Academy Award results

BEST PICTURE
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
*WINNER - The King's Speech

One of those safe picks. Was it a really good movie? Yes. Was it daring, innovative, or something that'll be remembered as an all-time classic in 40 years? No. But I liked how Spielberg said the losers will join the company of The Grapes of Wrath, The Graduate and Raging Bull.

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
James Franco, 127 Hours
*WINNER - Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Much deserved, and he gave a nice speech.

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
*WINNER - Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Much deserved, and she gave a nice speech.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
*WINNER - Christian Bale, The Fighter

Bale's been good in so many things that it's like the Academy was just waiting for the right opportunity to reward him, and they found it. He's also changed his accent so much that hearing him in his native tongue sounds like another character he's doing.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
*WINNER - Melissa Leo, The Fighter

There'd been a backlash against her for doing a "For Your Consideration" photo shoot after she was nominated. (Self-promotion? In Hollywood? Scandal!) I'm glad enough voters still went with her. Her f-bomb drop looked like a genuine accident. Nice to see her be overwhelmed.

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
David O. Russell, The Fighter
*WINNER - Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

This one bugged me. The Coens have already won, so okay. But Aronofsky, Fincher, and Russell are genuine artists, where Hooper just seems like a really good director.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
*WINNER - Toy Story 3

But of course.

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Biutiful, Mexico
Dogtooth, Greece
Incendies, Canada
Outside the Law, Algeria
*WINNER - In a Better World, Denmark

Haven't seen any of the nominees, though Dogtooth's in my queue.

BESY DOCUMENTARY FILM
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Restrepo
Waste Land
*WINNER - Inside Job

I've been looking forward to Inside Job for a while. I did catch Restrepo and found it really good, but to me, it's a crime that Waiting for Superman wasn't nominated.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
*WINNER - The Social Network

Deserving win for Aaron Sorkin.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
*WINNER - The King's Speech

I was rooting for Chris Nolan's Inception, but Seidler gave a great acceptance speech.

BEST ART DIRECTION
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit
*WINNER - Alice in Wonderland

Can't really argue with it. It wasn't a particularly good movie, but the design of it was great.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
*WINNER - Inception

I was happy to be surprised by this. I thought for sure Roger Deakins would get it for True Grit.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
*WINNER - Alice in Wonderland

Yep.

BEST FILM EDITING
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
*WINNER - The Social Network

It does take a good editor to do the time jumps and make sure the audience never gets lost.

BEST MAKEUP
Barney's Version
The Way Back
*WINNER - The Wolfman

I wanted The Way Back, because that's the main thing I remember about that movie.

BEST SOUND EDITING
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable
*WINNER - Inception

I look back and love that Inception tied King's Speech for most Oscars, even if Inception's were all technical.

BEST SOUND MIXING
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit
*WINNER - Inception

Yep.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I
Hereafter
Iron Man 2
*WINNER - Inception

M-hm.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
127 Hours
*WINNER - The Social Network

I wonder how many people saw that fascinatingly normal Trent Reznor fellow and had no idea he's the guy from Nine Inch Nails.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Coming Home", Country Strong
"I See the Light", Tangled
"If I Rise", 127 Hours
*WINNER - "We Belong Together", Toy Story 3

Good for Randy Newman. But really, of his twenty nominations, fifteen of them are the same song.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Strangers No More

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Lost Thing

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
God Is Love

As for the show, I can't say it was very good. Anne Hathaway would have done much better if Hugh Jackman had been by her side, or Alec Baldwin, or Martin, or Crystal, or Jimmy Fallon, or a hundred other guys I can name, instead of the remarkably robotic James Franco. In the end, Franco looked like he regretted ever agreeing to the gig. I like the opening tradition of splicing the host into other movies, even though it's better when Billy Crystal does it. In fact, the energy and laugh-factor rose when he walked on stage. It wouldn't surpise me if they ask him to host for a 9th time.

They said they were going to pay homage to movies past, but it was really more of a bookend deal. Gone with the Wind... and then what? I did like all the winners coming out with the kids chorus to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Nice moment.

In Memorium was probably the least moving one in history. I was distracted by how many actors they were ignoring so they could squeeze in these editors and agents. The Oscars is a TV show, and the viewing audience doesn't care about some costume designer dying. Corey Haim trended on Twitter for his snub.

The humor mostly fell flat, the energy was off, and the moments that worked seemed to do so "in spite of."