Oscars 2011: The Highs, The Lows And The James Francos

Oscars 2011: The Highs, The Lows And The James Francos

Posted on Monday February 28, 2011, 06:27 by Phil de Semlyen in Empire States

Another Oscars came and went with its share of ‘Eh?’ moments, many of them provided by co-host James Franco who seemed determined to spend the evening acting out some kind of weird Wes Anderson cheese dream. This, while something we’d pay to watch, probably wasn’t entirely what the Academy had in mind. Alongside him, Anne Hathaway was a predictably safe pair of hands – charming, funny, jaunty and musical in equal measure – and, for a few eccentric minutes, Kirk Douglas appeared to leave his stamp on things. Fittingly for a man who did much of his greatest work with Stanley Kubrick, Douglas’s cameo defied any attempt at instant analysis. It was an appearance that may, in due course, need its own Warren Commission, but, weird or wonderful, it was great to see him back in the bright lights.

As for Best Film, it was one of those years when feelings didn’t seem to run so high that anyone was likely to be catcalling injustice at the Academy voters. Compared to the polarising Oscars that jostled, say, Private Ryan and Shakespeare In Love or Brokeback Mountain and Crash, the two likely winners, The Social Network and The King’s Speech, both seemed popular choices. In the end, Tom Hooper and his gilded period piece won the day, giving everyone on this side of the Pond the chance to celebrate a film made with UKFC support and a talented British (and Australian) cast and crew. So what were the other highlights and not-so-highlights of the night?

The Highs

Wally Pfister’s win for Inception’s dazzling photography at the fourth time of asking, a partnership with Christopher Nolan that started hazily (he turned up for their first meeting straight from an all-night shoot) but has gone from strength to strength. It was a tough blow for the equally mighty True Grit DoP Roger Deakins who by now must have the greatest “oh-well” face in Hollywood. His first nomination came for Shawshank and he’s been nominated seven times since, putting him firmly in Peter O’Toole country when it comes to near misses. Hopefully Randy Newman was on hand to remind him that the Gold Man eventually comes to those who wait (ages).

Seeing Kirk Douglas, now in his nineties, back on an Academy stage he narrowly missed gracing as a winner three times down the years (something he made sly reference to). Yes, he was a surprising choice to present the Best Supporting Actress gong, but he turned up, bollocked Hugh Jackman, had a damned good crack at chatting up Anne Hathaway and Melissa Leo, before chucking the award envelope on the floor and wandering backstage with Leo in close attendance. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to ramraided by a 94 year-old silver screen star, this bit was for you. We didn’t know quite what to make of it, but still wished he’d won an Oscar of his own. He was incredible in Paths Of Glory, Ace In The Hole, The Vikings, Bad And The Beautiful… and he is Spartacus.

David Seidler’s lovely speech which started with a reference to his dad (“He always said I’d be a late bloomer”) and ended by name-checking HRH and Melissa Leo in the same sentence. After that Leo acceptance speech, this is the last time that will happen without a Beefeater ushering the perpetrator to the Tower.

Christian Bale gave a genuine and moving speech – in a relatively normal accent – and shared the limelight with Dicky Eklund, as well as Mrs Bale using the most nautical metaphor since James Cameron won for Titanic (“She’s my mast through the storms of life”). He even used the Melissa Leo f*bombgate to pay more penance for his Terminator Salvation indiscretion. As for the beard… we can only imagine there’s a Catweazle biopic in the works.

Colin Firth. Some have argued that he and Jeff Bridges won for the wrong roles, but, good as he was in A Single Man and good as Bridges is as Rooster Cogburn, it’s hard to argue with Firth’s performance as the stammering monarch Bertie Windsor. Props too for a beatifully judged speech that would have made Bertie proud. He managed to mock his own restrained style and thanked Harvey Weinstein for his faith in him twenty years ago, “when I was a mere child sensation”. We love you Colin.

Roxy Sorkin’s guinea pig. Apparently the only living thing not in awe of Aaron Sorkin.

An Auto-Tune musical montage that took dialogue from the Best Film nominees (and The Deathly Hallows) and mangled them into a song that will haunt our nightmares for years to come. W, and indeed, TF? Just amazing. Eat your heart out Kanye.

The Very Highs

Much as we love him, James Franco elevated wry detachment to an art form, giving the air of a man who needed to be somewhere else finishing an MA assignment or reading some Walt Whitman - or “back in Pineapple Express”, as Empire Online’s designer put it. Franco did pull off an impressively oddball Marilyn Monroe drag act, disappearing and reappearing in a gown before deadpanning, “Weirdly, I just got a text from Charlie Sheen.” By the end he just seemed to be operating on a whole different plane from everyone else, occasionally stumbling on gold – he greeted one particularly rambling intro with the immortal words: “Well, congratulations nerds!” – but most of it was surreal in a not-so-good way. “Is he still stuck in that canyon?” Empire’s designer was wondering by the time Best Film came around.

The Lows

Worthy winner though she was, Melissa Leo’s speech had two moments: the beginning and the end. The bit in the middle did that unfortunate thing of sounding self-congratulatory (on behalf of all of the LA film industry, we think) but without enough charm or humour to dispel the gooeyness. The f*bomb was actually light relief, though it probably gave someone at ABC a cardiac.

Aaron Sorkin got the musical curtain call after what seemed like 20 seconds of his acceptance speech. Note to the Oscars producer: this is Aaron Sorkin. AARON SORKIN!! Step off. Also, don’t be coy - if you really want to intimidate someone off the stage, play some Hans Zimmer.

The Best Songs segment was truncated but Florence Welch and A.R. Rahman’s If I Rise rendition was a thing of shivering beauty, a little reminiscent of Bird York’s haunting In The Deep from Crash at the 2004 show. In an entertainingly frank speech, Randy Newman let the Academy have it for only nominating four songs in the category. Fifth song? We’d have gone for Derezzed, just so Daft Punk could have woken James Franco up.

Anyways, those were a few of mine (apologies if they're a little lacking, well, sense - it's dawn and my eyeballs feel like they've just emerged from Peter Stormare's Minority Report prop drawer). Get adding yours below...