The 2012 Academy Awards: Winners and Losers

The Oscars were last night and to my surprise it was probably the best Oscar show I've seen in a long time. Billy Crystal proved there was a reason he's done this so many times. He knows the ins and outs, what to say, do, and make it an all around fun show for everyone. I'm gonna talk about somne of the winners, losers, surprises, best and worst dressed, and some things that weren't that great, so let's start off with the big winners.

First of all I want to say out of all my Oscar predictions I only missed on two, and technically the people who I thought should win did, so I'm very happy for who won last night, starting with Best Actor.

WINNER - JEAN DUJARDIN

I really thought that the Academy was going to give this one to George, but they delightfully proved me wrong and went with the person who I thought should win, and did, Jean Dujardin! Not only is he the first French man to win this award, but the fact he's a comedian makes it even sweeter. One of the reasons I thought his chances were slighted were the recent appearances on SNL and the video he made for Funny or Die. While quite enjoyable and so funny, it's not the type of behavior that boasts well for winning this type of award. Also taking into consideration the recent controversy surrounding his new movie opening in France, Les Infidèles (The Players). The movie posters were pretty raunchy and provided a little bit of an uproar. Here's one of the posters below.



Despite this, the Academy came through and gave Dujardin something he deserved so much. I'll admit, George Clooney's performance was a career defining one, but Jean Dujardin in The Artist? Well, there simply won't be something so eloquent and beautifully acted for awhile. So there it is, congratulations to Jean Dujardin!

WINNER - MERYL STREEP

This win left a lot of people totally shocked, even Meryl herself, starting her acceptance speech with, "When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no! Oh come on, why her? Again?' But ... whatever." Adorable. After 17 nominations and her last win being in the '80s the Academy awarded her for a third time, and deservedly so. The transformation she made to become Margaret Thatcher was astounding. Reading about it, and seeing the trailer going, um okay is that really Meryl Streep? I know a lot of people were expecting Viola Davis to take home the gold, but I still thought Streep would take it. Viola was remarkable in The Help, and definitely made me shed some tears, but I'm sure it won't be long before she is nominated again. Her time will come.

WINNER - THE ARTIST (BEST ACTOR, BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCORE, BEST COSTUME DESIGN)

This movie deserves all these awards, whole heartedly and unconditionally. If you haven't seen it yet, you must be crazy or living under a rock. It's biggest competition in these categories I felt was most likely Hugo, but once Hugo started to win all those technical awards I knew it was doomed and The Artist would take home all the big prizes. The only movie to ever sweep every category was Titanic, and come on, Titanic is what it is. Hugo is not Titanic. Just like a couple years ago when everyone expected Avatar to take it all home, but it only won the techincal stuff, and The Hurt Locker perservered and took home the big stuff. Congratulations to The Artist!

WINNER - COMEDIANS!

Not only did this year's Oscars emerge with the amazing nomination for Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids, but also nominations and wins for other fellow funny people.

BEST SONG - MAN OR MUPPET (BRET MCKENZIE)

Flight of the Conchords alum Bret McKenzie won for his hit Man or Muppet tune sang by Jason Segel and Walter in The Muppets. Who would've thought?

WINNER - BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (ALEXANDER PAYNE, NAT FAXON & JIM RASH)

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash are from The Groundlings. Not only have they acted in a slew of great movies and done many funny things, but Jim Rash plays my favorite Dean A Ling Ling from Greendale Community College! Maybe Community won't get cancelled now that they have an Academy Award winner in their midst.



KRISTEN WIIG AND MELISSA MCCARTHY BEING NOMINATED FOR BRIDESMAIDS

They didn't win, but isn't this statement insanely awesome regardless? Yeah, that's what I thought.

HITS

Billy Crystal saved the day by hosting for a ninth time, and totally kicking ass and proving he knows what he's doing. Honestly I am so glad Eddie Murphy backed out because while there was some initial excitement, seeing Murphy discuss how awesome it was going to be on Jimmy Fallon a few months ago was a big disappointment. I've seen more people enthused about taking a shit. Murphy just did not care about this, and he probably only accepted the offer because of money and Brett Ratner.

Billy's highlights were his awesome singing monologue, and his hysterical bit of where he knew what others were thinking. When the camera panned to Nick Nolte, what Billy believed to be in his mind was a bunch of mumbling and grunting. Props Crystal. So funny.

Even the presenters had some fun moments too, such as Ben Stiller and Emma Stone being so damn lovable like she always is. And Robert Downey Jr.'s fun documentary feature being filmed on stage was only something he could pull off.

MISSES

The Cirque Du Soleil routine seemed a little out of place to me. While it was something fun to watch in the middle of a very long show, it still to me just didn't quite fit in there.

Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez being lame. While they were presenting they wanted to have fun, but no one else was, and everyone seemed confused at what they were trying to do while presenting best costume design and best make-up, which is ironic because their costumes and make-up made my worst dressed list. Oh well.

BEST DRESSED

Oh something so superficial, but let's face it, it's one of the reasons we tune in. Who are you wearing?! Remember? Here's a couple people who I think were best dressed.

TINA FEY in custom Carolina Herrara

 

Tina Fey hasn't looked better on a red carpet before. The dress is such an amazing fit for her, and the jewelry and hair go so beautiful together.

ELLIE KEMPER in Armani Prive

 

She looks AMAZING. Probably the absolute best dressed on the carpet. Everything looks flawless.

MERYL STREEP in Lanvin

 

Come on, it's Meryl Streep! She always looks amazing. Sometimes gold can be a little too much, but I love what she's done with it. And look, her and her Oscar match!

WORST DRESSED

MICHELLE WILLIAMS in Louis Vuitton

 

This dress looked awful! Not just on her, but anyone. I can't find a picture of the back, but that is the worst part. Instead of being a red dress all the way around, the back is this different nude/clear fabric material. To top it off she didn't even know what color the dress was. How about not your color? The pink clutch makes it look like she's going to a cheesy Valentine's Day dance. Miss.

JENNIFER LOPEZ in Zuhair Murad

 

Normally J.Lo looks flawless and gorgeous, and while her hair and make-up are impeccable, this dress was just all sorts of wrong. I just didn't like it, and the clevage it gave her was not very flattering. Let's just say she should've brought back the Grammy gown.

CAMERON DIAZ in Gucci

 

Where do I even begin? The make-up, the hair, the dress, it's all wrong. It's just wrong.

Not intentional to end on the sour notes of worst dressed but this was my take on the Oscars this year. A wonderful show, with a lot of very talented, deserving winners, and with only a couple hiccups, it made this year's Oscar show one of the best in years. And on one last plea, if you haven't seen The Artist make it a goal for this week. You won't be disappointed.