I just came from a place where the temperature did NOT go above five degrees Celsius for the past 5 days.  So today, I am back to good old 30 degrees Celsius.

As rad as this vacation may sound, this was also the reason why I missed the Oscar awards telecast.  This must be the only Oscar ceremony that I completely missed for the past 10 or so years.  Our 5-star hotel ironically did not have cable tv, and I was not able to access the net in the hotel, so I relied on CNN (which was dreadfully repetitive and incomplete) and the newspaper (also incomplete).  Thanks to Jess for posting the whole list of winners.

Best picture: No Country For Old Men
Best director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best supporting actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best supporting actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Best foreign language film: The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Best animated feature film: Ratatouille
Best adapted screenplay: No Country For Old Men
Best original screenplay: Juno
Best music (score): Atonement
Best music (song): Falling Slowly - Once (performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
Best documentary feature: Taxi to the Dark Side
Best documentary short subject: Freeheld
Best visual effects: The Golden Compass
Best cinematography: There Will Be Blood
Best art direction: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best animated short film: Peter and the Wolf
Best short film: Le Mozart des Pickpockets
Best costume design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Best make-up: La Vie en Rose
Best sound mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best sound editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best film editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Reactions:

1.  I totally disagree that "No Country for Old Men" was the best picture of 2007, nor was it the best director or best adapted screenplay in my opinion.  No argument about Javier Bardem being the winner of Best Supporting Actor though.  His performance was the identifying mark of this film.  However, his role is quite one-dimensionally evil, wasn't it?  It seems no other colors were seen in this performance except black.

2.  Very happy for the win of "Falling Slowly" from "Once."  I thought this woult not have survived the "Enchanted" troika, but it did.  I read that Marketa Iglova was actually called back onstage to finish her speech, after it was cut off by the band.  Good for her.

3. I have seen three out of the four winners for acting categories.  As repeatedly pointed out in the press, there was no American actor among the four winners.  English Daniel, Spaniard Javier and Scot Tilda all played flawed violent characters. I do hope I get to see "La Vie En Rose" soon with French Marion who looked very good in her clips of her Oscar acceptance speech.

4.  More deserved awards:  Musical score of "Atonement" with the ingeniuous and effective use of the typewriter as a musical instrument.  Cinematography of "There Will Be Blood" where that oil rig explosion was such a powerful centerpiece shot.  Art Direction of "Sweeney Todd" where the decadent and dilapidated London was depicted.  The set direction of Mrs. Lovett's store where she bakes the "worst pies in London" was unforgettable.

5.  The film editing and sound awards won by "The Bourne Ultimatum" were thoroughly deserved!  Particularly the editing acheivement which was unmatched by any other film shown last year, I think.

While I was away, I also missed the American Idol episode last night featuring the Top 10 boys.  Again, I had to read about it on ew.com.  So the three Davids again had a great night, I gather.  And then on the other end, Luke and Jason may not escape the inevitable cut this Friday.

This is one of those rare third episodes that really lives up to the first two. Very very good indeed! The action begins even before the beginning credits. Then, throughout the movie, this action is relentless. The technology-driven cat-and-mouse tactics in the London train station, the fantastic motorcycle and foot chase scenes in streets and houses of Tangiers and the heart-stopping car chase scenes on the streets of New York City are really editing masterpieces. Very exciting! The direction of Paul Greengrass does not disappoint. It was breathtaking. All the scenes are important. There is no wasted time.

As with the first two installments, there is very little downtime in this. In fact, the downtime is very similar to the first two, where Bourne is in the company of a female, and washes up.

Honestly, during the first Bourne movie, "The Bourne Identity", I did not think that Matt Damon would be a good action star. In fact, I believe I did not watch that one until I watched and was very impressed with the second installment "The Bourne Supremacy". Matt is really very good and convincing as Bourne, in all three. In this one, the drama was more intense as Bourne comes into information that leads him from Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid, Tangiers, and New York, back to the very facility where his new violent life began. Matt's talents as a dramatic actor balances perfectly with his physical prowess in the amazing stunts.

I think this is really a great action and espionage trilogy I would probably watch all over again, together one day. While the trajectory of Bourne's character arc is clear to me, I would like to note more the other characters, especially that of Julia Stiles, who had an important role and character development in all three movies.