Oscar crowns 'King's Speech'
“The King's Speech” — a movie that just a few short weeks ago was given no chance to beat the popular “The Social Network” for best picture — Sunday night won four of its 12 Oscar nominations, including picture, actor, director and screenplay.
Shoo-in Colin Firth won his first Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of King George VI in “The King's Speech.”
“I have a feeling my career just peaked!” he said. “I have stirrings in my upper abdominals that are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. ... It would be extremely problematic for me if they make it to my legs before I get offstage.”
Tom Hooper won the best direction Oscar for the same film.
“I would like to thank my triangle of man-love, which is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and me,” he said. “I'm only here because of you guys!”
Hooper also thanked his mother.
“I know there has been a lot of thanking of mums,” he said, “but this is slightly different.” He related how his mother attended an obscure play reading in 2007, “The King's Speech,” and called him up to say, “I think I found your next movie.”
“The moral to the story is ‘Listen to your mother!'” Hooper said.
Natalie Portman took best actress honors for the psychological horror tale “Black Swan.”
“This is insane!” she said. The actress, who prepared more than a year for her role as a ballerina slowly going insane, said she wanted to work with her fellow nominees. ”I'm so in awe of you.”
Elmhurst-born Wally Pfister won the cinematography Oscar for Christopher Nolan's “Inception.”
“This is a great honor,” Pfister said. “None of what I did could have been possible without the incredible vision of my master, Christopher Nolan.”
Pfister is the only cinematographer that “Dark Knight” director Nolan has worked with since 2000's “Memento.”
Melissa Leo won supporting actress for her role as a controlling mother in “The Fighter.”
“I'm shakin' in my boots here!” Leo said at the microphone. “I am kinda speechless.” When she dropped the F-bomb, audiences at home heard the long silence of a broadcast bleep, proving her right about being speechless. After thanking the Academy voters, Leo shouted, “It's about selling motion pictures and respecting the work!”
Her “Fighter” co-star Christian Bale accepted the supporting actor statuette.
“A room full of talented and inspirational people and what the (heck) am I doing here?” he said in his natural British brogue.
David Seidler, a former stutterer, won the Oscar for original screenplay for “The King's Speech.”
“My father always said to me that I would be a late bloomer,” the 73-year-old writer said. “I believe I am the oldest person to ever win this award. I hope this record is beaten quickly and often.”
The adapted screenplay award went to Aaron Sorkin for his script to “The Social Network.”
“It's impossible to describe what it feels like to win the same award given to Paddy Chayefsky 35 years ago for another movie with ‘Network' in the title,” Sorkin said. “This movie is going to be a source of pride for me for the rest of my life.”
The pairing of Oscar nominee James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts was supposed to appeal to a younger demographic. They were charming, for sure, but charisma could only take them so far before their lack of improvisation skills and stilted comic timing took a toll.
“It used to be, you get naked you get nominated!” Hathaway said, referring to her birthday-suit costume in “Love and Other Drugs.” “Not anymore!”
Franco's brief appearance in drag as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator fell flatter than his chest. Even Franco's punch line — “The weird part is that I just got a text message from Charlie Sheen!” — lacked the punch.
Hathaway burbled and buzzed her way through strained jokes, such as introducing “Wolverine” star Hugh Jackman with, “He's the Wolver to my Rine.” Not even former host Billy Crystal could have saved that one.
When Crystal actually popped up onstage, he accomplished laughs with a single introductory sentence: “Where was I?”
The Oscarcast also tried to get hip with the Internet generation with a silly and frivolous YouTube-style parody in which the stars from “Toy Story 3,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” “Twilight,” “Social Network” and “The King's Speech” were digitally animated so they appeared to be performing musical numbers, none particularly clever or extremely funny.
My vote for duo hosts for next year: Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, who shared a real Siskel-Ebert barbed and engaging repartee while introducing the editing nominations.
Just what the 84th annual Academy Awards can use.
Even if doesn't appeal to a younger demographic.