FLICKS GOES TO THE OSCARS (party)RSS

FLICKS GOES TO THE OSCARS (party)

23rd Feb 2009

Below are the winners of this year's Academy Awards. Below them you can read our blog from the super-swanky 42Below Oscars Party in Auckland - written as the awards happened, and with an increasing level of drunkenness as the day wore on.
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All winners...
Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor - Sean Penn, Milk
Best Actress - Kate Winslet, The Reader
Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Director - Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Documentary - Man on Wire
Animated Feature - WALL-E
Best Foreign - Departures (Japan)
Original Screenplay - Milk
Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog Millionaire
Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire
Original Song - Slumdog Millionaire
Original Score - Slumdog Millionaire
Editing - Slumdog Millionaire
Sound - Slumdog Millionaire
Sound Editing - The Dark Knight
Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Make-up - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Costume - The Duchess
Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Documentary Short - Smile Pinki
Animated Short - La Maison en Petits Cubes
Live Action Short - Spielzeugland (Toyland)

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5:57pm The 2009 Oscars are now over. Sean Penn was the bolter and Slumdog is the grand winner. A sensational event, both in Hollywood and here in Auckland - thanks to 42 Below Vodka's rambunctious gathering. Thanks also to the lovely Greer from 42 Below.

5:55pm The little Indian kids from Slumdog are onstage, looking very proud. A massive crowd on stage, actually.

5:54pm BEST PICTURE - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

5:45pm UPSET! SEAN PENN WIN BEST ACTOR! The crowd goes wild. Poor Mickey Rourke. "You homo-loving sons of guns!" says Penn. Now he's talking about gay rights, and proposition 8, etc.

5:41pm Actors standing around presenting Best Actor. These guys don't act in good stuff anymore - Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Adrien Brody, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Ben Kingsley.

5:38pm McClelland on Best Original Song (we think): Hellboy was robbed again! Hellboy: The Golden Army's scene of two costumed men drunkenly crooning to Barry Manilow was surely the most original in the last 12 months...

5:34pm BEST ACTRESS - KATE WINSLET. Claiming she pre-wrote a speech in the mirror when she was 8-years-old. Her dad in the audience has a silly hat. She mentioned Peter Jackson.

5:31pm Sophia Loren's costume is getting a large 'Ooooooh!' from the crowd here at the party.

5:28pm Lots of actresses standing around presenting Best Actress. Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry. Lots of mushy crap.

5:22pm BEST DIRECTOR - DANNY BOYLE, Slumdog Millionaire. Almost a bit tearful (him, not me). Great to hear a Scottish accent at the Oscars. He's saying thanks to Mumbai.

5:21pm Flicks editor Paul Scantlebury says we need to sell this event a bit more. "More sex', he says.

5:15pm A very boring musical montage at the Oscars. Nearly falling asleep.

5:07pm BEST FOREIGN FILM - Departures. (Andreas was just very vocal in his disagreement - 'Bullls##t!').

5:02pm BEST ORIGINAL SONG - A.R.RAHMAN 'Jai Ho' from Slumdog Millionaire.

4:57pm McClelland - not drunk, in Wellington - says of the visual effects award: Tonight was an award for this generation's rotoscopers and mo-cap operators. Their work is less flashy than the matte artists of olde (Fincher himself worked in that era on ILM 80s classics) and it's nice to see their hours of effort recognised. Having said this, The Dark Knight's stunties deserved credit for genuinely flipping a truck in central Chicago. Likewise, TDK's CG artists did stunning work for maintaining credibility in the IMAX format. Few realise how much of an effect CinemaScope has on effects work, let alone the IMAX resolution... Meanwhile, Iron Man's practical suit was a marvel-ous wonder and the digital integration achieved with it was unprecedented. A stunning collection of nominees, a stunning winner.

4:55pm BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - A.R. RAHMAN, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

4:54pm At the Oscars, there's an orchestra playing music from 'best score' nominees. Alicia Keys and Zac Efron presenting.

4:52pm Displaced Brit Ash is fast approaching 'the most drunk he's been in his entire time in New Zealand'. And he's 'working' Ridiculous.

4:48pm We're kind of all in agreement that Hugh Jackman was just 'okay' as a host. Nothing spectacular. A nice guy, apparently, says Ashley, who interviewed him over the phone once.

4:45pm At the 42Below party, Andreas thinks he's seen the guy who was pashing a girl all the way through the media screening of harrowing IRA drama Hunger a couple of weeks ago. Long-ish blonde hair. Blue t-shirt. Not pashing anyone today though... yet.

4:43pm Eddie Murphy presenting a 'humanitarian award' to comedian Jerry Lewis. A great man. But strangely, Coldplay over the montage.

