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Oscar Takeaways
12 thoughts from the big night

 

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Hero of the Year

"Bravo Company"
Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie & Brian Geraghty
THE HURT LOCKER
 "Carl Frederickssen"
Ed Asner & animators
UP
"Father"
Viggo Mortensen
THE ROAD
"jakesully"
Sam Worthington
AVATAR
"Wikus Van Der Merwe"
Sharlto Copley
DISTRICT 9
 Blessed with: Bravery (though 'everyone's a coward about something'), camarederie and day in/day out perserverance. Achilles Heel: Shoddy supplies, adrenalie addiction. Triumph: Saving lives.
Blessed with: Stubborn determination, the love of a good woman, empathy, quick thinking and adventurous spirit. Achilles Heel: Grumpy. Has trouble letting go. Triumph: Let's go. That scene where he empties the house? *Sob*
Blessed with: Immense paternal love, general human empathy, quick wits and survival instincts. Achilles Heel: Deep wells of sadness. That and the apocalyptic malnutrition. Triumph: His Boy lives on.
Blessed with: Strength, agility, fearlessness. He's also a quick study. Achilles Heel: Those military apron strings. Selfish desire to get his legs back... "his real legs!" Triumph: Saves a world, gets the girl, tames the dragon.
Blessed With: inner humanity, especially once the outer humanity fails him. Achilles Heel: Prejudice. Triumph: Helps an alien nation return to their world. Otherwise, things turn out pretty grim for him.
 
Gold: CARL FREDERICKSEEN  Silver: FATHER Bronze: WIKUS

Finalists: Coraline for CORALINE | Sam Worthington as "Marcus" in TERMINATOR SALVATION was there until Wikus and jakesully bested him in the find-your-humanity-by-losing-it sweepstakes | Ellen Page as "Bliss" from WHIP IT. Self actualization. In short and to borrow the tagline: she becomes her own hero.

Semi-Finalists: Tony Leung as "Zhou You" in RED CLIFF | Morgan Freeman as "Nelson Mandela" in INVICTUS | There were a lot more heroices onscreen this year but did so many of them have to be so blank, so glum or two dimensional in their characterizations?

 

Villain of the Year

 "Colonel Hans Landa"
Christoph Waltz
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
"The Fabrication Machine"
animators
9
"Lamia"
Art Kimbro (and KNB EFX Group)
DRAG ME TO HELL
"Mary Jones"
Mo'Nique
PRECIOUS
"Other Mother"
Teri Hatcher (and animators)
CORALINE
 Guilty of: Show off superiority, mass murder, cat-like love of torturing prey, intimidation and manipulations. Accomplices: the Nazis. Sentence: He never gets to take off that uniform now, does he?
 Guilty of: Genocide, unlimited arms race fever. Accomplices: Only those it creates and they are legion. Sentence: Implosive defeat. Though who knows what happened at the end of this movie. Do you?
 Guilty of: Pure evil, fear mongering, animal sacrifice and goat possession. Accomplices: Gypsy women with foul tempers and poor oral hygiene. Sentence: Unknown. Presumably still torturing the deamned in Hell.
Guilty of: Child abuse (every variety thereof). Plus: Welfare-cheating, chain-smoking, slothful poisonous rage. Accomplices: Mostly herself. Skilled at self-absolving pity and rationalization. Sentence: Isolation.
 Guilty of: Lies, child abuse, deceitful illusions, kidnapping, macabre soul stealing and unlicensed attempts at ocular surgery. Accomplices: Other Father, rats. Sentence: Loss of the game... and her bony hand; trapped in a well.
 
Gold: OTHER MOTHER Silver: HANS LANDA Bronze: MARY JONES

Finalists: Tae-Ju (Ok-Bin Kim) from THIRST. Havoc making vampiress but I sufficently awarded her for acting already | Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) in WHIP IT. But more of a bad girl with heart than a true villain | Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) from AVATAR. A smidgeon too cartoonishly broad for me but I love that claw scar.

Semi-Finalists: Boggis, Bunce & Bean from FANTASTIC MR. FOX had their own theme song | Gallaxher from MONSTERS VS. ALIENS had his moments.

 

 

Diva of the Year

Worship their fabulousity
 "Brüno"
Sacha Baron Cohen
BRUNO
"Charley"
Julianne Moore
A SINGLE MAN
"Claudia"
Nicole Kidman
NINE
"Neytiri"
Zöe Saldana
AVATAR
"Countess Sofya Tolstoy"
Helen Mirren
THE LAST STATION
 Turn ons: Do you really want me to type all that up? Pass. Hobbies: Public scenes, public sex, seeking global fame. Enablers: Lutz, Paula Abdul, Ron Paul and assorted other dumbasses. Turn offs: Carbs.
Turn ons: Gay men, dirty jokes, gin. Hobbies: Dressing up fabulousity, drinking, self-pity, living in the past. Enablers: George, Tanqueray. Turn offs: Reality (aging, grief, sexual orientation, divorce, etcetera)
Turn ons: Beautiful costumes, finished scripts, Guido (albeit in the past tense) Hobbies: Acting, making fabulous entrances, loving Guido in her very unusual way. Enablers: Global fanbase. Turn offs: Winging it on set.
Turn ons: "jakesully" and Eywa (but not in that order), clean kills, the Tree of Souls, men with huge... dragons. Hobbies: hunting, banshee flying, spreading the gospel of Eywa Enablers: Mom and Dad (i.e. the Na'Vi royals) Turn offs: Liars, humans.
Turn ons: Leo Tolstoy, the massive family estate, mating calls Hobbies: Hissy fits, plate breaking, eavesdropping Enablers: She's losing them rapidly. Turn offs: Zealots, everyone who worships her husband (i.e. the competition)
 

