Let's Get This Over With...

And the Oscar goes to:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)

Best animated feature film of the year
“Happy Feet” (Warner Bros.) George Miller

Achievement in art direction
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)
Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero
Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta

Achievement in cinematography
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro


Achievement in costume design
“Marie Antoinette” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero


Achievement in directing
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese

Best documentary feature
“An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production
Davis Guggenheim


Best documentary short subject
“The Blood of Yingzhou District”
A Thomas Lennon Films Production
Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Achievement in film editing
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
Thelma Schoonmaker

Best foreign language film of the year
“The Lives of Others” A Wiedemann & Berg Production
Germany


Achievement in makeup
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) David Martí and Montse Ribé

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth”
(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge


Best motion picture of the year
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
A Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Graham King, Producer


Best animated short film
“The Danish Poet” (National Film Board of Canada)
A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada Production
Torill Kove


Best live action short film
“West Bank Story”
An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan Production
Ari Sandel

Achievement in sound editing
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Achievement in visual effects
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall

Adapted screenplay
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by William Monahan

Original screenplay
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Michael Arndt




All in all a pretty inoffensive night. Not too many surprises this year, the biggest probably being Pans Lab losing over The Lives of Others, which I hear may be the best movie of last year so my fault for not getting on top of that. Congrats to Lab's three wins - that film truly deserves the recognition.

Alan Arkin's win was an interesting choice, but not exactly an upset. Sunshine won in all the right places, focusing on the performances and the writing. In terms of Marty, I'm glad to see the man finally get some due, but The Departed? Best Picture? Seriously? I guess it's cool that he's going to be remembered as the guy who directed that sweet gangster movie they show ad nauseum on TNT. The Departed is the perfect movie for cable TV - fast, loud, and nasty without ever being offensive. It's bittersweet to see such an iconic figure (as much as I hate to admit it) as Marty win for such a minor picture. I rather would have seen him go without best director and just get the lifetime achievement.

Ellen did an all right job as host; she butchered the monlogues, but did a good job interacting with the crowd. Very warm. The whole 'international'/'gone green' thing was a nice theme. No complaints there. They need to cut out a lot of that montage/interpretive dance crap though. No one cares about any of it, it's not entertaining, and it just makes the show that much longer. Get rid of it!