4:37pm At the 42Below shindig, the lady in charge has left us a tray of vodka shots, claiming that Andrew needs some because he is 'too negative'.

4:37pm BEST EDITING - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

4:33pm BEST SOUND MIXING - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

4:31pm Andrew is slightly annoyed at this point. He is on his way to losing ten bucks in the Flicks Oscar sweepstakes.

4:30pm BEST SOUND EDITING - THE DARK KNIGHT. Wildcard entry, surely?

4:29pm BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Four geeks accepting awards.

4:28pm Will Smith - trying to present and regain his 'stardom' after lacklustre Hancock and Seven Pounds.

4:25pm Our new correspondent Jaquie Brown says she was 'terrified' by Hugh Jackman's second musical number, but teary-eyed about Heath Ledger's win. It's fair to say, much of the room here felt the same on both counts...

4:22pm At the 42Below party, a tray of finger food has just been laid on the table in front of us, rather scuppering Andreas' assertion that we're being discriminated against us. Graciously, he commented "about f***ing time". We still don't know what this food is, but it's quite nice...

4:19pm BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - Smile Pinki

4:18pm Brilliant - Phillipe Petit (Man on Wire) balanced the Oscar on his nose.

4:16pm BEST DOCUMENTARY - MAN ON WIRE!

4:15pm Bill Maher presenting best documentary.

4:10pm Ledger's family are accepting the award. Audience here at the party have hushed in respect to the great man. His mum says she has been 'overwhelmed by the support'. Sister says they accept the award on behalf of his 'beautiful Matilda'.

4:09 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - HEATH LEDGER, The Dark Knight. Well deserved.

4:07pm Special presentation for Best Supporting Actor. Cuba Gooding junior cracking gags, Christopher Walken saying something, Kevin Kline (!) with a great moustache.

4:04pm From McClelland: Seeing as there's not a lot else going on... how brilliant would it be if we could add Janusz Kaminski's name to the Scrabble dictionary? Think of the points if you landed on a triple word score! (Ash comments: you only get 7 tiles though, getting this would be a feat of previously laid word-joining)

3:58pm Regarding the musical number, Andreas is getting more and more irate. Beyonce has 'no place at the Oscars', apparently.

3:55pm Is that Beyonce singing a song? Yes, she and Hugh are doing some sort of tribute to 'the musical'. Grease, Sound of Music, and all that jazz...

3:54pm Oh God, Hugh Jackman is singing again.

3:50pm At the 42Below party, Andreas is getting increasingly agitated. He feels that the food girls are discriminating against us because 'we have laptops, and aren't as well dressed as everyone else'. No he doesn't 'think', he 'knows'.

3:48pm BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Seth Rogen and James Franco presenting with cinematography legend Janusz Kaminski.
And the Oscar goes to... oops, missed that sorry. can't hear over the crowd. Something German. Back on this later.

3:47pm Jaquie Brown just told us that she loves Joaquin Phoenix, with or without the beard. That was after she looked at the screen and said: "who's that guy?" She's intrigued by Jessica Beal's 'concoction'. She thinks she's flaunting 'the wealth'. Apparently the dress looks like wallpaper 'scrunched and folded'. Sarah Jessica Parker apparently looks beautiful too.

3:45pm From Daniel McClelland in Wellington: It's been decades since someone won an art direction Oscar for a film set in the contemporary era. Benjamin Button spans much of the 20th Century and was rewarded for it. Dark Knight should have won. Gotham felt like a real city, worlds removed from the kitch deco stylishness of Batman's 1989 Oscar and Dick Tracy's subsequent 1990 victory. Luckily Heath will get an Oscar a bit later on.

3:42pm Andreas is disappointed by the lack of genuine celebrities at the 42Below party. But, he says: "as long as those promo girls keep spilling drinks, I'm happy. That's some entertaining stuff right there."

3:36pm BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Anthony Dod Mantel

3:33pm Joaquin Phoenix, with long beard, presenting with Natalie Portman. Surely's he's putting it on. The audience are laughing. Yep, it must be a hoax. Phoenix claiming he might take up cinematography.

3:28pm Robert Pattinson and Amanda Seyfried presenting a section on romance? Colplay on the soundtrack. Nights in Rodanthe making an appearance. Zac Efron pashing Vanessa Hudgens. Good to see WALL-E in there.

3:26pm - (Ash): TV3's Carly Flynn is here at the 42Below party, but she's not really watching the ceremony. She's busy mingling. Emo band Hey Monday disappeared about 5 minutes after they arrived. Jaquie Brown is thankfully back, in a new dress.

