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Oscars Recap: Best Thank You Speeches & Other Highlights!

by Alex Billington
March 8, 2010

"It’s the moment of a lifetime," seems to be the Quote of the Oscars this year. Last night, Kathryn Bigelow (photo above) and her film The Hurt Locker took home a total of six Oscars, including for Best Director and Best Picture. There are already all kinds of backlash and appreciative articles hitting everywhere around the web, as expected, so I'll let everyone else debate about the winners. Instead, I always love to talk a little bit about the show and highlights from it, since it's usually quite entertaining. However, I thought this year's show lacked a bit of the "spectacle" compared to last year. Though there were still plenty of great moments!

First, I do have to say that I actually enjoyed Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as co-hosts. Besides the fact that they didn't "do much" or have more than 20 minutes of screentime the whole show, I still thought they brought some real class to the Oscars. And after Aussie hottie Hugh Jackman as the host last year, I think a little class was necessary to remind us that this is still an event run by rich Hollywood people. Anyway, my favorite jokes of theirs came during the segment early on where they'd single out people in the audience and make some quick one-liner jokes about them. I thought it was a lot of fun and tasteful. ~~Video removed!~~

The only other real highlights of the Oscars this year were the Thank You Speeches. The two I wanted to single out are Christoph Waltz's, just because it was quick and fun and well put together, and Kathryn Bigelow's, which was just a good, strong emotional speech. Awards Daily has a great transcript recap for all of the others, including Mo'Nique, Jeff Bridges, Geoffrey Fletcher, and Sandra Bullock. There was also that wacky lady who seemed to steal the mic from the Best Documentary Short winner, which also has an ever odder explanation. Were there any other thank you Speeches that everyone else thought were great?

This reminds me to mention one of my other favorite moments of last night. Although everyone pretty much expected Pixar to win at least the Best Animated Feature Ocsar for Up, I was also extremely ecstatic to see composer Michael Giacchino finally win an Oscar. But the best part is that both Up director Pete Docter and Giacchino were both sporting the little Grape Soda bottlecap pins (see photo here) from the movie Up (that Ellie gives to Carl). It was cool to see the first time when Docter was wearing it and even cooler when I saw Giacchino had one on, too. I have a feeling everyone from Pixar who was at the Oscars was wearing one.

Here's the only speech we could get - Christoph Waltz winning for Best Supporting Actor:

Lastly, one aspect of the show that I've been getting into a lot of debates about recently was the decision to remove their Best Original Song performances from the Oscars entirely and, well, put in that interpretive dance number for Best Original Score instead. I admit that dance sequence was kind of strange, but it was actually pretty cool to see (since it was well choreographed). Anyway, I fully support the removal of the song numbers because those were always the moments I dreaded at the Oscars. They were always so boring and I didn't want to hear the songs on the show again. But others seem to miss them and want them back. What side are you on? And what did you think about the Oscar ceremony overall this year?

Filed under Awards, Discuss, Editorial

From around the web:

Trip

Oscars were boring as ever... Also, what I took away from this year's Oscars is that there were WAY better movies this year than The Hurt Locker.
ChrisUK

i'm glad Hurt Locker won some awards. Also, i had no idea what Kathryn Bigelow looked like before, despite having loved all of her movies....she is looking good at 58(!)
http://www.nicksears.com Nick Sears

Boring?? You ARE tripping, trip. I thought everything was well paced and entertaining. The occasional acceptance speech got dry at points, but I wouldn't overall give a BORING stamp on it without giving a little more facts than 'there were WAY better movies this year.." At least give some backing towards your lame complaining
Joey

i thought it was boring too. there were no performances or anything like last year. they didnt even perform any of the best song nominees. the one thing we got was awkward dancing to the best original score nominees and that was pretty awful. The hosts were funny, but they were rarely even seen. Last years was way better.
People's Champ

No big surprises, Funny Avatar losing 4 or 5 awards I thought it would've won.
DaftPUNKFAN

didnt the director for Hurt Locker get sued for coining the phrase "Hurt Locker" from an actual army sargent, as well as the whole movie?
Caitie

