The 2013 Oscars – Highlights, Lowlights, and Winners

Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth MacFarlane, and Daniel Radcliffe Oscars 2013
Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth MacFarlane, host and Oscar®-nominee for Original Song, and Daniel Radcliffe perform during The Oscars® from the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 24, 2013 live on the ABC Television Network - Photo credit: Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

So, was Seth MacFarlane the right choice to host the 85th Annual Academy Awards? Yes, particularly this year. The Academy needed to bring in younger viewers and MacFarlane definitely was more of a draw to younger audiences, with the ratings getting a real boost among the key demographic of adults 18-49 and the show drawing an overall audience of 40 million.

Oscar producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan were also aiming to draw in fans of musicals and of Bond movies with this year’s telecast. But once those people tuned in, did the producers deliver on their promises? Not on all counts. After a night to think about the show, here’s what I think worked and what didn’t, along with a list of the nominees and winners of the 2013 Oscars:

The Good:

– Seth MacFarlane. He did what was expected of him, drawing in younger viewers to the broadcast without alienating the older crowd. MacFarlane kept it lighter in tone with most of his jokes than we anticipated he would, although he did get in a few digs at Chris Brown, Rihanna, Mel Gibson, studio accountants, and actresses who bare their breasts on film. His “We Saw Your Boobs” song offended some, but it’s not as though the actresses mentioned didn’t show their breasts in an assortment of movies. MacFarlane also proved he can sing, was fast on his feet when jokes fell flat and kept the pop culture references coming all night.

– The dance numbers with Charlize Theron & Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe & Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They were fun to watch and something a little different than past Oscar shows. The only way it could have been better would have been to have had a Tatum versus Gordon-Levitt strip-off. Now that would have been worth tuning in for.

Lumping the Best Picture promotional pieces together in groups of three. It sped up the process and didn’t detract from any of the nominees.

– Bringing Barbra Streisand in for “Memories,” Adele in for “Skyfall,” Dame Shirley Bassey to sing “Goldfinger,” and the cast of Les Miserables on stage for a medley from that musical.

– The presenting teams of Charlize Theron & Dustin Hoffman, The Avengers cast, and Jennifer Aniston & Channing Tatum.

– Using the theme from Jaws to play off those winners who overstayed their welcome on stage.

– George Clooney’s beard.

The Not-So-Good Through the Very, Very Bad:

– Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy as presenters. This was uncomfortable and the laughs were of the courtesy variety.

– The whole Bond tribute was a bust, with the exception of Shirley Bassey’s song. We’re promised a tribute to the iconic spy franchise, and a short video with the theme songs from the film was all that was shown. Where was the reunion of the Bond actors? Wasn’t that promised or at least hinted at?

– Not having the mix of vocals and music right at the beginning of Adele’s “Skyfall” was a big disappointment.

– John Travolta and Kristen Stewart’s hair. And can awards shows please just stop inviting Kristen Stewart to present? She’s obviously uncomfortable on stage and it’s uncomfortable watching her be uncomfortable. Even her co-presenter Daniel Radcliffe looked uneasy next to her.

– Deciding that honoring musicals of the past decade was a good idea was probably one of the worst ideas of the night. If you’re going to honor musicals, delve further back than the past 10 years.

– And the night’s big finale – the song performed by Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth – was completely unnecessary and a waste of time and talent.

2013 Oscar Nominees and Winners:

Best Picture:
Amour
WINNER: Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Achievement in Directing:
Amour – Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin
WINNER: Life of Pi – Ang Lee
Lincoln – Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Denzel Washington in Flight

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Alan Arkin in Argo
Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master
Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
WINNER: Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts in The Impossible

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Amy Adams in The Master
Sally Field in Lincoln
WINNER: Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables
Helen Hunt in The Sessions
Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
WINNER: Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Achievement in Cinematography:
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
WINNER: Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda
Lincoln
Skyfall

Achievement in Costume Design:
WINNER: Anna Karenina
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Documentary Feature:
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
WINNER: Searching for Sugar Man

Best Documentary Short Subject:
WINNER: Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

Achievement in Film Editing:
WINNER: Argo – William Goldenberg
Life of Pi – Tim Squyres
Lincoln – Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook – Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty – Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
WINNER: Amour Austria
Kon-Tiki Norway
No Chile
A Royal Affair Denmark
War Witch Canada

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling:
Hitchcock – Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
WINNER: Les Misérables – Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score):
Anna Karenina – Dario Marianelli
Argo – Alexandre Desplat
WINNER: Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
Lincoln – John Williams
Skyfall – Thomas Newman

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song):
“Before My Time” from Chasing Ice – Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted – Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
“Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi – Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
WINNER: “Skyfall” from Skyfall – Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
“Suddenly” from Les Misérables – Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil:

Achievement in Production Design:
Anna Karenina – Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
Les Misérables – Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi – Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
WINNER: Lincoln – Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Best Animated Short Film:
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head over Heels
The Longest Daycare
WINNER: Paperman

Best Live Action Short Film:
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
WINNER: Curfew
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
Henry

Achievement in Sound Editing:
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
WINNER [Tie]: Skyfall
WINNER [Tie]: Zero Dark Thirty

Achievement in Sound Mixing:
Argo – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
WINNER: Les Misérables – Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
Life of Pi – Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
Lincoln – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
Skyfall – Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in Visual Effects:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
WINNER: Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
Marvel’s The Avengers – Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
Prometheus – Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman – Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Adapted Screenplay:
WINNER: Argo – Screenplay by Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi – Screenplay by David Magee
Lincoln – Screenplay by Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook – Screenplay by David O. Russell

Original Screenplay:
Amour – Written by Michael Haneke
WINNER: Django Unchained – Written by Quentin Tarantino
Flight – Written by John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom – Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty – Written by Mark Boal