The Oscars: Complete Coverage

Written By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com

The 80th annual Academy Awards were last night, and in general it was a pleasant, well-rounded affair - no film received more than four awards, while all five Best Picture nominees received at least one. First, a list of winners, followed by coverage of the ceremony:

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno
Adapted Screenplay: Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Foreign Film: The Counterfeiters
Animated Film: Ratatouille
Documentary: Taxi to the Dark Side
Score: Atonement
Song: "Falling Slowly," Once
Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Art Direction: Sweeney Todd
Cinematography: There Will Be Blood
Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Makeup: La Vie en Rose
Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Visual Effects: The Golden Compass
Live-Action Short: The Mozart of Pickpockets
Animated Short: Peter and the Wolf
Documentary Short: Freeheld

The night kicked off with a solid if unsurprising monologue from host Jon Stewart. Much was made of the recent three-month Writers Guild strike: "I'm happy to report that the fight is over, so tonight...welcome to the make-up sex." He touched on it again later when acknowledging Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody: she "used to be an exotic dancer and now she's an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. I hope you're enjoying the pay cut."

He also touched upon the general theme of the night's nominated films: "Tonight we look behind the dark days to focus on happier fare - this year's slate of psychopathic killer movies. Does this town need a hug? What happened? No Country for Old Men, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood - all I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy."

While the monologue also contained the typical jokes about Hollywood liberalism, the self-congratulation of the Oscars, and Javier Bardem's haircut in No Country for Old Men, Stewart told plenty of Daily Show-style political jokes as well: "The movies about the Iraq war, let's face it, did not do as well. But I am telling you, if we stay the course and keep these movies in the theaters, we can turn this around. I don't care if it takes a hundred years - withdrawing the Iraq movies would only embolden the audience!"

Once the awards started getting announced, the audience was treated to the strangest category order in recent memory - the Supporting nominations, which usually kick off the night, were announced too late in the program, while the Actress award was announced way too early, before such "heavyweight" categories as Documentary Short Subject. That was unfortunate, because those categories were largely surprising: Tilda Swinton upset Cate Blanchett, Amy Ryan, and Ruby Dee for Supporting Actress in Michael Clayton, while dark horse Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose beat out favorite Julie Christie.

And of course, throughout the night, there were frequent perilous moments in which ...