Oscars 2011: The Winners – “King’s Speech” crowned

Well, fans of Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” can boast that their favorite film of 2010 tied for the most Oscars at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, but the more meaningful hardware went to “The King’s Speech,” which won where it counts: Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and of course, Best Picture. It wasn’t the clean sweep many expected, which kept some mystery in the ceremony until the last half hour, but ultimately no major upsets this year.

“The Social Network,” considered the major competition (if any existed) for “Speech,” won three awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Original Score. Ultimately, David Fincher’s snub for Best Director cost the film a chance to take the big prize.

Most interestingly but not necessarily surprisingly, “True Grit” won no awards despite a whopping 10 nominations. Best Picture nominee “127 Hours” was also shut out.

In the acting categories, “The Fighter” won both Supporting Acting awards for Melissa Leo and Christian Bale. “Black Swan” and Natalie Portman received the Best Actress award, which helped “Swan” avoid getting shut out as well. See below for the full list of winners, some quick comments and the award count. More commentary to come tomorrow.

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Best Motion Picture of the Year

Winner: The King’s Speech””

• “127 Hours”
• “Black Swan”
• “Inception”
• “The Fighter”
• “The Kids Are All Right”
• “The Social Network”
• “Toy Story 3″
• “True Grit”
• “Winter’s Bone”

Movie Muse Prediction: “The King’s Speech.” After winning those critical screenplay and directing awards, it became the lock everyone expected. I was surprised that it one no technical awards, but that saved the broadcast from becoming a total snorefest.

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Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner: Melissa Leo – “The Fighter”

• Amy Adams – “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham-Carter – “The King’s Speech”
• Hailee Steinfeld – “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver – ”Animal Kingdom”

Movie Muse Prediction: Melissa Leo – “The Fighter”. Unfortunately, Leo will be more remembered for dropping the F-bomb. She definitely deserved the win, however. Her speech ranks among the weirdest of the night.

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Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner: Christian Bale – “The Fighter”

• John Hawkes – “Winter’s Bone”
• Jeremy Renner – “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo – “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush – “The King’s Speech”

Movie Muse Prediction: Christian Bale – “The Fighter”.  His solid speech and win will hopefully allow most people to not see him as that angry guy that cussed out that guy on his movie set. A nice shout-out to Dickie Ecklund, the character he played, too.

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Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Winner: Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”

• Annette Bening – “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman – ”Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence  – “Winter’s Bone”
• Michelle Williams – “Blue Valentine”

Movie Muse Prediction: Natalie Portman – “Black Swan” She looks amazing even pregnant. Her career will only get bigger and better from here with “Oscar Winner” next to her name.

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Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Winner: Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”

• Javier Bardem – “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges – ”True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network”
• James Franco  – “127 Hours”

Movie Muse Prediction: Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech” I hope he got his dance on backstage. A terrific performance, but what I liked most in his speech was when he thanked Tom Ford, director of “A Single Man.” He should’ve won an Oscar for that film instead.

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Best Achievement in Directing

Winner: Tom Hooper – “The King’s Speech”

• Darren Aronofsky – ”Black Swan”
• Joel and Ethan Coen – “True Grit”
• David Fincher – “The Social Network”
• David O. Russell  – “The Fighter”

Movie Muse Prediction: David Fincher – “The Social Network” I didn’t expect to be as upset when Tom Hooper won, but I was. Fincher was undoubtedly better. However, Hoopers win comes as no shock and I’m sure Hooper will back up his win with a great filmmaking career.

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Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Winner: David Seidler – “The King’s Speech”

• Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg – “The Kids Are All Right”
• Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy – “The Fighter”
• Mike Leigh – “Another Year”
• Christopher Nolan – “Inception”

Movie Muse Prediction: David Seidler – “The King’s Speech” The heartwarming speech of the night. I didn’t know Seidler himself overcame a stutter. Not to mention him being the oldest winner of this award. Maybe Tom Hooper can make a movie of his life next.

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Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Winner: Aaron Sorkin – “The Social Network”

• Michael Arndt – “Toy Story 3″
• Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy – “127 Hours”
• Joel and Ethan Coen – “True Grit”
• Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini – “Winter’s Bone”

Movie Muse Prediction: Aaron Sorkin – “The Social Network” It wasn’t a competition, but thank goodness “Social Network” got this award. Sorkin’s script deserves it. Good thing it didn’t have to go up against “King’s Speech.”

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Best Achievement in Cinematography

Winner: Wally Pfister – “Inception”

• Matthew Libatique – “Black Swan”
• Danny Cohen  – “The King’s Speech”
• Jeff Cronenweth – “The Social Network”
• Roger Deakins – “True Grit”

Movie Muse Prediction: Matthew Libatique – “Black Swan”. Pfister is a terrific cinematographer and it was nice early on in the show to see “Inception” get this award. I would’ve liked “Black Swan” to have one at least one technical award, specifically here, though.

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Best Achievement in Editing

Winner: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter – “The Social Network”

• Andrew Weisblum – “Black Swan”
• Pamela Martin – “The Fighter”
• Tariq Anwar  – “The King’s Speech”
• Jon Harris – “127 Hours”

Movie Muse Prediction: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter – “The Social Network”. Another deserved win for “Social Network” and proof that Fincher deserved a directing Oscar.

