The 2004 Oscar Diary
Published March 01, 2004
They give the Best Adapted Screenplay award to ... LOTR, for its ninth award of the evening - yes LOTR now has more Oscars than Norah Jones has Grammys. I had Mystic River, knocking me down to 17-2.
11:33: Tobey Maguire introduces Seabiscuit. Anyone who thought that was better than Big Fish really needs to get their head examined.
11:34: Time for what's traditionally the most quality-savvy award there is, Best Original Screenplay, and the winner (presented by Robbins and Sarandon) is ... Sofia Coppola. Making the Coppolas the second three-generation Oscar-winning family (FFC's father, Carmine, won for conducting The Godfather's music).
11:42: Tom Cruise introduces Best Director and a quick cut to Nicole Kidman - gee, why isn't the award being presented by last year's winner, Roman Polanski? (Okay, I know why. But how come R. Kelly gets to go to the VMAs?) Peter Jackson wins, in case you had to guess. That's 10 for LOTR, and my record is 19-2.
11:45: Will Adrien Brody kiss the Best Actress winner? If it's Charlize Theron, I would ... and he makes a joke about it, before spraying Binaca - cute. Charlize wins. The first time I saw 2 Days in the Valley, I knew this day would someday come.
11:57: Best Actor time, the biggest cliffhanger of the night: Penn or Murray? Penn or Murray? It's ... Sean Penn. Damn, Bill Murray deserved that one, he really did. Penn was great, yes - but the film itself was mawkish and insulting. Maybe next year, Bill.
12:01: "If there's one thing actors know, other than that there weren't any WMDs..." Good thing it's not up to actors to know that. Penn decides to go without a prepared speech; for the "greatest living actor," he sure sucks at speaking extemporaneously.
12:04: Spielberg's here to present Best Picture. Come back to the nominee list Steven, we miss you! I will eat both my shoes if LOTR doesn't win. They don't even bother with the drumroll - LOTR wins Oscar #11 to tie Ben Hur and Titanic. My final record - 20-3, matching my personal best from '97.
12:10: The show ends 20 minutes shy of 4 hours. A pretty good year - the return of Crystal really helped the show, and it wasn't boring. Not a whole lot of particularly memorable moments, but still much better than last year.
- The 2004 Oscar Diary
- Published: March 01, 2004
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: News, Video: Television
- Writer: Stephen Silver
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Comments on this articleComments
Good, there will be no nerd riots this year.
Hurray for LOTR!
Thanks Steve, we needed this.
A few thoughts: Billy Crystal was a good host and kept things very loose, but he looks like shit - he's fat and his face is falling apart.
LOTR swept as recognition of the series as a whole: coordinating such a momumental task and having it hang together at worst, and be inspired for long stretches (though not much in TROTK) is something all of Hollywood can appreciate and marvel at. That and the popularity.
I agree the Mighty Wind tune was both a dead-on parody and a great song - very Spinal Tap in its ability to do both.
I want to see Lost in Translation and A Mighty Wind - DVD purchases await.
The broadcast was entertaining although not very exciting with the LOTR juggernaut.
The running joke of the evening was all of the LOTR winners thanking New Zealanders, where there are more sheep than people.
The clothing was very traditional and elegant - it looks like Joan Rivers really has had an effect.
I thought the song from A Mighty Wind was good, but I am a sucker for Annie Lennox. I really love pretty much anything she does.
Although I was critical of Billy Crystal he really did pull it off.
Also, Jack Black and Will Ferrell were a complete riot with their song parody of the bump music when speeches go on too long. I was really surprised that they did that at one of the more uptight events of the year.
I discussed my thoughts on LOTR here
Basically I didn't play Magic: The Gathering, and I actually had a prom date, so I didn't get LOTR.
Enjoyed your rundown v. much. I agree that t was a bit weird of Bill to recycle old SNL material.
But I believe Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett wrote Scarlett Tide. Sting wrote the _other_ Cold Mountain song -- "My Ain True LOve". Allison Krauss sang both so fabulously.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/13262)
Mitch and Mickey and "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" were ROBBED!
I'd like to SMACK the academy for giving the best song award to that crappy Annie Lennox thing. It was the worst excuse for a song all night. Just anything attached to LOTR got the nod. Hell, I'd give an Oscar to Billy Crystal's parody of Ol' Man River before that.