The 83rd Academy Awards: the snazziest place for designers to gain fame, People magazine to cultivate their next few months’ worth of material and Twitter to blow up for a few entertaining hours. Last Sunday night on ABC – Feb 27- the stars gathered like their own galaxy as the public gazed on, nearly 38.7 million viewers (though down 7% from last year) lighting up their TVs and watching the biggest, the best, and most importantly, the most famous make those classic tear-jerking speeches. The Rogue News gives you the skinny on 2011’s biggest night in film.
The young and the humorous? Both starring in their fair-share of leading roles this past year, Hathaway’s intriguing dive into serious (more revealing, one might say) acting with Jake Gyllehaal in “Love And Other Drugs” this fall, and of course Franco’s highly acclaimed Danny Boyle role in “127 Hours” which got him a Best Actor nod by the Academy, come to mind. Other minor Hathaway parts last year included the star-studded, but not so dazzling “Valentine’s Day” for Hathaway, and Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” which won two awards last night.
Franco’s minor role with Mila Kunis in Date Night and co-starring with Julia Roberts in “Eat Pray Love” were also hits. Although never appearing together on screen together, this dynamic duo showed much energy in pulling out all of the stops for the show. Perhaps they were not the “young viewer” pull ABC was looking for, but these peppy hosts (Hathaway the youngest in history at 28, Franco at 32) were sufficient in entertaining a very tough audience. Poking constant fun at themselves and the other big names seemed to lighten up the pressure of the night, no doubt. Though the two never received a standing ovation, as Billy Crystal did for presenting an award, “the girl in the princess movies” and “the guy from General Hospital” showed a critical audience the power of young Hollywood, although maybe Alec and Steve could have given them a few comedy tips.
Fresh faces: This year, the mash up presented itself with a plethora of new faces in the nominee category, such as 20-year old Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly in 4 time nominated “Winter’s Bone.” Also youngest in her category, at 14, was True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld for Best Supporting Actress. Not a stranger to the international fame, but to the Oscar limelight was British artist Dido, collaborating with her brother Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman for their song “If I Rise” in 127 Hours, though it lost to well-loved Randy Newman’s Toy Story 3 composing. In addition, we saw Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Razor, with friend Atticus Ross, win for their first screenplay, heard in “The Social Network.”
Go, Fight, Win: Melissa Leo and Christian Bale, both from “The Fighter” won Best Supporting Actress and Actor, the first time a movie has racked up both awards since 1986. The movie, starring Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams, among others, won in four of their seven nominated categories.
Long live the King: Last year we saw Kathryn Bigelow’s drama “The Hurt Locker” get the gold for its rather brutal portrayal of the war and Bigelow become the first woman to receive Best Director. This year “The King’s Speech”, directed by Tom Hooper, swiped the floor, as the favorite of the night. Though David Fincher’s film “The Social Network” did well at the Golden Globes earlier this awards season, the film lost its momentum as the King seemed to pick up at the SAG Awards and in Oscar buzz. Colin Firth, also the favorite by high majority, won in the Best Actor category, his first award in a long career.
Rolling up the Red Carpet: Although the night was not one of many surprises, as most categories were safe and predictable (including the brilliant Natalie Portman’s Best Actress win), and the television cast did not hold the same racing feel as other award shows, like the Grammys, it held up its name. The Academy Awards, a larger-than-life evening to display the greatest in film, from the costumes to the directors, the sound mixing to the writers. Overall it was a classy night in American tradition. Here’s looking at you, Academy.
