Stars will once again sweep their way across the Academy Awards' famed red carpet Sunday while all of Los Angeles (and much of America) watches. It will be, without a doubt, Us Weekly's favorite event of 2006. But while George Clooney's vintage buttons and whatever racy dress Scarlett Johannson wears will be the talk of the town, the real stories of the evening will have already been told and seen: they are found in the films of the past year.
In 2005, "big issues" took center stage in film-Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck tackled American political issues, Munich took on international ones; Brokeback Mountain checked homosexuality off the list, and Crash covered racial conflict. Even foreign films like Paradise Now, Munich's topical step-brother, asked important questions about the state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This year Hollywood has found significant profits in small-budget features like Brokeback Mountain and Crash. This, combined with a longstanding Oscar tradition of awarding box-office success, makes this year's nominees unsurprising, said Sasha Stone, webmaster of OscarWatch.com, a website devoted to year-round Oscar coverage. Crash, for example, has grossed more than $50 million on a $6.5-million budget, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. King Kong, on the other hand, grossed $216 million on a $207-million budget. The difference in net profit is extreme. "It has been a year when the big studio Hollywood films didn't scratch the itch [of the American public]," Stone wrote in an e-mail. "They covered topics no one really cares about right now: Geisha girls, giant apes and Cinderella men."
But Stone believes it's not only a lack of interesting Hollywood fare that has made the Academy turn to smaller films. "The political atmosphere made them feel like [the nominated films] all had to be about something," she said. And politics are everywhere in this year's Oscars-not only in the nominated films but also in the choice of host. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart will MC the telecast, and many online blogs predict Stewart will bring his New York liberalism with him on the flight west.
The Academy is excited about Stewart, whose hosting appearance will mark the first time the Academy has geared toward a younger audience, Academy publicist Teni Melidonian said. "Jon is the perfect choice-he's got the audience we want, and he's a wonderful comedian."
Melidonian acknowledged that Stewart's current position at the head of The Daily Show, a show known for its biting satire, lends credance to a political theme for this Oscar telecast. However, she was quick to bring the topic back to Stewart's comedic abilities. "While there is a connection [between Stewart and politics], it is not the reason he was chosen," Melidonian said. "He was chosen because he's great on stage, and he'll add a great element to the show."
National politics aside, one thing the Oscars have always promised is some element of cultural elitism. "They don't really award deserving winners," Stone said. "It is a game that must be played like a political race; who you are and how much they like you matters more than the kind of work you do.. [Best Actor nominee] Philip Seymour Hoffman has been snubbed for every performance up to Capote. They like him now, so he's in."
Besides favoritism, the Oscars also have a history of rewarding performers for their careers rather than their individual performances. Denzel Washington, for example, won a Best Actor Oscar for Training Day after failing to secure the same award two years earlier for his more critically acclaimed performance as Rubin Carter in The Hurricane (Kevin Spacey won for his work in American Beauty instead). In this vein, some expect Paul Giamatti to pull an upset in the Supporting Actor category. He's nominated for his turn as boxing coach Joe Gould in the well-reviewed but box office-deficient Cinderella Man, but some think he's owed an Oscar for Alexander Payne's Sideways.
By this time each year there seems to be a front runner in the race for Best Picture, and this year is no different. Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's controversial gay-cowboy film, has been gathering steam since it picked up numerous awards in late 2005. Some, however, are pulling for Crash, which has been making a late run at the award on the heels of praise from critics like Roger Ebert, who compared the film's storytelling to the canon of Charles Dickens.
Stone said that should not stop the early frontrunner from holding on. "Brokeback Mountain has to win," she said. "It has seeped into pop culture; everyone is talking about it."
But Stone cautions prospective Oscar betters from being over-confident that Brokeback will take the statuette. "Remember, nobody knows anything," Stone said. "It's all just a big guess."
When Sunday rolls around, all the predictions will finally end. Americans will tune in ready for the new Oscars, a celebration of films past and present hosted by a smart-aleck at the pinnacle of his career. There will be surprises; there will be touching moments; there will be speeches much longer than they should be. And, if the Academy has anything to say about it, there will be plenty of razzle-dazzle. "Every year has its differences," Melidonian said. "But the goal is always to produce a wonderful show that the world will watch."
Most of all, what will be left will be the films that will continue on into the annals of Oscar history: the movies of 2005.
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