Oscar Winners 2009

A fair night overall and a good one for the British Film industry which is always nice to see. However a few stand out performances happened to be overlooked.

Sean Penn was absolutely brilliant as Harvey Milk, however there is something about Mickey Rourke's story and the honesty he portrayed, the way you could see him feel everything that Randy the Ram felt in The Wrestler that set him apart from everyone.

I also feel their will be a lot of people ignoring the foreign language category after the debacle the committee made of this years decision. First by overlooking the outstanding Gomorrah even a nomination and second by choosing a little known Japanese film which I cannot judge because I have not seen it, over Waltz With Bashir. I am in no way saying that the winning film was not a great film, as I have said I have never seen it. However Waltz With Bashir is not just a film, it is a statement, along with Persepolis it is a new adult way of approaching animation and one which many thought should have been nominated in the best film category. This alone sets it apart from any of its competitors in this category.

Although biased because of my love for Mike Leigh I would also loved to have seen him pick up a much deserved best screenplay for Happy Go Lucky.

I am keen to see Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married before saying that Kate Winslet was the right but I have a sneaky suspicion I will disagree with the decision here too.

Also, although a very good film I feel that Slumdog Millionaire does not quite justify it's 9 Oscar haul. In no way knocking the film and its achievement I feel other films were better in the categories of Cinematography (The sadly overlooked for nomination Australia,) and Original Score (Wall-E.)

Despite this I am pleased to see a return to form for the committee. Probably aided by the lack of tough decisions this year they got a lot of decisions right for once. None more so than the Best Documentary to Man On Wire, a well deserved award to a beautifully executed film.

The Best Director/ Best Film to Slumdog Millionaire, which in a year of uninspiring nominations stood out in the pack.

It is also nice to see Penelope Cruz pick up an award, even if she achieved it for a more sedated role than those in which she has achieved her finest performances to date.

In the same vein as this I am glad to see Heath Ledger getting the award for Best Supporting Actor as he dominated the years big success The Dark Knight and stood out like a sore thumb in this category. A posthumous award for a man who was on his way to becoming a marvelous actor.

Lets hope this year is a sign of things to come. That the Oscars do not give in to the demand for more awards to the commercially successful choices and that we see enough brilliant films in the next year to make next years decisions a bit more difficult.