Monday, March 6, 2006

The Academy Awards Winners!
Well, tonight was an interesting night at the Academy Awards. I have been thinking long and hard (ever since 10:30) about how to most accurately sum out the feel of the evening. And, alas, I have come to the conclusion that THE ACADEMY MUST HAVE BEEN HIGH WHEN THEY PICKED THESE WINNERS!!! HAHAHAHAhahahaha! That's about the only way I could think to sum it up, truly! Some of their picks were nothing less than insanity!

To start off, the award for Best Picture was a total upset! Everyone thought that Brokeback Mountain would come out with the win. I feared that outcome the most. I even had an entire post ready about how America had lost all it’s morals and decency. Fortunately for you, I don’t have to show you that post! Heh heh! Aren’t you happy? Well, not only did Brokeback Mountain not win, but neither did Munich (my personal pick). Rather, the award went to the underdog of the category, Crash. Nobody saw this one coming. Nobody. I was surprised as hell! I had thought for sure Brokeback Mountain would take the win. So, yet again the Academy has proven to be unpredictable. THEY WERE HIGH!

And, even more surprising than Crash winning Best Picture, was the award for Best Original Song. THEY WERE HIGH WHEN THEY PICKED THE WINNER FOR THIS AWARD! I really can’t stress that enough, it’s the only explanation I can find for the total insanity of their pick. Rather than picking the nice upbeat country song “Travelin’ Thru” by the voluptuous Dolly Parton, or the mellow and subdued tones of “In The Deep” written for Crash. No, neither of those perfectly sane picks were chosen. Instead, they picked the song “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” written for the movie Hustle & Flow and performed by 36Mafia. Shock ran through the entire crowd in the Kodak theatre when this award was announced. Total shock. Queen Latifah chuckled when when she opened the envelope. Jon Steward couldn’t get over it the entire evening. For his next few announcements, he began them with some comment about “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” or 36Mafia. I was a little more than surprised, I was aghast. I was speechless. Eventually I managed to scream out “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!” Because, I really couldn’t. It was insane. Never has an Oscar been accepted by someone wearing oversized jeans riding down at their thighs and a baseball cap on their head. It was a hilarious sight to see! HILARIOUS! Not even the great Douglas Adams could write such insanity! This will forever go in the Oscar annals as one of the biggest flubs of all time, if not the biggest. THEY HAD TO HAVE BEEN HIGH!!!

Next, I was rather bummed and surprised by the award for Best Makeup. The award was given to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This in itself isn’t a bad thing. The makeup in that movie was well done, for that I’ll give them credit. But, when compared to the makeup displayed in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith it’s is put to shame. Even I, a man untrained in the art of stage makeup, could see that the talent and effort displayed in the makeup of Star Wars clearly surpasses that of Narnia. It was simply an award given to the wrong movie.

As a true anime fan, I must lament at the award given out in the category of Best Animated Film. I was hoping that Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle would take home that award. Rather, it was given to Wallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Again, like the last award, this is not a bad decision. I respect the filmmakers of Wallace & Grommit and give them congratulations for a job well done. I simply think that Howl’s was better. But, I’m a little biased. Heh heh.

Another award that was given to the wrong person was the award for Best Original Score. The award was given to the composer behind the music of Brokeback Mountain but I believe that John Williams deserved it for his work on Memoirs of a Geisha. I felt that the soundtrack to Memoirs of a Giesha was so perfectly done. It was emotional and yet at the same times subdued enough not to take away from the action on screen. It captured, perfectly, the mood and setting of the movie. In my opinion Mr. Williams deserved that Oscar. I’m sorry Mr. Williams! But, I must give credit to the composer of Brokeback Mountain. It is an entertaining and well done score. I am not disappointed that he won the award. It could have been worse.

