Posted on 03/06/2006 9:27:20 AM PST by SirLinksalot
Oscar Blinks
James Hirsen, NewsMax.com
Monday, March 6, 2006
Remember when Hollywood had mystique and glamour and was the wellspring of entertainment? That now seems a relic of another era.
In its place sits a town where self-absorption has taken a lead role and superficial social messages predominate.
When it wasn't embarrassing, the 78th Annual Academy Awards show was generally a bore.
Host Jon Stewart was probably a bit surprised at the tepid response to his jokes, especially the one where he quipped about the awards show being a "place where you can watch all your favorite stars without having to donate any money to the Democratic Party." Stewart also admonished would-be film downloaders to think about the "women here who could barely afford enough gown to cover their breasts."
Many of the stars seemed incapable of laughing at themselves. But when Stewart let loose with a joke that was at the expense of Vice President Dick Cheney, the guffaws flowed freely.
"I do have some sad news to report," Stewart said. "Bjork could not be here. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."
Stewart got moderate chuckles when he took a shot at the news media. He praised "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Capote," describing them as films about journalism's "relentless pursuit of the truth," adding, "needless to say, both are period pieces."
The big laughs returned, though, with a reference to the war in Iraq. Evoking the memory of the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein, Stewart pointed to a giant Oscar image and said, "Do you think if we all got together and pulled this down, democracy would flourish in Hollywood?"
George Clooney won the first statuette for Best Supporting Actor for "Syriana," letting the world know that he was "proud to be part of this Academy, proud to be part of this community, proud to be out of touch."
Clooney claimed that Hollywood talked about social issues before anyone else. "We are the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just a gay disease," he said.
As expected, Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of the gay central character in "Capote."
Rachel Weitz maintained the political pattern. She won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing a social activist in "The Constant Gardener."
It seems that a bit of "Brokeback" backlash may have created the surprise winner for Best Picture. After endless buzz about "Brokeback Mountain's" courage and brilliance and after it won virtually all of the pre-Oscar awards, "Crash" scored an upset win over the gay cowboy flick.
A few other observations:
The most bizarre comedy bit: Ben Stiller came on stage wearing a John Kerry sanitary "sperm" outfit.
The bright spot: "March of the Penguins" won for Best Documentary.
The most deserving award: Reese Witherspoon took the Best Actress award for "Walk the Line."
The most ironic award: "Brokeback Mountain" won for Best Score. How utterly appropriate this year that an Oscar was awarded for a hip-hop song about the difficulties experienced by a pimp.
Unfortunately, no one remembered to send a Hollywood shout-out to the troops, whose starring roles outshine all of Oscar's gold.
Georgie's running his selective memory again here. Hollywood was the very last to acknowledge that AIDS even existed. Philadelphia was, what, 1993?
The most ironic award: "Brokeback Mountain" won for Best Score. How utterly appropriate this year that an Oscar was awarded for a hip-hop song about the difficulties experienced by a pimp.
Gross misuse of the word ironic, case number 104,423,075.
Disjointed non sequiturs vaguely linked by a nebulous common theme do not constitute irony, as defined by non-alanis linguists.
You know, that just is not true! Granted it certainly came to light in the 80's in the gay community environment of San Francisco, but it's certainly spread beyond just gays. It's into the drug users and in some cases into the heterosexual community as well as some blood recipients. Also remember it was not a homosexual disease in Africa. Now, I will say, for the major part, it is a preventable disease in that, for the most part, it has to do with the decisions one makes in their life style, but it is no longer just a homosexual disease.
Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was the second child born to Dr. John and Betty Witherspoon. Her father was a military surgeon specializing in the ear, nose and throat. Her mother was a Registered Nurse who would later become a Ph.D in pediatric nursing. Reese spent the first four years of her life in Wiesbaden, Germany where her father served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves. Shortly after, John moved the family back to the States, settling in Nashville, Tennessee.
Reese was introduced to the entertainment industry at a very early age. At age 7, she began modeling. This led to appearances on several local television commercials. At age 11, she placed first in a Ten-State Talent Fair.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000702/bio
"Many of the stars seemed incapable of laughing at themselves"
I think the real problem is they're just too dumb to get the jokes.
Now your gonna have gay guys roaming all over the mountains in $600 dollar cowboy outfits looking to get their backsides broke. I'm going to Chicago for vacation.
Anyone know the number of viewers of the Oscars last night? Everytime I click ony any Oscar news link on the MSN website, it doesn't work.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all the actors of the academy of their roles and responsibility in accordance with their chosen profession.
1.) Entertain me.
The following does not entertain me:
Your opnions
Your activism
Your political postition
Your relegion
Your stance on abortion
Your stance on war
Your stance on the death penalty
Your stance on gun control
Your stance on the environment
Your awards
Your ego
Your problems and/or how you overcame them
Your money
Your.................
Just get in front of a camera and do something to entertain me. You are expendable. I am easily entertained. Do your job, no more and no less.
How were the ratings? I really wanna hear that it was the lowest-watched show in years.
And I loved the "political ads" Jon had for the nominees, especially the one about Reese having a name you could spell.
"They made it very clear they don't care about us"
I was thinking about that watching that M Shamalayan Amex commercial-the gist of it was he was sitting in a restaurant and some pesky fan came up and started praising all of his movies-you could see the contempt in his eyes, what a gauche little moron bothering me while I'm trying to think my brilliant thoughts...
Perfect example of how self-important these people are and how little they appreciate the people who make them rich.
Georgie's running his selective memory again here. Hollywood was the very last to acknowledge that AIDS even existed. Philadelphia was, what, 1993?
He means they started wearing ribbons before everyone else. BTW, whatever happened to the AIDS ribbon? It used to be a required accessory at awards and such.
I can't wait to see the numbers...I hope the show bombed in the ratings.
"...sexiest man alive 1997..."
That's been 10 years George. Your're going to look awfully foolish in the Old Folks Home if you keep at it.
I bought the "Walk the Line" DVD the day it came out. It's pretty nearly the only movie I've ever seen where I forget I'm watching a movie. Not that the actors are clones of their characters -- it's just that they come across as real people.
Wow, Reese WItherspoon's mom was Nurse Betty?
Selma Hayek is worth watching.MMMMMMMM.
I watched Crash last night (during the awards). I didn't think it was particularly good.
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