Oscar surprises and predictability

I watched the Academy Awards last night - sort of. My version of watching the Academy Awards is setting the DVR to record it, letting it record for at least an hour and then watching it. That gives me the ability to fast forward through all the speeches by people I've never heard of before. It really speeds up the three-and-a-half hour show.

I found the hosts this year, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, funny enough most of the time. I have to give the edge to Alec for the funnier lines. The show was produced by Alan Shankman, who is a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" and has been involved in dance movies such as "Step Up," "Step Up 2: The Streets" and "Hairspray." Knowing that, I wasn't at all surprised when a dance troupe took the stage for the presentation of the award for best score. But a lot of other viewers may have wondered about it.

The presentation of the best actor and actress awards also was a surprise. This year, five people took the stage and paid homage to each of the nominees - most often a costar, sometimes a director and in one case a producer. It was a little too much of a pat on the back for me. Yeah, we all know the Academy thinks these people are great. Do we really need an awkward tribute as the camera switches back and forth between the nominee and the person talking about how awesome they are? Of course, it was nice to see Jeff Bridges get a little weepy-eyed as Michelle Pfeiffer talked about him. The only tribute that was truly worth listening to, however, was Stanley Tucci's to Meryl Streep. He was funny and clever in a way that paid respect to the great actress without feeling overly earnest.

As always there were some surprises among the winners and some that were totally predictable. This year I'd seen more of the best picture nominees than I usually see - partly since I see a lot more movies since I've started writing a movie column for the Weekend Pinnacle and partly because there were 10 movies nominated. Of the nominees I saw "Up in the Air," "District 9," "Blind Side," "Avatar," and "Up." Back when I wrote up my predictions in February, I was rooting for "Up in the Air" to win though I thought the honor might go to "Avatar" for James Cameron's awesome new technology.

In the end, the best picture award went to "The Hurt Locker," which has long been on my list of movies to see since a few people I know said it was really good. I will be sure to see it now since one of my resolutions is to see all the Best Picture winners.

When I wrote my predictions back in February, I wanted George Clooney to win for his performance in "Up in the Air." But then I saw "Crazy Heart" and Jeff Bridges blew me away as Bad Blake, a country singing who is more than just a little down and out. Bridges just encompassed the role so much I forgot it was him on the screen. Bridges turn is heartbreaking and moving, and he does his own singing on screen. He won and he deserves it.

One of the big surprises for me was the winner for best actress. Though I had not seen the movie, I thought Helen Mirren had the best shot at the award. But the Oscar went to Sandra Bullock for her turn in "The Blind Side." It was a great performance.

The one category I was certain about was best animation. If there was ever a cartoon that deserved an Oscar it is "Up." The movie somehow condensed a life worth of loving someone into a four-minute interlude. When they showed the clips during the Award, I almost got weepy again just thinking about it.

Avatar, surprisingly, did not get wins for Best Picture or Best Directing. It did get Oscars in two deserving categories, including Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. The art direction award was deserved for the creation of Pandora, with its lush forests, wild creatures and the way it looked. Of course, a great cinematography was needed to make it all look great.

See the complete list of winners here.

Win some, lose some with Golden Globe predictions

Back when the Golden Globe nominations were announced, I made a few picks for my choices and best guesses of who would win in some categories. I was right on with some of my picks, way off on others, and there was at least one big shocker of the evening.

Since I wrote about my picks, I've actually seen a few more of the nominees, including "Avatar," "Invictus" and "Up in the Air." I feel all three of those films deserved the nominations they received, but as dramas in the same category they couldn't all win.

All three of those movies were nominated in the best motion picture - drama category, along with three other films. I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the films for different reasons. "Invictus" got me because it really is a story about inspiration and I spent a semester in South Africa. Morgan Freeman was great as Nelson Mandela at a time when the country was in a major transition. "Avatar" got me because it was just brilliant technology and looked like nothing I'd ever seen before. "Up in the Air" was just full of brilliant dialogue and acting. I connected with the story on a personal level.


Tonight, the Hollywood Foreign Press went with brilliant technology over a great story. "Avatar" won and I think it was deserved.


I picked Sandra Bullock to win for best performance by an actress in a motion picture - drama. She took the category. I haven't seen any of the other performances nominated, but Bullock pulled off the best acting I've seen from her to date in "The Blind Side."


I saw three of the movies in which actors were nominated for best actor motion picture - drama, including Morgan Freeman in "Invictus," George Clooney in "Up in the air," and Tobey Maguire in "Brothers. Freeman embodied Mandela and Clooney was able to portray heartbreak in just a look as Ryan Bingham. Maguire had the weakest performance of the three. The winner, however, was Jeff Bridges, as a washed up singer/songwriter in "Crazy Heart."


