In 1995, one of the most heated and controversial marketing campaigns in Oscar history resulted in Shakespeare in Love being crowned the Best Picture Oscar over heavily favored and beloved Saving Private Ryan. Tonight, we have witnessed yet another upset! The ensemble film Crash, a fierce and seemingly unapologetic portrait of racial and cultural tensions that simmer in the streets and suburbs of LA among blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians and Arabs, beat out the heavily favored, yet controversial films Brokeback Mountain, which had won all awards it was nominated for leading up to tonight.
Who knew? Well, it seemed all week that the national papers and critics had Crash as the talking point. USA TODAY had it splashed on the Thursday's cover a headline suggestiong Crash could "crash" the Oscars. Roger Ebert spoke of the buzz and predicted its win. And right before the ceremonies began tonight, Gene Shallott (I think) mentioned that the Fates seemed to be standing with Crash-- "all I have heard all week is 'Crash. Crash. Crash.'
George Clooney's win in the Supporting Actor category for Syriana was also a surprise, but was also predicted based on the fact that the Academy might not want him to leave empty handed, a fact that Clooney himself joked about when accepting the award.
Additional Notes:
* Dolly Parton doesn't look like she's aged in the past twenty years, except for her neck. I thought for sure she was a sure-shot for winning Best Song for "Travelin' Through." She lost to 306's "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp".
* John Stewart's best line of the evening: "Unfortunately, Bjork won't be joining us tonight. She was trying on her costume when she was shot by Dick Cheney." Hilarious!
* It seemed a bit rude to cut the power to the mikes before the award winners were finished, especially in instances where there were two or three winners.
* The bodice of the jade colored dress worn by the beautiful Selma Hyak looked like it was pushing her breasts stage left.
* The bow on Charlize Theron's dress was larger than her head. Sometimes it got more air time than her face because it was so overpowering. Bad choice.
* I was thrilled to see The Chronicles of Narnia win the Best Makeup Oscar. Why? Because that meant that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith didn't win it and I've been so disgusted with this last trilogy that I've been wishing it ill will. [Yoda: I sense great anger in him, yes.]
Here are the list of winners:
Best Picture = Crash
Best Actor = Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote
Best Actress = Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line
Best Actor in a Supporting Role = George Clooney for Syriana
Best Actress in a Supporting Role = Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener
Best Directer = Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain
Best Original Screenplay = Crash - Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco
Best Adapted Screenplay = Brokeback Mountain - Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
Best Cinematography = Memoirs of a Geisha - Dion Beebe
Best Editing = Crash - Hughes Winborne
Best Art Direction = Memoirs of a Geisha - John Myhre, Gretchen Rau
Best Costume = Memoirs of a Geisha - Colleen Atwood
Best Original Score = Brokeback Mountain - Gustavo Santaolalla
Best Original Song = Hustle & Flow - Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard ("It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp")
Best Makeup = The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Howard Berger, Tami Lane
Best Sound = King Kong - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek
Best Sound Editing = King Kong - Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn
Best Visual Effects = King Kong - Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, Richard Taylor
Best Animated Film = Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Steve Box, Nick Park
Best Foreign Film = Tsotsi - Gavin Hood(South Africa)
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