"CRASH"ing the Party

An unbelievable night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood was capped off around 11:30 eastern time as Jack Nicholson presented the Oscar for Best Picture, with Ang Lee winning best director, statistics basically say that Brokeback Mountain would be a shoe-in right after Lee took home his first trophy. But as Nicholson took the stage most viewers and audience members knew the award was between “Brokeback Mountain,” and “Crash.”

Nicholson along with the entire viewing audience was shocked as “Crash” was named best picture of 2005 as the frontrunner for months, “Brokeback Mountain,” was upset by the low-budget ensemble piece involving race-relations in modern day Los Angeles during a 36 hour period.

Ang Lee left the building shell-shocked, as he slowly left with disbelief running through his body, as the “Crash” cast celebrated like it was an early New Year. I cannot say how happy I am to have witnessed my favorite film of 2005 pull it off, the momentum that it had being gaining leading up to the show had been enormous and the vast efforts run by the staff to promote the film started when they showered Oscar voters with “Crash” DVD’s left and right, which could play a strong role in future promotional strategies. One things for sure, the controversial film certainly “CRASHED” the party and left everyone breathless.

In other major categories both favorites for leading actor and actress ran away victorious as Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Reese Witherspoon both won respectively as they both gave great speeches praising there families for how they were raised, and so on.

In the supporting races, 3 time nominee of the night George Clooney went 1/3 as he snagged his first Oscar for his role in Syriana, Clooney’s speech was politically correct as he was honored to be a member of such an honorable and humble group as the Academy. Pregnant Rachel Weisz shined with glamour as she accepted her award with class and sophistication, also garnering his first Oscar for her role in “The Constant Gardener.”

Jon Stewart reviews came late the same night, and early the next morning as he was sworn in as first time host, and praised with words such as fresh, funny, and possibly a keeper as the Academy and critics seem to have appreciated the work that he did hosting. He wasn’t over the top, he wasn’t too political, and he didn’t do what most expected, a 3 hour gay joke on Brokeback’s behalf.

Many of the night’s nominess are also available on dvd, I will name the following that I recommend….
Crash
The Constant Gardener
Hustle & Flow
Cinderella Man
Walk the Line
North Country
Batman Begins