It's time to review the 74th Annual Academy Awards, a night full of historical firsts. I'll be as gentle as possible. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the Oscars all over again.
It was certainly a beautiful night for "A Beautiful Mind," which took home four awards, including Best Picture, the night's top honor. The Academy Awards' top story, however, was Halle Berry, who became the first African-American female to take home the award for best actress. Berry, who won for her performance in "Monster's Ball," struggled through tears to thank her African-American predecessors and exclaim, "Tonight this door has finally been opened!"
Directly following the highly emotional moment, Denzel Washington won the award for best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of a corrupt cop in "Training Day." Washington became only the second African-American to ever win the award. Sidney Poitier, who received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement during this year's ceremonies, was the first to win in 1964 for his performance in "Lilies of the Field."
Washington paid tribute to the veteran actor in his emotional acceptance speech saying, "Forty years I've been chasing Sidney and what do they do? They give it to him again on the same night. I'll always be chasing you Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps. There's nothing I'd rather do."
Other firsts of the night included a new award for best animated feature film that went to the box office smash hit "Shrek" and a brand new location for the night's award show.
The Kodak Theater saw Oscar's return to Hollywood after almost four decades elsewhere. The recently constructed theater, though smaller in capacity than the awards' previous site, was specifically designed to look remarkable on television and keep all audience members, even in the upper balconies, as close to the stage as possible.
New aspects were also introduced to the format of the broadcast by first-time producer Laura Ziskin. A live performance by Cirque du Soleil, celebrity voice-overs by Glenn Close and Donald Sutherland and many more film segments than usual all contributed in making it the longest show in Oscar history, lasting almost four-and-half hours. As four-time host Whoopi Goldberg noted, "Oscar is the only 74 year old man who doesn't need Viagra to last for hours."
This year, the Oscars were also faced with the difficult challenge of finding ways to acknowledge the national tragedy of Sept. 11, without letting it ruin the festive mood of the star-studded evening. Actor Tom Cruise opened the show, saying that we must celebrate the magic of movies now more than ever.
In a special tribute to New York City, Woody Allen made an appearance at the award show to introduce a short film by director Nora Ephron presenting various clips from movies made in New York.
A special moment of silence for the victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy was also held before the show's traditional "In Memoriam" segment that honors members of the entertainment community that have passed away in the last year.
The award for best direction went to Ron Howard for "A Beautiful Mind," though many critics attributed the win to the fact that he has directed several Oscar-nominated films in the past, but never received an award. The film's writer, Akiva Goldsman, also won for best adapted screenplay.
In yet another great moment, Randy Newman became the Susan Lucci of the Oscars, finally winning for his best original song "If I Didn't Have You" from the animated feature "Monsters, Inc.," after 16 previous nominations.
The award for best supporting actress went to Jennifer Connelly for "A Beautiful Mind," whose acceptance speech was almost as bland as her dress. Jim Broadbent garnered the award for best supporting actor for his performance in "Iris." He deserved it because he is pretty much the only supporting actor of the year with roles in the nominated films "Moulin Rouge" and "Bridget Jones' Diary" as well.
Though it didn't win any of the big awards, "Lord of the Rings," the most nominated film of the evening, did not go home empty-handed. The film won four awards including Best Visual Effects, Make-Up, Cinematography and Original Score.
Other highlights of the award show included the live performances of all the nominees for best original songs as music legends Sting and Paul McCartney garnered much applause, though no gold statues.
Whoopi Goldberg managed to make the extremely long show seem shorter with her witty one-liners and outrageous costumes, especially her "Moulin Rouge" inspired entrance from the ceiling clad in feathers and fishnet stockings. But my favorite moment of Oscar night came from the red carpet when the cool Hugh Grant asked a struggling Joan Rivers if she was drunk, but that's just my opinion.
All in all the show was spectacular, and I can't wait to see how it will possibly be topped next year when Oscar turns a young 75.
