"BEHIND THE SCENES"

It all started on May 16, 1929, in the Blossom Room of Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel.
The tickets were sold at a price of 10 dollars each, and there were almost 250 guests for the first ceremony. Until 1953, the ceremony was held in hotel ballrooms or meeting rooms, and it was not broadcast live. The first live show, hosted by Bob Hope, took place on March 19, 1953. Sculptor George Stanley designed the famous statue. Upon seeing it, the secretary of the Academy is said to have remarked, "This looks just like my uncle Oscar." From that time up to now, the statue has been called Oscar, and the ceremony--formally known as the Academy Awards--referred to as, simply, the Oscars.
There are actually 24 different categories of Academy Awards. However, the "Best Picture," "Best Actor," "Best Actress," "Best Directing" and "Best Writing" awards are the most important ones, the "big five." So far, the only three movies to have received all five are: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and "Silence of the Lambs" (1991). In this column, I'm going to analyze the 77th Academy Awards in terms of these five main categories.
Actor in a Leading Role: I wanted Johnny Depp to win the award so badly. However, Jamie Foxx's portrayal of Ray Charles in "Ray" was incredible. It seemed to be a tight competition among the candidates; however, Foxx easily emerged as the winner from a field that also included Eastwood, Depp, DiCaprio and Cheadle. It was kind of funny to see DiCaprio in that list, because he is way too inexperienced compared to the others. It would have been disrespectful to the masters to have given the award to DiCaprio, since he was not that "perfect" in his role.
Actress in a Leading Role: Unfortunately I haven't seen any of the movies with a nomination in this category except "Million Dollar Baby." Thus, it would be unfair for me to judge the other candidates. However, honestly speaking, I saw Hilary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby" and loved her performance. No question! Anyone who gave such a mind-blowing performance should take the Oscar home, and she did.
Picture: I never believed that "The Aviator" could get the Oscar in this category, because I didn't enjoy the film at all. It was like a TV movie. And it's natural that "Ray" didn't get the award, because it's about Ray Charles' life. The important thing is how Charles' character was portrayed on the silver screen, and what made this movie special was Foxx's performance. These films aside, I was really in a dilemma, since I wasn't sure whether "Million Dollar Baby" or "Finding Neverland" would come out on top. Both movies affected me through their use of details related to real life. However, in my opinion, a flawless performance from a strong cast put "Million Dollar Baby" one step ahead, and the Academy agreed.
(I haven't seen "Sideways" yet, so I can't comment on that one.)
Directing: Without a doubt, I believed that "The Aviator" wasn't strong enough to win many Oscars. I was kind of surprised when I saw that it had been nominated for 11 Academy Awards. No matter how great Martin Scorsese is as a director, the content of the movie detracted from the director's strength. On the other hand, by using a pure and simple story, Clint Eastwood created a piece of art. As "Million Dollar Baby" progresses, you realize that the film deepens step by step.
The clever combination of a simple story with a realistic but tragic ending resulted in a movie that rings true, and also resulted in a well-deserved Oscar for Eastwood.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): I haven't yet had a chance to see "Sideways," the Oscar-winner in this category, so I can't evaluate whether or not it deserved the award. But among the other nominees in this category, I found the writing content of "Finding Neverland" really strong in nearly all respects, just like that of "Million Dollar Baby."
All in all, I believe that in most of the 24 categories, the Oscars went to people who deserved them. It's nice that the Academy wasn't deceived by "The Aviator"'s 11 nominations. Have fun and stay cool.

atilla_karakurum@yahoo.com