There were few surprises or upsets at Sunday evening’s 86th annual Academy Awards ceremony, which is to say that my posted predictions were pretty accurate. I called 20 of the 24 categories correctly and, if you are willing to ignore the two short film categories, it was 20 of 22.
With the pool bets I made, I could afford to chip in for the pizzas that host Ellen DeGeneres ordered from the stage of the Dolby Theater.
As expected, it was a big night for Gravity, which floated off with seven Oscars, though all were in technical and design categories except for the win by director Alfonso Cuarón. The film had such momentum that it started to seem likely that it would also pick up the statuette for Best Picture, but that went instead to 12 Years a Slave, only its third win after supporting actress Lupita Nyong’o and the adapted screenplay by John Ridley.
I missed getting right the Original Screenplay category and I remain mystified by the appeal of the movie Her. I continue to feel that the film about the geek who falls in love with the voice of his computer’s operating system is an interesting premise that goes nowhere after the first 15 minutes or so.
On the other hand, I was delighted by the Foreign Language Film win for Italy’s The Great Beauty. If the victory means the movie returns to theaters — hint, hint, Janus Films — do make every effort to see it.
The Oscars show itself was extremely conventional, with no head-scratching production numbers or obvious filler, except for a few montages of film clips devoted to heroes — a pretty generic theme. Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan obviously got the message that the segment on industry notables who died in the past year had been needlessly cluttered of late. Sunday evening, it was presented simply, followed by Bette Midler warbling Wind Beneath My Wings.
The ceremony had its share of unexpected presenters, including a very Botoxed Kim Novak and a distinguished-looking, if a little unsteady, Sidney Poitier. (He is 87, according to the Internet Movie Database, and she is 81, so they both looked good for their age.) Also unscheduled was singer Darlene Love, who is featured in the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom and who used her acceptance speech time to belt out a clarion, a cappella version of His Eyes Are on the Sparrow.
Since this is the 75th anniversary of the original release of The Wizard of Oz, it was saluted with clips from the movie and a rendition of — what else? — Over the Rainbow by Pink. Of course, it deserves the recognition, but The Wizard of Oz did not even win for Best Picture in 1939. Unmentioned was Gone With the Wind (which did win) or any of the many classics of that year, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Ninotchka and on and on.
The classy Cate Blanchett probably gave the best acceptance speech when she won Best Actress for Blue Jasmine. For starters, she got points for using the word “exacerbates,” and more for scolding studio executives for being surprised that a movie with a woman at the center can make money. “The world is round,” she told the behind-the-times naysayers.
I lost a side bet when Matthew McConaughey did not thump his chest when accepting the Best Actor award. He did, however, after a heartfelt speech, add a few “awright, awright, awrights.” He looked like he has gained back much of that 43 pounds he lost for the role of the AIDS-ravaged rodeo hustler. Perhaps he too has been chowing down on pizza.
For a complete list of the winners, visit Oscar.go.com.