The 2009 Oscars - a Human Face Returns
A Personal View of the 2009 Oscars
The Oscars, celebrating the best work in film of 2008, were, this time, and thankfully, mostly lacking the usual gushing acceptance speeches, but consisted of more human stories. Previously nominated for the Oscar on five occasions, Kate Winslet finally won her first Oscar, as she won Best Actress for her role as Nazi prison officer Hanna Schmitz in 'The Reader', and recalled how, as a little girl, she had pretended holding an Oscar in front of her bathroom mirror. One of the most moving moments at the 2009 Oscars, the late Heath Ledger's posthumous award for Best Supporting Actor as the Joker in 'Dark Knight', saw his statuette being picked up by the Ledger family. 'Slumdog Millionaire' director Danny Boyle, who won Best Director, bounded on stage, receiving the award in the spirit of Tigger - as he had promised his children (if he ever won) years before.
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz (Best Supporting Actress for her role as Maria Elena in Woody Allen's 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona') and Sean Penn (Best Actor for his role as gay rights activist Harvey Milk in 'Milk') both accepted their awards with humour - Ms. Cruz becoming the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar. Best Original Screenplay winner (for 'Harvey Milk') Dustin Lance Black made arguably the most moving speech of this year's Oscars.
Hollywood's golden couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, both missed out, and hotly tipped for the Best Actor Oscar, Mickey Rourke, also missed out for his role as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in 'The Wrestler'. But, after losing his beloved pet Chihuahua, Loki, a few days before the Oscars, Mickey said he'd rather have Loki for another two years than win an Oscar - thus putting things into perspective. The 2009 Oscars showed that the Oscars are not all about winning, and it was good to see a human face return to this sometimes shallow, glitzy event.
The 2009 Oscars - Winners & Nominations
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Frost/Nixon; Milk; The Reader
Best Director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: Stephen Daldry - The Reader; David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon; Gus Van Sant - Milk
Best Actor: Sean Penn - Milk
Other Nominations: Richard Jenkins - The Visitor; Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon; Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Best Actress: Kate Winslet - The Reader
Other Nominations: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married; Angelina Jolie - Changeling; Melissa Leo - Frozen River; Meryl Streep - Doubt
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Other Nominations: Josh Brolin - Milk; Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder; Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt; Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Other Nominations: Amy Adams - Doubt; Viola Davis - Doubt; Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Best Original Screenplay: Milk
Other Nominations: Happy-Go-Lucky; Wall-E; In Bruges; Frozen River
Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Doubt; Frost/Nixon; The Reader
Best Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
Other Nominations: Bolt; Kung Fu Panda
Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Other Nominations: Lavatory - Lovestory; Oktapodi; Presto; This Way Up
Best Foreign Language Film: Departures - Japan
Other Nominations: Revanche - Austria; The Class - France; The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany; Waltz With Bashir - Israel
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Other Nominations: The Betrayal; Encounters at the End of the World; The Garden; Trouble The Water
Best Documentary Short Subject: Smile Pinki
Other Nominations: The Conscience of Nhem En; The Final Inch; The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Other Nominations: Changeling; The Dark Knight; The Duchess; Revolutionary Road
Costume Design: The Duchess
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Australia; Milk; Revolutionary Road
Make-up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Other Nominations: The Dark Knight; Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Changeling; The Dark Knight; The Reader
Best Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Other Nominations: Auf der Strecke (On The Line); Manon on the Asphalt; New Boy; The Pig
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Other Nominations: The Dark Knight; Iron Man
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Other Nominations: Iron Man; Wanted; Slumdog Millionaire; Wall-E
Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Dark Knight; Wanted; Wall-E
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Dark Knight; Frost/Nixon; Milk
Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Defiance; Milk; Slumdog Millionaire; Wall-E
Best Original Song: Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire
Other Nominations: Down To Earth - Wall-E; O Saya - Slumdog Millionaire
Published by Paul Rance
Paul Rance is the co-founder, with Andrew Bruce, of small UK publishing company, Peace & Freedom Press, which began publishing in 1985. Paul founded the booksmusicfilmstv.com website in 2005. View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentI didn't watch the awards so I can appreciate your personal review.
I loved hearing Queen Latifah sing as the annual memorial of those who died during the year were noted. I'd have loved a longer retrospective on Paul Newman but still found it very moving. Nice recap and analysis!
I have not seen this.