Oscar Frenzy Oscars 2009 Live Blog
11:53: Slumdog fulfills its destiny by capturing the biggest prize of them all, best picture. The film goes home with eight trophies tonight. What an improbable journey for a small movie. It is also the first Best Picture win for small studio Fox Searchlight. Congratulations!
It was a very entertaining show overall. Hugh Jackman certainly surpassed expectations. There also were not a lot of big surprises. All in all a fun night. Thanks tuning in.
And, if you’re curious, Oscar Frenzy finished 19 out of 24.
11:43: Sean Penn wins for Milk. That’s somewhat unexpected. Sean Penn did completely immerse himself into the role of Harvey Milk. He was also recognized by the Screen Actor’s Guild. Too bad for Mickey Rourke. It was a great run. This marks the second best actor win for Sean Penn in five years. He now joins Tom Hanks and Dustin Hoffman as contemporary actors with multiple best actor wins.
11:36: It’s nice that they haven’t played anyone off-stage yet this year.
11:32: Winslet just won best actress. Wonder if the vote was close between Winslet and Streep. Winslet is as deserving of this award as anyone. she has consistently played breathtaking roles and pushed herself to the limit. She could be the next Meryl Streep.
11:27: Slumdog has won 7 Oscars with Best Picture to come. The biggest upsets so far have been Departures for Foreign Film and La Maison in the Animated Short category. Will there be another upset in Best Actor or Best Actress?
11:21: Slumdog wins for best director.
11:05: Departures takes best foreign film. Oscar Frenzy is 16/20 and Julia is dancing with joy after predicting the win in her pool.
11:01: “Jai Ho” from Slumdog wins. We are 16/19.
10:54: Slumdog takes best score. It stands to win 8 awards. That would be the highest total since Return of the King.
10:46: Shortest honorary speech ever.
10:44: Does every Oscar montage really warrant Coldplay?
10:36: Why aren’t they playing the winning film’s score when someone from that film wins? We miss that.
10:35: Slumdog wins film editing. It is really efficient to have one presenter present multiple awards that are similar. The awards feel much faster this year.
10:31: Slumdog takes sound mixing. Drat! We predicted Dark Knight.
10:29: Sound editing goes to The Dark Knight. This means that there will not be a Slumdog sweep.
10:27: Button takes visual effects.
10:18: Smile Pinki wins in an upset for best documentary short.
10:15: Man on Wire wins. It’s a fascinating story and we can see how a film that depicts the World Trade Center would be irresistible to the Academy.
10:08: Ledger wins for best supporting actor. This is a wonderful moment. Heath Ledger was an astonishing actor who was steadfastly devoted to his craft and always looking for ways to challenge himself. Bravo!
10:05: And now, it’s time for another awkward acting award presentation. This is just about the dumbest thing the the Oscars has done to the presentation format, with the exception of the year when they presented awards to the winners in the audience section.
9:46: Best live action short is Toyland.
9:36: Slumdog takes screenplay. This is the first time since 1999 (American Beauty) that a film won for cinematography without being nominated for art direction. We are 8/9.
9:27: These montages divided up by film genre are actually pretty entertaining
9:21: The Dutchess takes costume design. Button wins best makeup.
9:18: Benjamin Button takes art direction. With 13 nominations, you gotta think that The Curious Case of Benjamin will win some. Here’s the first.
9:10: La Maison en Petits Cubes wins best short film, animated. We are 4/5.
9:03: WALL-E takes best animated feature. Should we just pencil in UP! for next year?
9:01: Here comes the first of many awards for Slumdog Millionaire. Best adapted screenplay goes to Slumdog. We are 2/3.
8:58: And the winner for best original screenplay is Dustin Lance Black for Milk.
8:53: It’s nice to see Tiny Fey and Steve Martin present. Can they present every award?
8:45: And Penelope Cruz wins supporting actress. We are 1/1.
8:43: This is a pleasant surprise, production value wise, but it’s always been a nice tradition to see last year’s supporting actor present this award. Also, where did the clips go? If they do these personal introductions for all of the acting awards, the ceremony will never end.
8:38: That opening number was the most expensive-looking cheap production we’ve ever seen.
8:36: Poor The Reader. I don’t think this is a good sign.
8:34: Are the Craigslist dancers actually from Craigslist?
8:30: And here we go. It’s odd to have such a good-looking host who can sing. The Oscars definitely feel very different this year.
8:20: Welcome to our fourth annual Academy Awards LiveBlog! Stay with us as we give you the winners as they are announced. We’ll also offer instant reactions and forecast what is to come based on initial results. A big question on people’s minds tonight is just how far will Slumdog Millionaire go? This little film that swept all the critics’ awards now stands at the gates of Oscar History. Will it truly live up to the hype? We shall see. No matter what, there are bound to be some interesting surprises tonight.
8:00: The show starts in 30 minutes. Looking forward to a possible Rourke acceptance speech.
julius wrote:
woo hoo! GO SLUMDOG!
Posted on 22-Feb-09 at 6:14 pm | Permalink
Rayven wrote:
Yeepeee!! Go Winslet!!..i dont care who wins what but i just wanted Kate to win!!!…
Posted on 22-Feb-09 at 8:51 pm | Permalink
Jon. wrote:
Can’t wait what predictions Oscar Frenzy will be planning next. I think Amelia is becoming a Best Picture contendor. The Academy adore biofilms, right?
Nice Award show this year, except for the presenting of the acting awards with the long speeches, that was basically pointless. It was just “Get on with the winner already!”
2010 predictions here we come!
Posted on 22-Feb-09 at 9:28 pm | Permalink
Holden wrote:
Very good year. Much better than last year. Very entertaining, and Hugh Jackman did a fantastic job. Nice speeches all around, with the acception of the bumbling and nervous A. R. Rhaman.
