Oscars Commentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQtMc0C2wzg&feature=player_embedded
I am SO excited to pick up Metal Gear Rising when I have the spare money. The soundtrack is every bit as golden as I thought it was back when the demo showed up. Locked & Loaded, Cosmic Consciousness, I Am My Own Master Now, Rules of Nature, hell yeah.

So the Oscars somewhat surprised me, but they also fell in line with a lot of my expectations. The big surprise for me was the pile of wins Life of Pi also accrued - I figured it was good, but definitely underestimated it. Gonna have to see it.
But let's go through this.

BEST PICTURE
What I wanted: Argo
What I thought it would really be: Zero Dark Thirty
What won: Argo
What I think of that: I was very much prepared for a ZDT win. I'm very happy that an extraordinary movie like Argo pulled the win. Ben Affleck and the rest of his team did an amazing job and should enjoy their win because it was well-deserved.

BEST ACTOR
What I wanted: Denzel Washington (Flight)
What I thought it would really be: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
What won: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
What I think of that: I said it then and I'll say it again - he definitely deserves it too. I really do want to see Lincoln to see how good it really is.

BEST ACTRESS
What I wanted: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
What I thought it would really be: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
What won: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
What I think of that: It was only after I wrote the predictions post that I started hearing about just how good she was in that. Despite the rampant nominations, I'd kinda discounted Silver Linings Playbook, and I was wrong to. I don't think I personally would enjoy as much as the general public since I'm really not a fan of romantic comedies at all, but I shouldn't have discounted its quality just for that.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
What I wanted: Alan Arkin (Argo)
What I thought it would really be: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
What won: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
What I think of that: Fair 'nuf. He was my second-place for wanting, but I enjoyed Alan's performance more. Still, nice job Waltz, and congrats on pulling this award two Tarantino films in a row.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
What I wanted: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
What I thought it would really be: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
What won: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
What I think of that: Well, that makes sense. It was a guess, but sure.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
What I wanted: Wreck-It Ralph
What I thought it would really be: Brave
What won: Brave
What I think of that: Sure thing. I didn't see them, I'm still iffy on the visual style pursued by many animated movies (including Brave), but that's not indicative of writing and acting quality.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
What I wanted: Django Unchained
What I thought it would really be: Life of Pi
What won: Life of Pi
What I think of that: This is one of those categories that is really hard to gauge without actually seeing the movie. I can see how Life of Pi would have done it well though, so I got lucky with the guess.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
What I wanted: n/a
What I thought it would really be: n/a
What won: Anna Karenina
What I think of that: I, uh, entirely forgot to do this one on the predictions post and I didn't notice til today. Turns out I still don't care. Congrats Anna Karenina.

BEST DIRECTING
What I wanted: Life of Pi
What I thought it would really be: Life of Pi
What won: Life of Pi
What I think of that: It was entirely a guess, but I'm down with that. Nice job Ang Lee.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
What I wanted: n/a
What I thought it would really be: n/a
What won: Searching For Sugar Man
What I think of that: I didn't care, but cool. Maybe I'll check it out.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
What I wanted: n/a
What I thought it would really be: n/a
What won: Inocente
What I think of that: Same thing.

BEST FILM EDITING
What I wanted: Argo
What I thought it would really be: Argo
What won: Argo
What I think of that: Weeeeee

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
What I wanted: War Witch
What I thought it would really be: War Witch
What won: Amour
What I think of that: Welp, whatever. Congratulations to Austrian films.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
What I wanted: The Hobbit
What I thought it would really be: Les Miserables
What won: Les Miserables
What I think of that: Yeah, I really figured that'd be it.

BEST MUSIC (SCORE)
What I wanted: Skyfall
What I thought it would really be: Lincoln
What won: Life of Pi
What I think of that:  Sure thing. Time to go find that soundtrack.


BEST MUSIC (SONG)
What I wanted: Skyfall (Skyfall)
What I thought it would really be: Suddenly (Les Miserable)
What won: Skyfall
What I think of that: Honestly, that's what I really expected. I kinda opted to make my guess and my hope different just for difference's sake, but I really did think Skyfall would win, cuz Adele hit it out of the park.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
What I wanted: The Hobbit
What I thought it would really be: The Hobbit
What won: Lincoln
What I think of that: I didn't know Lincoln would be the type of film for impressive production design, but okay, sure.

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
What I wanted: n/a
What I thought it would really be: n/a
What won: Paperman
What I think of that: I meant to see that. Probably still will eventually.

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
What I wanted: n/a
What I thought it would really be: n/a
What won: Curfew
What I think of that: I don't know what that is, but congratulations regardless.

BEST SOUND EDITING
What I wanted: Django Unchained
What I thought it would really be: Django Unchained
What won: Skyfall / Zero Dark Thirty
What I think of that: Well that was unexpected. I mean, I still don't know what this category judges specifically, but still.

BEST SOUND MIXING
What I wanted: Argo
What I thought it would really be: Argo
What won: Les Miserables
What I think of that: I really should have guessed that, even without understanding what exactly this category means.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
What I wanted: The Hobbit
What I thought it would really be: The Hobbit
What won: Life of Pi
What I think of that: I can buy that. I don't really think it would be better than The Hobbit, but still, that would be my second choice.

BEST WRITING (ADAPTATION)
What I wanted: Argo
What I thought it would really be: Argo
What won: Argo
What I think of that: Weeeeeee

BEST WRITING (ORIGINAL)
What I wanted: Zero Dark Thirty
What I thought it would really be: Zero Dark Thirty
What won: Django Unchained
What I think of that: *snorts whole potato chip up his nose out of disbelief*
...
...
Apparently using the N word over and over about everything is enough to get Best Writing.
Nahhh, I'm just teasin'. The film was good and well-written, but I really don't think it's better than its competitors. The only point this entire show where I think The Academy didn't make the right choice.

All in all, pretty satisfying. 10 of the 19 categories I guessed on I either got my wish or guessed correctly, which is a pretty good rate of success, and even the ones I got wrong I usually was pretty okay with that.
Because of the results, I have a couple movies that go on my to-see list. First, Lincoln was already there but the rewards back that up. Second, Life of Pi got a plethora of awards and has convinced me to give a shot. Third, the insistence of the awards has given me the urge to go against my type and see Silver Linings Playbook.
My big surprise is the underwhelming performance of Zero Dark Thirty. I still want to see it, and I still expect it to be excellent, but I'm surprised by its invisibility at the awards. Hell, I guess there might even be such a thing as too controversial.

End Recording,
Ego.