The 80th Annual Academy Awards was a relatively short (at only 3 hours and 20 minutes) and relatively tame affair, almost as if there was little time to prepare for it. Oh wait, there was little time, with the WGA strike ending mere weeks ago and the Oscar telecast given the green light to go with Plan A right on its heels.
With only a few weeks to write jokes, bits, and presenters' banter, things weren't extremely elaborate or memorable this year, but they weren't bad, either. No acceptance speech was boring or cringe-worthy, and presenters weren't fed the most horrible lines. Oscar host Jon Stewart's opening monologue was solid, and his exchanges throughout the show were often hilarious. So even without big, extravagant production numbers or comedy bits, the show was a pretty decent way to spend an evening.
As for the awards themselves, there were a few moderate surprises, but for the most part, things were status quo and on par with everyone's predictions. No Country for Old Men took home 4 major awards -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem -- and Daniel Day-Lewis took home the top acting prize as expected. Some minor surprises in the actress categories saw Marion Cotillard grab the Best Actress Oscar ahead of favourite Julie Christie, while Tilda Swinton took home the statuette for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Michael Clayton.
The full list of Oscar telecast winners can be found below. For our coverage of the Academy Awards preparations, click here.
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody – Juno
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Best Original Score: Atonement (Dario Marianelli)
Best Original Song: "Falling Slowly" – Once (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova)
Best Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side
Best Documentary Short: Freeheld
Best Animated Short: Peter & the Wolf
Best Live-Action Short: Le Mozart des Pickpockets
Best Cinematography: There Will Be Blood
Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Art Direction: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Best Makeup: La Vie en Rose
Best Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Visual Effects: The Golden Compass
Tags: Academy Awards, Oscars, awards shows, No Country for Old Men
Paul Little is the founder and Managing Editor of ShowbizMonkeys.com. When not interviewing his favourite musicians and comedians, he can also be found putting on and promoting music and comedy events with The Purple Room in Winnipeg, or co-producing the live comedy game show Pants on Fire. (@comedygeek)
Original Comments Posted (2)
Sarahm says...
Hoo-ray Dario Marianelli! That guy is a genius. I kind of think Atonement got the shaft overall though.
Feb 25, 2008 11:46pm
Ariana says...
Ugh, I am so tired of hearing about how the Oscars were "an unmitigated disaster." Bah. It was one of the quickest, least boring ceremonies I remember EVER. The speeches were all succinct, the winners all gracious or funny or charming or all three (not to mention deserved), Jon was as adorable and witty as ever, and I was pretty sold. The only reason the ratings were low is because no one saw any of the movies nominated.
Feb 26, 2008 9:19am
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