Learning to embrace the Oscars: Glitz, glamour and all
Once a year, the stakes are set and the opposing forces gather for a night of startling moments, laugh-out-loud humor and edge-of-your-seat entertainment.
And all you get at the Super Bowl is some hitting and a half-time show.
Into its 77th year, the annual Academy Awards comprise the standard by which all movies are measured.
From “Gone With the Wind” (1939) and “Casablanca” (1942), to “Braveheart” (1995) and “The Return of the King” (2003), Hollywood insiders, movie-buffs and the average-Joe-Schmoe American have come to gauge movie quality by the authoritative vote of the Academy.
Emceed by newcomer Chris “I-promise-not-to-be-too-profane-on-national-television” Rock, this year’s award ceremony looks to be full of split-decisions, close calls, lots of laughter and … Cate Blanchett.
The most anticipated contest of the night just might be for the coveted best directing award. Though nominees include the directors of “Ray,” “Vera Drake” and “Sideways,” they might as well sit on the sidelines and cheer for the real contenders: “Aviator” director Martin Scorsese and “Million Dollar Baby” director Clint Eastwood.
Though he has been nominated four times for best director, Scorsese has never won (though many critics argue that Scorsese’s own boxing pic, “Raging Bull” should have taken it in 1980). Up until about two months ago, critics across the nation believed “Aviator,” Scorsese’s biopic about aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, was a sure-fire win.
Then, almost like a cheap shot to the face, directing veteran Clint Eastwood threw his $30 million “Baby” into the ring.
Garnering nominations for best picture and best director in award ceremonies across the country, “Million Dollar Baby” has made over 200 top-10 lists and found consistent four-star reviews.
Though the two movies are as disparate as their budgets (“Aviator” cost over $100 million), the winner will be too close to call right up to the moment they open the envelope.
As always, other top awards such as best actor, best actress, best picture and best supporting actor and actress are tough decisions – but that’s why people watch in the first place.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jamie Foxx, who almost channeled the spirit of Ray Charles in the biopic “Ray,” take both best actor and best supporting actor awards home – though I can’t help but cheer for Johnny Depp with his second consecutive best actor nomination (he should have won for Jack Sparrow, dang it).
If he doesn’t win this year, though, he’s always got a chance with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” right?
After the ballots are counted and the envelopes are opened, the awards are about more than the tearful and (sometimes) boring acceptance speeches that go on to thank everyone from best friends to favorite hair stylists, or the gluttony of glamour and glitz that sickens as often as it excites.
No, in the end, the awards are really about saluting the thousands of talented movie professionals willing to dedicate their lives and sacrifice so much in order to make billions of dollars off the “all-too-willing-to-pay-$7-a-ticket” American public.
OK, well, the awards must be about something more than that.
Cate Blanchett, perhaps.
Matt Wright is a junior majoring in English and a thorough-bred movie fanatic. Comments or questions can be sent to him at mattgo@cc.usu.edu.