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Oscar Thoughts

It’s Monday morning and they’re going through the annual ritual of rolling up the red carpet, taking down the bleachers, sweeping away the trash and re-opening the stores on Hollywood Blvd.
It takes days and days to create the “set” that is the red carpet promenade to the Kodak Theater. It takes hours to strip away the illusion and remind us that the Oscars are held in a (admittedly very nice) theater connected to an outdoor shopping mall, and the red carpet is on a street lined with souvenir shops, movie theaters, a Hooters and the studio where Jimmy Kimmel does his TV show.
Speaking of which: Kimmel’s “response video” to Sarah Silverman’s glorious “I’m [Bleeping] Matt Damon” was nearly as brilliant, even though the joke was leaked before the short film debuted late Sunday night. Titled, “I’m [Bleeping] Ben Affleck, the piece included some PG-13 shenanigans between Kimmel and Affleck, and cameo appearances by Brad Pitt as a Fedex delivery man, and a host of stars (including Robin Williams and Don Cheadle) in a “We Are the World”—style video.
The only way the evening could have been more entertaining would have been if Affleck had been on the red carpet with wife Jennifer Garner when Garner was bear-hugged and neck-kissed by Gary Busey on live television, as Ryan Seacrest was attempting to interview Garner and Laura Linney. Affleck might have decked Busey right then and there, which would have marked the first time that happened since the infamous brawl between the casts of “Chariots of Fire” and “On Golden Pond” in the early 1980s.
They’ve got a lot of security around the red carpet, but apparently not enough security ON the red carpet. Busey was a loose cannon. Minutes before Busey multi-kissed Linney and Garner and nearly frightened the hair highlights out of Seacrest, he had a beefy paw on my shoulder as he told me how much he liked me and ominously added, “The next time I make a movie, BE NICE!” (I actually thought it was funny, though I found his teeth to be a disturbing shade of a color I’d never seen before.)
As for the red carpet scene: I’m sure from your sofa, the scene looks glamorous and fun, but also extremely ridiculous and over-the-top. That’s exactly what it’s like when you’re inside the scene, only more so.
For hours, I’m locked into a tiny station only slightly more expansive than the length and width of my feet. I’m wired to microphones and earpieces, I’ve got heavy makeup on my face, and I’m standing behind a plastic hedge that would look tacky outside a bad knick-knack shop. There’s constant bumping from the producer to my immediate right, who’s literally waving a Canadian flag to attract any countrymen (Sarah Polley, Ellen Page) on the radar. As I’m trying to hear what Sean Combs is saying while the bleacherites are screaming and the P.A. guy is announcing the arrival of the next star, a director is pleading with me not to miss Miley Cyrus, who’s just a few feet away…
And so it goes for two hours. It’s really fun—in hindsight. When it’s happening, it’s just goofy.

Live From Backstage!

More gold love for the Coen bros. Well deserved.

* * *

None of the four acting winners is an American. That's probably a first...

* * *

I talked with Diablo and her brother at the Spirit Awards after party yesterday. It's obvious family means the world to her..

* * *

Diablo! Score one for suburban Lemont.

That tattoo makes Amy Winehouse look like a wimp.

* * *

Class move by Stewart to bring Marketa back out so she could say her thank you's.

* * *

"Falling Slowly" -- awesome.

* * *

Backstage, Marion Cotillard says she wanted to marry Peter Sellers when she was a little girl.

* * *

Raise your hand if you remember Marion Cotillard was in "Big Fish" and "A Good Year."

* * *
Marion Cotillard! Serves me right for switching my prediction from Cotillard to Julie Christie late in the game.

She’s a talented and lovely young woman, and she was obviously overwhelmed by the upset win.

But I’m STILL not a big fan of “La Vie En Rose.”

* * *
Tilda Swinton’s acceptance speech was just about perfect. She thanked a few key people, she seemed genuinely surprised and grateful, she got off a couple of good lines and she got out of there. Nicely played, Swinton, nicely played:
“I have an American agent who is the spitting image of [the Oscar]. Really truly the same shape head, and it has to be said, the buttocks. And I’m giving this to him…
“And…George Clooney…the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from ‘Batman & Robin,’ the one with the nipples, every morning under your costime, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch, you rock, man.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

* * *
A couple of hours ago, Tilda Swinton told me she had absolutely nothing prepared speech-wise because she didn’t think she had a chance in hell of winning for Best Supporting Actress. Although I selected Swinton on the “If We Picked the Winners” show as my FAVORITE performance in that category, I would have agreed that she was a true longshot. It was going to be either Academy darling Cate Blanchett, or sentimental favorite Ruby Dee.

I guess we’ll never learn. From Anna Paquin to Marisa Tomei, from Beatrice Straight to Mira Sorvino, the Best Supporting Actress category has historically been the most difficult to call. If you’re looking for an upset to gain an edge in your Oscar pool, this is the category.

Of course, I predicted Cate Blanchett, so what do I know?

* * *
The Supporting Actor category might have been the strongest of all. It’s impossible to argue with Javier Bardem’s win, but Tom Wilkinson’s performance in particular will never be forgotten.

Now here’s the question: Who wins in a battle, Hannibal Lecter or Anton Chigurh?

* * *
No surprise, “Ratatouille” won for Best Animated Feature. “Persepolis” had a long-shot chance, but you had to figure the “Surf’s Up” people knew the odds were about 100-1 against their movie. Not to slight the warm and funny family adventure, but it’s not int the same league as the other two films.

* * *

After seeing the astonishing beauty of Marion Cotillard from two feet away, I’m convinced “La Vie En Rose” deserved the Oscar for Best Makeup.

* * *
About two minutes before the show started, after nearly every photographer, TV journalist and print reporter had packed up, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban made a very, extremely, really quite tardy, late entrance.

The photogs that remained shouted for “Ms. Urban!” to look their way.

Nicole looked great, but, what’s the word, kinda frozen. Face-wise, that is.

Maybe it was the chilly early evening air.

* * *

And the Oscars go to...

Best Picture - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN - Producers Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Best Director - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Best Screenplay (Original) - Diablo Cody - JUNO

Best Documentary (Feature) - TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE

Best Documentary (Short) - FREEHELD

Best Musical Score - Dario Marianelli - ATONEMENT

Best Cinematography - Robert Elswit - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Best Original Song - "Falling Slowly" - Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard - ONCE

Best Foreign Language Film - THE COUNTERFEITERS - Austria

Honorary Oscar Recipient - Robert Boyle (Production Designer)

Film Editing - Christopher Rouse - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

Best Actress - Marion Cotillard - LA VIE EN ROSE

Best Sound Mixing - Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

Best Sound Editing - Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

Best Screenplay (Adapted) - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Best Supporting Actress - Tilda Swinton - MICHAEL CLAYTON

Best Short Film (Animated) - PETER & THE WOLF - Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best Short Film (Live Action) - LES MOZART DES PICKPOCKETS - Phillipe Pollett-Pillard

Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Best Art Direction - Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo - SWEENEY TODD

Best Visual Effects - Michael Fink, Bill Westonhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood - THE GOLDEN COMPASS

Best Makeup - Diddier Lavergne and Jan Archibald - LA VIE EN ROSE

Best Animated Film - RATATOUILLE

Best Costume Design - Alexandra Byrne - ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE