The 2006 Academy Awards
‘Crash’-ing the Party and the ‘Broke’-Backlash

Sunday’s Academy Award’s was (for me) one of the best shows in recent memory. The show itself even outdid last years’, where Million Dollar Baby (my absolute favorite film of the year) received all of the credit and acclaim (deservedly so). This year’s show, however, was on a whole other level. This view, though, seems to put me in a great minority.

First, why it was great:

John Stewart: The best performance by a host since….well, since I can remember (I guess the first time I saw Billy Crystal as a kid—although Stewart’s has been more closely compared to the great Johnny Carson, whom I am not quite old enough to recall).

Meryl Streep and Lili Tomlin introducing Robert Altman. And, no speech was better than Altman’s acceptance of his Honorary Oscar!

Three Six Mafia. Enough said.

Best Original Score: Brokeback Mountain. Absolutely deservedly so!

Reese Witherspoon's win and her speech.

George Clooney at the podium. His acceptance speech was the kind that should be emulated by all. Not just a laundry list of “Thank you’s”, but a real effort to say something important. Not to mention, he deserved the award.

Wallace and Gromit!! “Cheese Gromit, Cheeeeese!” Absolutely one of the funniest and most delightful films of the year.

Although it was no surprise, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s win could not have been more deserved. Certainly the other nominees were great, but Hoffman’s performance was of another world.

And finally, the best part of the evening (and the worst for many others) was the final award of the evening. And the Oscar goes to...: Crash. “Wow,” says Jack Nicholson. Wow, indeed. The Crash victory was surprising and fantastic. The only film on the shortlist, that I regarded as having been better, was Capote.

And, then came the backlash:

Never in my entire life have I experienced such strong resentment towards the Oscars. I had no idea that a Crash victory would upset so many people, and that so many people would take it so personally. Every year there is a favorite for Best Picture and about 99% of the time I do not share the sentiment for that film. And usually, it’s a film that falls back on my list to about # 20; Lord of the Rings, Chicago, Gladiator, Titanic (just to name a few in recent memory). A Brokeback Mountain victory would have sat about the same with me--a fine film, but not the best. However, sometimes, they get it right; Million Dollar Baby, Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump, American Beauty. Now, this is just my opinion. The Academy always disappoints us or excites us with their picks—and that disappointment or excitement is different for each individual every year. Why this year’s decision to proclaim Crash (a fine film) as the Best Picture of the year has been met with such anger and backlash, is quite comical…

Here are some excerpts from web pundits and newspaper columnists on the Crash victory:

This from Fennec (The Awards Database):

Now it might be homophobia, or it might not, we just don't know. It may be stupid actors voting for the actor-rich movie, we don't know. Whatever the reason, this piece of shit has forced me to do something I didn't think possible. I give up.

I cannot bring myself to update this website saying that the film the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences selected was the best of the year. Therefore, the Fennec Awards Database is closing down. Effective immediately there will be no more updates to the film side (the Tony’s section will have an update later this year).

I had no idea that my personal joy at going to the movies and seeing them rewarded with Oscars could be so irreparably destroyed. But tonight it has been. I see roughly 200 per year (and pay for each and every one of them) and have paid for this website out of my personal pocket for the last 10 years. And after this travesty, it just doesn't seem worth it to continue if this is the crap the Academy will acclaim.

I cannot help but read this and do anything but laugh. Certainly I have been in places where I have felt that way about the Academy’s decision—well maybe not quite so angry as to call the actors “stupid” and the whole of the Academy “homophobic”. Hence the hilarity.

And wait, there’s more. From Defamer:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! God help us all. The sky has opened, Beezlebub has dumped his infernal payload of obvious evil on an unsuspecting Earth. Life as we know it is over. Drive to the desert and start a new civilization, hoping that our horrible, horrible mistakes will not be repeated. This is the end, friends. See you in Hell.

WORST. OSCARS. EVER.

