Last year, I began my Oscar commentary bitching about how, yet again, the movie that won Best Picture didn't deserve to win it. I'm gonna do the same thing again this year, not because I lack originality (though that's certainly open to debate), but because I'm so frustrated by it.
For the third year in a row, the movie that won the Oscar for Best Picture was a movie that I don't believe deserved it. "Chicago" won Best Picture this year, but it should have gone to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Last year, "A Beautiful Mind" won Best Picture, but it shoulda been "Moulin Rouge." And the year before that, "Gladiator" won Best Picture, but it shoulda been "Traffic." "Chicago," A Beautiful Mind," and "Gladiator" all won Best Picture. Ugh. Oh well, at least in "Chicago," Russell Crowe was nowhere to be found.
This year's Academy Awards ceremony was controversial before it even started. For one thing, Roman Polanski, a man convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, was nominated for Best Director. Polanski was tried and convicted, and he fled the country because the Superior Court Judge made it clear that he intended to send Polanski to prison. To this day, Roman Polanski is a fugitive, so he wouldn't be at the Oscar ceremony. Many were upset that the rapist was nominated, and later in this commentary, I'll get into what I think about the subject. In addition to that controversy, a war was being fought in Iraq (as of this writing, the war is still going on). U.S. soldiers were dying, and Hollywood was gonna proceed with a shallow, ostentatious celebration of it's own self-importance? Of course! Some said it was wrong for the Oscars to go on, but to be honest with you, I thought it was fine. Sure, it makes us look even MORE arrogant, but most of the rest of the world hates us anyway, so who cares? On with the show!
This year, the Oscars were hosted by Steve Martin, and though a lotta people in the audience were quiet during his monologue, I happen to think he was very funny. Sure, some of the jokes were stale, but most of the time, he made me laugh. His jokes were at times blunt, and at times sly and subtle. I still think that Billy Crystal is the best, though. Actually, what I'd really like is for there to be a year when the Oscars strap on a couple of balls and get Chris Rock to host.
The first award presented was Best Animated Film. I think most people expected either "Ice Age" or "Lilo & Stitch" to win, but surprisingly, the Oscar went to "Spirited Away," a Japanese animation film from the guy who made "Princess Mononoke" (I almost fell asleep to that movie). I've never seen "Spirited Away," nor do I intend to, but I was happy to see a lesser known animated film win the Oscar.
A short time later, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor was presented. The winner ended up being Chris Cooper for his awesome performance in "Adaptation." When he won, he was obviously moved, and he ended his speech saying that he wants peace.
Because the Oscars were being televised during a war, and a lotta Hollywood celebrities consider themselves to be political activists or something, a lot of people were expecting the Oscars to be filled with political speeches. Early on, it was minimal, with Chris Cooper's call for peace being the closest thing to a political message so far. Later, Gael García Bernal, a young actor famous in Mexico (he starred in "Amores Perros" and "Y Tu Mamá También"), was presenting the performance of the song "Burn It Blue," which was the song in "Frida" nominated for Best Original Song. However, before doing so, he gave a short, eloquent anti-war speech, finishing it with "Frida would be like us, against the war." I didn't wanna hear antiwar crap during the Oscars, but I liked the speech given by Gael García Bernal... especially when compared to Michael Moore's speech.
Yep, Michael Moore. I couldn't write about the Oscars this year without mentioning Michael Moore! Usually, when I write these Oscar commentaries, I write very little about the documentaries and short films because I don't know anything about them. This year is different. "Bowling for Columbine" won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and I'm not a fan of the film's director, Michael Moore. He's a funny guy, but he's got an agenda. He's a liberal Democrat on the far left, and that scares me, just as much as a conservative Republican on the far right scares me. Because of Moore's political views, his documentaries are politically one-sided. I hear great things about "Bowling for Columbine," but I won't see it. Why should I? There's no objectivity! I wouldn't see a documentary made by Michael Moore just like I wouldn't see a documentary made by a far right Republican.
