2012 Oscar Winners
2012 Oscar Winners
The 84th annual Academy Awards were held last night in Hollywood, and it was the perfect time to either be French or have an abiding love for the city of Paris. That’s because The Artist and Hugo–each set in the City of Light–walked away with five awards apiece. After decades of snide comments about World War II and “freedom fries,” our snail-loving brethren in Europe finally got their revenge by dominating a night that’s become an American institution.
Billy Crystal was back as the host, his ninth such outing. While it proved to be a major improvement over last year’s pairing of Anne Hathaway and James Franco, the comic/actor didn’t have much to work with in the ad lib department. Nobody did anything especially crazy, and there was a noticeable lack of political statements or self-serving agendas. Even when Crystal turned his attention to Nick Nolte–one of the more inviting targets in the audience–all he could muster was a lackluster impression of the actor’s distinctively grizzled voice.
Nolte, however, did provide the most entertaining red carpet moment (at least of those televised by ABC). While Sacha Baron Cohen was strutting around as a Middle Eastern dictator and dumping the supposed ashes of Kim Jong Il on Ryan Seacrest, ABC instead chose to focus on the more dignified aspects of the event. Most of this consisted of celebrities gushing about their designer dresses, although Nolte livened things up when he was prodded into talking about his pet crows and his pinball machine that can predict the future. It was awkward to be sure, but it was also about as close as this year’s event came to crazy.
In the article below, I’ve listed all the winners from the 84th Academy Awards. I’ve started with the “minor” awards, and the list builds up to the major categories such as Best Picture and Best Director. I’ve also sprinkled in some personal commentary when appropriate, and be sure to add your own thoughts in our comments section.
Best Visual Effects
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, and John Richardson
- Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning
- Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, and Swen Gillberg
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, and Daniel Barrett
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, and John Frazier
Comments: Prior to the winner being announced, presenters Emma Stone and Ben Stiller engaged in some entertaining banter, with Stone taking on the role of the all-too-excited rookie and Stiller the jaded veteran. One of the funnier bits of the night.
Best Film Editing
- The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
- The Descendants – Kevin Tent
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
- Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
- Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen
Comments: The winning duo also picked up an award in 2011 for their work on The Social Network.
Best Costume Design
- Anonymous – Lisy Christl
- The Artist – Mark Bridges
- Hugo – Sandy Powell
- Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
- W.E. – Arianne Phillips
Comments: Billy Crystal introduced the presenters by saying, “A recurring dream of mine…Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz.”
Best Makeup
- Albert Nobbs – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, and Lisa Tomblin
- The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
Comments: Male viewers were treated to the rear ends of J-Lo and Diaz–thanks to the two striking a dramatic pose–before Diaz started cackling and generally acting like a dumbass. Can’t say that I’m surprised.
Best Cinematography
- The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
- Hugo – Robert Richardson
- The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
- War Horse – Janusz Kamiński
Comments: Robert Richardson sporting long white hair. One of my friends compared him to Wade Garrett (played by Sam Elliott) from Roadhouse. Sadly, Roadhouse received zero Oscars back in the day, and Richardson failed to call anyone “mijo.”
Best Art Direction
- The Artist – Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
- Hugo – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo
- Midnight in Paris – Anne Seibel and Hélène Dubreuil
- War Horse – Rick Carter and Lee Sandales
Comments: As the pair spoke in broken English and dedicated their win to Italy, I was expecting the “get the hell off the stage music” to start up at any time. It never did. In fact, that only happened a couple of times during the show. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as the total ceremony clocked in at just over 3 hours.
Best Sound Mixing
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Bo Persson
- Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
- Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, and Ed Novick
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, and Peter J. Devlin
- War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, and Stuart Wilson
Comments: So far, that’s a total of four wins for Hugo. Can it keep up the pace, or will The Artist begin to take over down the stretch?
Best Sound Editing
- Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
- Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
- War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Comments: Make that 5 wins for Hugo. I have a feeling that Martin Scorsese may set a record for being thanked by the most Oscar winners in one night.
Best Original Song
- “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets – Bret McKenzie
- “Real in Rio” from Rio – Sérgio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, and Siedah Garrett
Comments: Only two songs were nominated this year. Couldn’t they come up with some other candidates to pad out the category?
Best Original Score
- The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
- The Artist – Ludovic Bource
- Hugo – Howard Shore
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
- War Horse – John Williams
Comments: Hugo 5 – The Artist 2
Best Animated Short Film
- Dimanche – Patrick Doyon
- The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
- La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
- A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
- Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Best Live Action Short Film
- Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
- Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
- The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George
- Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
- Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø
Comments: I wonder how many members of the Academy actually wind up watching these films?
