Le Rouge was robbed! (Academy Awards (Oscars))

Member Name: amnoangel

Product:	Academy Awards (Oscars)
Date:	17/01/02 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Whoopi Goldberg made great jokes

Disadvantages: See review

Well the Oscars came and went. I taped the whole live 4 hours on Sunday night, knowing that there wouldn?t be anything in the papers the following morning, so I could watch it in the morning and still not know the winners. It all went very well, until three hours in, it stopped recording, even though only half the tape had been used. And I had used Video Plus. So I missed out on all the big awards and found out who had won on Teletext instead ? not as exciting. Here?s my in-depth review of the whole shebang.

My hopes were riding with Moulin Rouge to sweep the board. The odds were against it but it was an unpredictable race. I quite openly admit I have actually seen very few of the nominated films, and Moulin Rouge was the only film I had seen in the Best Picture category. Yet whatever, Moulin Rouge, in the few months it has been released, has become my favourite film of all time and I doubt that any of the other nominees can top it. Especially not a Beautiful Mind. All the ?mud slinging?, as Whoopi so gracefully put it, has put me off this film, and with good reason I feel. A film should never be made just to appeal to the Academy, nor should key elements be missed out.
I got excited as soon as the ceremony began. First, Whoopi?s descent from the ceiling on a trapeze, which was very funny and also a huge surprise. Then, early on, as the technical awards were announced, many of which Moulin Rouge was nominated for, there seemed to be the most applause from the audience each time its name was mentioned. When it beat Lord of the Rings in costume design and art direction there were signs that it may not be ignored in the main categories.
Before the ceremony had even begun, there were some big Academy errors in the nominations. Ewan McGregor and Jim Broadbent not being nominated for the film in the acting categories was a surprise (although of course, Broadbent won for Iris), but Baz Luhrmann not being nominated for Best Director was surely unfair
. That was the award I most expected the film to win. Apparently, on part I missed during the latter half of the show, Whoopi described everything that was brilliant about Moulin Rouge before going on to say that, ?Apparently, the Academy don?t believe there was anyone who directed it.?
But it wasn?t to be. First up was Best Actress. Once again, I admit not to having seen any of the other films. I really wanted Nicole Kidman to win it. She?s classy, elegant, a brilliant actress (she should have been nominated for The Others as well) and would have injected some real life into the ceremony. She?s really shone in the last year and is one of few young actresses who I can see being remembered in the long-term. Instead, the award went to the talking point of the evening, Halle Berry. I don?t dislike the woman ? but couldn?t believe the way she behaved. Her original tears may have been joy and shock, but her speech was carefully rehearsed and I must say, wonderfully acted. I?ve read loads of opinions on the Internet about this over the last few days ? some say it ?truly was a historical moment?, others disagree. I do too. Hopefully, people voted for her not because she was black, but because of her acting ability. Her race should have absolutely nothing to do with it. Is Hollywood going to become like Oxbridge has become ? accepting poorer candidates just because they are black /from a comprehensive school rather than white actors/ better independent school kids? So what if there haven?t been any black women winning the Best Actress Oscar. I don?t believe this has anything to do with racism or prejudice. Simply the quality of the acting, although looking over the list of nominees, I can?t be too sure this year. Odd that the year Denzel Washington and Halle Berry win, Sidney Poitier gets an award even though he hasn?t been involved in the industry for some years. If a white actor stood up on stage and dedicated their award to all ?nameless, faceless white people?,
there would be uproar. Halle Berry even made time to thank her ?lawyer for making this deal?, although what this means we shall never know. An interesting comment I read earlier today is that any leading lady with any sort of respect would pay tribute to the other wonderful women they were nominated with.
It was also highly annoying every time Whoopi Goldberg would make a joke regarding black people, the cameras would always zoom onto Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson or Denzel Washington. Another moan about the ceremony was the seating of Russell Crowe. It was embarrassing watching him tapping everyone on the back as they went up to collect their awards from his end-of-the-front-row seat.
As I said earlier, it was disappointing that A Beautiful Mind won Best Picture ? it would have been better for Moulin Rouge to lose out to any of the other competitors. A film, which leaves out a homosexual and anti-Semitic past just to steer clear of controversy, is not a deserving winner in my opinion. Still, Whoopi?s joke early on that Frodo Baggins was an anti-Semite was very funny.

The show itself was pleasant enough. Whoopi Goldberg was a great host, the new theatre was very nice indeed, but I must admit to fast forwarding through Woody Allen and the Cirque de Soleil. I was very disappointed that Moulin Rouge only left with two awards (as you?ve not doubt guessed by now), but Oscar or no Oscar, it still is a brilliant film. It just deserved to be recognised. I was also disappointed that Monsters, Inc. lost out to Shrek in the animated film category. Although Shrek is brilliant, Monsters, Inc. is a stronger picture in that it relies less on one-liners and more on a very original plot that really tugs on the heartstrings as well as making you laugh. For The Birds, the short film shown at cinemas before Monsters, Inc., did win Best Short Animated Film at least.

Finally, what Oscar review would be complete without the dresses? Kate Winslet and Nicole
Kidman both looked gorgeous ? Kate really sparkling in her beautiful red gown with flowers over one arm, and Nicole in cream Chanel looking as classy as usual. The black dresses were all a bit boring, but there were plenty of fashion errors. Top of everyone?s list was Gwyneth Paltrow, looking a real mess with her see-through top. Jada Pinkett-Smith looked awful in a luminous orange skirt, and contrary to popular opinion, I didn?t like Halle Berry?s outfit at all. I like to see actresses in real dresses. I liked Jennifer Lopez?s hair ? the just-got-out-of-bed look, but couldn?t make up my mind about Cameron Diaz. Cameron?s hair was definitely a mess, and her dress was a bit like a pair of curtains. She just got away with it. Barbra Streisand looked ridiculous wearing velvet curtains, but there were no swan dresses this year. Maybe they didn?t invite Bjork back this year. Also looking stunning was my favourite, Geri Halliwell, snapped at the Vanity Fair party. Not sure what she was doing there, but she was wearing one of the best dresses of the evening, looking chic and sexy in a backless lilac dress.

The Oscars were disappointing for me winner-wise and were all a bit to politically correct for me. Apparently presenters have to say ?the Oscar goes to? and not ?the winner is? so nobody feels left out. The whole Halle Berry issue was a bit pathetic, especially as earlier there had been protesters protesting that the Oscar statue was white ? because all winners were white. A Beautiful Mind did what it was intended to do ? appealed to the masses. As someone has already said, the other award ceremonies more often give to the deserving.

Summary: