Well, no big surprises this year. I was right in 10 out of 13 predictions, and I didn’t make any very bold picks. I didn’t expect Clooney to win the supporting actor award, but it did make sense when he got up there. I should have expected that they wouldn’t let him leave empty-handed after being nominated in several categories, and that was the one he was most likely to win. I know, I’m being somewhat cynical, but I was right about Ang Lee and Crash, wasn’t I?
Jon Stewart was a good host. As a fan of The Daily Show I had no doubts about his ability, but I didn’t trust the audience to respond that well to his comedy. Sure, he may have been a little too ‘nice’ and he could probably have challenged them (and us) a little more, but I still think he was as funny as one could expect from an Oscar host.
Kudos to Kanal 5 for realising that most Swedes have no idea who Jon Stewart is. The decision to air an episode of The Daily Show (the one from Feb 23 with Roger Ebert; a good choice in itself) right before the awards show was a smart one. The channel deserves credit just for picking up the Oscars in a year when the public service network decided they couldn’t afford it because “this is such a big sports year”.
Robert Altman received some special honours, and deservedly so, but when did the Lifetime Achievement Award become “Honorary Oscar”? Or is that something else entirely?
All in all, it was quite an entertaining show. Probably the best one in years. I especially enjoyed the fact that no film got to dominate by winning several big awards. Four acting awards spread out over four films, and the best picture didn’t also win best directing. Now, we can only hope that this year’s unusual lot of low-grossing winners and nominees will inspire the big Hollywood studios to make more quality films in the future.
