Oscar 2008 Wrap-Up

So I did worse this year. Last year I got 15 out of 24, this year I got 13. I did very poorly on the short films and I was pretty shocked with Bourne Ultimatum’s three wins, as were most people. The award ceremony was nothing really to write home about. Jon Stewart did a fine job at keeping the show moving but there wasn’t too much comedy to be had. There were some nice scarastic comments but there wasn’t much of a entrance this year; he just showed up and talked. I guess with less writing-time, that’s what you get. Thankfully the stars were all there and some of the banter was adequate. Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen’s Halle Berry fight was pretty good. I did enjoy the quickly thrown together binocular & awakened by nightmare montages. It just goes to show how many montages they make for this very-long award show. Notably absent were the long drawn-out clips for the best picture nominees, I guess that saved some time. Also with the large number of international winners this year, the acceptance speeches were relatively short. There were no Cuba Gooding Jr or Roberto Benigni moments this year. Not surprisingly, this was one of the least-viewed Oscars ever, but that’s because most people hadn’t seen the five movies nomintated for best picture. This says to me that America needs to get out more and experience all the good stuff modern cinema has to offer instead of seeing the cookie-cutter blockbusters plaguing the screens. Oh well. Here is a list of the winners. (right=yellow, wrong=red)

Live Action Short Film: Le Mozart Des Pickpockets
(Way off. The clips looked entertaining though)
Animated Short Film: Peter & the Wolf
(Okay, I was way off with my short film guessing this year)
Documentary Short: Freeheld
(I guess lesbian rights trumps Iraq kid with AIDS.)
Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
(Okay, I didn’t see that coming.)
Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum
(I was right the sound editing and mixing was a two-fer this year.)
Original Score: Atonement
(Finally, something I got right. Thank you Mr. Typewriter.)
Original Song: “Falling Slowly” (Once)
(Loved Jon Stewart mocking their ‘arrogantly’ gracious acceptance speech.)
Visual Effects: The Golden Compass
(Seriously? A polar bear beats a transforming robot. C’mon people!)
Make Up: La Vie En Rose
(Thank goodness Norbit didn’t win. The world is right again.)
Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
(I guess colourful beats dark and dismal)
Art Direction: Sweeny Todd
(Another correct guess, yippee!)
Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
(C’mon, no one predicted Ultimatum would win 3 awards!)
Cinematography: There Will Be Blood
(Roger Deakins was robbed. I guess his two films cancelled him out.)
Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side
(Is this a Star Wars parody? Just kidding. It’s supposed to be good.)
Animated Feature: Ratatouille
(Liked Brad Bird’s ‘unhelpful guidance counsellor’ acceptance speech)
Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters
(It’s about the Holocaust. Pretty hands down.How right I was.)
Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men
(Okay, now the predictions are going my way.)
Original Screenplay: Juno
(Glad they won best picture at the Spirit Awards the night before.)
Best Director: Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
(A well-deserved win.)
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
(Is it just me, or does she look creepy. Her skin looks fake. Scary eyes too!)
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
(Loved his touching address to his mother. I assume it was touching.)
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
(Lot of people were surprised. Many critics picked her to win. As did I.)
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
(No shock there. It’s amazing how soft-spoken he is. What a great actor!)
Picture: No Country for Old Men
(This movie had it all: great acting, story, editing, cinematography, sound and more. I think it deserved more than four awards but I’m very happy it won the big prize.)

How did you do this year? Did you beat my piddly 13 correct predictions?