Review: Writers’ strike didn't dampen Oscars party

The strike seemed to have done some good in unanticipated ways.

While not as merciful as the Golden Globes last month, this telecast didn’t have the “please kill me now before they go into another long, hideous tribute” moments that have become de rigueur for the annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards.

Coens steal the show

Jon Stewart, hosting for the second time, kept the mood light, if not uproariously funny. In Stewart’s previous stint as emcee, he needled many of the participants, but there wasn’t much of that in his tone this go ‘round.

One memorable jab was when he noted, “”Does this town need a hug? What happened? ‘No Country for Old Men,’ ‘Sweeney Todd,’ ‘There Will Be Blood.’ All I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy.”

He was referring to the sleeper hit of the year, “Juno” which won the award for best original screenplay – Diablo Cody, writer – and launched the career of Ellen Page, who, judging from her performance in the title role, is going to be the young actress to keep an eye on. “Juno” is a great film, decidedly outside of the Hollywood box.

The biggest winner this year was the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men,” based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The Coens have been making great films for 25 years now and finally got their just desserts.

“No Country” picked up Oscars for best adapted screenplay, direction, supporting actor (Javier Bardem) as well as the big one, best picture.

The brothers, who are as laconic as they are enigmatic, gave one of the best acceptance speeches in Oscar history.

Joel Coen recounted the first film his brother, Ethan, shot when they were kids. “And honestly, what we do now doesn’t feel that much different from what we were doing then,” Joel Coen said. “We’re very thankful to all of you out there for letting us continue to play in our corner of the sandbox.”

Best performances

Daniel Day-Lewis had the odds-on-lock for best performance by an actor in a leading role, and it was no surprise when he won for his work in “There Will Be Blood.” The film also took honors for cinematography.

When Day-Lewis headed to the stage to pick up his Oscar, he stopped on the way to kiss contender George Clooney and later explained, “He’s just a great guy. I had to kiss someone. I kissed my wife, and in the interest of parity, I kissed George.”

“The Bourne Ultimatum” seemed to have the technical/artistic categories nailed. It won for film editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

The “Bourne” wins were a mystery to me. It was a good film and deserved the nominations in those categories but I would have picked the bleak (and utterly effective) sound design of “No Country For Old Men” in the audio categories and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” for editing. Director Julian Schnabel and editor Juliette Welfling gave the audience great point-of-view shots as well as intense close-ups from the caregivers’ perspective. It utilizes the art of film to its highest potential.

The biggest surprise, and again not something that was undeserved, was in the performance by an actress in a leading role category. Everybody (except the voting members of the academy) was sure Julie Christie would win for her stunning portrayal as a woman struggling with Alzheimer’s disease in “Away From Her.”

Instead, French ingénue Marion Cotillard won for her role as Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose.” In Cotillard’s acceptance speech, she looked like an uncomfortable kid, completely unlike her character in the film. But she was the cutest recipient of the evening. She is the kind of person you just want to hug. Backstage she said, in her wonderfully French-tinged English, “I’m totally overwhelmed with joy and sparkles and fireworks and everything that goes like boom-boom-boom.”

While being spared the torment of the song and dance numbers, the producers did throw in one well-conceived but tediously executed bit. The retrospect of the 79 previous best picture winners was tiring.

There’s a hackneyed cliché unearthed every year at every awards ceremony wherein winners and loser alike proclaim, “Just being nominated was honor enough.”

This year at the Oscars, though, that sentiment rang true. Aside from the dreadful “Norbit,” which was nominated but didn’t win for makeup (“La Vie en Rose” took it) there wasn’t a film, performance or technical achievement unworthy of getting noticed.

And they should have given a special Oscar to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his never-ending perfection as the best supporting actor working today.[[In-content Ad]]