Transformers was robbed!

Ahem.

So, the 2008 Academy Awards have been revealed – and we have had a good yield for a good year. The Coens got the Oscars they deserved, even if they did it to spite my prediction of the Academy splitting the director/best film.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem were the predicted winners, whereas the female awards threw up the surprises. I haven’t seen the films to speculate, but I’m glad for Tilda Swinton (and not in a jingoistic patriotic way) – an interesting actress with an interesting career.

Ratatouille got the best animated film, of course, and the screenwriting awards went to deserving homes, even if all the nominees were worthy (a view for most of the categories, it has to be said). And The Bourne Ultimatum is now a triple Oscar winner in addition to being one of the best films of last year; admittedly, they are technical awards but who cares?

The only disappointment I felt was for Roger Deakins, who I think should finally get his Oscar, but he had the misfortune to split the vote by doing superb work on two worthy films, which must be confusing for voters.

However, I do stick by my fake fanboy opening statement – there is no way in a million years that somebody could say with a straight face and hand on heart that the CGI in The Golden Compass was better than Transformers. I am not a Transformers geek but, dude, robots into cars and back again, beating the shit out of each other and interacting with actors on screen – how the hell didn’t that win? Seriously. Is there some kind of Anti Michael Bay Campaign? ‘No film directed by him will ever win an Oscar, mark my words!’ Completely unbelievable and the only blemish on the night.

Talking of the night, it sounds like it went well (apart from the montages) and that Jon Stewart did a good job with some nice lines (best: ‘Even Norbit got a nomination, which I think is great. Too often the Academy ignores movies that aren’t good.’) and his lovely gesture of getting Marketa Irglova (winner for best original song for Once) to come back out to give her acceptance speech after she was played off the podium. Nice guy.

I know there must be some disappointed bloggers out there with nothing to complain about in the results (like I was back in 2005), but it’s good to feel happy about the Oscars.