BREAKING NEWS: ****ING INCREDIBLE!
6 Mar
In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Academy Awards, Crash won best picture over Brokeback Mountain tonight. I am very happy for Crash, which I think was tremendously deserving. But here-here to Brokeback, which will certainly not be forgotten. More to come…
EARLY MORNING UPDATE
Hi again, folks. I’m still catching my breath after the Crash victory, the biggest Oscar upset in my memory — even Shakespeare in Love was less of a shock when it upended Saving Private Ryan back in 1998. To paraphrase the newly-minted best picture winner, “You thought you knew who was gonna win? You had no idea!” Well, ahem, that may be true, but…
Despite missing picture (along with most of the rest of the world, with Ebert/Roeper/Carr being major exceptions), I had my best year for predictions ever — 21 of 24 correct calls — thanks mainly to nailing the smaller categories. According to Mark Bakalor over at OscarCentral.com, this is the highest score of any critic/prognosticator this year!
Anyway, I’m very anxious to hear your thoughts on host Jon Stewart, the speeches, the messages, and the award recipients. There are two things I have no interest in hearing about:
1) the fashion
2) allegations of homophobia against the Academy
You are more than welcome to disagree with the verdict for best picture (or other categories), but baseless accusations will not be tolerated. As someone who very much enjoyed and respected both Crash and Brokeback, I think both were films worthy of best picture, and while there may be a few in the Academy who did not approve of Brokeback‘s content, Crash won on its own merits. Tonight, we honor both films and another year that brought us some horrible films… but also some that won’t soon be forgotten.
What the…???? That is crazy?? This upends everything we know and care about in terms of precursors. If any movie has ever been a lock for a best pic oscar, BBM was surely it. Not to mention the fact that Brokeback is a far better movie than Crash! I’m dissapointed.
I guess Oscars really can be bought.
Okay, yes, brokeback mountain might’ve been a lock, but clearly, it’s not always about the best movie. It’s clearly about which movie has the most impact during the later run and it sucks but with all the brokeback jokes and the sickness of it, it lost its momentum.
I loved Crash and it was my favorite movie. Let us not forget, the cast of crash is a group of lovable actors/actresses and who are the main voters of the academy?
Actors, directors, producers, etc…
SHucks, CRASH WINS…
I AM EXTREMELY PLEASED…AND I ALSO PREDICTED IT!
Hey Scott. Just wanted to say thanks for your predictions – you’ve just helped me win the Oscars sweepstake at work. Twenty-five quid. If you ever make it over to the UK, I’ll buy you a pint. By the way, was it really you who visited my blog that time? (Existential Ennui)
“Crash won on its own merits.”
I agree 100%. I thoroughly enjoyed both films, and while I though all of the best picture contenders ranged from amazing to darn good, I think Crash completely deserved its win. I find it offensive to my intelligence as a moviegoer to suggest that only homophobes consider Crash better than Brokeback.
Hollywood and the Academy can’t be too liberal and out-of-touch AND too conservative and mainstream at the same time.
Haha Existential, it WAS Me! Do you like me a little more now? :) I’m glad you won your pool… it was a fun night to watch and, admittedly, it is fun to guess a lot of them correctly. (I’m gonna take you up on that if I get to the UK… what did you win at The Office? Anyway, congrats!)
Living in a fantasy world about what really happened last night isnt wise. This article bu Kennth Turan says it all.
http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/oscars/env-turan5mar05,0,5359042.story
Scott, you’re a gent. Excuse my idiocy when I posted about your blog originally. I was pretty new to the whole blogging thing and was looking for things to write about beyond my own negligible existence. Your site has, it turns out, proved invaluable (not to mention most amusing), so I humbly bow to you, sir. I have now put aside £2.50 from my £25 winnings to buy you a beer next time you’re in London.
If you get a free moment and you’re so inclined, feel free to swing by my blog again and prove to my daft friends it really was you who posted that time. Cheers!
http://existentialennui.blog.com/
Heh. That was quick! Nice one. Thanks Scott!
