Oscars: Victory or Disappointment?

The results are flashing through the cables beneath the Pacific and it appears that the Best Picture Award goes, surprisingly, not to the peaceful, loving and front-running "Brokeback Mountain" but the movie "Crash", an obscure entry apparently about the simmering racial hatred in America.

Of course, one is to assume that the award is not based on subject matter but more on technical presentation, acting, directorship, and all of a sudden not on where the production money went.

In fact "BBM" won two very important awards so this year the prestigious Director Award and Original Score , must certainly be seen as a great success at the Oscars!


'Crash' Pulls Off Best-Picture Oscar
03.05.2006, 11:26 PM

The ensemble drama "Crash" pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Academy Awards history, winning best picture Sunday over the cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain," which had been the front-runner.

"Crash," featuring a huge cast in crisscrossing story lines over a chaotic 36-hour period in Los Angeles, rode a late surge of praise that lifted it past "Brokeback Mountain," a film that had won most other key Hollywood honors.

In a year of provocative films at the Oscars, "Crash" was one of the fiercest, a portrait of simmering racial and cultural tension among blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians and Arabs.

The other best-picture nominees emerged either out of Hollywood studios or their art-house affiliates. But "Crash" was a true Oscar rarity, shot outside the system on a tiny $6.5 million budget, then acquired by independent distributor Lionsgate at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, where the film premiered.

"Crash" became a solid box-office hit, grossing $55 million domestically.

"For so tiny a picture, go figure," "Crash" director and co-writer Paul Haggis had said earlier in awards season. "It really is nice to see that once again, there are no rules in Hollywood. Every time someone tries to say this is the only way to make a film, to release a film, something comes along and surprises you. We were just as surprised as everyone else."

The large cast of "Crash" includes supporting-actor nominee-winner Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jennifer Esposito and Ryan Phillippe.


Complete list of nominees and winners of the 78th annual Academy Awards.

BEST PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain," Diana Ossana and James Schamus, producers
"Capote," Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, producers
"Crash," Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, producers (Winner)
"Good Night, and Good Luck," Grant Heslov, producer
"Munich," Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, producers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener" (Winner)
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, "Syriana" (Winner)
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line" (Winner)

BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote" (Winner)
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain" (Winner)
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash" (Winner)
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Steven Gaghan, "Syriana"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain" (Winner)
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Don't Tell" (Italy)
"Joyeux No├лl" (France)
"Paradise Now" (Palestine)
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" (Germany)
"Tsotsi" (South Africa) (Winner)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Howl's Moving Castle," Hayao Miyazake
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
"Wallace & Grommit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit," Nick Park and Steve Box (Winner)

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Good Night, and Good Luck," Art Direction: Jim Bissell; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"King Kong," Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau (Winner)
"Pride & Prejudice," Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Batman Begins," Wally Pfister
"Brokeback Mountain," Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck," Robert Elswit
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Dion Beebe (Winner)
"The New World," Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Gabriella Pescucci
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Colleen Atwood (Winner)
"Mrs. Henderson Presents," Sandy Powell
"Pride & Prejudice," Jacqueline Durran
"Walk the Line," Arianne Phillips

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Darwin's Nightmare," Hubert Sauper
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
"March of the Penguins," Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau (Winner)
"Murderball," Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
"Street Fight," Marshall Curry

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club," Dan Krauss
"God Sleeps in Rwanda," Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
"The Mushroom Club," Steven Okazaki
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin," Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson (Winner)

BEST FILM EDITING
"Cinderella Man," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"The Constant Gardener," Claire Simpson
"Crash," Hughes Winborne (Winner)
"Munich," Michael Kahn
"Walk the Line," Michael McCusker

BEST MAKEUP
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Howard Berger and Tami Lane (Winner)
"Cinderella Man," David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla (Winner)
"The Constant Gardener," Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams
"Munich," John Williams
"Pride & Prejudice," Dario Marianelli

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"In the Deep" from "Crash," Music by Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; Lyrics by Kathleen "Bird" York
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Music and Lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard (Winner)
"Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"Badgered," Sharon Colman
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation," John Canemaker and Peggy Stern (Winner)
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello," Anthony Lucas
"9," Shane Acker
"One Man Band," Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Ausreisser (The Runaway)," Ulrike Grote
"Cashback," Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
"The Last Farm," R├║nar R├║narsson and Thor S. Sigurj├│nsson
"Our Time Is Up," Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
"Six Shooter," Martin McDonagh (Winner)

BEST SOUND EDITING
"King Kong," Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn (Winner)
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Wylie Stateman
"War of the Worlds," Richard King

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
"King Kong," Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek (Winner)
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
"Walk the Line," Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
"War of the Worlds," Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
"King Kong," Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor (Winner)
"War of the Worlds," Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

HONORARY ACADEMY AWARD
Robert Altman

It was a race for best picture, not a referendum on gay issues.

boyG..that was a stupid comment.

i think bbm should have won. it was a good movie with good actin.

i think bbm should have won. it was a good movie with good actin.

If my comment was "stupid", what do you call the above?

ALL of the nominated pictures were "good movies with good actin (sic)". The members of the Academy thought Crash was the best, though. So what? The fact that it did not win best picture does not mean that "we" lost anything.

[Aunty]

face it, The American Academy of Motion Pictures is not going to give the best picture nod to a gay movie made by a man from China. I mean they're only 40 years late (more really) in giving the best picture nod to a movie about American racial bigotry.

