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.
My wife explained this to me.
Bjork is the nut that wore a swan dress to the Oscars one year.
Course I didn't watch the Oscars and I didn't watch the vast majority (all?) of the movies that were in the Oscars...
I have heard she gave money to the Witch Hillary for her run for President but haven't heard she was way far out there..I doubt she has time since she makes one movie after another..
Please, does someone have a picture of Ben Stiller?
I didn't watch this so didn't hear anything except what I heard on the news and have read..
According to Zap2it.com, the show dominated the ratings -- though it didn't do as well as in previous years.
More at: http://www.zap2it.com/news/zap-ratings030506,0,7370719.story?coll=zap-news-headlines
Hollyweird blinked because the suits only care about $$$.
Not the woman/man/intowoman movie did not even hit the radar.
".was just a 'gay' disease," because politics prevented proper medical protocols to be followed. Thus the bathouses stayed open longer and high risk mental irresponsible cases could not be quarenteened.
Yes - and their glamorization of the deadly life-style helped it to flourish into an indiscriminate disease.
LOL! Your tagline is a saying/prayer I say every time I get the near overwhelming desire to beat the snot out of someone.
Not today, maybe tomorrow.
Down 10% from last year according to Yahoo.
I think she meant in the Kerry Condom costume.
Funny! But I bet it didn't get many sincere laughs with that crowd.
It's gone way beyond that. About 35% of HIV transmission in this country is now heterosexual.
You can't say that to the people of southern Africa, who've lost half of an entire generation to AIDS.
Thanks for letting me know and for this picture...
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