A bizarre Oscar season culminated in last night's Academy Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Billy Crystal, hosting for his seventh time, began the show as he always does with a musical number for each of the Best Picture nominees.
Then the awards began in earnest, albeit with a stumble, when a confused recipient of the Costume Design for "Topsy-Turvy" leaving a bewildered "trophy girl" to wander backstage. "Topsy-Turvy" was an early favorite, earning a win for makeup shortly after its Costume Design victory.
Things went more smoothly after that. The evidence of new producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck became evident when the first major category, Supporting Actress, was presented. James Coburn walked across the disco-like stage (Crystal: "I want to thank 'Soul Train' for lending us their floor) to stand in front of the immense movie screen showing the nominees for Actress in a Supporting Role.
After an ominous reading of the five women's names reminiscent of a big-budget "Star Trek" movie, Angelina Jolie came to the stage for an emotional acceptance speech, largely dedicated to her family (particularly Jolie's brother, who accompanied her to the show.)
The oddities continued when sparks flew from part of the set when Crystal and Michael Clarke Duncan introduced the Animated Short Film award. It was apparently a tribute to an emotionally charged moment in "The Green Mile," but both the men were confused. Crystal took it all in stride, remarking "Let's get something to eat" and hurrying off the stage.
The winner of the Animated Short Film Oscar, Alexandre Petrov for "The Old Man and the Sea," barely knew enough English to thank the Academy "for their choice" -- if only all the winners were so succinct.
"Interpretive" dance numbers were notably (and thankfully) absent from this year's broadcast, but the lengthy montages of past films remained. Some were fun, but others were marred by a lack of inspiration -- the "films of the century" theme was exhausted last year.
In another break from tradition, the nominees for Best Song were awkwardly compressed into a ten-minute musical showcase instead of the traditional dispersal throughout the ceremonies. It was worth it, though, for the hilarious final, a "Blame Canada" (from "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut") extravaganza led by Robin Williams.
Nearly a half hour later, Michael Caine was awarded the statue for Best Supporting Actor. Caine graciously spent half of his time on stage extolling the virtues of his fellow nominees, noting that the Academy's switch from "The Winner Is..." to "The Oscar Goes To..." was especially appropriate in this case.
The prolific and ingenious Polish director Andrzej Wajda, whose career spans five decades, was awarded an honorary Oscar. Wajda accepted his award in Polish because, according to Wajda, the work for which he received the award was so deeply ingrained in Poland.
Nearing its final hour, the show featured some inspired segments. First, Crystal demonstrated his "Sixth Sense" by telling the audience what individual stars were thinking as they appeared on the big screen. Highlights included Michael Clarke Duncan -- "I see white people!" -- and Jack Nicholson -- "I'm still the coolest guy in the room."
Then "Oscar-winning composer" Burt Bacharach led one of the best medleys in Oscar history, paying tribute to great songs, an oft-ignored aspect of motion pictures. As if Bacharach wasn't enough star power (he wasn't), a number of music celebrities joined him, including Garth Brooks, Isaac Hayes (as "Shaft"), Ray Charles, and Queen Latifah.
Heavily favored to win, "All About My Mother" didn't disappoint in the Foreign Film category. Pedro Almodovar dedicated his Oscar to everyone in Spain who was making the sacrifice at 6:00 A.M. to watch him accept his award.
The annual tribute to Hollywood talents temporarily brought a somber tone to the show as audiences mourned the loss of Madeline Kahn and George C. Scott, among others.
"The Matrix" picked up all four of the awards for which it was nominated: Sound, Sound Effects Mixing, Visual Effects, and Editing. "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," going against the Wachowski brother's futuristic tour-de-force in the Visual category, walked away empty-handed in the face of "The Matrix's" innovative filmmaking technique.
Warren Beatty received the Irving G. Thalberg Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in Hollywood as an actor, writer, director, and producer. Beatty said that he "wouldn't talk politics" and went on to thank his family. He then made a few tongue-in-cheek apologies, most notably for his "life as a single man."
After a meandering speech, Beatty concluded that, in Hollywood's future, "three things that don't have to change are the reliability of friendship, the sanctity of family, and the dignity of work."
Unlike, Beatty, John Irving was willing to "talk politics" when he accepted the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, as he thanked Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights League for their role in inspring his pro-choice screenplay.
When Alan Ball accepted the Best Original Screenplay award for "American Beauty," there was an intangible feeling that maybe the night would belong to the suburban tale.
After a quick scare when the predictably unpredictable Roberto Benigni appeared to be opening the Best Actress envelope prematurely, the focus temporarily moved to Hilary Swank, who had been favored to win the award for her stunning performance as Teena Brandon/Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry."
But the night was once again Beautiful when Kevin Spacey upset Denzel Washington to win Best Actor. Spacey was somewhat choked up but held himself together long enough to thank Jack Lemmon (for his performance in "The Apartment"), his colleagues, and his mother, whom he was proud to bring to the awards show.
Moments after Spacey left the stage, Mendes was taking his place, accepting the Best Director award for his Hollywood debut, "American Beauty."
Clint Eastwood then "jumped right to it" in awarding the Best Picture statue. He dutifully named the five nominees, but by that time, the audience knew who the winner was. It was the year of "American Beauty," that quintessential fin-de-siecle story of the dysfunctional but beautiful suburban family.
