There were no runaway winners at the 2013 Academy Awards, broadcast tonight live on ABC. It is, perhaps, a testament to how good a year it was for the movies, and moviegoers. It was such a great year that it was virtually impossible to predict many of the awards with any degree of certainty.
Argo won Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (Director Ben Affleck was snubbed for Best Director). Daniel Day-Lewis beat four other stellar performances to take away Best Actor for Lincoln, and Jennifer Lawrence came away with Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook. Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained took Best Original Screenplay.
In any other year, Les Miserables would have walked away with numerous awards, and if there was any "loser" at the Oscars, I guess it would be Les Mis, which for all its nominations ended the night with only Anne Hathaway's Supporting Actress (probably the most predictable award of the night) and Sound Mixing.
For those of us who like to go to the movies (or watch them on the small screen), 2012 was an amazing year. Of all Best Picture nominees, I would have thought it was a toss-up between Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Les Mis, and Argo; all of them were Oscar-worthy. Any of them might have won.
The Oscar broadcast itself gets a mixed review. It seemed to go longer than usual; perhaps it featured too many straight-on musical performances, beyond the nominated songs.
Yes, it was great to see Shirley Bassey belt out "Goldfinger" (and despite a slightly clipped top range, the lady still has the pipes), and as part of the Bond tribute, it fit. But I could have done without Barbra's "Memories" and the movie musical tribute. The performance from the Les Mis cast made some sense (and was excellent), but "All that Jazz?"
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Article comments
1 - Dr Joseph S Maresca
The Oscars were very entertaining this year, although the presentation was a bit too long. Usually, the show ends at about 11:30 on the East coast. Instead, the show ended at midnight.