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.
Incomprehensible for liberal Jews and a reproof to liberal Catholics. I am sure that no one in the Academy saw "The Gospel of John" which cast much more blame on the Jewish leadership than "The Passion did." But it was seen only by a few million movie-goers.
she gave a great performance.....alot of actors are B movie actors until they get their big break......she won several years ago also.....I don't think it is a fluke.....The movie as a whole was excellent and like Clint said, did not promote assisted suicide, it was part of the book....didn't we hate it when the Jewish community said Passion was about villifying Jews?.....well same goes here, it was a story and it was revealed on the screen, nothing more, nothing less
It doesn't? Doesn't the Eastwood character kill off the Swank character in the end? And isn't the audience supposed to be sympathetic toward the Eastwood character? I mean, he's not the villain of the piece, is he?
Obviously I have not seen this film, nor will I ever. The subject matter just doesn't interest me.
(I have enjoyed many Eastwood films in the past, both starring and directing, but haven't seen any since 1993's "In the Line of Fire.")
Agree completely. The Carson tribute was terrible. Chris Rock was racial and boring. The only spark was the cat fight between Rock and Sean Penn regarding Jude Law. Huge yawner. The worst Oscars in recent memory, and the bar is soooo low.
The short story doesn't glorify euthanasia either. Try reading it before attacking.
ok ok calm down, my question was about Swank's acting and you saw the movie I didn't yet. She's got a great body as shown off in that gown tonight, I liked her in insomnia, but the win a few years ago was because she played a female transvestite who is dating a girl and gets raped and murdered by the girl's redneck family. It was largely unwatchable and I firmly believe she won because of the "alternate lifestyle" portrayal. But I'll take your word on this one.
Who cares. We all know what picture was truely the best this year...
I'm not going to see this movie.
Several of my closest friends went, and hated it. They felt ripped off, frankly.
Give it up, its hard to argue and have a deate with someone who is SOOOOO against something and then in the next breath ADMITS that he hasnt seen the film in question.
haha.......ok......by the way....I"m one of the calmest people you will find....just stating my opinion
Did anyone notice how FAT BARBARA STREISAND WAS????
She still has no taste in clothing. I have always considered her to be totally lacking in talent both singing and acting. She looked drunk or high on tranquilizers....a poor imitation of Terhesa HEINZ ( No Kerry name anymore). And no reading glasses? that was so stupid..like she didn't know she would be reading the answer. gosh is she just totally awful.
At least I got a lot of laundry done tonite...the Oscars were THAT interesting.
Ho hum.
but Charles, that is the end of the story as written. This was just part of the plot......just like Passion did not villify the Jews as was asserted, this was simply a story with the end as written.....doesn't mean Clint supports it
Unbelievable that "Ray" didn't win best picture. For those of you who haven't seen Ray please rent it. Jamie Foxx gives a scathing, dead-on performance of Ray Charles. Foxx is the next Tom Hanks.
Rock's "joke" analogy to Bush getting a lot of Gap employees kiled for nothing (meaning our brave soldiers in Iraq) was tasteless, and I actually like Chris Rock.
The show was weak, and was Dustin Hoffman on something at the end. I think Streissand had to take his hand off her and he certainly seemed out of it.
Hollywood could not resist a chance to show its open hatred of Christianity.
She must be depressed about Bush's reelection, and when you're depressed you eat. Remember Al Gore.
Too bad. You missed the best movie of the year, besides The Passion of the Christ, which will be a classic.
I guess I'm just "out of it".....but who is Jude Law? I've never heard of him so I guess I missed 50% of Rock's so-called jokes.
Excellent post. These are story elements used to bring out character traits. Killing someone on film is not advocating killing in life; it's merely setting up a fictional world where we can go to extremes to see how we think about the underlying issues in these stories. And Eastwoods movies are good at looking at such issues in an uncommonly straightforward way.
"Obviously I have not seen this film, nor will I ever. The subject matter just doesn't interest me."
Forgive me for saying this but, don't you feel a wee bit stupid for commenting on a film you haven't seen? If I came out and made my opinion known and then was stupid enough to admit I'd never seen the movie, I'd be wincing inside every time I thought about it.
She got her duds at a schmata shop. She is the definitional meeskeit.
Occur to you that not all movies or novels or plays have villians?
It was a great crime two years ago when the Academy snubbed Martin Scorsese for Best Director, in favor of a child molester Roman Polanski.
I gather she gets injured and will be paralyzed or brain damaged if she lives and Clint pulls the plug. Is that right? Because I could see if SHE wanted to die and he honored her wish, I could sympathize. But if Clint made the decision did he have a reason? What I've heard is that Clint's character had let his own kid down years before. Wouldn't pulling the plug on Hilary be kind of shirking caring for her? So a repeat of failing to come through? I didn't see it so please enlighten me.
Darn and we will never know if the film deserved it because we would not watch a movie about boxing. If is as 'good' as 'Unforgivin' I am sure we would not watch it if we did watch movies about boxing.
excellent post......and you are right on as usual....the conspiracy theories here sometimes boggle my mind
I don't mind comedians making fun of Bush. Letterman and Leno do it all the time and it makes me laugh.
But Rock's Gap analogy to the War on Terror was not funny and was very contrived. It might have made sense if he added the part about "Burka-rama" burning down two Gap stores and killing thousands of employees.
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