Notes on the Oscars
Published March 25, 2003
But my favorite celeb anti-war story of all was Ben Affleck's: the actor couldn't decide whether or not to wear an anti-war pin, and left the final decision to his stylist. I bet J.Lo's upset she didn't get to choose.
Procedural matters. The ceremony actually ended on time for once, probably because they chose not to show movie clips for each nominated actor. For the second straight year the historical clip selections were lackluster, and the "75 Years of Oscar" ceremony was lacking, especially since several of the actors (especially Karl Malden and Mickey Rooney) apparently had no idea where they were and looked like they were about to keel over. Not to mention that dozens of living former winners were not present. It's always great to see Olivia de Havilland, the last living "Gone With the Wind" cast member and the Curt Flood of Hollywood- it was her lawsuit in the '50s that brought down the classical Hollywood system. And I was all set to object to the trotting out of Kirk Douglas, as the man is clearly not in the best of health, but his final presentation with son Michael was charming.
The Golden 'Road.' My favorite movie of the year, "Road to Perdition," won only one Oscar, but it was the one it deserved most: Best Cinematography, for the late Conrad L. Hall. Not only did it have the most impressive lensing of any film in years, but it was one final tribute to a truly brilliant cinemagraphic technician.
Unpredictable.And in a year in which I saw almost every major movie, I correctly predicted less than half of the Academy Award winners. In a year in which I watched next to no college basketball, I correctly predicted 12 of the Sweet 16. Which goes to show, once again, that predictions mean nothing.
- Notes on the Oscars
- Published: March 25, 2003
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: News
- Writer: Stephen Silver
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When I read everything that has been said about Michael Moore (and a lot was personally insulting, which I think is no foundation for a discussion) and his film in the last few days I come to the conclusion that there isn't one person in the US that actually liked the film. Funny thing is, in Europe it was not successful (like in blockbuster-successful), but greeted with a lot of interest. I wonder why that is... Noone is asking of the Americans that they consider themselves "bad bad people". Questioning yourself and your country in a critical way is in no way a non-patriotic thing as such.
Hello,
You take Gael Garcia's comments out of context, the full quote is:
"The necessity for peace in the world is not a dream. It is a reality, and we are not alone. If Frida was alive, she would be on our side, against war."
I am for peace, not against the US, where I live. Does that make me a communist?
As for Almodovar's comments. Do you really think it was very democratic from the US government to disregard the will of the international community and attack Irak? The UN is supposed to be a *democratic* forum for all nations, draw you own conlusion about how democratic the US government was starting the war.
Regards.
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"What I AM upset about is that "Bowling For Columbine"- an untruthful, dishonest, insulting, condescending, and self-aggrandizing film, whose conclusion seemed to be that what's wrong with America is all those damn Americans- won for Best Documentary. What's even sadder is that the producers of the other four nominated films, who presumably took great care to make sure their films were truthful and didn't stage entire scenes, agreed to join Moore onstage. That almost the entire audience booed Moore when he began his diatribe shows that Hollywood may be much more sane than we all thought"
K, untruthful, dishonest, comon open your eyes, if you dont know what's going on in your country I suggest you get out more often. As for the booing, I recall hearing alot of cheers and a lot of applauding amongst the boos, and some celebrities standing an applauding. Also, did you ever think Denzel does not want to take a puclic stand on the war so he decided to not boo or not applaud?