Although I don't really support Sandra Bullock getting best actress, I think she gave a sincere and genuine acceptance speech. Mo'Nique well deserved her supporting actress award but I found her speech to be quite arrogant. How she said I'm glad the academy overlooked the politics and awarded the "real" performance. I mean really, how conceded could you be going up there and saying that? And people say James Cameron's full of himself. Honestly I'm okay with the academy taking out the best original song performances, but I would much perfer that over the over-the-top dancing to the original scores. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin humor was not delivering really well in the beginning, but once the the show made it's halfway mark, they were quite a comic duo. Especially the Paranormal Activity skit. Overall it was a pretty safe Oscars to me.
CJ

I thought it was good. The hosts were actually funny. Jackman was good last year too, but usually, it turns out to be a bust. They did it well, got through the shorts quickly. It was a good awards show. And the hosts were involved as much as they usually are.
Xerxex

I didn't realize how eerie and hauntingly beautiful the main theme for the Hurt Locker was. I also realized how over the top the avatar score was and I think it was very forgetable. Overall I'll give the show an 8/10.
Xerxex

I agree Caitie on the Mo'Nique acceptance speech, it seemed contrived and self indulgent. But I'm okay that she won. #6 The Hurt Locker is based off a reporters story after he got back from Iraq.
tom

poor george
http://www.myspace.com/telltaletwins Telltale Twin

Hurt Locker was not the best film of the year...come on!! It wasn't even the best Iraq war movie... come on! Hell...Top Gun was better than Hurt Locker... And no nominations for Moon? Travesty... Big Business wins again.
Mony

The oscars were a bit boring. Shankman sucked as producer. Hope he doesn't get recalled. Instead of having thse young people who haven't accomplished anything yet presenting. How about some actual star power and talent as presenters??? That was lacking a lot. Also a lot of stars skipped it this year. The dancing segment was long and tedious. Some of the jokes were boring. best presenter of the night - Tom Hanks. Straight to the point and end!
Xerxex

Mony I was okay with Zoe Saldana presenting, but the others not so much...you know like Talyor Launter, Miley Cyrus, etc.
Cody w

#12 You cannot be serious, TOP GUN!??....I personally thought Basterds shouldve gotten best picture but comparing Hurt locker to TOP GUN!?!?!? You sir are a fool. I think a lot of people didnt get a lot of the underlying messages from hurt locker, people were expecting a war movie but instead they got a character study of a crazy ass soldier.
Trip

#3 I didn't think I was complaining. They are usually boring, and the Academy usually gets it wrong anyway. I'm always amazed at how Hollywood loves to parade each other on stage and applaud each other. Did anyone else think it was awkward when the "John Hughes" actors were standing there like trophies? They were presented like the prize pig at a carnival. I would rather watch 2 hours of upcoming trailers for 2010. Trip
Dave Lister, JMC

I liked 'The Hurt Locker'; I thought it was a very good film. But I definitely feel like it benefited, from a weak 'Best Picture' field. The serious competition was probably 'Avatar' and 'Inglourious Basterds'. I still have not seen 'Avatar' because I have yet to hear someone tell me they absolutely loved the film. Yeah, everyone says it's a great piece of eye candy; but the story is a rehash of 'Dances With Wolves' and/or 'Pocahontas'. So that is probably what diminished 'Avatar' amongst Academy voters. As for 'Inglourious Basterds', it had a great performance, by Cristoph Waltz as well as a too brief appearance, by Brad Pitt as Aldo Rain. However, it wasn't Tarantino at his best. I don't begrudge the success Bigelow has had, with her film; but she lucked out as all the pieces, on the board lined up for her, in just the right way.
Captain James Kirk Cameron

I must confess - Hurt Locker was the most affecting and riveting film I'd seen all year, but I wasn't expecting it to get best picture, somehow. But I guess between Inglorious Basterds & Avatar , it's a really tough choice - two complete impresario projects that, while not the best films of either director's career, necessarily, represent one fine year of movie-going. Academy awards recognition really come down to quantifying the value of Art, or at least they should. I for one, am glad things basically worked out that way this year. One more King of the World speech and my insides would've curdled.
buggy166

UP and hurt locker winning their best categories was a clear indication of politics at the oscars. Im sorry but UP was the 3rd shittiest film pixar made (with stuff like Coraline in contention), and hurt locker was good enough to be mentioned at the oscars but not even close to them winning best picture. the only thing i wanted to see was chrtistopher waltz win an do his speech. Thats when i tuned out.
avatar*yawn*