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Best Achievement in Art Direction

Winner: “Alice in Wonderland” – Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara

• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1″ – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
• “The King’s Speech” – Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
• “Inception” – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “True Grit” – Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

Movie Muse Prediction: “The King’s Speech” – Eve Stewart, Judy Farr. “Alice” won two Oscars, but “True Grit” won none. Not that I expected it to win this category at all, but just worth pointing out.

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Best Achievement in Costume Design

Winner: “Alice in Wonderland” – Colleen Atwood

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” – Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King’s Speech” – Jenny Beaven
• “The Tempest” – Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” – Mary Zophres

Movie Muse Prediction: “The King’s Speech” – Jenny Beaven. More love for Colleen Atwood. The Academy continues to award no one but her and Powell. Then again, a look at those costumes and you can see why. Just nice that a period film didn’t win I suppose.

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Best Achievement in Makeup

Winner: “The Wolfman” – Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

• “Barney’s Version” – Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” – Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

Movie Muse Prediction: “The Wolfman” – Rick Baker and Dave Elsey. One of the great quotes of the night came from Elsey, who said that he dreamed of one day losing an Oscar to Rick Baker, but this better. Baker, if you didn’t know, is a horror makeup legend.

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Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Winner: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – “The Social Network”

• A.R. Rahman – “127 Hours”
• Alexandre Desplat – “The King’s Speech”
• John Powell – “How to Train Your Dragon”
• Hans Zimmer – “Inception”

Movie Muse Prediction: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – “The Social Network”. Really nice to see the Academy reward and encourage different types of scores and from people not typically in the film business. I think you’re going to see a lot more famous musicians agree to score movies in the future.

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Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Winner: “We Belong Together” by Randy Newman from “Toy Story 3

• “I See the Light” by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater from “Tangled”
• “If I Rise” by Dido, Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman from “127 Hours”
• “Coming Home” by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey from “Country Strong”

Movie Muse Prediction: “I See the Light” by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater from “Tangled”. I would say I wish Alan Menken won, but Randy Newman’s speech probably won the funniest of the night on most movie blogs and Twitter accounts. It was a terrific back-handed thank you to the Academy for all those Oscars they gave him the opportunity to lose.

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Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Winner: “Inception” – Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

• “The King’s Speech” – Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” – Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” – Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” – Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Movie Muse Prediction: “Inception”. I was really happy to have successfully predicted these categories.

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Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Winner: “Inception” – Richard King

• “Toy Story 3″ – Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” – Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” – Mark P. Stoeckinger

Movie Muse Prediction: “Inception”

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Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Winner: “Inception” – Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1″ – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” – Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Iron Man 2″ – Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Movie Muse Prediction: “Inception”

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Best Short Film, Animated

Winner: “The Lost Thing”

• “Day & Night”
• “The Gruffalo”
• “Let’s Pollute”
• “Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage”

Movie Muse Prediction: “The Gruffalo”. I actually saw “The Lost Thing” and I’m a bit surprised, but it was a really nice story.

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Best Short Film, Live Action

Winner: “God of Love”

• “The Confession”
• “The Crush”
• “Na Wewe”
• “Wish 143″

Movie Muse Prediction: “Wish 143″. “God of Love” was the artsier of all the shorts and I nearly picked it. Oh well. The guy had nice hair.

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Best Documentary, Features

Winner: “Inside Job”

• “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
• “GasLand”
• “Restrepo”
• “Waste Land”

Movie Muse Prediction: “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. One of the quieter disappointments of the night. Everyone was hoping Banksy, the mysterious graffiti artist, would win and that he had something up his sleeve. It would’ve given the show a much needed boost.

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Best Documentary, Short Subject

Winner: “Strangers No More”

• “Killing in the Name”
• “Poster Girl”
• “Sun Come Up”
• “The Warrior’s of Qiugang”

Movie Muse Prediction: “Strangers No More”. So thrilled to get this right.

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Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Winner: “In A Better World” (Denmark)

• “Biutiful” (Mexico)
• “Incendies” (Canada)
• “Dogtooth” (Greece)
• “Outside the Law” (Algeria)

Movie Muse Prediction: “Incendies” (Canada). The Golden Globes and the Oscars agreed for once. What a rarity.

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Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Winner: “Toy Story 3″

• “How to Train Your Dragon”
• “The Illusionist”

Movie Muse Prediction: “Toy Story 3” . The biggest lock of the night. If you had doubts, you’re silly.

 

Movie Muse Overall Predictions: 15/24

One better than last year! That’s progress. At this rate in nine years I’ll be perfect. Here’s how the awards broke down.

• Inception: 4 awards (Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Cinematography)
• The King’s Speech: 4 awards (Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Picture)
• The Social Network: 3 awards (Best Editing, Best Score, Best Adapted Screenplay)
• The Fighter: 2 awards (Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor)
• Toy Story 3: 2 awards (Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song)
• Alice in Wonderland: 2 awards (Best Costumes, Best Art Direction)
• Black Swan: 1 award (Best Actress)
• The Wolfman: 1 award (Best Makeup)