The Oscar winners speak - often coherently. Here's a selection of noteworthy quotes in the order they were delivered in last night's show from the podium.
George Clooney, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Syriana: "I would say that, you know, we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it's probably a good thing. We're the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects. This Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this Academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch."
Steve Box, Best Animated Feature Film for Wallace and Grommit In the Curse of the Were-Rabbit: "Somebody once said if you make a bad film, you make it alone. If you make a great film, everybody made it with you."
John Canemaker, Best Animated Short for The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation: "Peggy and I thank the Academy for this great honor. And also for your faith in hand-drawn animation, which still can pack an emotional wallop."
Howard Berger, Best Makeup for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: "This is really an amazing life. It all started when I was a little boy and my mother read me Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and at that point I knew I wanted to go live with the monsters."
Rachel Weisz, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Constant Gardener: "Thank you so much to the Academy for this tremendous, tremendous honor. I share it with others, Ralph Fiennes my luminous acting partner. Fernando Meirelles our director who is brimming over with such humanity and our dignified sensitive producer, Simon Channing Williams, and of course, John le Carré, who wrote this unflinching, angry story. And he really paid tribute to the people who are willing to risk their own lives to fight injustice. And they're greater men and women than I."
Gustavo Santaolalla, Best Original Score for Brokeback Mountain: "I'm so proud to have work[ed] in this movie Brokeback Mountain. A movie that once again showed us that love is what makes us all very similar, in spite that we can be so different.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - DJRadiohead
George Clooney and Hollywood also died for all our sins.
Did anyone else notice that he never really thanked anyone?
2 - Eric Olsen
he mentioned Batman more than once - and he mentioned that since he got supporting actor "there goes the director award." I'm not sure that as in the spirit of the evening!
3 - DJRadiohead
The 'director' crack was pretty amusing. I will give him that. I thought he was going to get screenplay, not supporting actor. I got the other three acting nods correct.
4 - Victor Lana
I thought Clooney was pretty cool, unflappable, and just the way I'd expect him to be. I think Batman was a huge moment in his career, and luckily it didn't end up sinking the whole damn thing.
5 - Unmoved
George Clooney has a lot of fuckin' nerve making his smug remarks on the progressiveness of LA, the industry, and the academy, "as evidenced" by their first awarding a black woman, McDaniel, in 1939 for Gone with the Wind. Yeah, right. They gave her the award, but they didn't let her sit in the audience (or made her sit at an isolated table in the very back, away from the rest of the GWTW cast, depending on whom you believe) during the awards, and she wasn't allowed into the festivities afterwards. She wasn't allowed to attend the premier in Atlanta. They removed her face from the Atlanta program after locals protested. And finally in 1952 when she died, they denied her wishes and wouldn't allow her to be buried in Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery. Yeah, real progressive. Meanwhile, I believe they never gave another black woman an Oscar® until Whoopie Goldberg got one for Ghost.
6 - Eric Olsen
I don't think even George Clooney would say Hollywood is without hypocrisy - it was alos interesting to see smugness in place of the usual false humility
7 - Tom Cruise
You don't know the history of black people. George Cloony does.
8 - CAROLINA
NOMINATED 3 TIMES , FOR 3 DIFFERENT THINGS ! WOWW .. BIG UP CLOONY ! YOU CAN DO IT !
9 - CAROLINA
THIS MESSAGE IF FOR Unmoved NUMBER 5
YOUR SAYING THAT NO OTHER WOMEN HAS GOTTEN AN OSCAR SINCE AND IM QUOTING :
Meanwhile, I believe they never gave another black woman an Oscar® until Whoopie Goldberg got one for Ghost.
You forgot about HALLE BERRY !
SHES MAYBE MIX BUT SHES STILL BLACK !
AND YOUR RIGHT ABOUT CLOONY
HE DOESNT KNOW WHAT HES TALKING ABOUT.
HE JUST THINKS THAT DEFENDING BLACK PEOPLE IS A IT NOW DAYS ! THERES A DIFFERENCE between defending black peoples right and knowing that your talking about !
Diamond xxx
10 - Eric Olsen
Whoopi was much earlier than Halle - that was his point
11 - CAROLINA
i KNOW IT WAS MUCH earlier than Halle, one more reason to know it !!! People need to be uptodate !
12 - Eric Olsen
In other words, it was a long gap from Hattie to Whoopi, and then another gap to Halle
13 - you hateme
So, black people can't act, what's the big deal?
14 - youstillhateme
Oh and in 1963, we saw the first African-American win an Oscar for best actor when Sidney Poitier took home the statue for “Lilies of the Field.”
The gap narrows.
15 - Eric Olsen
#13 - I assume you jest
16 - chantal stone
#9....huh???
17 - Eric Olsen
yes, rather than "defending black people," it seemed more like he was defending himself
18 - DIAMOND
WHICH ONE WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT ERIC ?
19 - Eric Olsen
Clooney - he seemed to be trying to turn the claims against the Hollywood establishment (of which he is a proud member) -- that they are out of touch with mainstream America -- on its head
20 - Nancy
It doesn't matter what they say. The Oscars are the biggest, shallowest, most self-congratulatory ego orgy by a bunch of overly self-satisfied, over-indulged group outside of congress. It's the same old BS.
21 - Rodney Welch
You sound jealous.
22 - Eric Olsen
Nancy, that's why I love them!
23 - DJRadiohead
Did Clooney happen to mention how long it was after that first Academy Award to an African-American it was before they handed out the next one? How many African-American Actors and Actresses have landed "Best in a Leading Role" for the respective genders? If we are going to talk about how in touch Hollywood is, let's talk about it. I think there are more African-American head coaches in the NBA than there are African-American Oscar winners.
I don't mind the self-congratulatory, ego-boosting. I do mind the lectures. These people are by and large not qualified to run their own lives let alone lecture the rest of us how to run ours.
24 - Eric Olsen
do as I say, not as I do, dammit!
25 - bharath
how come all the comments are on clooney? is he one loony baloony? :)
I liked 36 mafia acceptance speech. man were they excited about getting the oscar. awesome!