25 Feb – Cinema Online's Cinnamon Lion caught the 85th Academy Awards live this morning with some friends and were delighted to see the much deserving movies walk home with an award or few as we cheered on. Hosted by the brains and creator of "Family Guy" and "Ted", funny man Seth MacFarlane's first time at the Oscar's proved to be a hoot and a half as many were left in stiches with his opening monologue and jokes which were strewn throughout the show. Although "Argo" won the top honours, Cinema Online and friends was delighted to see that some of the movies that were shown here managed to snap major awards especially "Life Of Pi" locally distributed by 20th Century Fox Malaysia which took home the most awards from the event.
Beating "Argo" and "Les Miserables" which each had won three Oscars each, "Life Of Pi" managed to snag four awards which were Best Director for Ang Lee, Best Music, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects, for which the latter award hits close to home. California based international visual effects studio Rhythm & Hues which has a local branch in Malaysia, was one of the studios along with their counterparts in India, Canada and Taiwan whom worked on creating the visual effects for "Life Of Pi".
The local team which is based at Cyberjaya, worked mainly on the special effects for the ocean and the film's crowning glory; the Bengal tiger Richard Parker. "We shall not forget our contribution in "Snow White and the Huntsman" (which was also nominated for the VFX Academy Awards) - but it's losing to "Life of Pi" [which] made the blow softer", expressed Rhythm and Hues Malaysia via their Facebook page who were proud for their moment of recognition. The Oscar for the win will be embarking on a world tour to all of Rhythm & Hues studios including Malaysia.
As "Argo" had won the top honour of the night for Best Picture, many at the live Cinema Online screening expressed that the movie should've been released in Malaysia, especially since Warner Bros. Singapore had no qualms showing it last November 2012 in Singapore and currently is re-releasing the film at their local cinemas to celebrate the Oscar season and its win. Expected local distributor Warner Bros. Malaysia had no comment on the possibility of a local release for "Argo" which prior to the Oscar win had no plans of a release. However, there is a slight chance that after some consideration, the movie could be brought to our screens for limited release similar to last year's Best Picture winner "The Artist", which was screened during the French Film Festival held at GSC Cinemas after it had won the honour.