So happy Avatar lost as much as it did. Hurt Locker and Inglorious were great movies. Happy Hurt Locker won. Waltz had a nice speech. I havent seen Streeps movie but I heard she was spot on in her performance. Bullock won because it was a more heartwarming story. MoNique showed that she is just a simple piece of trash, too bad you cant take the award away. All of this being said, this was a weak year for films overall I believe. There isnt a film this year that I will look back on in 10 or 15 years and have it be one of my favorites of all time. I wouldnt sit and watch really any of them other than Inglorious or Hurt Locker if they come on tv like I do with usual suspects or godfathers or forrest gump and pulp fiction and on and on. Moon should have been nominated, that was a damn good movie.
Sam Shadey

There was a time when Steve Martin was 'THE' cutting edge of comedy; now he is just a cheesy old excuse of comedian embarrassing himself on stage by reading third rate jokes off a teleprompter. I actually felt bad for the guy last night. Maybe it's time to turn the MC duties over to someone like Paul Reubens; at least you can laugh at Pee Wee Herman.
Clover

Stiller's segment was the absolute worst.....ok a tie with the little Twi-"lite"ers which were so out of place it was not even funny.......sorry James, but you knew it was coming!
Duane

Sam Jackson's face after Mo'NIque's speech.... PRICELESS. Someone PLEASE find a screen grab of that.....
Duane

Neva Mind.... here it be.... http://globalgrind.com/channel/gossip/content/1447032/Is-Samuel-L-Jackson-A-Hater-DrJayscom-Live/
DuirMan

Its great that Michael Giacchino won for Up, but am I the only one who enjoyed his score for Star Trek more?
Spider Man

Damn Katherine Bigelow is a hottie of a mommie. Id fuck her brains out till my cum makes babies with her. Geezzz louise. Jim you surely messed up. Your wife looks like Rose the grandmother talking about the past. Ms Bigelow should is still pin up model material. Anyone agree?
http://www.genreaddict.com Darren Albert

No DuirMan, you're not alone. Giacchino's score to Star Trek is more enjoyable to listen to, especially after a few listens (it gets better the more you hear it). But it's the Oscars dude, it was never going to be based on what people actually like.
josh

does anyone realize the hurtlocker didn't have a story. think of your top 5 movies of all time. what do they all have in common? a storyline. basterds should have won. moon should have put there name in for a nomination
bltzie

I just saw El secreto de sus ojos, the winner of best foreign movie and oh God it is a masterpiece! Nor avatar or Hurt locker could hold a candle to this film!
Captain James Kirk Cameron

@ # 28 - The story is the characters. Their backstory is behind the scenes. How horrible would it have been if they suddenly said - "Whoa! The daughter of the general was kidnapped!" "Looks like we'll need to sneak into the enemy base." "You'll never take her alive!" "Yay! Everybody's safe!" Case closed. It's a remarkable film - and some of the most phenomenal novels of all time have been exclusively about developing a character from the inside out. Kafka's Metamorphosis, for example.
ray

@26 - most def, lolz @30... the metamorphosis, what a book!
voxfux

Bigelow's such a big and beautiful woman...who would not stay married to her?!..ho wait james cameron...haha!
shadow

Michael Giacchino's speech was the greatest of the night, it was honest, wasn't self indulgent at all and encouraged future filmmakers to follow there passion.
d

the oscars are what they are, how can you change it, i just wanna see people win and what they will say because i love film. The Hurt Locker was the best film of the year because everything else was sub-par. i mean when QT says he rushed to get Basterds done so it could be released in 2009 do you really think it was gonna win anything based on production. Not his best, not even his 2nd best. Prob only 4 films id actualy consider to add to my collection that were nominated for some award, The Hurt Locker, District 9 (already own), Inglrious Basterds, and Avatar (maybe because i mean once you seen it on a IMAX screen i dunno if my 50" will do it justice.)
DCC4

I really hated the fact that multiple winners of the small awards didn't get to say anything at all. If you win, you deserve to say a few words, to have your moment. Instead after the first person in the group finished speaking the mic was turned off, the music was played, and they were ushered off the stage. While some would argue that this was to save time, I agree that was the reason for it, I still feel that regardless there is more to film making than producing, directing, acting, and screenplay. If you want to cut time go back to the old way of doing things with Best Actor and Actress. You're nominated! You don't need all that ego inflation on top of the honor of being nominated for the most prestigious award in film! If they cut that and still allowed everyone that won an Oscar to say a few words they would have finished earlier than midnight. And, while i like tradition and the fact they performed the songs at the Oscars, since chance as are you haven't heard all of them by this point, I liked the music video like feel they did with the music. And, while the choreography of that dance for the score was awesome, if you cut the music for Best Song, they could have made this even shorter. Overall, my main complaint was let everyone that won have their say; they worked hard and deserve it. That and the ego inflation, but it is Hollywood so what can you do? But, the more you cut from the traditional show the more of the spirit of the show is lost.
Metatasian

