K/O: Hollywood Legend Keeps Title from the Hands of the Little Italian

Split the votes - HA! The Academy ain't doing no 'please everyone' voting this year. They ain't even thinking about distributive justice. It was all about rewarding the Best Film and the people that made it that way. Guess that's sorta what the Oscars are about , we just don't see it much anymore. Or rather, the connectedness of it all doesn't always present itself. And although I thought Million Dollar Baby was the best picture (of those nominated anyway), I don't think that Freeman and Swank outshone their fellow nominees. But, since Million Dollar Baby is nothing without them...

In business we call it "bottom up strategy". You choose Million Dollar Baby as the bottom line best film. Then, you back track to find the elements that made it that way. So we get surprise announcements of Morgan Freeman in the first half hour. And Knife-Through-the-Heart -of-Annette-Benning Awards in the last 20 minutes.

My sentiments got four calls right - no shame in them being the most obvious ones and the Best Picture winner.
But what about the rest of the telecast you ask? ... Oh, you didn't? Well too bad, here are some random thoughts anyway...

Sean Combs' total snub of E!Talk Daily's Ben Mulroney on the red carpet during the CTV pre-show was priceless and a wonderful punishment for Ben's fan-boy foolishness in his other interviews.

Beyonce pulls a hat trick, including one in French. Day-um that girl is beautiful, can sing and rocks eyeshadow like noone else.

Pierce Brosnon does the most seemless co-present with an animated character in telecast history (he must have gone to rehearsal) and Edna Mole steals the scene completely.

The new twist of having in-the-crowd awards is a stroke of timing brilliance but a sad theft of spotlight for the winners. This move solidifies the Oscars as a TV spectacle over an awards gathering of peers.

Chris Rock is the man. He was brash, loud and borderline insulting in the right combination. His on-the-street segment brought the pathetic reality of mainstream filmgoing right to the Academy door and put more black faces on the telecast than ever before.

Clive Owen is devastatingly HOT!

I know declare Martin Scorcese the Susan Lucci of the Academy Awards.

Best Dressed goes to Kate Winslet because I covet her blue gown completely and to Jaime Foxx who knows how a tie, shirt and jacket work together.

Little Gold Men

Today is Oscar Day! The second time that the Academy of Motion Pictures & Sciences has dropped this holiday on us in February. A fantastic switch from my student POV because this week is WAY LESS busy than the third week in March - lemme tell ya!
Oscar Day is the Xmas holiday of Hollywood-philes. It is a tradition in my house. On Oscar Day my mom and I put on our satin pajamas and I curl up with my pink feather boa. We make insane quantities of popcorn and drink tall glasses of bubbly ginger ale!
The downside is that my parents don't have cable. This means no two-hour, red carpet pre-show (commercial free!) on the E!/Star! Network. It also happens that presenters can have more than two eyes or end up co-presenting with themselves because we just can't get the station tuned perfectly. It makes it hard to critique the fashions when you see them in the wrong tint. But we persevere - we never miss a telecast.

The other fantastic part of Oscar Day is picking my winners. I'm never in an Oscar Pool because a)I'm not a gambler and b)I have personal faves for which I cheer. Here they are:

Best Adapted Screenplay: Before Sunset - its an underdog but a real wonder and joy in movie dialogue and to be swept away by these characters again (who essentially do nothing but talk during the film) is noteworthy.

Best Original Screenplay: The Incredibles - I think this is the best film achievement of the year and when you can put ANYTHING in your screenplay and you make a film this tight, entertaining and sincere then the prize should be yours.

Animated Feature: The Incredibles - a total gimme, darling.

Best Supporting Actor: Clive Owen (Closer) - without question, the character of Larry is one of the best screen performances of the year. Clive makes the man both sexy and disgusting and is magnetic in a way that none of the other nominees come close to.

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (The Aviator) - it cannot be easy to step into the role of a beloved Hollywood star, especially one that was a 'character' in herself. And this story of Howard Hughes would be hollow without the influence of Blanchett's Hepburn - which is exactly why it is the BEST supporting performance.

Best Actor: Jamie Foxx (Ray) - this one is a very close call as I believe Leo is also deserving of some hardware this year and if Foxx hadn't played Ray (in the year Ray Charles died!) then it would have been gold for DiCaprio. But this award is for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role and that is what Foxx delivered. When I think of the fact that he is NOT Ray Charles, NOT blind and just creating all of it on a soundstage surrounded by extras and crew members and never delivers a false note? That is oscar material.

Best Actress: Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) - this is an understated performance compared to the others and the film's position as a quirky rather than straight-up drama makes it harder to see the genius of the work. But that is why it is better than the rest.

Best Director: Martin Scorcese (The Aviator) - people will argue that it is not his best work, but it is the best work in directing of this year's nominees. The scope of the story is demanding and Scorcese is excellent at spinning out a comprehensive tale. He captures the look of the time brilliantly and establishes some wonderful set pieces. And, he filmed one of the most shock-inducing plane crashes ever. To know that all we see in the Aviator he envisioned and then realized is amazing.

Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby - its rare that I will select a film that is different from the director because I do believe the two are intertwined. However, on my list of five best, MDB edges The Aviator slightly because it is a more solid film. It is what films are about in a wholistic sense and it pulls you through the story in an engaging and, ultimately, devasting way.

Raye's Top Five Films 2004:
The Incredibles
Closer
Million Dollar Baby
The Aviator
Before Sunset

"The Correct Answer is...Cool Hand Luke"

Tonight I decided to indulge in the baby blues of Mr. Paul Newman as one of his most famous anti-hero characters. (Okay, so the guy practically invented the type but that aside, Cool Hand Luke is one of the best.)

See, I was going to do some homework tonight. Had it all planned out and prioritized. I even bookmarked the appropriate readings. And then, Saturday Night at the Movies starts on TVO and it's showing CHL, with no commercials. Goodbye to Reading #4. Hello to the Best looking man in movies - evah! (And cheers to TVO for the outstanding programming - people just don't seem to understand the glory of public television!)

With my chai tea and buttered popcorn I settled into two hours of 1967 movie bliss. A clean, tight film that allows its characters to speak without a soundtrack and for the audience to fall in love with the lead without even trying. And Newman, good lord, the man has got to be the smoothest actor around. Effortless, from start to finish. When he shows up on screen, there is NO "failure to communicate".

Fish, Rugby Shorts and all things "Husky"

It has been confirmed (well, sort of - in a more or less manner, just waiting for the official paperwork) that I have been accepted to the MBA program at the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary's University!
SMU is located in the fish city of Halifax and the school is throwing $5000 of entrance money at me as a lure. However, SMU has many other attractions: historic buildings, a small and collaborative MBA program that spends the first two weeks on a "team-building retreat" at the beach, the Halifax culture - fast emerging as a hotspot for both music and film, the Huskies football team that is one of the best in the Canadian university league, a rugby club which means rugby players on campus, and a sea full of fishermen to catch. Excited? Me? Just a tad maybe.

Other things that rocked this week?
Secure Sovereignty: "Canada WILL NOT take part in the proposed missile defense system"
Mocha & Coffee Romance: Neela & Gallant "SQUEE-age" on ER sweeps
Losing a Lemke: the marriage of my step-sister in true J.Lo fashion of 48hr notice ... cheers to Mrs. Trisha Braun!!
Impulsive Purchases: a new, faux-croc, perriwinkle blue handbag