For this years Academy Awards ceremony (called "Oscar 2000"), rather than going with TV producers, the Academy chose Hollywood movie producers Richard D. and Lili Fini Zanuck, neither of whom have ever done live television before, to handle the show. The Zanucks wanted to make big changes. They wanted the show to be a lot more fast-paced, and they didn't want it to drag at all, so the first thing they did was get rid of the dance number, much to the chagrin of Debbie Allen. Also, they made sure that they nabbed Oscar superhost, Billy Crystal (who has actually won Emmys for his stints as host for the Academy Awards). The result? The show was over four hours long, one of the longest on record. But that's not to say that the show was bad.
"Oscar 2000" opened the way Billy Crystal usually opens the Oscars, by showing movie clips that have him digitally inserted into the scenes. He does it every year, and every year, it's funny. He then follows that up by singing songs about the movies that were nominated for Best Picture. I don't know how he does it because he does that singing every year, and sometimes, the songs are sung very fast, but he's always flawless. He never screws up the songs, no matter how difficult they are. I tellya, Billy is the man. His opening for "Oscar 2000" was a quick reminder of why he's the best person to host the show. He's second to none.
Last year, there was a major controversy because Elia Kazan was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. Many celebrities were still bitter that he named names and got Hollywood people blacklisted because they were supposed communists. This year, there was another controversy, though much smaller. One of the songs nominated for Best Song was "Blame Canada" from "South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut," and that song has words that many consider objectionable, and all the songs nominated for Best Song are performed on Oscar Night. Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of "South Park") were told that they'd have to tone down the song and make changes. They refused because they felt that since their movie was anti-censorship, they'd be hypocrites to censor their song. They suggested singing the song as is, and just having someone bleep the words out live, but the Oscar people didn't want that. What was eventually decided on was that Robin Williams would sing a tamer version of the song. So he did, and it was pretty good. The thing is, I have the soundtrack to the "South Park" movie, and it's very good, but "Blame Canada" isn't the best song. The best song in the movie is probably "Up There," which is just about the only song in the soundtrack that's free of any cussing. Ironic, innit?
By the way, the winner of the Best Song Oscar was that annoying Phil Collins song from Disney's "Tarzan." Ho-hum, big surprise there. I would have loved to see "Blame Canada" win, or that song from "Magnolia" sung by Aimee Mann. Oh well. The Oscar seems to ALWAYS go to the Disney song. Unless the music is REALLY good, like in Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." If you haven't seen that, go see it now. You may never see a darker, more adult-themed G-rated Disney animated film.
Okay.
On with the nominations and winners. Before I do that though,
I wanna letcha know that I'm not gonna get into ALL of the
categories. Like, I'm not gonna get into the documentary
or animation categories. Why? Because I didn't watch any
of the films nominated, and because you wouldn't wanna read
about 'em anyway. However, I AM gonna mention one thing.
The winner for the Best Documentary Short was a short film
called "King Gimp." I didn't see it, but I know
that a guy with cerebral palsy wrote it or directed it or
something, and it was his story. When the movie was declared
the winner, he was ecstatic, and... well, it was kinda hard
to watch. He started doing what looked like convulsions,
and then he fell outta his wheelchair. The poor director
of the show had no idea what to do. Was he/she supposed
to keep showing the poor guy falling all over the place,
thus showing his joy, or does the director cut to a wide
shot of the crowd? After a good ten seconds of seeing this
strange occurrence, the director finally cut to a wide shot
of the crowd, and after a few seconds of that, the camera
went back to the guy on the wheelchair, and he seemed to
have regained his composure. The whole thing was very strange,
and the next day, the media avoided mentioning it at all
costs. Oh, but they LOVED speculating on the unusually close
relationship between Angelina Jolie and her brother.
The
first Oscar given out was for Best Supporting Actress, and
it was handed to Angelina Jolie for her performance in "Girl,
Interrupted." Rather than bringing a date, she
brought her brother, and when she was announced as the winner,
they hugged. That's it. Yet for some reason, the media makes
it seem like they were practically making out. Simply not
true. As for how she looked, she looked like a glamorous
goth chick. Very sexy.
Many of the Oscar categories that followed Angelina Jolie's win were the ones that no one cares about. I know it seems harsh, but it's true, and you know it. Eventually, they went to the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and that was one that I was really interested in. The nominees were Tom Cruise for his incredible performance in "Magnolia," Michael Clarke Duncan as "John Coffey" in "The Green Mile," Haley Joel Osment, the little boy in "The Sixth Sense," Jude Law from "The Talented Mr. Ripley," and Michael Caine from "The Cider House Rules." It was probably the toughest category, and I really wanted to see either Tom Cruise or Michael Clarke Duncan win, but it went to Michael Caine. I thought he was pretty good in "The Cider House Rules" (a movie that I thought was okay), but Tom Cruise and Michael Clarke Duncan blew me away. After Michael Caine won his Oscar, they went to the categories that were probably mid-level interest. There were pretty monumental things that happened in those categories. "The Matrix" won all the special effects awards, surprising everyone by beating out "Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace." It even took the Oscar for Best Editing. Also, Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" won a much-deserved Oscar for Best Art Direction. But then it was time for Warren Beatty to get his special Oscar or whatever, and his speech went on forever. Also, they had this thing where they did a tribute to music in the movies. It was pretty bad, and way too long. The Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film went to Pedro Almodovar for "All About My Mother," and his speech was long and completely incomprehensible. Billy Crystal, after hearing Almodovar's speech, quipped, "he makes Benigni sound like an English teacher."
Speaking of Roberto Benigni, he presented the Oscar for Best Actress, and he was really funny doing so. He was the perfect break in the show's monotony, and hopefully, he'll be there every year. As for the winner of the Best Actress Oscar, that went to Hillary Swank in "Boys Don't Cry." Unfortunately, I haven't seen that movie yet, but from the clips I've seen, Swank really deserved that Oscar. This may be the first time that an unknown actress from an independent film won a major Oscar like that. I could be wrong, I'm no Academy Award historian.
The Oscar for Best Actor went to Kevin Spacey for his brilliant performance in "American Beauty." I remember back when he was the only unknown actor in the excellent "Glengarry Glen Ross," and a few years later, he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for "The Usual Suspects." Now, a few years after that, he wins Best Actor. I was really happy to see him win.
I was a little disappointed by the screenplay Oscars. Best Original Screenplay went to Alan Ball for "American Beauty," and although I was happy to see him win (and he really DID deserve it), I woulda liked to have seen Paul Thomas Anderson get it for "Magnolia." As for Best Adapted Screenplay, that went to John Irving, who adapted his own novel, "The Cider House Rules." As I said earlier, I wasn't crazy about the movie, and I woulda preferred to see Frank Darabont get the Oscar for "The Green Mile."
It surprised no one that Sam Mendes won the Best Director Oscar for "American Beauty," nor was anyone surprised that "American Beauty" won the Oscar for Best Picture. About seven hours ago, I saw this movie for the third time. It's a very well-written movie with skilled directing and phenomenal acting. I'm sure that the guys at Dreamworks feel as though they got their revenge at Miramax. Last year, Miramax's "Shakespeare in Love" beat out Dreamworks' "Saving Private Ryan" for Best Picture. This time, it was Miramax who felt defeat at the hands of Dreamworks as "The Cider House Rules" lost Best Picture to "American Beauty."
So another year goes by, and more Oscars go out. The Hollywood producers did a decent job with the Oscar telecast, but they shoulda cut out a lot more than just the dance number. Still, I'm gonna continue to watch the Oscars every year. Hopefully, Billy Crystal will keep doing it.