After Oscar Thoughts
Well it's Monday morning and the 2005-2006 Oscars are over. All in all I think things went quite well, certainly went better than the crap they put on last year. The Oscar races this year were tight, close calls, and everyone wanted to know who exactly would come on top. John Stewart did a great job as a host, a little unorthodox, but a fantastic job indeed. He wasy very funny, not afraid to be racy, and really knows what buttons to push and which ones to let go.
As for the actual winners, almost everyone of them deserved to win and was a good choice. George Clooney certainly deserved an award for his work in Syriana, however I would have preferred him to win the director category and Paul Giamatti or Matt Dillon win the Supporting Actor award. Rachel Weisz was the clear choice to win for The Constant Gardener, but a cool surprise pick in Amy Adams may have been more emotional. In the leading roles, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon were the most deserving in their grouping.
There were a few surprises, even before the end everyone seems to be talking about. Best Foreign Film went to Tsotsi which was a remarkable film, but most thought Paradise Now was the clear choice. Best Original Score went to Brokeback Mountain, which is the only total B.S. choice because while moving, Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha were much more intimate and complex. And, of course the surprise of the night, Crash winning Best Picture instead of Brokeback Mountain. While many have their mixed points of view, I find the pick to be a fine one. The films in the Best Picture Category were all deserving (except maybe Capote), and while I was hoping for a Munich surprise Crash was an excellent choice. No, it wasn't a gutless move on the academies part, hell, racism is almost as touchy a subject as homosexuality anyway. It was the most relevant film for the time and mad a lot of sense as the winner. While many will call this the greatest upset in Oscar history, I have been saying it was closer than everybody thought (as you can see in my predictions) and it was a fine choice for the academy to make.
As for the actual winners, almost everyone of them deserved to win and was a good choice. George Clooney certainly deserved an award for his work in Syriana, however I would have preferred him to win the director category and Paul Giamatti or Matt Dillon win the Supporting Actor award. Rachel Weisz was the clear choice to win for The Constant Gardener, but a cool surprise pick in Amy Adams may have been more emotional. In the leading roles, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon were the most deserving in their grouping.
There were a few surprises, even before the end everyone seems to be talking about. Best Foreign Film went to Tsotsi which was a remarkable film, but most thought Paradise Now was the clear choice. Best Original Score went to Brokeback Mountain, which is the only total B.S. choice because while moving, Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha were much more intimate and complex. And, of course the surprise of the night, Crash winning Best Picture instead of Brokeback Mountain. While many have their mixed points of view, I find the pick to be a fine one. The films in the Best Picture Category were all deserving (except maybe Capote), and while I was hoping for a Munich surprise Crash was an excellent choice. No, it wasn't a gutless move on the academies part, hell, racism is almost as touchy a subject as homosexuality anyway. It was the most relevant film for the time and mad a lot of sense as the winner. While many will call this the greatest upset in Oscar history, I have been saying it was closer than everybody thought (as you can see in my predictions) and it was a fine choice for the academy to make.