I managed to fall asleep extra early last night with a copy of Joe Abercrombie’s Before They Are Hanged resting on my nose, but from what I saw this morning, The Hurt Locker pretty much swept the Oscars, walking away with the awards for Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).
I couldn’t be happier, myself. I’ve been a fan of director Kathryn Bigelow’s ever since I saw her cult classic vampire film Near Dark, and have long felt that she was deserving of greater recognition. On top of that, The Hurt Locker is a fantastic film. I bought the DVD on the strength of its reputation alone and was not in the least disappointed. Oh, and finally, she’s James Cameron’s ex-wife, and she probably deserves a few awards simply for having lived with that man (Psst – -apparently he’s kind of an a-hole.)
Speaking of Cameron, his 3-D opus Avatar didn’t do too bad,
either. It received Oscars for Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual
Effects. I thought that these were fair choices for the film. On purely
story level Avatar was agonizingly bad, but I’d be a fool not
to recognize the film for the purely artistic and technical
accomplishment that it was. Apparently the Academy felt the same way. Avatar wasn’t the only science fiction title to receive some recognition last night. Last year’s reboot of Star Trek won an Oscar for Best Make-up. I would have liked to see District 9
get a little Oscar love, but seeing two mainstream, widely released
science fiction movies walk away with four Oscars hardly seems
something to complain about.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on last night’s award ceremonies. Let the Suvudu Post-Oscars discussion begin!
This priceless snapshot from last night says tons:
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyy65bYCta1qzocrco1_500.jpg
Hahahahahah! Indeed, Mr. Xalieri, indeed.
I think they made the right decision when they gave The Hurt Locker the Best Picture and Best Director awards. There were 4 other movies I would have minded seeing win Best Picture. I kind of wanted to see Tarantino win Best Original Screenplay.
Although I loved Avatar, I don’t think it deserved Best Picture. It’s like it should have won an award that doesn’t exist yet for the advancements it made in technology.
I was a little annoyed that Moon didn’t get any nominations, but there’s always something left out.
I think this sums up how Cameron feels about losing to Bigelow
http://twitpic.com/17b38l
Laszlo (and Will), that is one of the funniest (and most succinct) summaries of last night that I’ve seen yet. Bravo!
Will, you’re absolutely right regarding “Moon.” That was a solid film. SF need not be silly or escapist.
I was fine with every award given last night… except for Animated Short. Terrible.