Posted on 03/05/2006 12:00:21 PM PST by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Oscars Bank on 'Brokeback' to Grab Viewers
By DAVID GERMAIN
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The year of the small movie could mean small ratings for the Academy Awards, whose organizers hoped a new host and the cultural buzz over front-runner "Brokeback Mountain" would beef up viewership for Sunday's show.
The Oscars generally lure their biggest audiences in years when blockbusters such as "Titanic" or "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" are favored to win.
This year's best-picture lineup has been heralded as an artistic triumph of daring, character-driven stories, yet none of the contenders had the box-office clout to ensure viewers would tune in.
"Brokeback Mountain," though, has become a phenomenon far beyond those who have actually seen it, entering the pop-culture psyche with its tale of cowboys in love (best-actor nominee Heath Ledger and supporting-actor contender Jake Gyllenhaal).
Whether that will boost ratings is uncertain. ABC, which airs the show, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences assembled an A-list collection of Oscar presenters to help offset a relatively unknown cast of nominees that includes David Strathairn for "Good Night, and Good Luck," Terrence Howard for "Hustle & Flow" and Amy Adams for "Junebug."
The ceremony also had its second first-time host in as many years, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" taking over from Chris Rock, emcee of last year's Oscars.
"Brokeback Mountain" won top prizes at earlier Hollywood honors including the Golden Globes and was expected to earn best picture at the Oscars and the directing trophy for Ang Lee, who would be the first Asian filmmaker to receive that award.
Yet the ensemble drama "Crash," featuring a huge cast of characters in multiple story lines playing out over a chaotic 36-hour period, was a strong dark-horse contender to pull a best-picture upset.
The other best-picture nominees were the Truman Capote saga "Capote," the Edward R. Murrow tale "Good Night, and Good Luck" and the assassination thriller "Munich."
Acting categories had clear front-runners, as well, with Philip Seymour Hoffman expected to win best actor for the title role in "Capote" and Reese Witherspoon the best-actress favorite for her role as country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line."
But with powerhouse performances across the board, underdog winners were possible in any of the acting categories.
The best-actor lineup was especially strong. Along with Hoffman and Ledger, the nominees were Strathairn as newsman Murrow in "Good Night," Howard as a pimp-turned-rapper in "Hustle & Flow" and Joaquin Phoenix as country legend Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line."
For best actress, Witherspoon faced strong competition from Felicity Huffman in a gender-bending role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery in "Transamerica."
George Clooney was one of the night's big stars, making Oscar history as the first person nominated for directing one movie ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and earning an acting nomination for another (supporting actor for the oil-industry thriller "Syriana"). Clooney also had a screenplay nomination for co-writing "Good Night, and Good Luck."
I liked Crash. I also saw Munich and liked it as well.
Um the number one top grossing movie in 2005 was SW Ep III and it is nominated for best make up.
Clooney never looked better than when blood was running from his nose and mouth while playing the derelict drunk estranged from his family who was assisted in his death by the orderly hooking him up to an I.V. mainlining pure ethanol on his way to death's door.
A certain sort of peace descended upon his otherwise condescending face.
The lesson they took away from Passion of the Christ should not have been that controversy sells. (Insert illustrations: Fahrenheit 9/11 and Brokeback Mountain here.)
It should have been that Passion of the Christ was not controversial in places outside of Hollywood and leftist organizations...and therefore was successful.
Oh, and I haven't watched an Oscars ceremony since the late 80s. That was also about the time I quit wasting my money on them.
I did put the 1925 version of Ben Hur on my Netflix queue. I bookmarked the BooksOnline site. Hope my eyes don't wig out staring at the screen so long.
Have you seen Hoosiers? Older movie, but I just love it. Conservative to the core.
Dear OSCAR,
Sorry to disappoint, old man, but no matter which film you decide is this year's best, I won't be going to see Brokeback Mountain.
I've not been interested in seeing a cowboy story since the very early 1960s, when it was OK to play cowboys & indians, and Cheyanne's voice always lulled my dad to sleep. Well, there was "Blazing Saddles", but that was a spoof of a genre that had long since become passé...
I also am not interested in, nor fascinated by, images of two men physically expressing love for one another. I recognize that it's part of our world and respect their right to their feelings and privacy, but not it's something that I wish to view as entertainment.
I'm not "afraid" of them or their behavior, so don't call me a homophobe. I don't dislike them personally, withold from them courtesies extended to others, or attempt to deny them rights that all Americans enjoy, so don't tell me I'm filled with hate.
I simply don't want to see your movie. The subject matter does not appeal to me on any level. And it's in good company --- most movies bore me to tears. You have your right to say what you want in your movie, and I have a right to not go to see it without being considered some kind of narrow-minded, unenlightened hate monger.
Got it?
It's been ages since I've seen the 1959 movie (I should put it on, since I own it). In the silent version, she is tasked with finding out the identity of the Unknown Jew in the upcoming chariot race. She attempts unsuccessfully to seduce Ben-Hur into telling her, but then overhears a conversation where he reveals his secret.
BTW, one thing I was curious about when watching the 1925 film: how did they make prints of films that mixed black and white with Technicolor, or for that matter that used different tones or tints for different scenes? Would they have run a separate roll of film through the printing machine for each different type of film, and then splice them all together prior to distribution? Or would the changes in filmstock represent reel breaks?
Ben-Hur uses Technicolor for a lot of key scenes, but then also seems to use it for surrounding scenes and title cards. Given that Technicolor must have been very expensive, I would think they'd want to avoid wasting it. On the other hand, having the projectionist do a reel change for a "The End" title card would seem somewhat wasteful.
Over at Boxofficemojo.com, Brokeback's banished from this weekend's take. It doesn't even rate. As a matter of fact, the stats on who's going--and who's not, are impressive. Good riddance. Stats for decrease in ticket taking indicate a double digit of over 20%, and in some cases 40%, for the day, even for Tyler Perry.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2006-03-05&p=.htm
Thank you. I was just telling my son that there were years when I saw every movie nominated and if something won that I hadn't seen, I'd go out and see it after the Oscars.
I consider myself a student of film. I'll watch anything from art films from countries I can't find on the map to Die Hard. However, lately I don't see much of interest and there's certainly no reason to watch the Oscars. Who cares if one movie that 10 people in NYC saw won over another movie seen by 10 people in LA?
God gave us DVDs for a reason. I think I'll watch my copies of Lost Weekend and Desk Set this evening and see some real movie-making and entertainment.
Not watching. Not interested. I don't even care to see the fashions.
Same with me Howlin, I don't know why people bother.
Shot on one strip, but copied onto two which were cemented together.
Actually, reading the article I'm surprised that Technicolor didn't have a viewer constructed for showing directly-printed dailies in color. The results wouldn't have been as good as printing on two strips and cementing them, but I would think dailies done with such a system would be watchable enough for a director to know whether or not his shots worked.
Scroll down a bit for some stills of Ben Hur.
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