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The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

    Oscar Review: Speeches more impressive than young hosts

    2010 produced a long list of films worthy of nominations at this year’s Academy Awards. But in the end, “The King’s Speech” walked away victorious.

    Winning a total of four awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director, “The King’s Speech” tied “Inception” for most 2011 Oscar wins.

    It was no surprise to see Colin Firth walk away with the award for Best Actor. The first-time Oscar winner embraced the once-in-a-lifetime moment with a great speech that kept the audience amused.

    “I have a feeling my career’s just peaked,” Firth joked.

    It was a pleasant surprise to see Tom Hooper win Best Director over David Fincher, who won the Golden Globe for “The Social Network.”

    Hooper clutched his chest in shock when last year’s winner, Kathryn Bigelow, announced him as the winner.

    The other acting awards went to Natalie Portman for Best Actress, Christian Bale for Best Supporting Actor and Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actress.

    In Christian Bale’s emotional acceptance speech, he poked fun at co-star Melissa Leo, who had to be censored during her speech.

    “I’m not going to drop the F-Bomb like she did. I’ve done that plenty before,” Bale joked.

    Furthermore, it was nice to see such young Oscar hosts. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anything too special. Anne Hathaway and James Franco had some memorable moments, but more parts were dull rather than funny.

    At one point during the show, Hathaway came out in a tuxedo and Franco in a dress. “You got to wear a tuxedo, so I wore this,” Franco said, adding, “The weird part is, I just got a text message from Charlie Sheen.”

    In terms of presenters, Kirk Douglas did an admirable job. The 94-year-old, three-time Oscar nominee was on top of his game, as he had the entire crowd bursting into laughter. “She’s gorgeous!” he exclaimed when looking at Anne Hathaway. “Where were you when I was making pictures?”

    Other great Oscar presenters included Billy Crystal, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

    Downey and Law had amazing chemistry that made for a great speech before announcing the Best Visual Effects award.

    “If it wasn’t for [the visual specialists], your closest association with a superhero would’ve been in 2001 when you got busted in a cheap hotel with a woman dressed as Bat Girl,” Law said.

    Downey stared down Law as the crowd reacted.

    “First of all, that cheap hotel room cost $1,250 a night with a corporate discount. Secondly, it was 2000, not 2001. And most importantly, she was dressed as Wonder Woman and that attention to detail is what has won the respect of all the Academy voters,” Downey replied.

    This memorable skit has people surmising that Downey and Law will be next year’s Oscar host contenders.

     

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