Of all the countries of the West, it is America that has the most harsh and discriminatory anti-gay culture and this decision needs to be seen against that backdrop. It will take another 40 years before a gay movie wins best picture at the Oscars. I haven't seen the movie and probably never will. Most reviews I've read (written outside the US both gay and str8 reviewers) paint it as a pretty slack portrayal of both gay men and gay life quite frankly. A gay movie for homophobic str8's, where gay men are yet again doomed and unhappy, and less than honest. Give me a frucking break.

...a gay movie adapted from a novel written by a straight woman, directed by a straight man, and starring two straight actors as homos. Ho hum.

face it, The American Academy of Motion Pictures is not going to give the best picture nod to a gay movie made by a man from China. I mean they're only 40 years late (more really) in giving the best picture nod to a movie about American racial bigotry.

Of all the countries of the West, it is America that has the most harsh and discriminatory anti-gay culture and this decision needs to be seen against that backdrop. It will take another 40 years before a gay movie wins best picture at the Oscars. I haven't seen the movie and probably never will. Most reviews I've read (written outside the US both gay and str8 reviewers) paint it as a pretty slack portrayal of both gay men and gay life quite frankly. A gay movie for homophobic str8's, where gay men are yet again doomed and unhappy, and less than honest. Give me a frucking break.

You seem to be arguing for and against your own case here aunty - saying that America is homophobic and that's why it didn't win, but then say the reviews indicate 'it's a pretty slack portryal of bopth gay men and gay life'

Ok, that's not my point really, my point is that if anyone was going to 'hand out' awards for gay themed projects, then Hollywood is the one industry in America that is likely to do it. I agree that most of America is 'probably' homophobic to a greater or lesser extent, but Hollywood, at least when it comes to presenting awards, does not have these problems. I believe, they are probably more liberal than most European Governmenst and peoples but may have been influenced more by other factors than the 'gayness' of the film:

Maybe:

a. Brokeback peaked too soon, with so much hype about it winning maybe there was a backlash or some academy members decided to vote for the underdog so that they go some votes and made it closer.

b. Maybe the film crash struck a chord with academy members who are mainly based in LA, a city the film portrayed, aparently, accurately.

c. Maybe the film Crash was just considered a better film by academy members. Personally I wouldn't give a film best Oscar just for it being gay related. I have seen both films and Crash, with it's complicated plot, sharp dialogue and shocking scenes is for me personally, a far better film than the overlong Brokeback Mountain.

boyG..that was a stupid comment.

WOW! I agree with the cocktail queen "Martini Man" again! Who is you, dude? That's #2 for me and you. Man we gotta get togethu' and shake some stick some day, bro.

Maybe :

d. I read somewhere last week that Crash's producers sent a copy of CD/DVD of their film to every member of the Oscars academy, making sure that everyone had a chance to see the film before voting. A low cost marketing campaign that's quite effective.

Academy members receive DVD's of ALL the nominated films.

Why is it so hard to swallow the fact that, of the five nominated movies, maybe Brokeback Mountain wasn't the best? If homophobia were at play, it probably wouldn't even have been nominated. How many of you sniveling cry babies actually saw all of the nominated movies, and therefore have even the tiniest shred of authority to pronounce Brokeback Mountain as the deserved winner?

Actualy, from what I've heard of Brokeback Mountain, I decided not to see it. It'd probably turn me into a snivelling crybaby and I'd rather have more fun when I go to the cinema or watch a DVD.

Not sorry itdidn't win.

[Doug]

I was so disappointed when Jack read out the name, "Crash". I swore a little. I had seen both films and, to me, BBM was the better film.

Then I thought, BBM has won 3 Oscars. It was recognized and honoured. How many other "Best Picture" awards has it won?

Then I remembered when I first saw the movie at the Toronto Film Festival, I thought this was a great niche movie that the gays will love but it won't go very far. So now I am so impressed at how far this little movie has come. Things have changed.

FYI. It's been reported that as soon as the nominations were announced, the promoters of Crash put $4 million into promoting their film to the academy voters. BBM thought their momentum in December would carry them through. I don't think BBm's loss was a gay thing at all.

I will buy the DVD and it will take its place with my top 5 films.

BTW. I was really upset that Felicity Huffman lost. If you haven't seen TransAmerica, go. Its my feel-good movie of the year.

Studios will put any amount of money into promoting their films to the academy.

If you have ever glimpsed at the Hollywood trade papers (esp. Daily Variety) in December/January you will see full page ads for films simple asking "for your consideration" in the nominating process. Once a film gets the nod, complete packages are put together for all academy members.

One of the problems tat the awards have faced in the past is that ofttimes memebrs will not have seen all of the films. Sending out promotional copies was designed to help amend that.

In certain categories (esp. technical ones) the voting is not open to the Academy at large - but rather only to those members who actually represent those categories - and there are rigorous requirements that any members voting actually see all the films. Studios will usually arrange screenings for members - and this is how they can track who has and has not seen the films.

Best Picture and many other categories are open to the entire membership.

Teams of publicists work exhaustively to promote awareness and create "buzz" about the films, but the fact is, every studio spends a large amount to promote a film/nominee, so it is hard to claim that promotional money makes a difference in voting.

I have not seen "Crash" - so I cannot give a personal opinion as to whether I think it is a better film than BBM - and I am loathe to speculate about the other films' merits for the same reason.

The academy does tend to like films with a strong message - or some significant social agenda - which BBM lacked. It is a film about same-sex love bewteen two emotionally stunted people. Crash, on the other hand, is about race relationships - or lack thereof - painted on a large canvas.