current issue | main page | infotainment | past editions | special events | classifieds...a-l | classifieds...m-z | feedback!

REEL TO REAL
by Chuc LaVenture
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

The 70th Annual Academy Awards

Almost four hours, two billion people, and no real surprises is a nice description of this year's Academy Awards. I love the Academy Awards for the same reasons we all do: the celebrities, the gowns, the tuxedos, and the jewelry. I have to say, though, this year wasn't a great year for any of these. Billy Crystal did, as usual, an exceptional job of hosting, scripting amazingly funny skits and being there with ad-libs that you might swear to God were scripted. It was his expert comedic talent that kept the Academy Awards special, which ran far too long for my poor old gay bones. The whole affair this year was, to my mind, too tame, too polite, too well crafted. I, like many, would like to see a little controversy. I'd like to believe that our last great bastion of freedom of speech, the entertainment industry, has not succumbed to that pallid, mediocre concept-political correctness.

The entertainment industry is peopled with creative directors, actors, and writers. These are people who do what they do because they have something to say, and it ain't always pretty to look at what they want us to see. Helen Hunt, in As Good As It Gets, portrayed, and beautifully, what a mother goes through when trying to use a government system that is simply over-worked, under-staffed and ultimately unfeeling. I find it odd that she didn't mention the plight of her character in her acceptance speech. Jack Nicholson was very well schooled in what the life of an Obsessive-Compulsive must be. My review of the movie lauded him for the authenticity of his performance. Robert Duvall was absolutely frightening as the Evangelical preacher in The Apostle, and would certainly have deserved the Oscar, but I believe that what he had to say was outside the scope of Hollywood's safety zone.

There were no real surprises in the rest of the awards ceremony. Who else could have won for Best Original Screenplay but Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting. The script was engrossing. They were shoo-ins. Makeup went to Men in Black, which many might consider an upset for Titanic, but I don't agree. Titanic's makeup claim to fame was the authentic look of the floating dead but, frankly, Hollywood's done the dead well since the 30's. Titanic taking Best Picture, Director, Film Editing, Original Song, Original Dramatic Score, Art Direction, Cinematography, Visual Effects, Costume Design, Sound Effects Editing, and Sound is all credible. This was a $200 million dollar epic. The scope of the tasks required to reproduce this tragedy had to have been as epic as the film itself. I laud James Cameron for reminding us all that this film was not just entertainment, but an account of a tragedy in which thousands lost their lives.

current issue | main page | infotainment | past editions | special events | classifieds...a-l | classifieds...m-z | feedback!