Celluloid Heroes

Both films [Good Night, and Good Luck and Capote] are about determined journalists defying obstacles in a relentless search of the truth. Needless to say, both are period pieces.

Okay, here’s the short version of my reactions to the Academy Awards. I’m not going to cover every category, just the majors and those that produced the strongest reactions from yours truly.

Firstly, I thought Jon Stewart was funny but his opening monologue was disappointingly tame. You want proof positive? My mother liked him.

Still according to this article, Hollywood just doesn’t get humor aimed at itself. Given the lukewarm reception he received, it appears that the movie business is out of touch with its own humility, not to mention its funnybone.

Best Documentary – March of the Penguins

Either Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room or Murderball would have been worthy winners, but this was no surprise. You got to give props to the filmmakers for living in Antarctica over the winter to capture the film.

Best Song – “It’s Hard Here for a Pimp” – Hustle and Flow

What the fuck? How did Dolly Parton lose this one? And did anyone understand one word of the Three 6 Mafia’s acceptance speech?

Best Animated Feature – Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were Rabbit

While Corpse Bride was charming and anything by Miyasaki is noteworthy, there was probably less suspense for this category than any other.

Best Director – Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain

Sorry, Ang, here’s your consolation prize for losing Best Picture.

Best Supporting Actress – Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener

I guess it takes real talent to play someone that annoying.

Best Supporting Actor – George Clooney – Syriana

For gaining 35 pounds and suffering a near-crippling back injury, you get to carry this little statue home.

Best Actress – Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line

What you hear, Mr. Anderson, is the sound of inevitability. Was anyone without a lobotomy scar surprised by this one?

Best Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote

See Best Actress.

Best Picture – Crash

Sorry, Brokeback Mountain, you were so February, 2006. Still, given how polarizing the winner was, it was a bit of a shock to see the usually timid Academy give it the big award. I thought Capote would be the “safe” fallback position if Brokeback-mania peaked too early.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 6th, 2006 at 2:22 am and is filed under Commentary. Tags: Academy Award. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the author:

Paul's cat has violent mood swings between ennui and apathy.