Lastly, I must inform you about the greatest tragedy to befall the Academy Awards this year. You might be thinking, “How could anything beat the award for Best Original Song?” Well, the only thing that could beat is is the fact that THE BEST MOVIE OF THE ENTIRE YEAR DID NOT RECEIVE A SINGLE AWARD AT THE OSCARS!!!! Munich, a great and powerful movie depicting the journey of a group of Israeli assassins in the aftermath of the 1972 summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. It was, arguable, Steven Spielbergs greatest cinematic masterpiece since Schindler’s List. It was powerful, there was incredible character development, it almost made me cry, it spoke volumes about the state of both our nation and the world, and it didn’t receive a single award. NOT ONE!!! What could be worse than this? Sigh. IT was a horrible tragedy. THEY MUST HAVE BEEN HIGH!!!

Now, not everything that happened tonight was a tragedy. Many awards were given to movies and actors which truly deserved them. I was quite pleased with every other award that was given out this evening. It was great. I picked pretty well this year I think. Well, with the exception of the insane picks which I just told you about. I haven’t completely lost faith in the academy awards. I did manage to see one flaw in the evening though, apart from the awards. In the Memoriam that they do each year to those in the film business who have passed away, they forgot someone. Don Knotts died last month on the 24th from heart complications. He is the beloved actor who portrayed the loveable character Deputy Barney Fife in the 1960’s television sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show.” He also played many roles on film as well including Mr. Limpet in The Incredible Mr. Limpet and Dr. Jesse W. Heywood in The Shakiest Gun in the West. He also played Ralph Furley in the television sitcom “Three’s Company.” He was a great actor and comedian. He will be missed.

Here is a complete list of all the winners in each of the categories (if the winner’s name is italicized, it means I picked that one correctly ^_^):

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman – CAPOTE

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney - SYRIANA

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Reese Witherspoon - WALK THE LINE

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
THE NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
CRASH

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
TSOTSI

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" - HUSTLE & FLOW

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
CRASH

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION

BESTLIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
SIX SHOOTER

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
KING KONG

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
KING KONG

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
KING KONG

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
CRASH

Have a great day y'all!
(And, please read the below post. Nobody read it and I think you might like it!)

Caesar1280's Anime Ticker

.hack//Legend of the Twilight, Air, Air: The Movie, Akira, The Animatrix, Appleseed, Aquatic Language, Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror, Beck, Black Lagoon, Blame!, Blood the Last Vampire, Bokurano, Burst Angel, Castle in the Sky, Cowboy Bebop, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express, Egao, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala, Gankutsuou, Gatekeepers, Genshiken, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, Gin-iro no Kami no Agito, Grave of the Fireflies, Grenadier, Haibane Renmei, Hellsing, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, Hikaru no Go, Howl?s Moving Castle, Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Jyu Oh Sei, Karas: The Prophecy, Last Exile, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Midori?s Days, Milennium Actress, Mushi-shi, My Neighbor Totoro, Naruto, Naruto: The Movie, Nausicaa, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth, Ninja Scroll: The Movie, Other Worlds, Paprika, Perfect Blue, Pet Shop of Horrors, The Place Promised In Our Early Days, Prétear, Princess Mononoke, Read Or Die, Read Or Die: The TV, Samurai Champloo, Samurai Seven, Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal, She and Her Cat, Spirited Away, Steamboy, Tide-Line Blue, Tokyo Babylon, Tokyo Godfathers, Trigun, Voices of a Distant Star, Witch Hunter Robin, Wonderful Days, Wrath of the Ninja, X

Anime I've Seen - .hack//Legend of the Twilight - .hack//Sign - 5 Centimeters per Second - Air - Air: The Movie - Akira - The Animatrix - Appleseed - Aquatic Language - Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror - Baby Blue - Beck - Black Lagoon - Blame! - Blood the Last Vampire - Bokurano - Burst Angel - Castle in the Sky - Cowboy Bebop - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express - Doorbell - Egao - FLCL - Fullmetal Alchemist - Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala - Gankutsuou - Gatekeepers - Genius Party - Genshiken - Genshiken OAV - Ghost in the Shell - Ghost in the Shell: Innocence - Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society - Gin-iro no Kami no Agito - The Gokusen - Grave of the Fireflies - Grenadier - Haibane Renmei - Happy Machine - Hellsing - Highlander: The Search for Vengeance - Hikaru no Go - Howl's Moving Castle - Innocent Venus - Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade - Jyu Oh Sei - Karas: The Prophecy - Karas: The Revelation - Last Exile - Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi - Midori?s Days - Milennium Actress - Mushi-shi - My Neighbor Totoro - Naruto - Naruto: The Movie - Nausicaa - Neon Genesis Evangelion - Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth - Ninja Scroll: The Movie - Other Worlds - Ouran High School Host Club - Paprika - Perfect Blue - Pet Shop of Horrors - The Place Promised In Our Early Days - Prétear - Princess Mononoke - Read Or Die - Read Or Die: The TV - Samurai Champloo - Samurai Seven - Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal - Serial Experiments Lain - Shanghai Dragon - She and Her Cat - Spirited Away - Steamboy - Tekkonkinkreet - Tide-Line Blue - Tokyo Babylon - Tokyo Godfathers - Trigun - Trinity Blood - Vampire Hunter D - Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - Voices of a Distant Star - Witch Hunter Robin - Wolf's Rain - Wonderful Days - Wrath of the Ninja - X Total: 93

