Posted on 02/27/2005 8:53:26 PM PST by metalmanx2j
LOS ANGELES - The boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby" was the Academy Awards (news - web sites) heavyweight Sunday, claiming best picture and three other trophies, including honors for director Clint Eastwood (news), lead-actress Hilary Swank and supporting-actor Morgan Freeman (news).
Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" came away with the most Oscars (news - web sites), its five awards including the supporting-actress prize for Cate Blanchett (news).
Eastwood, who at 74 became the oldest directing winner ever, noted his mother was with him when his Western "Unforgiven" won the 1992 best-picture and directing Oscar.
"She's here with me again tonight, so at 96, I'm thanking her for her genes," Eastwood said. "I figure I'm just a kid. I've got a lot of stuff to do yet."
The 77th Oscars were another heartbreak for Scorsese, the man behind "The Aviator," who lost the directing race for the fifth time. Scorsese matched the record of Oscar futility held by a handful of legendary filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman, who also went 0-for-5 in the directing category.
Swank became a double Academy Award winner Sunday for "Million Dollar Baby," while Jamie Foxx (news) took lead actor for "Ray." The wins for Freeman and Foxx made it only the second time blacks won two of the four acting prizes.
Swank, who previously won the best-actress Oscar for "Boys Don't Cry," once again beat out main rival Annette Bening (news), nominated for the theater farce "Being Julia." Bening had been the front-runner for "American Beauty" five years ago but lost to underdog Swank.
"I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream," said Swank, who played an indomitable boxer.
Swank joined Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field (news) and Luise Rainer as the only actresses with a perfect track record at the Oscars: Two nominations and two wins.
Foxx won for his uncanny emulation of Ray Charles in "Ray." As he had at earlier awards triumphs, Foxx led the Oscar audience in a rendition of the call-and-response chant from Charles' 1959 hit "What'd I Say," whose funky electric-piano grooves play over the opening credits of "Ray."
"Give it up for Ray Charles and his beautiful legacy. And thank you Ray Charles for living," said Foxx, who climbed to Oscar glory after an early career built mainly on comedy, including his TV series "The Jamie Foxx Show" and the raunchy sex flick "Booty Call."
Foxx had been a double Oscar nominee, also picked in the supporting category for the hit man thriller "Collateral."
Playing Katharine Hepburn (news) in "The Aviator," Blanchett had the spirit of the Oscars' most-honored actress on her side. Hepburn, the love of Hughes' life in the 1930s before she began her long romance with Spencer Tracy, earned 12 nominations and won a record four Oscars.
"Thank you, of course, to Miss Hepburn. The longevity of her career I think is inspiring to everyone," said Blanchett. She added thanks to "Aviator" director Scorsese, saying, "I hope my son will marry your daughter."
Oscar host Chris Rock said Blanchett was so convincing that Sidney Poitier, Hepburn's co-star in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," showed up at Blanchett's house for supper.
The wins by Freeman and Foxx followed Denzel Washington and Halle Berry (news)'s triumph three years ago for "Training Day" and "Monster's Ball," the only other time blacks claimed two acting Oscars.
"It means that Hollywood is continuing to make history," Freeman said backstage. "We're evolving with the rest of the world."
The superhero action comedy "The Incredibles" won the animated-feature prize, beating 2004's biggest box-office hit, the fairy-tale sequel "Shrek 2." It was the second-straight animated Oscar for Pixar Animation, which won a year ago for "Finding Nemo."
"I don't know what's more frightening, being watched by millions of people, or the hundreds of people that are going to be annoyed with me tomorrow for not mentioning them," said Brad Bird, writer-director of the "The Incredibles."
The latest win dabs salt on the Walt Disney Co.'s wounds over the looming expiration of its distribution deal for Pixar films, which ends after next year's "Cars." The back-to-back Oscars underscore Pixar's growing ascendance and the weakening position of animation pioneer Disney, which has yet to win the animated-feature Oscar with any of its homegrown films and whose biggest recent cartoon hits have all been made by Pixar.
Unlike last year, when "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" dominated the awards as expected and flat-out front-runners took all four acting prizes, the 77th Oscars shaped up as a mixed bag, with only Foxx a virtual lock to win.
"Boy, am I glad there wasn't a fourth episode of `Lord of the Rings,'" said John Dykstra, who shared the visual-effects Oscar for "Spider-Man 2."
With no huge hits among top nominees, Oscar organizers worried that TV ratings could dwindle for the live ABC broadcast. The Oscars tend to draw their biggest audiences when blockbusters such as "Titanic" or "Return of the King" are in the mix, stoking viewer interest.
Producers of the show hoped the presence of first-time host Rock might boost ratings, particularly among younger viewers who may view the Oscars as too staid an affair. Rock had mocked the Oscars a bit beforehand, calling awards shows "idiotic," but he was on his best behavior in his opening monologue.