Fell asleep after half an hour of the Hurt locker. How anyone could complain about Avatar having a weak story yet praise this 'waste-of-my life' is beyond me. THERE IS NO STORY!!!! just a bunch of idiots frolicking around in Iraq, no character development, nothing, and wtf was up with that guy running out into the path of the car with the bomb, he should have got blown to smitherines at least it would have added some excitement. This movie gives the impression that it is trying to be realistic, tese are supposed to be the best soldiers in the world yet they can't even snipe one taliban with an ak-47 picking them off from a window a mile away. In all seriousness, this film is the equivalent of watching bbc news 24 or CNN for a couple of hours it is NOT A WAR FILM. Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the gates, Full Metal Jacket, The Dirty Dozen, Guns of Navarone, those are bloody war films WITH GOOD STORIES!!!!
Six Three

The Hurt Locker is as much about war as Rocky and Raging Bull are about boxing. Its not about the stuff on the surface (war, boxing, etc.); its about the characters and their motivations. It delves into the minds of the characters. All the best movies are character studies. Ex: The three above, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List, Crazy Heart, and on and on. All you people that said that Locker was boring and didn't have a story are too shallow to realize that a movie can be intense and thrilling without explotions ever 30 seconds. This is also the reason the Academy usually picks the movies that make people say they "got it wrong." People are stupid. The average moviegoer is stupid. Thats why they have the Peoples Choice Awards so the stupid people can give their shallow opinions on average movies.
Dan

Hurt Locker was good but not that good. And yeah it wasn´t a war movie at all. An action movie set in Iraq, with a few good scenes. The rest was mediocre. A good example of a movie that is highly overrated. Was never a huge fan of Avatar. Prefered D9, but between Avtar and Hurt Locker I´d chose Avatar.
Capt. James T Kirk Cameron's Growing Pains

You guys are missing the REAL story here: James Cameron had the most successfully movie EVER. But for continually thumbing his nose at Hollywood - the improbable Maguffin (I know you "plot" guys LOVE those!) - Is that (gasp , gasp, gasp) his Spurned Ex-Wife actually made a film that exceeds his in almost every category of artistic merit: originality , risk-taking script & characters, immersive cinematography, emotive & evocative actor direction. And the killer? A hot, towering body that makes James Cameron himself look like a sniveling little wimp when she walks up to the podium, to make history. Is it an accident that she was seated right in front of him & his wife? I think not! (Of course, this is all absurd but yes. James Cameron's film was a technological innovation that took the basic elements of filmmaking back a few years or notches. The only worse screenplay than his was: Transformers 3. 3? 3? Because you lose track of time & space in that godawful film.) And the capstone of the whole story? She made an anti-war movie - that celebrates the heroism of SOLDIERS. Take that, anyone who dares second guess Hollywood. Boo-Yah! (Explosions. Slo-mo cams. Dirt & sweat applied carefully by makeup artists. Roll credits.) Does that make you feel better?
Prudhvi

Hurt Locker isn't a great movie, it's just a good movie. Loved Up, District 9, IB and Avatar much more than HL. The only thing I felt best about Hurt Locker is the beautiful Bigelow. I was yawning after 1 hr into the movie. District 9 is better than Avatar and Hurt Locker as per story. I felt the academy is just too biased this time, even the sound mixing went to Hurt Locker where I thought Avatar would be a sure winner. Thank God, they didn't handover Visual Effects best to Hurt Locker. Someone might have leaked to the academy that this year is the 100th Women's Day and academy just planned to make history somehow this time. The Oscars was just a stage to make all women feel a lot better this year. HL was good and one of my top 5 this year, but is it the best of year? James was very sportive in applauding after Best Picture was announced. He's already 'King of the World' and his ex is now the Queen. Kudos to both. Do they have any kids? I wonder what's his plans might be.