March 6th, 2006, 12:01
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
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