The Movie Geek

By Brandon Athey- Features Editor

            The 75th Academy Awards were held on Sunday, with a combination of dull and surprising results. With the war in Iraq occurring simultaneously, the show wasn’t as glitzy and glamorous as usual, giving the ceremony an air of sadness.

            In fact, I feel that the awards should have been postponed for a later date, but my opinion is useless now that the show has already occurred.

            The show was so subdued, I fell asleep midway through. However, I awoke in time to see the  more surprising results.

            Michael Moore’s acceptance speech for his documentary “Bowling for Columbine” alienated those who gave him a standing ovation at the beginning of his acceptance speech. His ultra-liberal “fictitious war” speech shocked those in the audience, as well as those watching it on television, I presume.  Even as a liberal Democrat, I was offended by the speech. It was the wrong place and wrong time to make such a statement.

            I only predicted a few of the awards correctly this year.  I thought Daniel Day-Lewis was going to win the Best Actor award this year. I was so wrong. Adrien Brody won for his performance in “The Pianist” instead. His touching (and funny) speech was one of the highlights of this year’s Oscars. He called out to friends of his who are fighting in Iraq, which was quite moving. On a lighter note, Brody kissed Halle Barry when he picked up his award. I don’t know who was more surprised: Barry or the audience. All I can say is that Brody was one lucky guy that night.

            Another major category I botched was the Best Director category. I thought Martin Scorsese was going to win the award for “Gangs of New York” and to honor him for his previous body of work. Instead, exiled director Roman Polanski (he is hiding out in France due to rape charges) won for “The Pianist.” It just goes to show that artistic greatness and morals do not go hand in hand in  Hollywood.

            “Chicago's" win for Best Picture did not surprise me. Neither did Nicole Kidman’s win for “The Hours.” Chris Cooper won Best Supporting Actor for “Adaptation.” He wasn’t my first choice to win, but it didn’t surprise me either.

            Host Steve Martin did an excellent job balancing his dry humor with the proceedings. Along with Billy Crystal, he is the best person to host the event (Whoopi Goldberg does a decent job, but she doesn’t hold a candle to these guys). Martin was just what viewers needed to take their mind off the war.             

           To conclude, Hollywood is a dream factory, capable of giving people sublime fantasies. On Sunday night, a little fantasy took hold of the world, if only briefly.