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Post Game Wrap-up

Well, it was quite a show, wasn't it? Before I get to my general thoughts on the evening, the results of my annual bet with my father: for the third time in the roughly 15 years that we've been doing this thing, I'm saddened to report that we tied, and it's all thanks to Nicole Kidman. I must say, I really was surprised that she won, and it really did have to be a close call with her and Renee Zelwegger. Still, I owe the fact that I didn't lose to my long-shot pick of Pedro Almodovar for screenplay, and I'm perfectly happy to take a tie as opposed to the shame of losing outright.

Some other thoughts on the results:

• Re: Michael Moore's speech: you give an award to Michael Moore, that's what you get. I agreed with what he was saying, but wish it wasn't quite as angry as it was. But then, I wouldn't have expected anything less from him, and something different would have felt phoney.
• Was it just me, or did Diane Lane look absolutely stunning? If the way you dress to the ceremony is what determined the winner, she should have gotten that best actress award.
• Adrien Brody? Roman Polanski? Good gravy, who saw that one coming? All hard-earned awards to be sure, but very surprising. Also surprising was the audience's favorable reception of Polanski's name being called. Given his past, there just as easily could have been some boos.
• The winner of the best speech award goes to Conrad W. Hall, for that loving tribute to his father. Really touching, and that award was well deserved.
• Runner up goes to Adrien Brody, who managed to give a message of peace without being blunt or angry. Very classy.
• Nicole Kidman looked this year like Jennifer Connelly did last year. Gorgeous women looking frumpy. It's a crime, really.
• It's definitely a shame Eminem didn't accept his award or perform his winning song...either would have been an entertaining moment.
• The show felt a lot more thrown together this year...the gathering of past winners was nice, but kinda pointless. And what was up with not performing the winning scores?
• He didn't win, but I think I'm going to have to run out and buy Philip Glass' score to The Hours. The snippits played during that best picture segment reminded me of how good it was. And while Glass didn't win, at least he lost to Elliot Goldenthal for his decidedly un-Oscar-like score for Frida. Very surprising, but at least it was a quality soundtrack.

So there you have it...another Oscar year behind us. While it wasn't included in my bet with my Father (or mentioned in my article at Shacknews), I was pleased to see my off-the-books prediction for The Chubb Chubbs be accurate. Pixar is always the favorite for the animated short category, but Mike's New Car just wasn't up to their usual quality level (being basically a DVD extra, this was to be expected). If you missed some part of the show, here's the full list of winners, care of the official Oscar site. G'night everybody!

Posted by jason at March 24, 2003 12:29 AM | TrackBack | Read more: The Oscars