Gold: COUNTESS SOFYA TOLSTOY Silver: BRUNO Bronze: CLAUDIA

Finalists: "Orson Welles" (Christian McKay) ME AND ORSON WELLS...a close sixth place finish | "Eva Destruction" (Ari Graynor) WHIP IT who lacks only the screen time. Lookin' good Barbie.

Semi-Finalists: "Chéri and Lea" (Rupert Friend and Michelle Pfeifffer) were once divas. But perhaps divas should never fall in love with other divas... the powers dissipate. There can be only one. | "Jenny" (Carey Mulligan) lack only AN EDUCATION in several ways. She's a diva-in-training.

 

Sexpot of the Year

 "Alex Goran"
Vera Farmiga
UP IN THE AIR
"Carlos"
Jon Kortajarena
A SINGLE MAN
"Chéri & Lea"
Rupert Friend & Michelle Pfeiffer
CHERI
"Lena"
Penélope Cruz
BROKEN EMBRACES
"Ray Coval"
Clive Owen
DUPLICITY
 Flirts like a champ, texts like a horndog, and kicks up her heels with great party girl spontaneity. Who wouldn't be snookered?

George to Carlos "You have an incredibly face. Enjoy that. It's a gift."

George then hands him a $20. This gift is totally underpriced.

He's hot for teacher. She's obsessed with student. Their love is doomed but their shared cruel icy beauty is stunningly hot match.
 I'll never forget her emergence from those pristine white sheets. If Cruz gets any hotter movie theaters are going to burn down. This movie speaks true: Even blind men stroke her picture!
Clive's always been dangerously sexy but now adds humor to the mix. Whether he's faking an accent to seduce easy prey or sparring with his equal (Roberts) he's a movie dream.
 

Gold: LENA Silver: ALEX GORAN Bronze: CARLOS

Finalists: Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) in AVATAR makes us want to pull out our braids and... | Jim (Matthew So Goode) plays a great fantasy boyriend in A SINGLE MAN. No wonder George is so messed up. | "Michelle" (Gwyneth Paltrow) in TWO LOVERS. Potentially fatal for men who loved f***ed up girls. She learned that window trick from Kathleen Turner's Body Heat and Susan Sarandon's Atlantic City. It never gets old.

Semi-Finalists: "Prince Albert" (Rupert Friend) in THE YOUNG VICTORIA -Christ, Vicki, just marry him already. He's perfect. | "Shawn" (Channing Tatum) is good at FIGHTING. And taking his shirt off | "Andrew" (Ryan Reynolds) how did THE PROPOSAL not involve a must-have-sex-with-me clause? Maybe Margaret Tate wasn't such a good businesswoman after all.

 

Best Tagline

 (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
CORALINE
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
UP IN THE AIR
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
 "This is not a love story. This is a story about love."
"Be careful what you wish for."
"Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France."
"The story of a man ready to make a connection."
 "There's one in all of us."
 

Gold: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Silver: CORALINE Bronze: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Finalists: THE HURT LOCKER "war is a drug" | JULIE & JULIA "Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do you have what it takes?"

Semi-Finalists: IN THE LOOP "Things are about to spin out of control." | IT'S COMPLICATED "Divorced... with benefits."

 

Best Poster Design

ANTICHRIST
DISTRICT 9
 MOON
 PRECIOUS WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
The first image released, a couple rutting in a tree of dead souls, was arresting enough. The sick scissor poster once the word was out? Genius.
The scifi allegory made great use of signage and logos for its campaign, memorable marking the tense alien/human divide and likely violence to come.
The circular motif is an obvious one for the title but the optical illusion surface and the offcenter framing is perfect for this disoriented spaceman.
The abuse centric teaser featured a body cracked by a malevolent hand. The second was softer but stunning. Precious is a work in progress. You can see the brush strokes.
Posters should reflect a film's mood and texture (as well as selling it) and this works on both counts. All that mnemonic fur. Instant childhoold recall.
 

Gold: ANTICHRIST Silver: PRECIOUS Bronze: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Finalists: IN THE LOOP (various, whether spoofing Obama posters or using strings and cans for phones | JULIE & JULIA (two eggs teaser) for its kitchen humor. | CORALINE (teasers and finale) | THE LOVELY BONES (the tree) interesting to look at without being gaudy like the film.

Semi-Finalists: TERMINATOR: SALVATION (the one with the fiery-eyed skull) | AN EDUCATION (upside down couple) romantic and glossy.