And the winner is…
Posted on March 6, 2006
Actually, I think they say “And the Oscar goes to…”
The 78th Annual Academy Awards (a/k/a The Osars) was held last night, and from what I understand, it got mixed reviews from others. Overall I thought it was pretty good, though it did seem to lack a lot of drama. of course, since I didn’t see any of the movies up for the big awards, that might have something to do with it.
First time host John Stewart, of Daily Show fame did a fairly good job, I thought. The opening segment, where the Academy was trying to line up a host, was hilarious. Arguably, the funniest part of the whole show, though Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep did a very funny stream-of-conciousness presentation for Robert Altman’s Honorary Oscar. Ben Stiller presenting for Visual Effects was worth a few giggles, but not many. Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell presenting for Makeup was pretty much the same. The only thing I wondered about there was whether Carrell was really having problems with the fake eyelashes, or whether he was playinhg for a few laughs.
For once, the show seemed to run on time, or at least it didn’t seem to drag on and on and on. Although, by the end Tom Hanks and Jack Nicholson presented the final two awards (Best Director and Best Picture, respectively) swiftly and professionally. I wondered if Gil Cates, the ceremony’s producer, told them to move things along.
One of the more interesting parts of the show was the montages. Aside from the In Memoriam segment now shown at all Oscar ceremonies, they had montages for Film Noir, Political films, Epics, and Biographical films. Interestingly, the latter was presented by Russell Crowe, who has starred in at least three biographical films: Cinderella Man, The Insider, and A Beautiful Mind. Even the pre-show stuff had a couple of montages, one showing bad guys, and another showing films with apes/primates. That was pretty good, showing clips from the 2005 version of King Kong, to the original King Kong, to Any Which Way But Loose, Bedtime for Bonzo, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
For me, one of the best things about the Oscars is it shows some of the best film has to offer, and as often as not, I get to see and hear about films I’ve never heard of. Prior to all the Oscar buzz, I never heard of Crash or Transamerica. Prior to last night, I never heard of Junebug. The clips they showed of that movie make me want to see it.
It was an interesting flock of nominees and winners. Of the six “major” awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress), each went to a different picture. There were no sweeps like there was a couple years ago with Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Personally, I think the diversity of the talent is good.
I read an article today where George Lucas more-or-less said the time of the blockbuster is over. The costs involved in making such a movie are so immense, that such films are unlikely to make their money back. He pointed to King Kong as an example. I think star power and star salaries have a fair amount to do with that, because Hollywood is a business. They want to sell lots of tickets (even if the movies are shit), and they figure in order to sell lots of tickets, they need stars, and in order to get stars, they need to pay them tons of money. Last night, I think they proved good movies can be made inexpensively and with incredible talent.
Hollywood decision making: spend $20 million on a good film or $200 million on a bad film that will likely make a ton of money. Hollywood would follow the money.
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