The press had a field day with Michael Moore's Oscar speech. Not only was it the speech that made the news, but the reaction, as well. Surprisingly, Michael Moore got more boos than he did applause. The way I see it, what Michael Moore did was completely inappropriate. I was fine with Gael García Bernal's speech, but Michael Moore looked stupid up there. Many people say that he shoulda been allowed to do that, after all, in this great country, we have freedom of speech. Yes, that's true, and I LOVE the fact that we have freedom of speech. The Dixie Chicks have freedom of speech, too. The thing is, you can't complain if you use freedom of speech to say something controversial, and there's a backlash. If you piss people off, you piss people off. They have a right to react to what you say, that's freedom of speech, too. The fans of The Dixie Chicks were livid when one of the singers bashed President Bush, and it's affected record sales. Yes, we have freedom of speech, but if you're gonna use it to say something controversial, you have to be willing to accept the ramifications, it's as simple as that. Ya know what, though? In Michael Moore's case, things will only get better for him. Before Oscar night, very few people knew who he was. Now, a lot more people do. Some may hate him, sure. But he's also gotten himself a new legion of fans. Trust me, Michael Moore may have gotten a loud chorus of boos on Oscar night, but he also got a whole lotta new followers.
After that, there wasn't much in the way of political messages for a while. People were scared of being booed, I guess. Susan Sarandon showed up, and I think everyone expected her to say something, but other than flashing a peace sign, the war wasn't mentioned at all. Soon after she opened her mouth, it was easy to see why. She was there to commemorate the people of Hollywood who died last year. To give an antiwar speech at that point truly WOULD have been inappropriate, and Susan Sarandon, whether you like her or not, has more class than that. There would be a couple more political speeches before the night was over, though.
Usually, I care about the category of Best Foreign Film, but this year was different. Though I saw a few foreign films last year, I saw none of the movies nominated, so I don't have much to say except congratulations to the makers of "Nowhere in Africa," the German film that won for Best Foreign Film.
So the Oscars went on, and "Chicago" kept winning awards, some of which it clearly didn't deserve to win. Best Achievement in Sound went to "Chicago" and not "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Are they serious? Best Achievement in Art Direction went to "Chicago" and not "Gangs of New York." Unbelievable. Actually, that one also coulda gone to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," but definitely not "Chicago." "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" DID win Oscars for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing. The movie's director, Peter Jackson, shoulda won the Oscar for Best Director, but unfortunately, he wasn't even nominated. Another Oscar that movie shoulda won was Best Makeup, but again, it wasn't nominated. "Frida" ended up with the Oscar, but it's only competition was "The Time Machine." Ugh. Last year, the Oscar for Best Makeup shoulda gone to "Planet of the Apes," which had revolutionary makeup. But somehow, it wasn't nominated. Who the hell chooses the nominees of that category?!?!
"Chicago" also won Oscars for Best Editing and Best Costume Design, by the way. I was really annoyed that "Chicago" was winning so many awards. The only Oscar that it won that I was happy about was Catherine Zeta-Jones' win for Best Supporting Actress. I may not be a huge fan of the movie, but she really did do an awesome job, and she deserved the Oscar. To me, she was one of the only really good things about that film.
One award I really thought "Chicago" was gonna get was Best Cinematography, but it ended up going to "Road to Perdition," cinematography by the late, great Conrad Hall. I liked the cinematography of "Chicago" a lot, but I'm glad it didn't win. I personally would have given it to "Gangs of New York," but I can't complain. "Road to Perdition" is a great movie, and the cinematography is excellent.
As for music, I must admit, none of the music nominated for Best Original Score knocked my socks off. I remember liking Philip Glass' music in "The Hours," but I don't remember much else about it. Elliot Goldenthal's music in "Frida" ended up winning, and though I don't think I was crazy about the music in "Frida," I'm happy for Goldenthal. As for Best Original Song... wow! Who'da thunk it??? Every song nominated was performed with the notable exception of Eminem's awesome song, "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile," and to the shock of everyone, that was the song that won. Is that the first rap song to ever win an Oscar? I think it is. Eminem beat out Paul Simon, U2, Bruce Springstein, and a song from "Chicago." I was shocked and thrilled to see that Eminem won. Too bad he wasn't there to accept the award. That woulda been cool.
