The Departed Wins Best Picture!

So we had our 3rd annual Oscar Party last night. It was a lot of fun. We had the old crew from CSUF over. I'm sure everyone has heard by now that The Departed won best picture. I've seen the film, I wasn't overwhelmed by it but it seems I'm in the minority. I don't hate the film by any means and I do feel it did some really cool things cinematically but this quote from a review I read on it sums up my feelings about it pretty well, "Neither a debacle nor a bore, "The Departed" works but only up to a point, and never emotionally."

It was good to see Scorsese get his Oscar finally though. And how cool was it that it was presented to him by his pals and fellow cinematic legends Spielberg, Lucas, and Coppola?!

Here is a breakdown of the Feature winners by film:

The Departed - 4
Pan’s Labyrinth - 3
Little Miss Sunshine - 2
Dreamgirls - 2
An Inconvenient Truth - 2
Happy Feet - 1
Babel - 1
The Queen - 1
The Last King of Scotland - 1
Marie Antoinette - 1
The Lives of Others - 1
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - 1
Letters from Iwo Jima - 1

(Click on the album cover to listen to the track on iTunes)

I was very excited to see Melissa Etheridge win Best Original Song for An Inconvenient Truth. It's a great song and it just works so well for the film. Though I think it's a fantastic film and NEEDS to be seen it can be a little depressing/frustrating but the song at the end of the film serves almost as a siren of hope. It helps the film finish more positive than negative and is a great back drop for both the credits and suggestions on what people can do to make a difference. Also.. Just a question and/or observation, Is this the first Documentary to win two Oscars?

Happy Feet took home the Best Animated Feature award! I loved the film and I'm very pleased with the win. Its a great story with a great message about appealing to the better nature of others and being true to yourself. Congratulations to all the artists who worked on the film.

Overall I was very happy with the outcome of this years Oscars. As far as "Sins of Omission" I felt that United 93 should have been competing for Best Picture, Casino Royale went unjustly completely unrecognized, and The Fountain score should have been nominated as well. (WB has posted a mp3 from The Fountain soundtrack online for free HERE if you are interested in checking it out)

And last but not least... just in case you were wondering if it's too early to start predictions for next years Oscars apparently its not! Several websites are already speculating on next years Oscar race with many pointing to Tim Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd as a possible front runner. I'm not daring enough to attempt to predict next years race but click on the image below to take a looks at some of the predictions from the website InContention.com...