The Oscar Results

A typical Oscar night. I was wrong more than I was right. Go figure. The results:

"I was right. You're no match for me."
Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland," for Best Actor
Helen Mirren, "The Queen," for Best Actress
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine," for Best Supporting Actor
Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls," for Best Supporting Actress
Martin Scorsese, "The Departed," for Best Director
"The Departed" for Best Adapted Screenplay
"Marie Antoinette" for Best Costume Design
"Pan's Labyrinth" for Best Art Direction
"Pan's Labyrinth" for Best Makeup
"An Inconvenient Truth" for Best Documentary

Notes: "An Inconvenient Truth" is not a good documentary. Yes, Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore raise awareness about our desperate need to curtail our own manmade demise, for which I agree. But, in truth, Gore's data is mostly for skeptics and probably, by now, obsolete. I can't say I was in awe of his estimations, either; the concept is basic science. But, despite the opinions I have about "An Inconvenient Truth," I was ecstatic to see The Man Who Would Be President hold the Oscar. As for Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren and Alan Arkin, you were the cream of your respective categories. Jennifer Hudson's win was a show of symbolism and glory enough for "Dreamgirls," with a win for Best Sound, too. "The Departed," better in segments than in sum, was nowhere near Martin Scorsese's best, but as a consolation for career achievement and for his invaluable contribution to cinema, the immortal auteur is, without question, worthy of the award. And, so, the night came to an anticlimax.

"I was wrong. The Oscars is dumb."
"The Departed" for Best Picture (The Scout's Pick: "Little Miss Sunshine")
"Little Miss Sunshine" for Best Original Screenplay (The Scout's Pick: "The Queen")
"Babel" for Best Original Score (The Scout's Pick: "The Queen")
"Happy Feet" for Best Animated Feature (The Scout's Pick: "Cars")
"The Lives of Others" for Best Foreign Film (The Scout's Pick: "Pan's Labyrinth")
"Pan's Labyrinth" for Best Cinematography (The Scout's Pick: "Children of Men")
"The Departed" for Best Editing (The Scout's Pick: "Babel")
"Letters From Iwo Jima" for Best Sound Editing (The Scout's Pick: "Blood Diamond")
"Dreamgirls" for Best Sound (The Scout's Pick: "Blood Diamond")
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" for Best Visual Effects (The Scout's Pick: "Superman Returns")
"I Need to Wake Up," from "An Inconvenient Truth," for Best Original Song (The Scout's Pick: "I Love You I Do," from "Dreamgirls")

Notes: I couldn't stomach Melissa Etheridge's win for Best Song. The activist anthem "I Need to Wake Up" doesn't activate, or rouse, or inspire, but lulls one into a coma. I threw an empty aluminum can in the wastebasket the minute I woke up to recognize that Etheridge had, in fact, won. I'm sorry, but "Love You I Do," from "Dreamgirls," was, truth be told, the Best Song. Can't argue with "Little Miss Sunshine" for Best Original Screenplay, especially since Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' sweet and sour comedy didn't champion, as the sentimental favorite in the final stretch, a Best Picture upset. The overthrow of "Pan's Labyrinth," in a loss to Germany's "The Lives of Others," for Best Foreign Film didn't stir much heartbreak in me. "Pan's Labyrinth" doesn't transcend to the echelon of masterpiece as other critics suggest and, too, I have yet to watch "The Lives of Others." As for Best Visual Effects, I could never, in good conscience, vote for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," except for, maybe, Best Chum (and by "Chum," I mean the crap indiscriminate fish eat).