Winners & losers .....

Well thats over for another year, as the 88th Academy Awards finally ends. I was not going to bother this year, but ended up spending the morning (here in the UK) seeing the show unfold. It was a slick show, great idea to have all the endless thank-yous unfold on screen. Not totally predictable either - good to see SPOTLIGHT win best film and original screenplay, and Mark Rylance as Supporting Actor, and Alicia Vikander (looking terrific in that yellow dress) as Best Supporting Actress, though of course she really was the leading lady there. Great too to see those two veterans Ennio Morricone (87) and Quincy Jones together. And there certainly were quite a few black presenters - was the Academy making a point? I am miffed though that CAROL and its director Todd Haynes were not included in the nominations for best film and director - is the Academy homophobic as well as seemingly racist? - think back to BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN a decade ago... (below, Haynes with his two muses Blanchett and Julianne Moore, who both did two films with him). 
So, nothing for CAROL or BROOKLYN or THE LADY IN THE VAN (not even nominated) or 45 YEARS or THE MARTIAN, but apart from that, good to see MAD MAX getting all those technical awards ..... (THE REVENANT only got best actor and director of its 12 nominations). 

Cate Blanchett looked stunning as usual in another sensational dress by Armani Prive - as did Kate Winslet in that black Ralph Lauren. 
Mark Rylance made a great comment when being interviewed about the madness of voting on which actor is the best, when he said "its not a sport, its a craft".
Ho ho ho - it seems Sam Smith (winner for Best Song for that dreadful Bond theme) has annoyed the gay community with his speech where he seems to think he is the first out gay man to win an Oscar (well, he is 23, and its all about him ...). Dustin Lance Black (who won for his MILK script) was not amused, as per his Twitter rant. Then there's Sondheim and Elton John who won Best Song Oscars before Sam did! Perhaps Sam should have checked before making a fool of himself, he misquoted Ian McKellen who was talking about out gay actors. But what did it matter about his sexuality - who cares? He was lucky to be there to have won for that song ... 

See Academy Awards link for my Alternative Oscars.