Why don’t you people tell us how you really feel? This from Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times:

Breaking no ground

Why 'Crash' won, why 'Brokeback' lost and how the academy chose to play it safe.
By Kenneth Turan, Times Staff Writer

And that’s just the title!…

Here’s a little snipped from the article:

In the privacy of the voting booth, as many political candidates who've led in polls only to lose elections have found out, people are free to act out the unspoken fears and unconscious prejudices that they would never breathe to another soul, or, likely, acknowledge to themselves. And at least this year, that acting out doomed "Brokeback Mountain.

Huh? So, Turan is saying that once people got their ballots, they acted out their true homophobic, conservative feelings…JESUS! Isn’t that presumptuous. Why does the Academy’s decision have to be political? This is getting ridiculous.

Okay, so, why all the fuss? Why all the anger? Why is someone who prefers Crash to Brokeback Mountain “homophobic” or “playing it safe”? Why do people who love Brokeback Mountain hate Crash? Are they opposites of some kind? Was there some hidden message buried in both of the films that was lost on me? I happen to really love Crash, and find Brokeback Mountain to be just another good film in a year with many. Why does that make me a bad person?

Sure, maybe the Academy decided to vote for Crash over Brokeback because they were tired of Brokeback’s rampant success at award shows, and did not believe it to be so incredibly transcendent. But, maybe, just maybe, the majority of them found it to be a better film; I certainly know a lot of people that did (none of which are homophobes). And, is it not possible that Crash beat out Brokeback by just a few votes? I mean, we did know going into the show that it was going to be a close race; that a lot of people loved Crash and a lot of people loved Brokeback.

It is time to borrow the words from a greater writer that I, and Crash’s greatest champion, Roger Ebert:

Of course not. "Brokeback Mountain" was simply a better movie than "Capote." And "Crash" was better than "Brokeback Mountain," although they were both among the best films of the year. That is a matter of opinion. But I was not "discomfited" by "Brokeback Mountain." Read my original review. I chose "Crash" as the best film of the year not because it promoted one agenda and not another, but because it was a better film.

The nature of the attacks on "Crash" by the supporters of "Brokeback Mountain" seem to proceed from the other position: "Brokeback" is better not only because of its artistry but because of its subject matter, and those who disagree hate homosexuals. Its supporters could vote for it in good conscience, vote for it and feel they had made a progressive move, vote for it and not feel that there was any stain on their liberal credentials for shunning what "Crash" had to offer.

And, one final note to all you Crash bashers out there: Remember back in the summer when Crash was the beloved film of the year, and the only film regarded as worthy of winning the Best Picture Oscar? Only a handful of people seemed to hate it so much then. This backlash strikes me as very misplaced and very silly. If last year, there had been the kind of widespread support for CrashMillion Dollar Baby going into the Oscars, as there was for Brokeback Mountain, and The Aviator had pulled an upset, would we all be screaming so loudly? Would everyone proclaim to never watch the Oscars again? I doubt it. In fact, even I, who regard Million Dollar Baby as one of the best films of the decade, would have been fine with The Aviator winning. Sure, I would have been disappointed and felt they got it wrong. But, The Aviator was also a great film and one of my favorites from last year. And was Crash not also a great film and one of many peoples favorites from last year? All of this anger and all of this hooting and hollering is beginning to get out of hand. Let it go.

If Brokeback Mountain was your favorite film of the year, then enjoy it and claim it so to yourself and your friends and fellow film lovers. Because, after all, isn’t the Academy Awards just a reminder to all of us, of why we are so passionate about the movies. I am glad that the Oscars have sparked such heavy discussion over what the best film of the year actually is; for me it was The Constant Gardener. I am, however, not angered or embittered that it was not nominated for Best Picture; I am happy that it won the Oscar for Rachel Weisz.

So, lets put all this behind us. Let’s cherish, each of us, the films we held in high regard from last year, in our hearts and minds. But now, let's move on to 2006, because we have another year at the movies ahead of us. In fact in April alone we have a great number of films to look forward to from directors such as: Curtis Hanson, Ridley Scott, Larry Clark, and Terry Zwigoff. So, please, let’s move on and look forward to the great year ahead.

Good night, and good luck…

Next up for me: A preview of 2006 at the movies.