An Optimistic Review of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards

We've heard the low-points. Christopher Nolan wasn't nominated for Best Director.The chemistry between Anne Hathaway and James Franco was non-existent (I mostly blame the writers).Roger Deakins fails to win his first Oscar in nine nominations. Christopher Nolan wasn't nominated for Best Director. But there were many good things about and that happened during this year's Oscars. Here are some of my favorites.
1. The awards were spread out pretty evenly among the nominated films.

After the BAFTAs I was worried that The King's Speech might sweep, or nearly sweep, but in fact they ended up tying Inception for number of awards won. The final numbers turned out like this:

The King's Speech - 4
Inception - 4
The Social Network - 3
Alice in Wonderland - 2
Toy Story 3 - 2

2. There were some good lines and good speeches.

Luke Matheney (Best Live Action Short): "Wow. Should have got a haircut."

Colin Firth (Best Actor): "I'm afraid I have to warn you that I'm experiencing stirrings. Somewhere in the upper abdominals which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. Joyous as they may be for me, it would be extremely problematic if they make it to my legs before I get off stage." and "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have some impulses I have to tend to backstage. Thank you very much."



The very professional Natalie Portman didn't miss a beat and thanked everyone from her parents to the makeup artists to the camera operators.



Randy Newman (Best Original Song): "I just have to thank these people - I don't want to. I just have to. I want to be good television as you can see!"

3. And some good presenters.

Although Melissa Leo won Hailee Steinfeld's Oscar, at least Kirk Douglas stole the spotlight for the whole award. 


Later on Cate Blanchett commented "That's gross" before awarding Rick Baker and Dave Elsey Oscars for Best Makeup for "The Wolfman.

4. Some funny moments between the hosts.

The introduction video was clever, cute, and well-acted. It gave us an early taste of Hathaway's eagerness to take on any situation and Franco's chill attitude towards it all, which is subtly effective, although less so in the magnified space of the Kodak stage. A triumph, however, was Franco's comment after the technical awards: "Congratulations, nerds."


5. Fabulous Fashion.

Anne Hathaway's dresses. Every single one was suitable and gorgeous. She even danced around a bit.



In other fashion-y news Colleen Atwood takes the first costume award for a Tim Burton film. Although her speech was horrible (there was an index card involved), she also designed Helena Bonham Carter's dress for the evening, earning her major props for the star, and made the whole Burton creative team proud.

6. Motherly support. 

Anne Hathaway's mom and James Franco's grandmother made appearances (While Betsy Franco tweeted her support for her son) and Justin Timberlake and Russel Brand both brought their mothers as their guests.