The Oscar night

Here I am, after 5 hours sleep. Here I am, after such an exciting night spent with Oscars ceremony. I could watch it online after all and it felt like I was 14 again, the age when I first watched the Oscars. 

The enormous exciting made me stay up all night and I was literally glued to the screen and played Oscar Live challenge and Oscars.com. Basically I put the predictions there in advance, but changed them along the way before the name was about to be said. 

Finally, out of almost 15000 people I ended up having the rank of 700 and it would be even better if I didn’t miss to fill Best supporting actor category that I was sure it would be Heath Ledger. 

So to continue my bragging, I didn’t miss any major pick, except my loving Penelope Cruz. As much as I love her and would even sinned for her cuz she’s damn hot I bet on Taraji P. Henson in the Curious Case of benjamin Button. I loved Penelope in Vicki Christina Barcelona, the film that speaks to me more than any other, but I jut thought this was a small role to get the Oscar for. She did and I’m so glad. Her speech was ne of the few memorable this year. 

“I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival.” Penelop Cruz

Such moments totally made me cry. I am so happy for Slumdogs who got 8 awards out of 10 nomination (they had two songs, so they could win only 9). It’s more than deserved. If I think of 2008 as far as films, I will think of Slumdog Millionaire film that shocked me, moved me, made me cry and happy. The cast and crew did an amazing job and I am glad that they won it all. 

Man on Wire might be the best documentary I’ve ever seen. The message that it passed me these days has been crucial and fell into place with other significant events that happened in my life. Phillippe Petit, the man on wire, is an incredible person. After watching the movie, I realized the world and especially me have found a new hero. Congrats!

Kate Winslet. Oh I have to mention her again. She was not only stunning at the Oscars but also kept her mind focused on what she was saying during the speech. It’s not like I would ever get the Oscar but if I did, I guess I would be too overwhelmed by the situation. Kate was perfect. Well deserved Oscar for the role of Hana alone. But also for her past achievements in Little Children (which is one of my most fav films), Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind and Titanic. I expected bit more from the speech but again, when she said 

“Okay, that fainting thing, Penelope. I’d be lying if I hadn’t made a version of this speech before, I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror. And this (holding up her statuette) would’ve been a shampoo bottle. Well, it’s not a shampoo bottle now!” 

it just made me burst out with tears again. 

And Sean Penn. I will always remember his entire speech of 2004 when he received the Oscar statue for Mystic River. Making Oscars political is sometimes silly but Sean always knows what to say. I am glad he mentioned gay rights because it’s ridiculous that the world preaches equality but they haven’t been given the same rights yet. I am looking forward to a day when I wake up in the morning and a gay boy will be able to raise a child with his gay partner without judgement. There’s no evidence that women are capable of better upbringing. 

“And finally, for those, two last finallies, for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone. And there are, and there are, these last two things. I’m very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president and a country who, for all its toughness, creates courageous artists.” Sean Penn

Amazing moments of 81st Annual academy awards. I am glad I could watch it. It was a dream to watch it yesterday at this time, it feels natural today. It was a dream to see majority of nominated films 2 months ago, it’s natural today. It *is* a dream to be in Hollywood to watch the Oscar, participate and I am not even saying about being nominated. But who knows what’s coming for me, maybe that will once be perfectly natural too! :) 

I’ll be back in a few to post all the movies I’ve seen past 2009 with little comments.

~ by Lenka Bliss on February 23, 2009.