Last week, the award season of 2011 came to an end with the Oscars. The bottom line: There were really no surprises this year. However, there are still a few lessons to learn – The Excelsior sums up the results in the main award categories for you. Plus, we tell you what the awards say about the people who voted on them, as well as who the real winners and losers were.
The Academy Awards“The Big Ones”
Best Film: The King's Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (Adapted, The Social Network) / David Seidler (Original, The King’s Speech)
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
What it says about the voters: “We are old. That movie about the king reminded us of our childhoods. What is this ‘Facebook’ you are talking of?”
SAG Awards
“The Acties”
Outstanding Performance by a Cast: The King's Speech
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
What it says about the voters: “We are actors. We don’t care what anyone says, we are the real stars of movies. Also, we liked that British movie.”
The Golden Globes
“The Ones Where People From Other Countries Decide”
Best Film: The Social Network (Drama) / The Kids are All Right (Comedy/Musical)
Best Director: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (Drama) / Paul Giamatti (Comedy/Musical)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Drama) / Annette Bening (Comedy/Musical)
What it says about the voters: “We don’t wanna be mean, so we have two winners in each category. Will you like us now, America?”
Critics' Choice Awards
“The Critical Ones”
Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (Adapted) / David Seidler (Original)
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
What it says about the voters: “We like giving our opinion, so why not have our own award? Also, we are special, so we have random categories such as “Best Young Actor/Actress” (this year’s winner: Hailee Steinfeld). But in the end, we really agree with everyone else.”
BAFTAs
“The Britoids”
Best Film: The King's Speech
Best Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (Adapted) / David Seidler (Original)
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
What it says about the voters: “We are British.”
People's Choice Awards
“The One For The Commoners”
Favorite Movie The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Favorite Actor: Johnny Depp
Favorite Actress: Kristen Stewart
What it says about the voters: “We are gullible pop culture junkies and love consumerism. Also, we are teenage girls. Team Edward!”
But who, now, are the real winners and losers of 2011’s award season?
The Real Winners:
The King’s Speech: While The King’s Speech and The Social Network pretty much went Dutch on the main award categories (well, except for Best Actor), the British period piece is the clear winner of the duel. This is mainly due to the degree the two movies were hyped: The Social Network extremely, The King’s Speech not at all. Even before the “Facebook movie,” as the Social network was and is known, came out, it was dubbed a generation-defining piece of cinema history. The King’s Speech, on the other hand, came out only a month before award season started. Most people hadn’t even heard of it before the Golden Globes – but it gained momentum and took home the arguably biggest prize, the Oscar for Best Picture. If it actually was the best film of the year, of course, is a completely different question.
Aaron Sorkin: Even though The Social Network didn't succeed in throwing a strike in the best film category, screenwriter Sorkin took home all the awards for best screenplay. This is partly due to the fact that many awards have separate categories for original and adapted screenplay, so he wasn't always up against The Social Network's arch-nemesis, The King's Speech. But even so, it is clear that Sorkin's rapid-fire, sharp-as-a-knife style dialogue – his trademark since The West Wing – was more than appreciated across the board.
Melissa Leo: She won pretty much all “Supporting Actress” statuettes there were this year (except for the BAFTA one) for her performance in The Fighter. But mostly, she made for the only semi-outrageous moment at the drab Oscar ceremony by slipping the F-word into her acceptance speech.
Colin Firth: He won everything. Plus, he's just too cute, and now everybody knows that.
The Real Losers:
Anne Hathaway & James Franco: They have already been dubbed the worst Oscar hosts in history, supposedly even overtaking 1995's David Letterman. While Hathaway appeared to have had one too many Red Bulls before the show and was a little too excited to be there, Franco took the opposite road and just stood there silently grinning for most of the ceremony. Jokes were rare – and not that funny. If the funniest thing you can come up with is a dude in a dress, you're doing something wrong. They probably won't be asked back next year.Christian Bale: Even though he pulled a Melissa Leo in the Male Supporting Acting Category, his acceptance speech at the Oscars was mostly remembered for a weird pause after “Thank you to my wife,...” Bale was most likely just choking up, but to the audience it seemed as if he had forgotten his wife's name. Awkward.
Melissa Leo: Apart from the f-bomb, her Oscar acceptance speech was incoherent blubbering. Probably the worst since Sally Field’s “You like me, right now, you like me!” outburst. (Oscar fun fact No. 38: This is often misremembered as “You like me, you really like me!”)
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