post-Oscar post

So last night was the gay Olympics… I mean, the Oscars… and I spent the evening at a lovely Oscar party, hosted by my good friend John. There was a lot of booze, a lot of fun, and a lot of anxiety, as John had us participating in a Oscar pool for a coveted Target gift card. I actually fared quite well, as I ended up predicting 13 winners correctly (INCLUDING MY BABY JHUD!!!), which placed me in a 4 way tie with Barry, Rebekah, and Lisa. The shitty thing is, that John had decided that in the event of a tie, the winners would square off in Wii boxing… which happens to be the game I am the WORST at in Wii sports. I fought a good fight, making it through the first round and narrowly beating Rebekah, but I was crushed by the mighty Barry, as he claimed victory (and the gift card) in the end. I wasn’t sore about the loss, though, but for some reason, my jaw is really hurting today, and my voice is almost gone. I tend to get a little too excited sometimes (especially when my buddy booze is there), and apparently, I let it all loose during the boxing matches. I think it is hilarious that my jaw hurts, though, because I wasn’t even hit, it was VIRTUAL boxing! WTF is up with that? Anyway… Here’s a wrap up of the actual awards for the night, with a focus on my correct predictions (13 baby!): (The ones with the (*) beside them are the ones I correctly predicted, leading to my almost victory in the competition, for the night.)

• (*)Actor in a leading Role: Forest Whitaker — Didn’t see this movie, but I correctly predicted he would win based solely on the hype he garnered for this movie. If you play a real person, and play them really well, you have a good chance of winning. Too bad hottie Mchothot Ryan Gosling didn’t win. At least he was nominated, though.
• (*)Actress in a leading Role: Helen Mirren — no brainer. Seriously… She was a total shoe-in.
• Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin — Holy cow! While I did pick Eddie Murphy, because I was sure he would win (See!!! I told you Norbit crushed his chances of winning!), I was really happy to see someone win for Little Miss Sunshine… MY favorite movie of 2006.
• (*)Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson — OMFG LOL ORLY YES YES YES??!?11!!?!? I am SOOOO happy my baby Jhud walked out with the win on this one. How awesome is it that for your first movie role EVER, you snag both the Golden Globe, AND the Oscar. Work it girl!!! Her performance with Beyonce was awesome as well, with Beyonce COMPLETELY surprising me… But that is a different story.
• (*)Animated Feature: Happy Feet — Haven’t seen it, but I somehow knew it would win over the rednecky Cars. Penguins are cuter than cars, ya’ll.
• (*)Art Direction: Pan’s Labyrinth — I have been gushing about this movie since I saw it. It is amazing, and beautiful. Totally deserved this one.
• Cinematography: Pan’s Labyrinth — Kinda surprised it wasn’t Children of Men (my guess), but I do love Pan’s. Glad it won.
• (*)Costume Design: Marie Antoinette — I was really shocked that more people at the party didn’t choose this one… when I was watching this movie, I kept saying to myself, “wow, these costumes are beautiful and amazing”… and when I saw that it was a nominee, it was a definite pick for me. The Devil Wears Prada didn’t stand a chance!
• (*)Directing: Martin Scorsese, The Departed — It was his time. Everyone said so. I believed them.
• (*)Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth — Hell fuck yes. This movie blew me away, and it was something everyone should see. It totally deserved to win.
• (*)Documentary Short Subject: The Blood of Yingzhou District — Um, I just picked this one, because I hadn’t heard of any of them. As I said last night, if it is about oppression or disease (meaning it has Blood in the title), then it will probably win. However, that doesn’t apply to movies with the word Diamond, also in the title.
• Film Editing: The Departed — I guessed Children of Men for the same reason I picked them for Cinematography. It deserved it… I mean, COM looked REAL!
• Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others — *audible gasp*… uh, where’s Pan’s Labyrinth?? Seriously?!?!
• Makeup: Pan’s Labyrinth — I went with Apocalypto… did you see the make up on those people? Okay… THAT’s why. MOST of the people in Pan’s were just normal people.
• (*)Music: Babel — I haven’t seen it, I just randomly picked this one. Lucky me, eh?
• Original Song: I Need To Wake Up (Melissa Etheridge) — While I picked Listen from Dreamgirls, because why nominate 3 if you aren’t going to at least pick one of them (!??!?!), I am super happy Melissa won… this song is great, and it has a great message.
• (*)Best Picture: The Departed — I thought this was a no-brainer, but apparently, a lot of people thought Babel would get it. I didn’t see Babel, so I wasn’t dissuaded by it… The Departed was pretty good, ya’ll. Good enough to be best picture! HA!
• Animated Short: The Danish Poet — I went with No Time for Nuts, because everyone loves that little squirrel from Ice Age. Well, at least I thought they did.
• Live Action Short: West Bank Story — I picked Eramos Pocos, because I originally didn’t choose one, and had to come up with one on the spot. If I would have known what WBS was about, I would have picked it. Damn!
• Sound Editing: Letters From Iwo Jima — I went with Apocalypto… the other film in another language. Oh well.
• (*)Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls — Well, they have to throw them at least a few bones, don’t they? YES!
• Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean — I was kind of surprised, because I picked Superman… I guess I was the only one impressed by it. I was told by people in the room that the CGI in Superman was obvious, and not so much in Pirates. Oh well…
• Adapted Screenplay: The Departed — I should have picked that, but I went with Borat, because of the love he was shown at the Golden Globes. Silly me.
• (*)Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine — Seriously, if it can win best picture, it at least has to be recognized for the brilliant story. YAY!

So there you have it… that is how I guessed, and I am glad that I did end up coming in first with a four way tie. It is just too bad that I wasn’t able to defeat Barry at boxing… but no hard feelings, Rebekah said that she took the gift card. HA! Hope everyone had a great Oscar night, and a BIG thanks for John for throwing a great party. Can’t wait until next year!!!!