The biggest shocker of the night was the winner for best motion picture - musical or comedy. I saw three of the nominees, "It's Complicated," "Julie and Julia," and "Nine. I thought for sure "Nine," being an artsy musical, would take the category. At the least, I thought it would be "Julie and Julia" or "It's Complicated," with Meryl Streep at the helm. I had just finished saying, "The Hangover will never win," when the envelope was opened and "The Hangover" won. I thought the movie was hilarious, but I'm not sure it was better than all the other movies in the category.


For best performance by an actress in a motion picture - musical or comedy, I saw three of the movies, including both of the vehicles for which Meryl Streep was nominated. Though I'd only seen two of the movies at the time, I thought Meryl Streep would win for "Julie and Julia," or Marion Cotillard would win for "Nine," which I haven't seen yet. Streep deserves it for taking on Julia Child's persona onscreen.


I still haven't seen any of the movies for which best actors in a musical or comedy were nominated. I thought Daniel Day Lewis would get it for "Nine," but Robert Downy Jr. took it for "Sherlock Holmes."


When it came to animated films, I thought "Up" would win and I am glad it did. When I wrote about the nominees, I said it made me laugh and it made me cry. But more than that, it made a few men I know do the same thing and I think that's proof enough that it deserved the win.


So when I picked U2 for best song, I kind of knew they probably wouldn't win. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard the song "The Weary Kind" in trailers for the movie "Crazy Heart." It's catchy and recognizable and seems totally suitable for the movie.


I really wanted "Dexter" to win for best television series -drama. The season that recently ended was the best won yet. The writers out do themselves every year and I can't believe they made me like a serial killer. The Golden Globe, however, went to "Mad Men," which I have never seen. Still, Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow, took home Globes for their performances last season so at least they were recognized for the crazy work they do.


I watch four of the five TV shows nominated for best musical or comedy so I was a little torn when I chose my top pick. Of "30 Rock," "Glee," "Modern Family" and "The Office," I went with "Modern Family" because it is new and fresh. I also estimated that it made me laugh harder this season than any other show. "Glee" won and I really like that show, too, so it's not so bad. For


For best performance by an actress in a TV comedy or musical, I really wanted to see Tina Fey win for "30 Rock" or Lea Michele on "Glee." But I can understand why Toni Collette got the nod for "United States of Tara." After all, as a woman with multiple personality disorder, she is really play four characters, not just one.


For my final prediction, it seems like the Hollywood Foreign Press agreed with me that Alec Baldwin just gets better as Jack on "30 Rock" each season. He's in perfect form for this season as a man who has reconnected with his unavailable high school crush.


The rest of the winners are online.

'All About Steve' not all that

I looked forward to seeing "All About Steve" all summer, but part of me knew it would probably disappoint me. But it had Sandra Bullock as a quirky lead, and I have liked the majority of her movies I've seen, and it had dreamy Bradley Cooper. As it turns out, my movie instincts were right and I did end up disappointed in the movie. Read more about it in the Weekend Pinnacle on Friday.

The movie had a loose plot with Bullock playing the quirky Mary Horowitz. Mary is a cruciverbalist - more simply someone who loves crossword puzzles - and she creates them for a local newspaper. But her life is turned upside down when she goes on a short blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a cable news cameraman, who escapes the date by faking a call from work when Mary starts talking in sentences full of all the random crossword facts she knows. He leaves her with an off-the-cuff comment about how he wishes she could join him on the road. It's a guy response to keep from hurting a woman's feelings, as though sitting around and waiting for someone to call for weeks doesn't cause it's own hurt feelings.

The funniest thing in the movie, at least to me, is a bit where Mary creates a crossword puzzle entitled "All About Steve." Readers are pissed when they can't complete their weekly crossword because they don't know Steve. I know how serious newspaper readers take their crosswords as I've been subjected to the wrath of readers when production staff somehow messed it up. When I promised one woman we would re-run the correct crossword the next week, she told me she might not live that long.

But aside from a few funny moments, I found "All About Steve" less than charming. For movie-goers who want to see Sandra Bullock play a quirky, super smart woman, try "Love Potion No. 9." The movie came out in 1992 and is the first Sandra Bullock movie I ever saw. She stars in it with Tate Donavan. She is plays Diane Farrow, a biochemist who is focused on her work and very socially awkward, until her lab partner happens across a love potion that turns them both into a magnet for the opposite sex. The movie has plenty of funny moments, without all the over-the-top craziness of "All About Steve."