Quiet is the New Loud
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Sunday, March 05, 2006
mr.oscar
Best Motion Picture - Crash
Best Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Best Actress - Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)
Best Director - Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
These are some of the Oscar-winners, which just ended. Overall, the award ceremony was good. I love the stage set: they made it carry a 1960s cinema theatre look, with big flashy words on plasma screens. Also, this year's host, Jon Stewart, did a marvelous job with some very funny jabs and jokes.
I think the top winners were Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha and King Kong, all with 3 wins each and the latter two winning in production awards (sound, costume designs, cinematograhy etc). There definitely were some upsets, but otherwise many were predictable/predicted.
Here are my views on the astonishment, the funnies and the upsets:
1) In one of the biggest upset, Crash came in from behind to snatch the coveted Best Picture award from Brokeback Mountain. Which I'm very happy about. I watched Crash and felt the message it was sending out. I love how each character's story interwines in one another's. Besides, I feel Brokeback Mountain may have been over-hyped, though I have to watch it for myself to decide on that.
2) A terribly unexpected and unbelievable win by some Hustle and Flow rappers in the Best Song category. I very much preferred the other nominated songs: Bird York's "In The Deep" for Crash, and Dolly Parton's "Travellin' Thru" for Transamerica. Besides, I enjoyed it very much when Bird York performed the song just now, especially with the backdrop scenes from the movie itself. Perhaps I'm more biased towards the latter two movies since I have watched them (which I must add, are very, very excellent films).
3) As expected, Reese Witherspoon won for her portrayal of June Carter in Walk The Line. Before, I was hoping for Felicity Huffman to win for her convincing role in Transamerica as a transgendered man, again probably because I watch the show and also because she was superb. Then, when the nomination clips were shown, I felt Reese Witherspoon did do a great job too, especially since besides having to act she sang all the songs on her own. Furthermore, she has come a long way from her roles in Legally Blonde, and Sweet Home Alabama. It's like a 180 degrees transformation from a chick-flick actress to a mature, versatile one. So I couldn't decide on who deserved it more. Nevertheless, if only there was an extra Oscar this year, Felicity Huffman would have won hands-down out of all others.
4) Ang Lee won Best Director for the controversial gay cowboy movie. Zhang Ziyi was on stage to present an Oscar award. How great is it that Chinese, or Asians, are making an impact in Hollywood? Hooray! I wonder who will be the first Asian to win an Oscar award for Best Actor/Actress? Maybe Zhang Ziyi, seeing how her fame is rising and her acting is good. This is why I love to watch Asian-based Hollywood-made movies like Memoirs of a Geisha.
5) Oh! Jennifer Garner nearly tripped in front of camera.. twice! She was walking down the stage to present an award, and I guess she stepped on her dress and jerked. Then she skidded down a little and finally gained balance. Lucky for her, she recovered quick by saying "I do my own stunts". Good one.
6) There were really boring, and interesting 'Thank You' speeches. Some people were cut at the end, while some couldn't even start for those with multiple winners on the stage. So those who couldn't say something looked stupid, while those who said alot looked selfish.
7) For fashion, Keira Knightley, Zhang Ziyi, Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Williams (the bright yellow dress, red lipstick), Jessica Alba, Rachel Weisz (being pregnant and glowing), etc looked great. No one really blew me away, as some of them had nice hair and makeup, but an average dress, vice versa.
Funny isn't it, how many people wants a BALD, SMALL statuette by the name of Oscar. I wonder how Mr. Oscar became so popular and be in such high-demand. It's because he is coated with gold isn't it? It's like the figures you put on top of wedding cakes, only that this time the Oscar stands for so much more to actors- achievement and excellence.
Well, it's getting late. I should go sleep.
Best Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Best Actress - Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)
Best Director - Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
These are some of the Oscar-winners, which just ended. Overall, the award ceremony was good. I love the stage set: they made it carry a 1960s cinema theatre look, with big flashy words on plasma screens. Also, this year's host, Jon Stewart, did a marvelous job with some very funny jabs and jokes.
I think the top winners were Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha and King Kong, all with 3 wins each and the latter two winning in production awards (sound, costume designs, cinematograhy etc). There definitely were some upsets, but otherwise many were predictable/predicted.
Here are my views on the astonishment, the funnies and the upsets:
1) In one of the biggest upset, Crash came in from behind to snatch the coveted Best Picture award from Brokeback Mountain. Which I'm very happy about. I watched Crash and felt the message it was sending out. I love how each character's story interwines in one another's. Besides, I feel Brokeback Mountain may have been over-hyped, though I have to watch it for myself to decide on that.
2) A terribly unexpected and unbelievable win by some Hustle and Flow rappers in the Best Song category. I very much preferred the other nominated songs: Bird York's "In The Deep" for Crash, and Dolly Parton's "Travellin' Thru" for Transamerica. Besides, I enjoyed it very much when Bird York performed the song just now, especially with the backdrop scenes from the movie itself. Perhaps I'm more biased towards the latter two movies since I have watched them (which I must add, are very, very excellent films).
3) As expected, Reese Witherspoon won for her portrayal of June Carter in Walk The Line. Before, I was hoping for Felicity Huffman to win for her convincing role in Transamerica as a transgendered man, again probably because I watch the show and also because she was superb. Then, when the nomination clips were shown, I felt Reese Witherspoon did do a great job too, especially since besides having to act she sang all the songs on her own. Furthermore, she has come a long way from her roles in Legally Blonde, and Sweet Home Alabama. It's like a 180 degrees transformation from a chick-flick actress to a mature, versatile one. So I couldn't decide on who deserved it more. Nevertheless, if only there was an extra Oscar this year, Felicity Huffman would have won hands-down out of all others.
4) Ang Lee won Best Director for the controversial gay cowboy movie. Zhang Ziyi was on stage to present an Oscar award. How great is it that Chinese, or Asians, are making an impact in Hollywood? Hooray! I wonder who will be the first Asian to win an Oscar award for Best Actor/Actress? Maybe Zhang Ziyi, seeing how her fame is rising and her acting is good. This is why I love to watch Asian-based Hollywood-made movies like Memoirs of a Geisha.
5) Oh! Jennifer Garner nearly tripped in front of camera.. twice! She was walking down the stage to present an award, and I guess she stepped on her dress and jerked. Then she skidded down a little and finally gained balance. Lucky for her, she recovered quick by saying "I do my own stunts". Good one.
6) There were really boring, and interesting 'Thank You' speeches. Some people were cut at the end, while some couldn't even start for those with multiple winners on the stage. So those who couldn't say something looked stupid, while those who said alot looked selfish.
7) For fashion, Keira Knightley, Zhang Ziyi, Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Williams (the bright yellow dress, red lipstick), Jessica Alba, Rachel Weisz (being pregnant and glowing), etc looked great. No one really blew me away, as some of them had nice hair and makeup, but an average dress, vice versa.
Funny isn't it, how many people wants a BALD, SMALL statuette by the name of Oscar. I wonder how Mr. Oscar became so popular and be in such high-demand. It's because he is coated with gold isn't it? It's like the figures you put on top of wedding cakes, only that this time the Oscar stands for so much more to actors- achievement and excellence.
Well, it's getting late. I should go sleep.