ogle at the red carpet or to buy up magazines looking for the fabulous fashion from the big night, but there were two women last night that caught my eye whose looks I simply can't stop thinking about!

First, there is the dress that actually made me say, "Whoa!" Not only because of how beautifully it was worn, but because I felt like it has been ripped out of my own daydreams! It was worn by the beautifully adorable and hilarious Elie Kemper:

Are you kidding me right now?! THIS is how I imaged the fabric of Katniss Everdeen's interview dress in the Hunger Games would look. Did Elie Kemper find Cinna to be her stylist?! I am not even sure this still photo can do it justice. When I first saw the dress Kemper was being interviewed on the red carpet and she was moving in the sunlight - the changing colors as she moved were mesmerizing. I love, love, love this dress. Go Elie! You rock once again!

The second lady to catch my eye was another comedienne. What is it with these funny ladies? They are just masters at manipulating me - they make me laugh, they make me think, and now they make me WOW! Although my hair is short and spiky now, I spent many, many years with long luxurious locks desiring feminine yet fabulous up-dos. Tina Fey's up-do for last nights Academy Awards is exactly what I've been looking for:

 

The hair is completely out of the way without being tightly pulled or slicked down. I don't want to think about how much hair spray and stick stuff there might actually be up there, but the fact is, it doesn't look like there is any. The style looks natural, elegant and interesting (there's definitely something cool happening around the gathering of the bun). 

My Question to the Academy

My one disappointment was a long shot by far, but I still stand by my opinion that the Academy should have awarded Transformers for their sound and/or visual effects. That was, hands down, the most charged up, exciting movie of the summer for me and when I saw it was nominated I was so excited the Academy noticed. However, I lay claim that perhaps I don't know enough about sound editing or mixing to recognize that it was not clear winner. Here's what I do know: the team of film makers behind Transformers created sounds for actions that don't necessarily exist in my world and made them sound real, seamless and exciting to me. While this was not the first Transformers film, in terms of sound and visual effects I feel it upped the ante quite a bit. I saw Hugo, too and while I liked the movie, I can't say it moved me in such ways or caused me to wonder about the magnificence of the sound editing and mixing going on, so I am left wondering what exactly qualifies as the best sound and visual effects in a film and how do we determine that.

The Grand Finale

I don't have a grand finale, but, you know, neither do the Oscars. Well, at least not for those of us viewing at home - the attendees have the biggest party night of the year to top it all off - for us it's just Billy Crystal wishing us a good night and letting the credits roll. I suppose that's enough. For me, this year, it was. I can't remember the last time I jumped, cheered and high-fived so much during an awards show. I hope you enjoyed it too!

Did you watch the show last night? What did you think?

What were your best moments of the show last night?

Did you have any disappointments, any surprises?