I got five out of six right in the sexy categories (BP, BD, BActor, BActress, BSActor, BSActress), so at least I can give myself a pat on the back for this.
Here are my thoughts on the Oscar results:
1) Guilt and sentiment always prevail when it comes to Best Picture and technical wizardry (almost) always prevails when it comes to Best Director: This statement was borne out by last night's results. 12 Years A Slave now joins Crash, Shakespeare in Love, and Driving Miss Daisy as films that won because they either pulled at the consciences or tugged at the heartstrings of AMPAS members. Of course, ethics and emotion usually mean shit when it comes to the directors branch of AMPAS, so always the film with the greatest technical feats to come out on top here (the exception being Kathryn Bigelow beating out ex-husband James Cameron).
2) Although his performance was great, McConaughey won because of the McConaissance and not because his performance was the best of the year: Three leading male performances given this year were better than McConaughey's (Robert Redford in All Is Lost, Joaquin Phoenix in Her, and Bruce Dern in Nebraska) but McConaughey only had to compete against one of them for the Oscar. That being said, I am extremely happy that Matthew won; I am astounded that a man we all thought was doomed to star in shitty rom-coms with Kate Hudson for the rest of his career was able to do a complete 180 this late in the game. Although I think acting awards should be given solely based on the merit of the nominated performance, I'm okay with this one. Also, Bruce Dern being nominated was an award in itself; although Dern came from a very well-to-do family and worked with many of the film industry's greats, he was never able to capitalize on the many opportunities afforded to him. In other words, Dern is sort of like an older version of Josh Brolin.
3) Cate Blanchett's performance was the best given this year and no one should feel bad for Amy Adams: There's really not much more to comment on here. Watch Blue Jasmine and American Hustle. I guarantee that you'll agree with me.
4) American Hustle was this year's Up In The Air: A little more than 4 years ago, the Jason Reitman-helmed dramedy Up In The Air gained huge momentum at the end of 2009 and rode it into the awards season by picking up six Oscar nominations. Like American Hustle, Up In The Air came up completely empty on Oscar night. It is good to know that AMPAS members shook off the American Hustle's spell and saw it for the completely mediocre film that it was. Just like Up In The Air, American Hustle will soon be forgotten, only to be remembered when another extremely overrated film picks more Oscar nominations than it deserves (if it deserves any at all).
5) Michael Fassbender should have beaten Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor, but the result is fine by me: Why, you ask? Because Leto will probably never receive another Oscar nomination in his lifetime while Fassbender is well on his way to receiving nominations throughout the rest of his career. Let's just hope that he doesn't end up like Peter O'Toole, who had the misfortune to be nominated for Best Actor on 8 occasions but always came up short against one-trick ponies like Leto or iconic performances from men that were just a bit more legendary than O'Toole himself.
