The Oscars are here - chip in with your opinions and votes as they proceed, and later.
Despite all pretensions, dissensions, and interventions, the Oscars are still the awards to beat - in terms of shock and awe, in terms of name-brand appeal, and in terms of some pretty good films. Dissenters from the Oscar parade are as old as the Oscars. Whether it is the Razzies, people who have declined the Oscar, or all those other punk award wanna-be's, the Oscars rule, at least for one night every year, and tonight's the night.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments76 - NR Davis
Dustin Hoffman is so adorable...
Yes! Brokeback Mountain wins Best Adapted Screenplay!
77 - Aaman
His last nomination, The Last Picture Show, should have won too, IMHO
78 - Aaman
Larry Mcmurtry just stole the best acceptance speech award with 'the culture of the book' - remember that Brokeback Mountain was a book before it was a movie
79 - Aaman
The awards are coming fast now - people rushing to catch 'Desperate Housewives' - Crash gets Best Original Screenplay
80 - NR Davis
Cheers to Larry McMurtry for giving a shoutout to books! And if you have read Annie Proulx's beautiful and heartbreaking short story, you realize how deserving the screewriters for Brokeback are.
Crash wins Best Original Screenplay. Well deserved for a marvelously written film.
81 - Aaman
Aishwarya Rai hams it in the L'Oreal ad - terribly voiced, if beautifuly lensed
82 - NR Davis
OK, going on the record here: Best Director, Ang Lee. Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain. If I am wrong, I will eat something fattening. :)
83 - Aaman
Best Director - Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain.
Spielberg, as usual, doesn't get the Best Director award
84 - NR Davis
One down: Let's hear it for love!
85 - Aaman
Ang Lee joins a very small club - multiple Best Director awards
86 - Aaman
And the Oscar for Best Picture in the 78th Academy Awards goes to CRASH, and the hall erupts
87 - Aaman
Crash gets three awards, by my count
88 - NR Davis
Ah well, Crash pulls the upset. Off to find something fattening and wonder if it's homopobia or something else at play here. Spoiled the whole night for me in a way, but at least the winning film, which was quite excellent, dealt with issues of tolerance.
Love knows no color - or gender...
89 - nugget
hahahahahaha! BB didn't win! hahahahahahah.
ahem...
90 - Aaman
BB got more, but overall, a split set of awards
91 - NR Davis
Asshole.
92 - nugget
I thought Munich should have won. Crash was a silly movie. Tolerance this tolerance that. Give me a good friggin' movie, not a lesson in moral relativity.
93 - NR Davis
#90 kinda gives me a hint.
Overall, the 78th annual Academy Awards was a largely dull affair with a few sparkling moments, some funny bits from its host and a heartbreaking end. But it ended by 11:30 pm, which isn't bad.
94 - Joanie
I'm not surprised that Dolly didn't win for
"Straight Talk""Travelin' Thru". Aside from the different lyrics and a slight change in the tune, I could have sworn this was the same damn song from the movie Straight Talk (which I just saw yesterday on HBO).95 - swingingpuss
Thanks to it, I was denied my cuppa tea from the local drive-thru Starbucks, which closes at midnight, and I wouldn't let my husband drive in the snow - the urge is still strong though - maybe I need a substitute;)
96 - Matthew T. Sussman
It cost me a pretty penny, but History of Violence was mercilessly shut out!
97 - NR Davis
I assume Bead Pitt will give up his quest to find a meaty gay role to play now.
98 - Aaman
Tom Cruise is still looking for one
99 - NR Davis
As usual, I have to bow to British/foreign cinema-judging superiority over that of the US film academy. Thank heaven for the BAFTAs and Golden Globes.
100 - El Bicho
Aaman, correct about Silent Waters (I'm glad you liked it), wrong about Walk The Line.
The show music was extremely annoying.
They use green screen outfits in Visual Effects. The joke was that they didn't remove his body.
Bacall was like watching a train wreck. For her sake, they just should have cut to the clips.
"multiple Best Director awards"
what else did Lee win for?
"wonder if it's homopobia or something else at play here."
That is a ridiculous statement. Hollywood homophobic? You've obviously never worked in it. If Crash had lost, would you have wondered if it was racism? BBM won plenty of awards tonight and Capote was a gay character. If you see homophobia everywhere, you become the boy who cried wolf.
If you want a good movie and not a lesson, than Munich doesn't fit that bill.
Tom and Brad in gay roles? You must have missed Interview with a Vampire.
101 - Aaman
I thought Lee won for Crouching Tiger
102 - El Bicho
No. He won the DGA but lost to Soderbergh (Traffic) who was also nominated for Erin Brockovich.
