Oscar Night

Last night marked the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on ABC co-hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway.  The show started out with a lot of potential with a take on the best films as seen through Inception.  Unfortunately, the show went down hill after that.  Franco and Hathaway joked about them being young and hip, but the award show was nothing young or hip.  Ninety-four year old Kurt Douglas stole the show when he announced the award for best supporting actress.  He joked about everyone laughing except Colin Firth since he is a brit.  Another bright spot was when Billy Crystal returned do show visual effects with Bob Hope.  Apparently the crowd wanted Crystal to stay longer because there was a chant “come back” sadly Crystal did not return and the show dragged on and on.  Maybe he will host next year? 

As I read the reviews online today, the same theme was present no one was impressed with Franco or Hathaway.  I personally felt that Franco was the worst.  He showed no energy throughout the show.  Maybe he is too tired with all of his work – General Hospital, movies, and going to Yale?  As for Hathaway, I sort of felt sorry for her.  She tried and she did some things well.  Yes, she may have been a little too chipper, but she had energy and maybe she was trying to energize Franco.  We will never know.   I do know that she changed outfits 7 times 8 if you count her outfit on the red carpet and she looked good in all of them.  Bravo to those quick changes!  Now for the winners – There was not a lot of shockers so I will just list them.  

BEST PICTURE -The King’s Speech
BEST ACTOR - Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
BEST ACTRESS - Natalie Portman, Black Swan
BEST DIRECTOR- Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
BEST SONG - “We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman
BEST EDITING - The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
BEST DOCUMENTARY- Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT - God of Love, Luke Matheny
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
BEST COSTUME DESIGN -Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
BEST MAKEUP - The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
BEST SOUND EDITING - Inception, Richard King
BEST SOUND MIXING - Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Christian Bale, The Fighter
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - In a Better World (Denmark)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
BEST ANIMATED FILM - Toy Story 3
BEST ANIMATED SHORT - The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Melissa Leo, The Fighter
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Inception, Wally Pfister
BEST ART DIRECTION - Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara

The biggest winner of the evening was The King’s Speech.

Now for the best part of the evening is the red carpet.  Most of the stars looked really good.  There were only a few that would make the worst dress list.

Natalie Portman wore a plum Rodarte gown, Tiffany & Co jewels, and jimmy choo shoes.  Portman looked gorgeous in the plum and glowing from pregnancy.  She looked great!

Halle Berry wore a nude crystal Marchesa gown.  Her dress was so much better than her Golden Globes Dress.  She looks stunning.

Nicole Kidman wore a white Dior gown.  Nicole looked like a bad prom date wearing a gown that completely washed her out.  She was one of the worst dress stars of the evening.

Anne Hathaway struck a pose in a red Valentino vintage gown.  Hathaway looked gorgeous in this gown.  She also wore Tiffany & Co jewels.  It is being reported that she was paid $750,000 to wear the jewels.  WOW!

Reese Witherspoon dressed in an elegant black and white Giorgio Armani dress.  Although I liked the dress, Reese's hair was a little disturbing.  She looked like a cross between a beauty queen and Barbie.  I would have liked her hair to been pulled up off her neck and a gorgeous necklace.  Instead she looks like she wants to tell us about world peace.

Sandra Bullock shined in a scarlet Vera Wang gown.  After the year she has had Sandra looked gorgeous.  She also was a highlight in the awards show joking about the nominees for Best Actor.

Poor Scarlett Johansson.  Although she looks better than she did as the Bride of Frankenstein for the Golden Globes she still missed the mark.  The newly single Johannsson wore a Dolce & Gabbana magenta lace gown.  I was hoping for something more from her.  She has a smoking body (even more so after Iron Man 2) but she has been really missing the mark at the awards shows.

New comer, Jennifer Lawrence, was a show stopper in the red Calvin Klein dress.  Her hair and make up looked amazing!  Bravo!!

My best dressed star for the evening (and for the whole awards show season) goes to Mila Kunis.  The Black Swan star wore a lavender Elie Saab gown.

The always waky, Helena Bonham Carter, wore a black bustier ensemble created by “Alice in Wonderland” costume designer Colleen Atwood.  This outfit was a little conservative compared to Helena's previous award show dresses.  I was hoping for a big surprise this time so I feel a little let down.

The 14 year old, Hailee Steinfeld, was my other best dressed star.  Steinfeld wore a Marchesa design that she helped design!! 

For me the worst dress star of the evening was Academy Award winning, Melissa Leo.  Leo who used the f-word during her speech wore a Marc Bouwer creation.  The dress looked like a reflective table cloth. 

Well that's my recap for the Oscars from the best to the worst.