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March 05, 2006

Oscarblogging 2006 VI

Time for the last original song: "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp," an interesting new direction for the Oscars. Does it make sense for a woman to be singing this song, given that a stereotypical pimp is a man? At least these women has an excuse for dressing like whores, I suppose. Not exactly family fare, though. "Daddy, what's a pimp?"

Well, it may be hard, but apparently it's the route to an Oscar. And one has to love a man who thanks Jesus for his Oscar win for a song about the troubles a pimp has. Only in Hollywood. Stewart makes a good point: the people who win for original song are usually the most enthusiastic winners, which is nice to see.

Another cute 'political' Oscar commercial leading into the award for Sound Editing, explained by Jennifer Garner. "King Kong" picks up another award. I'll have to check, but I wonder if Kong might not be the big winner of the year? Too early to tell, of course. It depends on how the big categories break out, but if there's a split, Kong could take the (dubious) prize.

Time for what is in some ways my favorite part of the show, I suppose because it is tradition: celebrating the lives of those we lost this past year. A lot of talent again this past year, as there always is. Unfortunate. Seeing Brock Peters up there as Tom Robinson does remind me of how the world changed in the 20th Century, though: Peters is best known for his performance as the black man falsely accused of rape, but I also remember him for playing the Chief of Staff of Starfleet in the Star Trek films.

Ah, I should have known: the suicide bomber homage was in Best Foreign Language Film, not documentary. A big surprise, it doesn't win, and a South African film "Tsotsi" takes the prize. Possibly the best speech of the night, too, with constant references to the clock running on the teleprompter. Applause.

Film Editing, another technical award. "Crash" takes the award. No way to tell if it's a consolation prize of a sign of things to come. The speech goes a bit overboard, but not too bad.

On to the big categories with Best Actor, presented by Hilary Swank whose waist looks so narrow she looks like a brunette Barbie. My heart is with Joaquin Phoenix or David Strathairn, as I think they're damn good actors. It's nice to see Strathairn finally get a little recognition. But Hoffman takes the prize for "Capote" and from what I've heard he earned it. Tough luck for Strathairn, though, as I'll wager this was his only shot. Hoffman's speech is rather iffy, but it sounds like he's pretty excited, so I can't hold it against him.

Are there less pleasant words to hear for an actor than "two-time Academy Award nominee"? Hmmm, maybe this is "Memoirs of a Geisha"'s night, as they've taken home several statues tonight and now they've got one of the biggies with Cinematography.

Best Actress, as we get ready to close out the night. Reese Witherspoon picks up her first statue for "Walk the Line," so that film at least won't go home empty-handed. She sounds really excited to have won, which is fun to hear. What's up with the 'real woman' line, though? Longest speech of the night honors go to Reese as well.