With the Academy Awards in the rear view mirror, the 2009 Awards Season has come to a merciful end.
What have we learned?
* Meryl Streep will be nominated for an Academy Award … and lose (15 nominations with just two Oscars on the mantle).
* The Directors Guild of America will make their choice for Best Director (Slumdog Millionaire’s Danny Boyle) and that winner will go on to win the Oscar. The DGA has picked the ultimate Oscars winner all but six times since 1948.
* A performance of a lifetime will be the last of a lifetime. It happened with Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) this year. Other fantastic final performances include Peter Finch (Network), James Dean (Giant), Vincent Price (Edward Scissorshands) and Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond).
* There will be inexplicable Oscar snubs. This year had plenty. Bruce Springsteen not even getting a nomination for The Wrestler, no acting nominations for Slumdog Millionaire, no acting nominations for Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) or Colin Farrell (In Bruges) and no Best Picture nomination for Wall-E.
* There will be dozens of inexplicable Emmy snubs. Let’s start with Friday Night Lights. Snubbed for Best Drama, Best Actress (Connie Britton) and Best Actor (Kyle Chandler). Two huge Best Drama snubs- Big Love and The Wire. Biggest Comedy snub? No nomination for Flight of the Conchords. Other acting snubs included Jenna Fischer (The Office), Kristin Wiig (Saturday Night Live), January Jones (Mad Men), Mia Wasikowska (In Treatment) and Tracy Morgan (30 Rock).
* The Grammys still love the oldies but goodies. This year’s Grammy Winners included Robert Plant, The Eagles, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Al Green, Jose Feliciano, B.B. King, Dr. John, John Williams, George Carlin, Peter Gabriel and Pete Seeger.
* Tina Fey is a comic genius.
* Laura Linney may well be the best actress working today.
* Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Sean Penn turn any project they work on into gold.
* Richard Jenkins and Melissa Leo are overnight success stories that were decades of brilliant work in the making.
* Don’t let looks fool you. While Brad Pitt and Algenina Jolie may be too beautiful for words, both are remarkable actors as well. This year’s Best Acting nominations were no fluke. Both have a history of turning in extraordinary performances.
* Hugh Jackman is extremely talented…. but his talents are far better suited for hosting the Tonys than the Oscars. Billy Crystal… we miss you!
* Don’t you wish Mickey Rourke had won the Best Actor Oscar? … even if it was just to see his acceptance speech.
* Since the Oscars treat comedies like second-class citizens, shouldn’t they follow the Golden Globes lead and give separate awards for dramas and comedies? Outside of a win for Penelope Cruz and a nomination for Robert Downey Jr., comedic writers, actors and directors were all but ignored.
* The final thing we learned? That in no time, we’ll be going through all of this again.
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