Oscar Right and Wrong

"My pick" is who I thought the Academy would give it to, not necessarily who I thought deserved it. Tonight, I landed about 50-50. I caught some of the speeches tonight, too. They always make me feel weirdly uncomfortable, like eavesdropping on a bunch of people shamelessly kissing each other's butts. Sometimes you feel like interrupting.

Best Actor

My Pick: Sean Penn. Right. He got the award, made a few political statements, said he was glad Obama got elected, mentioned Mickey Rourke was his buddy. Everyone happy.

Best Actress

My Pick: Kate Winslet. Right. From her speech: "I'd be lying if I haven't made a version of this speech before." No kidding, Kate.

Best Supporting Actor

My Pick: Heath Ledger. Right. His mother, father, and sister accepted the award. A class act all the way, with a poignant speech that concentrated on the late Ledger's love of acting.

Best Supporting Actress

My Pick: Viola Davis. Wrong. Their Pick: Penelope Cruz. I thought she was good in Vicky Christina Barcelona, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. Incidentally, I've found a new appreciation for Woody Allen's films in the past few years. I never liked his movies much before that. The secret: they're better when he's directing them, but not in them.

Best Picture

My Pick: Milk or Frost/Nixon. All wrong. Their pick: Slumdog Millionaire, which I thought deserved it. I was surprised it didn't go Milk's way, as screenplay and best actor both did.

Best Director

Another flip. I thought Van Sant would take it for Milk. Wrong. Instead, the deserving Danny Boyle got it for Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Original Screenplay

My Pick: Milk. Right. I figured the Academy would throw it to Milk. Like Penn, screenwriter Dustin Black used it as an opportunity to treat the podium as a political soap box.

Best Adapted Screenplay

My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire. Right.

Cinematography

My Pick: The Dark Knight. Wrong. It went to Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Documentary

I forgot to write this in my previous post (I guess like everyone else, I'm guilty of giving documentaries the shaft), but I had a good feeling this movie would take it. My Pick: Man on Wire. Right. One day documentaries might go head to head with features (who am I kidding? No they won't). If that had happened tonight, Man on Wire would have been my pick out of all the flicks mentioned. A great movie, fact or fiction.