81ST ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
February 23rd 2009 06:42
The red carpet is being rolled way even as we speak (or write) and the ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES has announced the recipients of this years OSCARS®
This year the event was hosted by Australia’s man of the moment. Hugh Jackman took to the job like he had been at it for years. Mind you he has had a few TONY®© Awards to practice.
After the usual introduction and jokes Hugh launched into his opening number making light of the economic circumstances with a short musical number including the best picture nominees. Through the use of inexpensive, amateurish props, he also included a short tongue in cheek mini duet with Anne Hathaway using the best picture nominee FROST / NIXON. While everyone knows Hugh can sing, Miss Hathaway blew the audience away with her range later applauded during the best actress presentation by Shirley Maclain.
Then it was down to business and with the first award it looked like there would be no surprises as Penelope Cruz took out the award for Supporting Actress. Five previous winners of this award took to the stage – Tilda Swinton, Whoopi Goldberg, Anjelica Huston, Goldie Hawn and Eva Marie Saint, each expounding the talents of the five nominees before the announcement of the very first award for 2009.
And sure enough the night continued as planned. By mid way through the evening it was becoming obvious where the awards were headed, or so everyone imagined.
Heath Ledger received a posthumous award for Supporting Actor and the award was graciously accepted by his father Kim, his mother and his sister Kate. Members of the Academy held back the tears as they took possession of the little golden boy on behalf of Heath’s daughter Matilda. Presenters for this award included Cuba Gooding Jr and Kevin Kline.
The montage of those dearly departed included Cyd Charisse, Bernie Mac, Bud Stone, Ollie Johnston, Van Johnson, Michael Crichton, Nina Foch, Pat Hingle, Harold Pinter (writer), Charles H Joffe, Kon Ichiwaia, Abby Mann, Roy Scheider, David Watkin (DOP), Robert Mulligan (Director), Evelyn Keyes, Richard Widmark, Claude Berri, Maila Nurmi, Isaac Hayes, Leonard Roseman, Ricardo Montalban, Robert Doqui, James Dassin, Paul Schofield, John Michel Hayes, Ronald Cowan, Stan Winston, Ned Tanen, James Whitmore, Charlton Heston, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Paul Newman.
Shirley Maclain, Marie Cotillard, Halle Berry, Sophia Loren and Nicole Kidman presented the award for Actress in a Lead Role and after 5 previous nominations, Kate Winslet finally received her due for THE READER. Winslet portrays a young woman who has a brief affair with a much younger man having him read to her at every spare moment. Years later she is forced to stand trial for war crimes with accusations including forcing the women in the camp to read to her as a form of torture. If you have not yet seen this film, after all the accolades for her performance, perhaps this is one film that should be seen before it heads to DVD.
The award for Best Director went the way it was expected with the easy going Danny Boyle accepting for his work on the unexpectedly successful SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. All in all the film would take home 8 Oscars® over the course of the evening.
Robert DeNiro, Adrien Brody, Sir Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Douglas were on hand to present the award for Actor in a Lead Role. The best line of the evening came from DeNiro -
“How did he do it? How many years did Sean Penn get away with playing the straight man?”
After each presenter spoke of the talents and deserved recognition of the five men nominated, the award was finally handed to Sean Penn for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first gay man elected to official public office in the United States. It what was the only upset of the evening. While everyone thought Mickey Rourke was a sure thing, Penn slipped under the radar to claim his second OSCAR
“You Commie Homo loving Sons of Guns,” Penn began before thanking all those involved in the film He then touched upon the anti gay movement and the haters outside and pleaded for equal rights for all before ending with a special tribute to Gus Van Sant and a respectful nod to the return of the unlucky Rourke.
With only one award left for the evening, Steven Spielberg came forward to present the Best Picture Oscar and everything returned to normal as SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was announced as the number one film as voted by the members of AMPAS®. This ensemble piece probably drew the largest contingent in Academy history onto the stage, easily beating the crowd that gathered to accept the Best Picture for CRASH in 2006.
And with that the ceremony was over for another year as Hugh bade us farewell until next year.
This year the event was hosted by Australia’s man of the moment. Hugh Jackman took to the job like he had been at it for years. Mind you he has had a few TONY®© Awards to practice.
After the usual introduction and jokes Hugh launched into his opening number making light of the economic circumstances with a short musical number including the best picture nominees. Through the use of inexpensive, amateurish props, he also included a short tongue in cheek mini duet with Anne Hathaway using the best picture nominee FROST / NIXON. While everyone knows Hugh can sing, Miss Hathaway blew the audience away with her range later applauded during the best actress presentation by Shirley Maclain.
Then it was down to business and with the first award it looked like there would be no surprises as Penelope Cruz took out the award for Supporting Actress. Five previous winners of this award took to the stage – Tilda Swinton, Whoopi Goldberg, Anjelica Huston, Goldie Hawn and Eva Marie Saint, each expounding the talents of the five nominees before the announcement of the very first award for 2009.
And sure enough the night continued as planned. By mid way through the evening it was becoming obvious where the awards were headed, or so everyone imagined.
Heath Ledger as the Joker All rights: Warner
The montage of those dearly departed included Cyd Charisse, Bernie Mac, Bud Stone, Ollie Johnston, Van Johnson, Michael Crichton, Nina Foch, Pat Hingle, Harold Pinter (writer), Charles H Joffe, Kon Ichiwaia, Abby Mann, Roy Scheider, David Watkin (DOP), Robert Mulligan (Director), Evelyn Keyes, Richard Widmark, Claude Berri, Maila Nurmi, Isaac Hayes, Leonard Roseman, Ricardo Montalban, Robert Doqui, James Dassin, Paul Schofield, John Michel Hayes, Ronald Cowan, Stan Winston, Ned Tanen, James Whitmore, Charlton Heston, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack and Paul Newman.
Kate Winslet on Oscar Night
The award for Best Director went the way it was expected with the easy going Danny Boyle accepting for his work on the unexpectedly successful SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. All in all the film would take home 8 Oscars® over the course of the evening.
Robert DeNiro, Adrien Brody, Sir Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Douglas were on hand to present the award for Actor in a Lead Role. The best line of the evening came from DeNiro -
“How did he do it? How many years did Sean Penn get away with playing the straight man?”
After each presenter spoke of the talents and deserved recognition of the five men nominated, the award was finally handed to Sean Penn for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first gay man elected to official public office in the United States. It what was the only upset of the evening. While everyone thought Mickey Rourke was a sure thing, Penn slipped under the radar to claim his second OSCAR
“You Commie Homo loving Sons of Guns,” Penn began before thanking all those involved in the film He then touched upon the anti gay movement and the haters outside and pleaded for equal rights for all before ending with a special tribute to Gus Van Sant and a respectful nod to the return of the unlucky Rourke.
And with that the ceremony was over for another year as Hugh bade us farewell until next year.
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