3:25pm - BEST MAKEUP - BENJAMIN BUTTON

3:22pm BEST COSTUME DESIGN - THE DUCHESS.

3:19pm BEST ART DIRECTION - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Bald guy thanking his wife.

3:15pm From Daniel McClelland (Flicks Wellington correspondent and Woody Allen fanatic): I'm one-for-one in terms of predictions! Woody Allen gets to add another 'Oscar winner' to his enormous resume of classics.

3:11pm BEST ANIMATED SHORT - La Maison En Petits Cubes. Never seen it but must make a point of doing so.

3:10pm Jaquie Brown doesn't seem to have returned to the 42Below party after 'Champagne-gate' (see 2.10pm post). We hope she does come back. Firstly, we like her - she was our first Five Films I Love... interviewee. Secondly, she promised to assess some of the Oscars fashions for us.

3:08pm BEST ANIMATED FEATURE - WALL-E.

3:03pm BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire.

3:01pm (Ash) Never mind the actual ceremony, here at the party in Auckland the food has come out. So far we've eaten some tiny little eggy omelette-style things. Not sure what exactly they were. Also, some little savoury biscuits smeared in something. Not sure what. And some little pastry things with chicken in. Canapes... that's the word right?

2:58: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Milk, Dustin Lance Black.

2:46pm Presenters Steve Martin and Tina Fey are mocking scientology? "Steve, nobody wants to hear about our religion that we made up."

2:49pm BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She's fighting back tears, thanking Pedro Almodovar, telling her rags to riches story.

2:45pm Sickly tribute to each nominated supporting actress. Hopefully this won't happen for every nomination. It's very dull.

2:40pm Jackman just completed an elaborate song and dance number. Anne Hathaway joined him on stage.

2:32pm Oscars host Hugh Jackman has just said that because of the recession, that next year he'll be starring in a movie called 'New Zealand'. Ouch.

2:30pm Andreas has just returned from a conversation with someone whose gender escaped him. He is still none the wiser.

2:27pm Another waitress here at the party has dropped a tray of champagne. Lots of people helping to pick up shards of glass.

2:25pm Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) being interviewed on the red carpet. A great man. Says that he can hear people yelling "Dick!"

2:20pm A little scene setting: the Flicks crew have collared a sofa in the middle of the 42Below party, which is being held in a nice medium-sized room with a wooden beamed ceiling, dark wood floors and some red and black mural action along one wall. There's a big projector screen at the end, plus three plasma TVs showing the Oscars (obviously, we're not here for Neighbours). There's also a DJ, 'dropping' some 'choons' while we strain to hear the red carpet interviews over the PA.

2:15pm Miley Cyrus is wearing a dress that looks like one of those toilet roll holder's really old people have... only one made of diamonds or something.

2:10pm DISASTER! Some girl carrying champagne has spilt the tray's contents down the front of Jaquie Brown. Jaquie currently towling herself off, laughing on the outside only.

2:09pm Wikipedia says: Hey Monday is an American alternative rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. The band consists of Cassadee Pope (lead vocals), Michael "Jersey" Moriarty (bass guitar), Mike Gentile (lead guitar), Alex Lipshaw (rhythm guitar), Elliot James (drums) and Bobby Nolan (Keyboard).

2:07pm Heinemann is apoplectic that Miley Cyrus is at the Oscars.

2:06pm We found out that band is called Hey Monday. They say Angelina Jolie looks stunning and Brad Pitt looks like a pimp. They want Benjamin Button to win Best Picture and Kate Winslet to win an award. They're also hoping for a win for Mark Wahlberg and one for Leo DiCaprio. Not sure they've checked the nominations...

1.57pm (posted by Andreas)
Jaquie Brown is tipping Wall-E for Best Animated Feature, Kate Winslet for Best Actress and Slumdog Millionaire for Best Film, although she says she wants something else to win, but mysteriously won't reveal what. She adds that Beyonce looks like she's wearing someone's curtains.

1:53pm A band has just walked in. We haven't worked out who they are. Definitely emo-ish and young. More on this later. Meanwhile, Kate Winslet's kids apparently told her to get all crazy and emotional if she wins. Here's hoping...

1:28pm (posted by Ash)
Hedley, Bird and Heinemann are all set to go down at the 42Below Brand Space in Auckland City. The party's just being set up and looks like it will be pretty swanky. Flicks favourite Jaquie Brown is here already looking super-glam. There's a photographer here who looks a bit like Harvey Keitel. As for the Flicks team, we're presenting a united front in terms of Oscars outfits - casual blue shirts all the way. Hedley's the only one in appropriately smart footwear. But Heinemann has movie star shades. Champagne has just been served... and we're off...

Click here to see the nominations.