My 2007 Oscar Recap
Well, the 2007 Oscars came off without a hitch…except for the poor scripting provided for second time host, Jon Stewart. He was trying so hard to be funny. Of course, I couldn’t tell if he was left with minimal writing to work with as a product of the Strike and they didn’t have enough time to give him OR that it was just the fact that he really wasn’t funny. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the evening’s events from the Red Carpet entrances to the show itself. Though I have to say, the Red Carpet was more enjoyable thanks to E!’s coverage with Ryan Seacrest at the helm. ABC’s coverage with Regis Philbin…let’s just say that I changed the channel to E!…and I love Regis but to be host of the Red Carpet hoopla, he’s just not that interesting. Anyway, let’s get on with my overall recap.
I am happy to say that I was 50% correct in my predictions of 8 major categories. That may not sound like much to you but considering that I didn’t see all the movies in their entirety, my predictions were purely based on guesses for the movies that I hadn’t seen based on what the Academy usually chooses each year. So, let me run down my list (my winning predictions are underlined) -
Best Picture – No Country for Old Men (I predicted Atonement mostly because of the buzz surrounding it.)
Directing – No Country for Old Men (I predicted Michael Clayton because it’s the only one of the 5 that I saw.)
Leading Actor – Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood (He’s won it before. I predicted him based on the trailer alone and the fact that the Academy tends to lead toward characters of this nature.)
Leading Actress – Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose (I picked Marion because her performance was overwhelmingly fantasic. Though I didn’t see all of the films listed, I could just tell that the Academy would lean toward her.)
Supporing Actor – Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (For me, it was a toss up between he and Tom Wilkinson of Michael Clayton. I ended up choosing Tom but I figured the Academy would pick Javier.)
Supporting Actress – Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton (I have to admit, she did an outstanding job. However, so didn’t Amy Ryan in my favorite Oscar movie that shouldn’t have been snubbed so hard – Gone Baby Gone. I picked Amy.)
Animated Feature – Ratatouille (I only picked it because of it’s overwhelming popularity and if you look at all three trailers even, you can tell this movie had it all for an animated feature.)
Original Score – Atonement (I picked this one as well. All the scores were good but Oscar tends to lean toward this style of classical music for it’s choice for original score.)
Surprises for the evening – Juno was up for 4, including the major categories of Leading Actress, Directing, and Best Picture. It received only one for Original Screenplay. Sorry Ellen (Page). Better luck next time. 
Another shocker – the movie Atonement was up for 7 but only received one (that I successfully predicted above). Apparently, deep dark movies this year were the favored.
No surprise – Elizabeth: The Golden Age won for Costume Design. That’s typical fare for Academy voters.
I was beyond stoked that my favorite movie of 2007 – The Bourne Ultimatum – swept in all three categories it was up for. And yes, they were technical ones, but still. Finally! Bourne is recognized by Oscar. Very cool!
Another impressive win in my book – La Vie En Rose won for Makeup. The way they aged Marion’s character was really something. You could almost see Marion as a lady in her golden years (no pun intended).
The most interesting gossip type of event of the night was Oscar’s blog. I’d tell you to check it out but ABC has since removed it from its Oscar coverage site. Whomever was in charge was very forthcoming with all that s/he took in during the entire evening. It was quite entertaining actually.
For a complete list of winners, visit the official Oscars website here.
And that’s it from a peanut in the peanut gallery. If you watched, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time, see YOU at the movies!
Lisa
(Image courtesy of: http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-080224-oscarawards/ss-080224-oscarawards-08.widec.jpg)
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Comments
Glad you enjoyed my ramblings, but I think you gave a much more accurate picture of the Oscars! I do like Jon Stewart, but he was not as good as he usually is. His best joke I think had to be that the Democratic Nominee would either be a Woman or a Black Man, and whenever a movie shows either one being president, you know a meteorite is about to hit the Statue of Liberty!
Atonement is the only one I didn’t see, but I plan on doing so (still!). But to balance out the high brow fun, I think I might have to go see that Will Ferrel movie this weekend (you know – keeping it real!)
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Hi there movie critic! Love your picture at the top of the blog. I really need to update my pix. I’m rarely in them, come to think of it.
No Country for Old Men was fantastic! I feel like it deserved all it won, and maybe more. I’m glad that There Will be Blood won the best actor category and cinematography (I think). BUT The movie was long, drawn out, uninteresting, and had a weak plot with no real resolution. It was dramatic and ironic in places, but it was by far NOT my favorite movie. I will be watching Michael Clayton and Gone Baby Gone this weekend. Talk to you later.
D.