Oscar Winners 2011: Say what?

Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake (left and right) with Animated Short Film winners Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan. Photo © Kevin Sullivan/ZUMA Press/Corbis

We have to admit, we've kind of been down in the doldrums about the lack of originality forthcoming in the Oscar nominations for 2011, as you'll see here.

Before we get into the official winners, a few interesting links from the show:

- James Franco's Twitter photo page, live Tweeting from the awards. Dude looks high the entire time.  

- The Fug Girls do the red carpet rundown over at Vulture. The new Joan and Melissa Rivers? Well, better. 

We'll be updating the categories with video interviews and acceptance speeches as they become available. Don't forget to tune in to the Channel 9 replay at 9.40pm, EDST.

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in Biutiful
Jeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King's Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours 
The Oscar goes to: Colin Firth in The King's Speech
Our bet was on veterans Colin Firth or Jeff Bridges.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech 
The Oscar goes to: Christian Bale in The Fighter
In which Oscar decided, despite our pleadings for a Mark Ruffalo funfest, to choose the serious man: well deserved, nonetheless, by Christian Bale.

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine 
The Oscar goes to: Natalie Portman in Black Swan

Natalie Portman was stunning in Black Swan. Our earlier thoughts that perhaps underdog Michelle Williams should win have now faded, somewhat. 2010/11 may just be renamed 'Year of the Portman'.

 
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom 
The Oscar goes to: Melissa Leo in The Fighter
We must say, we're a little disappointed Jacki Weaver didn't take home the statue. 

Animated Feature Film  
How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois 
The Illusionist Sylvain Chomet
Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich 
The Oscar goes to: Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich 
Possibly the biggest disappointment of the night. Sorry, Toothless. Don't be sad. 

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Inception
Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
The King's Speech
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr 
True Grit
Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh 
The Oscar goes to: Alice in Wonderland
Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
This feels very much like scratching the back of the right people on the Hollywood circuit. Any of the nominated films were deserving of the accolade, and yet the four films that didn't win for this category are each far better films than Alice in Wonderland.

Cinematography
Black Swan Matthew Libatique
Inception Wally Pfister
The King's Speech Danny Cohen
The Social Network Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit Roger Deakins 
The Oscar goes to: Inception Wally Pfister
We'll repeat our nomination prediction: for a film that is unsurpassed in its visual beauty, there is little competition in 2010 for Inception.

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland Colleen Atwood
I Am Love Antonella Cannarozzi
The King's Speech Jenny Beavan
The Tempest Sandy Powell
True Grit Mary Zophres  
The Oscar goes to: Alice in Wonderland Colleen Atwood
That blue dress was beautiful and this is truly the only category in which Alice in Wonderland doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. 

Directing
Black Swan Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter David O. Russell
The King's Speech Tom Hooper
The Social Network David Fincher
True Grit Joel Coen and Ethan Coen 
The Oscar goes to: The King's Speech Tom Hooper
An incredibly tough category this year. We thought The Social Network or Black Swan were liklier contenders, but you just never know.


Documentary (Feature)
Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs 
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley 
The Oscar goes to: Inside Job Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs 
Banksy still rules, but congratulations to all involved in this riveting documentary.

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
“Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
“Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
“Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
“The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon
The Oscar goes to: “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

Film Editing  
Black Swan Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter Pamela Martin
The King's Speech Tariq Anwar
127 Hours Jon Harris
The Social Network Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter 
The Oscar goes to: The Social Network Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter 
If Robert Rodriguez has taught us anything, it's that the film is remade in the editing room. A big congratulations to Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, kings of awkward (alongside Eisenberg, that is).

Foreign Language Film
Biutiful Mexico
Dogtooth Greece
In a Better World Denmark
Incendies Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) Algeria  
The Oscar goes to: In a Better World Denmark
Makeup
Barney's Version Adrien Morot
The Way Back Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman Rick Baker and Dave Elsey 
The Oscar goes to: The Wolfman Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
As far as we're concerned, the makeup was really great in The Wolfman, but Saoirse Ronan's sunburn in The Way Back was both a gruesome and expertly produced close second.

Music (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon John Powell
Inception Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours A.R. Rahman
The Social Network Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross 
The Oscar goes to: The Social Network Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Prediction correct. Smile plastered. Go and pick up a copy today.

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from Tangled Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman 
The Oscar goes to: “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Gosh we're bored. 

Best Picture
Black Swan Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
The Fighter David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
Inception Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
The Kids Are All Right Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
The King's Speech Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
127 Hours Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
The Social Network Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
Toy Story 3 Darla K. Anderson, Producer
True Grit Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Winter's Bone Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers 
The Oscar goes to: The King's Speech Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
Was The King's Speech a good film? Yes, it was excellent. However, we still firmly believe Best Picture should be handed out for achievements on a grand scale. Black Swan and Inception were robbed in this category. 

Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night” Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois 
The Oscar goes to: “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Aussie Aussie Aussie (and from the world of books, no less)!

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession” Tanel Toom
“The Crush” Michael Creagh
“God of Love” Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
The Oscar goes to: “God of Love” Luke Matheny

Sound Editing
Inception Richard King 

Toy Story 3 Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Tron: Legacy Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable Mark P. Stoeckinger 

The Oscar goes to: Inception Richard King
Let us quote our prediction: 'Inception has to win here and not just for the spinning top at the end, either.' And how.

Sound Mixing
Inception Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
The King's Speech Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
Salt Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
The Social Network Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
True Grit Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland 
The Oscar goes to: Inception Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
Our carefully thought out prediction for The King's Speech? Dashed on the rocks. 

Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
Inception Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2 Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick 
The Oscar goes to: Inception Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
As predicted, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I found its category nemesis in Inception. Way to make some frosty Brits cry, jerks. 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
127 Hours Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter's Bone Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini 
The Oscar goes to: The Social Network Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
In an interesting turn of events, Aaron Sorkin writes on Danny Boyle's Facebook page 'Oh SNAP'.

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Another Year Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech Screenplay by David Seidler  
The Oscar goes to: The King's Speech Screenplay by David Seidler  Gosh, really? What about sharing the love a little, or giving the award to a comedy piece? Oscar is a grumpy old bastard.