Friday, November 22

Argo Wins Big at 85th Oscar Awards

“Argo” took the Oscar for best picture Sunday night at the 85th Academy Awards, an honor that was announced by First Lady Michelle Obama — via satellite from the White House.

The Ben Affleck-directed drama about rescuing hostages in Tehran during the Iranian revolution had been largely expected to win, even as there was controversy about the seeming snub for Affleck in the director category.

“I never thought I would be back here,” Affleck said. He won an Oscar 15 years ago with Matt Damon for original screenplay for “Good Will Hunting,” but since then his career took several hits. His star began to rise again as he turned to directing. Affleck told the audience that the only thing that matters is not that you fell down but that you got back up.

“Argo” won three Oscars. It also won for adapted screenplay for Chris Terrio and film editing for William Goldenberg. It’s only the fourth time that a film has won the best picture Oscar without its director being nominated.

On the acting side, it was Daniel Day-Lewis by a landslide for “Lincoln.”

In a win that surprised no one, Day-Lewis took the lead actor for playing the nation’s 16th president in Steven Spielberg’s epic.

Aside from this win, the film was largely overlooked at the 85th Academy Awards. It went into the evening with a dozen nominations — the most of any film. But it’s only won two, including production design.

Jennifer Lawrence continued her golden girl run, taking the lead actress Oscar for her performance as a neurotic widow in the romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook.”

“This is nuts!” the 22-year-old said after the tripping on her way up to stairs to the stage at the Dolby Theatre. As if to help her on her way, many in the audience took to their feet to cheer her on.

The win capped a stunning run through the awards season, during which she won nearly every award out there — the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and more.

Meanwhile, “Life of Pi” continues to defy expectations. The fable-adventure about a young man and a tiger sharing a life raft after a ship wreck has earned nearly $600 million worldwide.

And now it has four Oscars to show for the leap of faith it took to bring the bestselling book to the big screen, including director for Ang Lee.

“Thank you, movie god,” the Taiwanese filmmaker said as he collected his trophy and bowed before the standing, cheering audience. “Thank you for taking the leap with me,” he said to the executives at Fox who backed the costly, CGI-driven film.

Lee’s film headed into the awards with 11 nominations, including best picture and director. It’s won score for Mychael Danna, cinematography for Claudio Miranda and for its stunning visual effects.

“Pi” marks his second Academy Award win as director. He took home the same honor seven years ago for “Brokeback Mountain.”

Quentin Tarantino won the Oscar for original screenplay for the controversial slave revenge western “Django Unchained.”

The film, Tarantino’s biggest, went into the 85th Academy Awards with five nominations, including best film. It’s won two. Earlier, Christoph Waltz picked up a trophy for supporting actor for his role as a bounty hunter.

Tarantino said he was especially honored to win the screenplay Oscar this year because of the quality of the writing in both the original and adapted screenplay categories. “This is the year of the writer!” he exclaimed as he lifted the Oscar up high.

The film that had the most Oscar nominations — “Lincoln,” with 12 nods — has been largely overlooked all evening. Steven Spielberg’s epic has  won only one trophy, for production design for Rick Carter and Jim Erickson.

The film is up for best director, film, adapted screenplay, score and lead actor for Daniel Day Lewis.

“Les Miserables” leads the Oscar tally at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. It went into the evening with eight nominations, including best film. It has picked up three Oscars, including for makeup and hairstyle and for sound mixing.

But the marquee win came for Anne Hathaway. “It came true!” she said as she collected her first Oscar, for supporting actress playing the tragic prostitute Fantine in “Les Miserables.”

Hathaway had won the vast majority of awards this year, including the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA, which led to widespread predictions that she was the one to beat.

In other victories, Austria’s “Amour” was honored for foreign language film. The harrowing drama about an elderly married couple struggling to cope when the wife suffers a stroke is also nominated for four other Oscars, including best film, director and screenplay for Michael Haneke and actress Emmanuelle Riva.

The ceremony has been marked by a number of standing ovations.

Singer Shirley Bassey, who made her Oscar debut Sunday night, received one for her performance of her classic 1965 hit “Goldfinger” during the ceremony’s celebration of 50 years of James Bond. The age-defying 76-year-old Welsh singer was appropriately decked out in a strapless, curve-hugging gold gown with matching full-length gloves.

The audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood also leaped to its feet for Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, who performed her iconic number “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls,” as well as for the cast for best picture nominee, “Les Miserables,” whose members performed several songs from the musical.

In other honors, the ceremony was marked by a rare tie — in the sound editing category. The Oscars went to “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Skyfall.”

“Argo” has won two Oscars, for adapted screenplay for Chris Terrio and film editing for William Goldenberg. Disney’s “Paperman” won animated short, while Disney / Pixar’s “Brave” won animated feature film. Mark Andrews, one of “Brave’s” directors, wore a kilt onstage to accept the honor for the film, set in Scotland. Jacqueline Durran won costume design for the period romance “Anna Karenina.”

Live-action short went to “Curfew,” directed by Shawn Christensen. “Inocente,” directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, won documentary short subject. Director Malik Bendjelloul’s “Searching for Sugar Man,” about the quest to find out what happened to a 1970s singer named Rodriguez, won best documentary.

Host Seth MacFarlane did the impossible Sunday night as he kicked off the awards: He made Tommy Lee Jones smile.

“It’s an honor that everyone else said no,” MacFarlane joked about being asked to host the show.

MacFarlane — and his raunchy sense of humor — was an edgy choice for the Oscars. And some of those fears came true. There was a song about boobs, jokes about Jews in Hollywood, cracks about Lincoln’s assassination and Latino accents, and talk of post-Oscars orgies – lines that had the audience groaning at times.

The Oscars are telecast live on ABC.

  • Courtesy: Washington Post

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