The winners for the two screenplay Oscars were surprising. I think everyone expected "Adaptation" to win for Best Adapted Screenplay. Instead, it went to "The Pianist," written by Ronald Harwood. I woulda been happier if it went to "Adaptation," but at least it didn't go to "Chicago." As for Best Original Screenplay, I didn't know which one would win, but I don't think anyone expected it to go to Pedro Almodóvar's screenplay for "Talk to Her." When Almodóvar stepped to the podium, he said his thanks and gave an antiwar speech. I wanted it to end, not because he was getting political, but because his English is really bad, and I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
The award for Best Director went to the rapist, Roman Polanski, for his work in "The Pianist." When he was announced the winner, most of the auditorium gave him a standing ovation. That troubles me. In 1999, the Academy Awards faced some controversy because Elia Kazan was getting a Lifetime Achievement Award. For those who don't know, Elia Kazan was at one time an incredible filmmaker who made some real classics. He directed "On the Waterfront," "A Streetcar Named Desire," and quite a few other masterpieces. But the truth is, he's also a guy who ratted on celebrities to the American government, naming celebrities he believed to be Communists. This was during the era of McCarthyism, so those celebrities were blacklisted. Because of this, when it was announced that Kazan was receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award a couple of years ago (read my commentary on that year's Oscar broadcast by clicking here), many in Hollywood got upset. Quite a few refused to applaud when he accepted the award that night. It's obvious why so many in Hollywood have a problem with Kazan, and it's understandable, but Elia Kazan never raped a 13-year-old girl. I can't forgive rape, especially when the victim is a child. I was wondering something; of the ones who sat on their hands when Kazan was given his Oscar, how many of them were willing to applaud Roman Polanski?
Originally, I was gonna post a few direct quotes from the actual grand jury testimony, when the 13-year-old victim explained in graphic detail what Roman Polanski did, but I decided against it. It's way too graphic for a PG-13 web site, and not only that, it probably isn't appropriate here. Instead, I STRONGLY encourage you to go to read the documents, which can be found in The Smoking Gun web site. If you'd like the link to the specific page for the Roman Polanski trial, click here.
Despite how I feel about Roman Polanski, I have to admit, "The Pianist" is a really good movie. Of the directors nominated, I liked his movie the best. Of course, Peter Jackson SHOULD have been nominated for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," and if he was, he woulda been the won who deserved to win, but since Jackson wasn't nominated, I gotta say that the Oscar DID go to the guy who deserved it. I'm just really disturbed that he got such a rousing applause. I don't think I saw any celebrities refusing to applaud. Quite the contrary, they were all giving him a standing ovation. Everyone standing there applauding may not have reacted that way if they read those documents I mentioned above.
Roman Polanski is a sick, disgusting rapist. That's how I feel about him, and if you wanna argue the point, imagine him sodomizing your 12-year-old daughter.
Moving on...
The Oscar for Best Actress went to Nicole Kidman, and I was delighted to see her win. I like Nicole Kidman a lot, and I woulda loved to see her win last year for her performance in "Moulin Rouge." It went to Halle Berry instead, and though I think the one who TRULY deserved it was Sissy Spacek (for "In the Bedroom"), I wanted Nicole Kidman to get it. Unfortunately, she didn't. This year, however, she finally did. I was very, very happy to see her win.
Best Actor was a tight race. It was tough to guess who would win. Would it be Jack Nicholson for "About Schmidt"? Would it be Nicolas Cage for "Adaptation"? Or maybe Daniel Day-Lewis for "Gangs of New York"? As it turned out, it was none of the above. In a huge upset, the winner was Adrien Brody for "The Pianist." I like Adrien Brody a lot as an actor, he's very talented. His performance in "The Pianist" was exceptional, but I didn't think he had a chance. He looked as shocked as everyone else did, and when he got onstage to accept the Oscar, he gave a huge kiss to the presenter, Halle Berry. Most people thought it was cute that he did that, but I thought it was wrong. You don't do that, ya know? Maybe he was just caught up in the moment, I dunno. After that awkward kiss, he gave a very powerful, passionate speech. He got political, but unlike everyone else, his message wasn't necessarily about being for the war or against it. It was a neutral speech, and it was very good. He mentioned a friend of his, a soldier fighting in the war, and I think most people were touched by that.
Then "Chicago" won Best Picture. Blah.
And that was it. This year's Academy Awards has been considered by many to be the best one in years. It was long, of course, but not nearly as long as many have been in the past. The show had drama, a couple of shockers, and some really good speeches. It was definitely one of the best Oscar broadcasts I've seen, even though many Oscars went to people who I didn't feel deserved it. That's okay, though. I just hope that next year's Oscar broadcast is as entertaining as this one was.