Rock chided some celebrities by name and included one mild three-letter word, but his routine was fairly clean for the comedian known for a foul mouth in his standup act.
"The only acting you ever see at the Oscars is when people act like they're not mad they lost," Rock said. He recalled the year when Halle Berry won and fellow nominee "Nicole Kidman was smiling so wide, she should have won an Emmy at the Oscars for her great performance. I was like, if you'd done that in the movie, you'd have won an Oscar, girl."
Organizers also tried to spice up the show with new presentation tactics, including herding all nominees on stage at the same time, beauty-pageant style, for some awards.
The first prize of the night, for art direction, was awarded that way, with a total of nine nominees from five films spread across stage behind presenter Berry. The Oscar went to "The Aviator," whose awards also included cinematography, film editing and costume design.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" took the original-screenplay award for Charlie Kaufman. "Sideways" won the adapted-screenplay prize for director Alexander Payne and his writing partner, Jim Taylor.
"My mother taught me to write, and she died before she could see any of this, so this is for you, mom," Taylor said.
"The Sea Inside" won as best foreign-language film, while "Born Into Brothels," which examines the lives of children of prostitutes in Calcutta, India, received the Oscar for feature-length documentary.
oh, I really want to pay homage to a film about euthanasia.
Yawn.
Is this the end of Rico?
You interrupted me watching my toenails grow to tell me this? ;-)
So, Clint, you gonna put her down when she gets a little older?
Look on the bright side. Jamie Fox won and credited his grandma with whipping him into shape and teaching him to be a gentleman.
"Ray" should really have tuck it. Also Don Cheedle SHOULD have won for Hotel Rawanda. Other than that I don't have too many complaints, other than that someone other than Eastwood should have won for best director.
that was just the end of the movie......it was not the entire plot.....it was just a story like the Godfather was about a mob family.....it didn't glorify it.....and Clint has said so.......
Didn't bother to watch.
Los Angeles, CA (LifeNews.com) -- In a year featuring an unprecedented number of films promoting abortion and assisted suicide, Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" is the latest to have viewers up in arms.
The boxing drama is up for an Academy Award, but disabled activists and pro-life advocates are upset because the movie promotes a very negative view of those with serious disabilities and promotes euthanasia.
The movie features Eastwood, a boxing trainer who serves as a mentor for fighter Maggie Fitzgerald (played by Hilary Swank). The two develop a father-daughter relationship as Swank's character rises to the top of the boxing world.
When an opponent leaves Fitzgerald paralyzed from the neck down after a devastating blow, she decides she would rather die than continue her life. She asks Eastwood's character, Frankie Dunn, to help her.
After some excruciating soul searching, he does.
Marcie Roth, director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, says she doesn't like the film's conclusion because so many still wrongly believe that "having a spinal-cord injury is a fate worse than death."
"Unfortunately, a message like the one in `Million Dollar Baby' just perpetuates exactly what we work so hard to dispel," she told the Associated Press.
"The movie is saying ‘death is better than disability," Roth adds.
Debbie Schlussel pans the film and says it will continue earning awards becasue "it's Hollywood's best political propaganda of the year ... it supports killing the handicapped, literally putting their lights out.''
Eastwood, who directs and stars in the movie, says the characters' choices aren't meant to promoted assisted suicide. Instead, the movie is intended to stick closely to the book it by author F.X. Toole on which it's based.
"How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life,'' Eastwood told the Associated Press. "Every story is a 'what if.'''
The criticism leads some to say that the movie will be a shoo-in for Oscar voters.
"All the conservative outcry is going to steel Oscar voters in favor of this movie," says Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger. "It already has the most emotional power of any of the [best picture] nominees, and this is going to intensify that sentiment."
Us Weekly film critic Thelma Adams tells USA Today that Oscar voters probably strongly favor "Million Dollar Baby's" pro-euthansaia stance.
I wonder how low their ratings were this year? I can't figure out how they think they can insult half their potential customers and expect them to watch. Robin Williams hasn't been funny in 20 years, and Chris Rock is pathetic.
That did really piss me off.
Haven't seen the movie yet, but since you appear to like it, am I wrong to say Hilary Swank is not an Oscar calibre actress? She was Miss B movie star before that ridiculous transvestite role. Was ok in a small role in Insomnia but I've never seen her command the screen. Seems like a trend to me, weak actresses winning the Oscar.
marty and harvey are going to break some legs tommorrow.
Agree it was a weak show. The tribute to Carson was tepid. Even the stars in attendance seemed to lack star power. Where were the Deniros, Nicholsons?
As someone said, a weak show this year. But the movies have been getting weaker with the decades. And there was no question that an honest award would have gone to the Passion for best cinematography. Swank won because Hollywood liked Eastwood's message, in his message film. And there were better actresses and performances.
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