Frozen Wins Two Oscars!

One of my Oscar wishes came true last night when Frozen won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film of 2013. I also cheered when this delightful musical also took home a golden statuette for the Best Original Song, “Let It Go,” which Idina Menzel belted out so brilliantly during the Academy Awards show.

Although my wish that Gravity would win all 10 of its nominated categories didn’t pan out, that groundbreaking movie earned 7 Oscars – more than any other nominee -- and ended up with a very important Best Director nod for Alfonso Cuarόn. That made me very happy.

12 Years a Slave won Best Picture, which indicates that Academy members still prefer honoring a good story over technical achievements -- and that’s not a bad thing. Right?

As host, Ellen DeGeneres kept things moving along in her own amusing and nonchalant way. However, her pizza delivery gag seemed inappropriate for this event.

For me, the highlight of last night’s festivities involved the gorgeous tribute to The Wizard of Oz featuring Pink’s wonderful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” delivered in front of a huge screen showing scenes from that classic 1939 movie. Whoopi Goldberg gave a touching intro and introduced Judy Garland’s three children. I absolutely loved it!

Four Oscar Wishes

As a confirmed movie addict, I can hardly wait to watch the 86th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony, which will be televised by ABC on Sunday, March 2. However, instead of making any predictions this year, I decided to focus my cyberspace energy on the four Oscar-nominated films that also ended up on my Top Ten List of 2013. Below are my wishes for these wonderful movies.   

FIRST WISH: I wish Gravity would win Oscars in all of the ten categories it's nominated for! That includes BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR (Alfonso Cuarόn), BEST ACTRESS (Sandra Bullock), BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST VISUAL EFFECTS, BEST EDITING, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN, BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, BEST SOUND MIXING, BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING. Why? Because this thrilling space adventure bowled me over with its stunning combination of technical magic and strong emotional pull. In fact, while viewing the film, I felt like I was actually floating in space and suffering through the terrible mishaps faced by the two astronauts played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. And I wasn’t even watching it in 3-D! Gravity is truly a groundbreaking movie, one that deserves Academy Award acclaim.
   

SECOND WISH: I wish The Broken Circle Breakdown would take home the Oscar for BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM. Bluegrass music never sounded as good to me as it does in this heartbreaking romantic melodrama from Belgium. Performances by Johan Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens as the lovers who share a passion for each other as well as for American music are first rate, and it’s one of the few films I’ve seen where switching back and forth in time seems to make perfect sense.      

THIRD WISH: I wish Frozen would receive the Oscar for BEST ANIMATED FILM. As the world’s most avid movie musical fan, I always like to include a current musical on my “Best Films” of the year list and feel very excited when one receives an Oscar nomination. Although the pickins’ were lean during 2013, Frozen came along during December and made me a happy camper indeed. Disney released this delightful adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen,” and it’s a gem. The screen absolutely comes alive because of the film’s splendid animation, great music and outstanding voice talent, especially by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.     

FOURTH WISH: I wish The Lone Ranger would win the golden statuette for BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIR STYLING. Yes, I know this hilarious Western flopped at the box office, but it’s the most fun I had at the movies in years!  Although the horse Silver captivated me every time he came on camera, Johnny Depp – bizarrely decked out and made up as a new version of Tonto (whose facial expressions when watching his sidekick do stupid things) -- was nothing short of priceless here. Plus, just thinking about Armie Hammer’s amusing portrayal of the Lone Ranger as Tonto’s sidekick instead of vice-versa still starts me laughing.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed! But no matter who wins in all 24 categories, it’s always fun to watch the glamour and glitz of Hollywood’s Big Night. With Ellen DeGeneres as host, I think we’re in for an entertaining show. Check your local TV schedule on Sunday, March 2, for the correct time. Then, on Tuesday, March 4, come over to Movie Addict Headquarters for our OSCAR RESULTS ROUNDTABLE where film critics Diana Saenger, Mack Bates and A.J. Hakari will be ranting and raving about this year’s Academy Awards show. The live episode airs on BlogTalkRadio at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, and an archived segment will also be available. Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/movieaddictheadquarters/2014/03/04/oscar-results-roundtable