103 - Aaman
Ah, sorry about that misinformation then, not the first time in Oscar history:)
104 - Alisha Karabinus
Ang Lee certainly did not win prior for Crouching Tiger... in fact, I believe that tonight he became the first person who is NOT a white male to win an Academy Award for directing. I could be wrong... but I think that's the case.
105 - OSCAR got old, very very old and tired!
The worst Oscar I can remember - too many stupid violins, movie clips, and the music during the acceptance speeches really SUCKED! Next year I will just blogg instead.
What a boaring show that was. No class and no new ideas. Same thing over and over - rich bitches and botoxed faces - what was that Dolly Parton thing. She scared my entire family to death! Do we need to have plastic surgery all over to be a winner or presenter? That is the end of showbusiness, for sure!
106 - CC
Was it me or was the audience truely dead?
Wake up people- it supposed to be at least sort of fun. Maybe its b/c they don't have alcholic beverages & food like at the GG or other awards. What gives?
107 - Sister Ray
If you want to send a message, call Western Union.
108 - NR Davis
Mr. El Bicho: That was the statement of an extremely overwrought person. But I do feel that it is possible that at the last minute, it was easier for most voters to vote for a 'safer' choice for best pic, and the never-ceasing Brokeback jokes, which assaulted the nation and its airwaves with the reminder that love between two men could not be taken seriously, could not have helped. Truth is, "Racism is bad" is still easier for people to get behind than "Homophobia is bad." Capote was a superlative performance, not an issue film. And Crash, as I said, is an excellent motion picture, so in the light of day, I can't be too upset about it. But yeah, I am sad, because my opinion differs about which film was the year's best. Hey, I don't get a vote, so my feeling doesn't matter. For my own comfort, though, I will just revel in the BAFTA and Globe choices and know in my aching, disappointed heart that America - even Hollywood - still has a long way to go. (Which, of course, is no news flash. In retrospect, I should have expected it; anything I hope for crumbles into ashes.)
109 - NR Davis
Hey, it's an honor just to be nominated!
110 - NR Davis
Sister Ray: Western Union? What, then, of films like Coming Home? Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Easy Rider? To Kill a Mockingbird? The Constant Gardner? Schindler's List? Good Night and Good Luck? Passion of the Christ? Born on the Fourth of July? Rain Man? Norma Rae? Life Is Beautiful? Brokeback Mountain? Gandhi? Crash? And so many more...
Cinema is a powerful medium that can educate, express and entertain. It reflects the present world in which we live and can challenge people to consider other points of view, the wisdom or lack thereof in prevailing paradigms and examine the way in which we live and treat others. It's all to the good, IMO.
111 - Aaman
Some reasons why Crash won over BB are in this post, which was a late prediction
112 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Aaman, Ms. Davis, Swingingpuss,
I was reading the back and forth and it struck me that you were having the time your lives watching TV and tapping out messages on your laptops.
Who knows? Maybe one day they'll live stream the broadcast and I'll pick it up on my computer...
113 - Aaman
Until then, you have Blogcritics:)
114 - NR Davis
Ruvy, it was fun until the last award was given.
Mr. El Bicho: Re; My reference to Brad Pitt and gay roles - it was recently reported that the adulterous actor announced his intent to find a meaty gay role to play after seeing accolades to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal's way. There was a purpose for the comment.
115 - MCH
Crash was better than Walk The Line and Cinderella Man? No way!
116 - Sister Ray
The "Western Union" line was something someone from the studio age supposedly said - Samuel Goldwyn maybe?
It was an attempt at humor on my part. I like some movies with messages, but I don't think every movie has to have a social message, or that a message automatically makes a movie more important.
117 - NR Davis
Claudia Cohen, the entertainment reporter on Regis and Kelly, suggested several reasons for Crash's win:
1) It took place in Los Angeles, where race relations is a huge topic every day. Eighty percent of Oscar voters live in LA, so this topic is quite relevant for them.
2) Eighty percent of eligible voters cast ballots and most voted late. Usually the turnout is 100 percent or close to it. Apparently many voters struggled over the question of which film to choose.
3) America and Hollywood just weren't ready to anoint a film that showcased society's homophobia.
4) Brokeback jokes.
As I opined, it turned out to be easier to get behind "racism is bad" than "homophobia is bad." The plight of GLBT people simply doesn't matter to most.
This thought occurs: It's sorta like the choice between John Kerry and Dennis Kucinich or David Cobb. People tend to go for what appears to be the safer option. It's a pity, particularly when they treat those who can make the leap so terribly (case in point: hurtful Brokeback jokes, and that, of course, is FAR FAR FAR from the worst of it).