Best Documentary – Short Subject
- The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
- God Is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
- Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione
- Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
- The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstense
Best Documentary – Feature
- Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
- If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
- Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
- Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, and Richard Middlemas
Best Foreign Language Film
- Bullhead (Belgium) in Dutch and French – Michaël R. Roskam
- Footnote (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar
- In Darkness (Poland) in Polish – Agnieszka Holland
- Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) in French – Philippe Falardeau
- A Separation (Iran) in Farsi – Asghar Farhadi
Comments: I doubt I’ll ever see the winning film, but I sure do admire the director. For that matter, I admire anyone who tries to make art in a nation like Iran. Piss off the wrong person, and you’ll find yourself beaten, imprisoned, and banned from filmmaking for the rest of your life. Farhadi also had a nice acceptance speech, urging people to look beyond the tyrannical Iranian government to see the beauty of his country.
Best Animated Feature
- A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
- Chico and Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
- Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson
- Puss in Boots – Chris Miller
- Rango – Gore Verbinski
Comments: After directing The Ring and the Pirates of the Caribbean triology, Verbinski strikes Oscar gold for helming that visually breathtaking ode to movie westerns.
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay
- The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash from The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
- Hugo – John Logan from The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
- The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon from Farragut North by Beau Willimon
- Moneyball – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin from Moneyball by Michael Lewis
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
Comments: Presenter Angelina Jolie still looks awesome from the neck up, but the rest of her could stand to put on a few pounds. She looked especially boney tonight. You might know one of the winners in this category–Jim Rash–better as Dean Pelton from TV’s Community.
Best Writing – Original Screenplay
- The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
- Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
- Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
- Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
- A Separation – Asghar Farhadi
Comments: Woody Allen adds another trophy to his mantle, although he routinely skips the ceremony to play clarinet with his band of fellow jazz enthusiasts. I’m officially taking him out of running for Best Director at this point.
Best Supporting Actress
- Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller
- Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote
- Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan Price
- Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page
- Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson
Comments: The longtime character actress received a standing ovation, then went on to thank “the state of Alabama.”
Best Supporting Actor
- Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
- Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
- Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon
- Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields
- Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as The Renter
Comments: This one was a lock, as Plummer has dominated at every awards ceremony leading up to the Oscars. At the age of 82, he becomes the oldest actor to win an Academy Award, although I have a feeling he’s long since grown tired of people mentioning that fact. He did, however, mentioned that the award was only two years older than him.
Best Actress
- Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
- Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark
- Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Lisbeth Salander
- Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
- Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe
Comments: When last Meryl Streep got to take home an Oscar, it was the early part of the 1980s. It’s about damn time. Nice to see Glenn Close’s enthusiam for Streep’s win, even though she missed out on her best chance to capture Oscar gold.
Best Actor
- Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
- George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King
- Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin
- Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley
- Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane
Comments: I was confident that Clooney would win, if for no other reason that folks in Hollywood (aka the voters) seem to love him. That wasn’t the case, however, and Jean Dujardin introduces himself to American viewers in the best way possible. Something tells me that he’ll get offered a number of “villainous Eurotrash” roles in upcoming Hollywood films.
Best Director
- Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
- Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
- Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
- Alexander Payne – The Descendants
- Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Comments: The brings the total wins of The Artist to 4, while Hugo still has the lead with 5. I would have loved to see Scorsese take home another trophy, but his win for The Departed but the kibosh on that before Hugo was ever even made. At least Terrence Malick didn’t get it, although I have a feeling that the camera-shy director didn’t even bother to show up to the ceremony.
Best Picture
- The Artist – Thomas Langmann
- The Descendants – Jim Burke, Jim Taylor, and Alexander Payne
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Scott Rudin
- The Help – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, and Michael Barnathan
- Hugo – Graham King and Martin Scorsese
- Midnight in Paris – Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum
- Moneyball – Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, and Brad Pitt
- The Tree of Life – Dede Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, and Bill Pohlad
- War Horse – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy
Comments: I expected The Artist to win, although something tells me that ratings will be way down this year because of it. Millions will tune in to see Avatar or Titanic have a chance at winning, but what about a French silent film? That being said, I would much rather see an inventive love letter to the early days of Hollywood win than a bloated CGI-fest.
That wraps up another year of Academy Award festivities. While last night’s event didn’t blow anyone away, it was a step in the right direction. And besides, the real purpose was to honor outstanding achievements in cinema while simultaneously shining a spotlight on movies that viewers might not otherwise see. It that regard, it was an overwhelming success.
For more articles on the Oscars, check out the following:
This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2012 at 10:28 am and is filed under Academy Awards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Jon Bob Hitchins
The fix was in, no doubt. Hermetically sealed envelopes…yeah right…The Academy already knew all the frenchies were gonna win. They had the Cirque du Soleil performing, for pete’s sake. Nothin’s more French than the Cirque du Soleil. I just hope Americans are smart enough to know what’s goin on out in Hollywood before it’s too late.