Oscar Follow

It's been years since I've gotten to watch the Oscar telecast, and last night's was a nice reminder of what I like about them. I really thought the producers did a great job of making the "boring" awards interesting by showing the nominees in their work. I'm not much of a movie techie, but some of that work is fascinating.

I didn't enter any work polls this year, but, since there were so many surprises, I think the complete ballot I filled out last week would have been good enough for first or second place back at the newspaper.

The Surprises:
For me, there were two huge disappointments. The biggest surprise/disappointment was Pan's Labyrinth's win for Best Cinematography. I really think this was the biggest upset in years. The best filmed movie of the year (the best filmed movie since Saving Private Ryan) was hands down Children of Men.
The second big surprise was Pan's Labyrinth's loss in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Lives of Others? I guess voters just can't handle fantasy.
The other surprise was Alan Arkin's Best Supporting Actor win. Most picked Eddie Murphy to take it.

My Ballot
On my complete ballot I correctly named 15 of 24 winners. My short blog ballot finished 6 of 11. Here's how I did on my complete ballot.

Correct
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Film Editing, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Supporting Actress, Visual Effects, Adapted Screenplay, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Live Action Short Film, Makeup, and Art Direction.

Incorrect
Original Screenplay, Animated Feature, Cinematography, Costume Design, Supporting Actor, Foreign Language Film, Original Song, Original Score, and Animated Short Film.