None of this is news to me, but I am now even more depressed than before. Not good; this is a bad, dark day for me - and not because of a movie, but because of society.
Love,
the girl even more out of touch than gorgeous George Clooney
118 - Aaman
It would be interesting to know the voting breakdown - by numbers, demographics, etc.
119 - nugget
sheesh. NR Davis is depressed because her coveted propoganda landscape movie didn't win top honors. DEPRESSED AND WORRIED ABOUT SOCIETY. Worry about yourself Davis. No one has time to compensate for your dictatorial social inclinations. I saw Brokeback and thought it was ok. I'm no homophobic, I'm realistic. It was just "ok." Ok? This is not some paradigm shift in which traditional beliefs will be shattered, and oppressed iconoclasts will be proven right in 100 years. Get over yourself. Your blatant inability to be objective displays as much bigotry as any gay-hating redneck (the kind you love to hate). Just because one promotes homosexuality does mean it's the bestest thing evar.
120 - Michael J. West
I'm sorry, folks; I loved Brokeback Mountain, thought it was beautiful and sad, but it did not deserve best picture. It was often painfully slow and draggy. Munich and Capote were my picks, and either one of those would have satisfied me. Crash actually satisfied me as well, as I also thought it was better than Brokeback. GNGL was not very good at all, frankly, and I don't think it should have been nominated.
My only point is that maybe the reason Brokeback Mountain didn't win Best Picture was not bigoted or timid Academy voters; maybe it didn't win Best Picture because it wasn't.
121 - NR Davis
Well, all of that lives in the realm of subjectivity, doesn't it? We can only speculate with our views informed by our own tastes, desires and issues. AFAISI, my best-picture choice was both objective and subjective. I would imagine that is true for most people. Many people suspect, however, that a lot went into the ultimate choice.
Mr. Nugget, I don't hate anyone, but think what you will. As for dictatorial social inclinations, talk to the religious-wrongists who have their views enshrined in law and who created a society wherein real-life situations that mirror the conflict in BBM occured and occur. Say what you will about me, but I don't want to punish anyone or deny anyone equality under law or beat someone with a tire iron because they disagree with me.
122 - Steve
Interesting comments folks.
I couldn't help noticing that two of the biggest movies of 2005 (Star Wars Episode III..., and ...The Goblet Of Fire) failed to win the one award they were both up for. Oh, well, I'm sure that will change for Harry Potter 7 in 2010 or 2011, anyway lol. At least Narnia got one anyway.
Also, none of the best pics earned over 100 million at the US box office, (apparently all the best pic noms COMBINED would only be 6th at the box office for the year!!) so I guess the ratings for these awards will be low again.
The big surprise for me was "Memoirs Of A Geisha" winning 3 awards.
Two predictions I heard from Roger Ebert both turned out to be quite correct -
1) No pic would make a clean sweep...as it turned out, no movie got more than 3 awards I think.
2) Also, that King Kong would win most or all of it's awards (3 out of 4 ain't bad!!).
I was quite happy with the result, though I haven't seen any of the nominees, folks I know who had seen Brokeback Mountain said it was pretty boring really.
By the way, anyone see the scientific/technical awards???
123 - Steve
To clarify, I haven't seen any of the best pic nominees I mean lol, I did see 8 that were up for other awards.
124 - Michael J. West
I certainly agree, Ms. Davis, that whether a film is the best is a subjective question. However, I must say that your comment in 118 certainly seems to suggest, without saying so outright, that (1) anyone who champions gay rights would have voted for Brokeback Mountain, and that therefore since Brokeback Mountain didn't win it must be because the voters do not champion gay rights.
Or, (2) In fact, the voters DID think that Brokeback Mountain was the Best Picture, but didn't vote for it because it wasn't safe enough.
So I merely ask, is it possible that the majority of voters simply and honestly felt that Crash was the better film? And if so, why does that have to reflect badly on society?
125 - El Bicho
Ms Davis, again you only want to view other people's motivations through your perspective, which doesn't make it accurate regardless of what Claudia Cohen says. The numbers aren't revealed and the votes are anonymous. We have no idea how close it was, nor do I understand who would have the mindset of making a safer choice or why. If BBM would have won, would people stop going to the movies?
You also leave out of the equation that Crash is available on DVD while BBM isn't. Sure, screeners might have been available, but since Crash was released so long ago, voters might have only recently seen it and had it fresher in their minds.
You really shouldn't allow an awards show to make you overwrought. Plus, not much would have changed in the world if BBM would have won, so you were setting yourself up for disappointment anyway.
Let go of the vast homophobic conspiracy.
MJW, I think you got your sentences out of order because Munich was painfully slow and draggy.