Here are my predictions for next year.
Best Picture
-Inglorious Basterds
-The Lonely Bones
-Public Enemies
-The Road
-Sherlock Holmes
Alt: Amelia
Best Director
-John Hillcoat for The Road
-Peter Jackson for The Lonely Bones
-Michael Mann for Public Enemies
-Guy Ritche for Sherlock Holmes
-Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds
Alt: Joe Wright for The Soloist
Best Actor in a Leading Role
-Johnny Depp for Inglorious Basterds
-Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes
-Viggo Mortensen for The Road
-Brad Pitt for Inglorious Basterds
-Mark Whalberg for The Lonely Bones
Alt: George Clooney for A Serious Man
Best Actress in a Leading Role
-Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria
-Penelope Cruz for Broken Embraces
-Michelle Phieffer for Cheri
-Hillary Swank for Amelia
-Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia
Alt: ???
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
-Christian Bale for Public Enemies
-Jamie Foxx for The Soloist
-Michael Gambon for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
-Heath Ledger for The Imaginarum of Doctor Parnassus
-Kodi Smit-McPhee for The Road
Alt: Jude Law for Sherlock Holmes
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
-Amy Adams for Julie and Julia
-Catherine Keener for The Soloist
-Susan Surandon for The Lonely Bones
-Charleze Theoren for The Road
-Rachel Weiz for The Lonely Bones
Alt: ???
Best Original Screenplay
-A Serious Man
-Biutiful
-Funny People
-Inglorious Basterds
-Up
Best Adapted Screenplay
-The Lonely Bones
-Public Enemies
-The Road
-Sherlock Holmes
-The Soloist
Posted on 23-Feb-09 at 10:21 am | Permalink
Jon. wrote:
So far I’m just thinking on these films to attract that Best Picture prize.
Best Picture:
The Informant
Amelia
The Road
Public Enemies
The Tempest
Alternatives:
Inglorius Basterds
Avatar
Sherlock Holmes
P.S. Holden, The Imaginarum of Doctor Parnassus will probably get itself a original screenplay nomination.
And I’m not so sure Heath will do it again this year. 2008 was his year of cinema.
Posted on 23-Feb-09 at 6:23 pm | Permalink
julius wrote:
best picture:
Sherlock Holmes
Public enemies
Inglorious basterds
the soloist
lonely bones
best actor in lead.
johny depp-public enemies
robert downey jr.-sherlock holmes
brad pitt-inglorious basterds
?
?
i only know these films.
Posted on 23-Feb-09 at 8:40 pm | Permalink
Rayven wrote:
Holden, A.R Rahman was “bumbling and was nervous” only because he’s like the only Indian to win an oscar!!!…By the way, you prediction is full of errors, starting with The Lonely bones, uh, its “The Lovely Bones”…more errors will eventually follow as you make more predictions (as always)
Posted on 23-Feb-09 at 8:42 pm | Permalink
julius wrote:
slumdog winning the oscar is actually like dark knight winning too because they are special films. academy don’t nominate them. dark knight is MORE special cuz it is a comic book movie we didn’t expect. and i should have said this earlier but reader was nominated because of the connection. dark knight was just extra special. and SLUMDOG is lucky. the movie is just REALLY special. special movies getting nominated are very emotional that is why dark knight was so hyped. slumdog all the way
the film is in my top 20 films now. boyle is one of my fave for a long time.
Posted on 24-Feb-09 at 5:25 am | Permalink
Rayven wrote:
Julius, your comment makes no sense
Posted on 24-Feb-09 at 1:41 pm | Permalink
Rayven wrote:
Julius, your comment makes no sense
Posted on 24-Feb-09 at 1:41 pm | Permalink
Jon. wrote:
Yeah, Julius–enough with you persuading Dark Knight on and on. Slumdog won, it earned it! it earned all those nominations.
Best Films are won because the feeling we get after veiwing it (ex. A Beautiful Mind and Million Dollar Baby) Not because of the high action and dark crime that makes us lean into the big screen a little closer.
Anyways, so whens the new predictions? Any time soon?
Posted on 24-Feb-09 at 5:42 pm | Permalink
julius wrote:
lol… reading it again, it makes no sense…
so guys any new predictions? the only oscar material films i know so far that’s coming out are public enemies, sherlock holmes, inglorious basterds and soloist. they all look like interesting films and a popcorn flick at the same time. big actors and fun trailers. i hope they all become BP contenders. if they do make it, 2010 oscars might be more interesting and exciting. the reader, milk, ccbb…. they were just normal contenders to me. the new movies looks like it is gonna be fun. hoping to see those movies.
Posted on 25-Feb-09 at 2:33 am | Permalink
julius wrote:
and jon, i loved slumdog. it deserved all of them. i was a bit disapointed with CCBB. well, if they had all those noms why didn’t it win any? i might be wrong cuz it don’t fully remember… but i thought the 13 noms are now useless. wat a waste of noms it had. i thought it would win more than 3 at least. i think ccbb won like… umm 1/13? wow, a waste. it sorta feels like “i want my $13 dollars back!” kind of thing. wow, does anyone feels it was a waste of noms? there should have been other films which should have got nominated. slumdog deserved like 9 wins. ccbb was just a waste.
wastewastewastewastewastewaste
waste
waste
waste
waste
waste
waste
waste
waste
of noms.
Posted on 25-Feb-09 at 5:00 am | Permalink
Rayven wrote:
Julius you missed to mention peter jackson’s the lovely bones and rob marshall’s musical nine…i think the lovely bones is going all the way, with picture, director, screenplay and acting nominations…plus james cameron’s avatar is most likely to take home most of the technical awards like sound editing. mixing, and visual effects
Posted on 26-Feb-09 at 6:15 pm | Permalink