This past Sunday, the 85th Academy Awards honored this year's brightest talent in the film industry. Seth McFarlane hosted the prestigious ceremony with off-color commentary and catchy musical numbers. McFarlane was entertaining and, unsurprisingly, used Family Guy type humor to make the show his own.
The Oscars is the biggest event on the film calendar, and those nominated are highly praised for their work in film and their contribution to the art as a whole. The event was beautifully staged with class and elegance.
The biggest winner of the night was the cinematically breathtaking Life of Pi, based off of the novel by Yann Martel. It took home four Oscars, including Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. The biggest surprise from Life of Pi was Ang Lee's upset win over Steven Spielberg who directed the heavily nominated Lincoln.
The darling of the Academy Awards, Daniel Day-Lewis, took home the top award for his acting prowess in Lincoln. His portrayal of the nation's 16th president was honored for its raw power and accurate depiction of the legendary statesman. Day-Lewis was greatly favored in this category, and with his win he became the first actor to ever win three Oscars in the category of Best Actor.
Jennifer Lawrence unexpectedly snagged the Oscar for Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook over the aging Emmanuelle Rivera and even topped Jessica Chastain's performance in Zero Dark Thirty. A slight plunge on the steps did not deter Lawrence from accepting her award with confidence and grace.
In an Oscar first, the Best Supporting Actor category was completely filled with previous winners of the prestigious award. The very talented and versatile Christoph Waltz won the accolade for his outstanding performance in Django Unchained. This was one of the most competitive categories, as Alan Arkin of Argo or Philip Seymour Hoffman of The Master could just as easily taken the award.
Anne Hathaway's short haircut in Les Miserables turned out to be worth it when she claimed the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Hathaway was expected to win this category by most, even though some suspected that Sally Field might steal the title.
The fan favorite and controversial Django Unchained was recognized as the winner of Best Original Screenplay. The always off-kilter and downright neurotic Quentin Tarantino accepted the award and finally took home a well-deserved Oscar. Django Unchained is as original as films get in Hollywood, and the Academy recognized that this year.
The beloved foreign film Amour was nominated in both the Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film categories, but on Sunday it had to settle for just the prize for Best Foreign Film. The animators and producers of Brave were delighted to win Best Animated Feature over the popular Wreck-It Ralph.
Power vocalist Adele capitalized on her first Oscar nomination with a win for Best Original Song for the film Skyfall. Skyfall was also awarded Best Sound Editing, tying with Zero Dark Thirty, while Les Miserables captured Best Sound Mixing.
The top prize of the night went to Argo as Ben Affleck and his team seized their Oscar for Best Picture. Argo won many of the awards leading up to the Oscars that would indicate such a win, but many were still surprised. Argo also took home the golden statue for its Achievement in Editing.
The Academy Awards did not disappoint this year, and as always were delivered with poise.
brocha@ramapo.edu