A pleasure.
first of all, congratulations scott on an amazing set of oscar predictions! i was very happy to get my 19/24 until i saw that you managed 21. my hat’s off to you!
in response to “crash” winning over “brokeback mountain”, i have quite a bit to say. first of all, i was one of those people who wanted “crash” to win – i simply felt “crash” was a better film.
before i go on, i should note that i watch well over 250 films a year and watched every oscar-nominated film released in toronto. (that means i saw 36 of the 40 nominated films and only missed three of the foreign films – “don’t tell”, “sophie scholl: final days” and “joyeux noel” and one of the docs – “street fight”.) i have studied filmmaking and film history at ryerson university, the leading film school in canada, have worked in many different parts of the film industry including managing a movie rental/retail store, working at the toronto int’l film fest, and various positions on actual film shoots. i love movies and have a deep passion for the entire process from writing to filming to distribution.
i was lucky enough to see “crash” at the 2004 toronto film fest and then again at an advanced screening at the beginning of may last year. at both screenings, the audience was deeply moved and it was not uncommon to find people who had obviously been crying – myself included. as soon as the film was released on dvd in september, i bought a copy and lent it to as many people as i could. not one person who saw it was unmoved including my dad who is more of an action/thriller-type guy and i was very worried would dismiss the whole movie. to me, “crash” is the perfect cinderella story in terms of the path it took to get made and finally get to podium. i would hope that anyone who dismisses that it was simply a 2nd choice to “brokeback” would take a second look and see that “crash” truly is deserving.
*spoilers ahead*
in regards to “brokeback mountain”, i would agree that it is easily one of the best movies of the year. i deeply enjoyed the film and was very impressed not only with the care ang lee took in the film’s direction but also with the music and strength of the actors’ performances. i read annie proulx’s short story after seeing the film and strongly agree that “brokeback” deserved the win for screenplay. honestly though, it wasn’t as controversial as many had tried to make it. essentially, ennis del mar never really comes to terms with his being gay – in fact the movie never really determines that he is. the story seems to imply that ennis simply fell in love with jack twist and jack was the only man ennis ever loved. notice that it is jack who initiates the relationship and is the constant suitor throughout the film. also worthy to note is that jack is unquestionably gay and is killed in the end because of it. at no point in the film does anyone stand up for gay rights or demonstrate a victory for the gay lifestyle. this is why i have a very hard time with people calling this movie a “gay cowboy film”. (also, they’re more shepherds than cowboys seeing as they take care of a bunch of sheep, not cows.) if you wanted to find a film that dealt more directly with our society’s problem with homophobia, you wouldn’t have to look very far – from 1985′s “my beautiful laundrette” with daniel day-lewis (which was nominated for best original screenplay at the oscars), 1992′s “crying game” (nominated for six oscars including best picture) and 1993′s “philadelphia” (nominated for five oscars) to more recent films like “boys don’t cry”, “hedwig and the angry inch” and “far from heaven”, hollywood has made many films that deal more specifically with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered lifestyles. i believe that if “brokeback” had sold itself as a very powerful love story instead of trying to create buzz around the fact the the lovers were both male, it would not only have been more honest with the audience but also wouldn’t have garnered the negative press it did.
in the end, academy voters picked their favourite film for many different reasons but i guarantee that there were many people who voted for “crash” not because they were put off by “brokeback mountain” but because, like me, they felt that “crash” was the better film.
Very impressive stuff Alex! Thanks for sharing, and please come back.
I just wanted to give my reaction to the Crash win over Brokeback. I don’t know if there were many others who feel the same way but here’s the thing: I personally liked Crash better than Brokeback, even liked Munich better. Maybe it was because my expectations were too high when I went to see it (it had already won a lot of awards) or maybe not. But I still wanted Brokeback to win, because I think that its a more important film than Crash and a win would certainly be more important and relevant in the Oscar history than Crash winning is. It was the most talked about film of the year and and has gained an importance on movies culture.
Still it was a very weird Oscars for me because I was sad that the film I liked better won! Never has that happened before for me and I hope it doesn’t happen again.