Anime I Haven't Completed - .hack//Roots - Ah! My Goddess - Angelic Layer - Avenger - Baccano! - Bamboo Blade - Basilisk - Binchou-tan - Black Cat - Bleach - Blood+ - Boogiepop Phantom - Case Closed - Le Chevalier d'Eon - Chobits - Chrono Crusade - Code Geass - Coyote Ragtime Show - D.Gray-Man - D.N.Angel - DearS - Death Note - Dennou Coil - Desert Punk - Digimon - Dragon Ball Z - Ergo Proxy - Eureka Seven - Excel Saga - Fighting Beauty Wulong - Final Fantasy Unlimited - Flag - Freedom - Full Moon - Gantz - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Gintama - Glass Fleet - Great Teacher Onizuka - Gundam Seed - Gundam Wing - Hayate the Combat Butler - Hellsing OVA - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Ikki Tousen - InuYasha - Jigoku Shojo - Kage Kara Mamoru - Karin - Kino's Journey - Love Hina - Loveless - Lovely Complex - Lucky Star - Makai Senki Disgaea - Marchen Awakens Romance - Meine Liebe - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Mononoke - Monster - Moon Phase - Mr Stain on Junk Alley - Naruto Shippuuden - Negima?! - Negima! - Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion - Nerima Daikon Brothers - NHK ni Youkoso - Night Walker - Ninja Nonsense - Noir - Peacemaker Kurogane - Pokemon - Prince of Tennis - R.G. Veda - Ragnarok - Rec - Red Garden - Robotech - Romeo x Juliet - Rosen Maiden - Rurouni Kenshin - Saikano - Sailor Moon - Samurai Deeper Kyo - Sci-fi Harry - School Rumble - Scrapped Princess - Shin-chan - Shingu - Shion no Oh - Shuffle! - Shrine of the Morning Mist - So Long, Mr. Despair - Solty Rei - Sousei no Aquarion - Speed Grapher - Spice and Wolf - Super Milk Chan - Tales of Phantasia - Tenchi Muyo - Tenjhou Tenge - Texnolyze - The Third - Tsubasa Chronicles - Urusei Yatsura - Venus Versus Virus - Welcome to the N.H.K. - Winter Cicada - X-1999 - Xenosaga - XxxHolic - Yu Yu Hakushou - Yume Tsukai - Zero no Tsukaima - Zipang Total: 116

Manga I've Completed - Cowboy Bebop - FLCL - Manga Messiah - Manga Metamorphosis - Q*Ko-chan - Saiyuki - Shirahime-Syo Total: 7 Manga I Haven't Completed - .hack//Legend of the Twilight - Black Cat - Blame! - Chobits - D.Gray-man - Darkside Blues - Death Note - The Demon Ororon - Desert Coral - Disgaea - Eureka Seven: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl - Fruits Basket - Getbackers - Hayate the Combat Butler - Kamunagara - Legal Drug - Love Hina - Loveless - Megatokyo - Naruto - Negima - Read Or Die - Rurouni Kenshin - Tactics - Trigun Maximum - XXXHolic Total: 26

Anime I'm Currently Watching
Samurai 7, InuYasha, Samurai Deeper Kyo,
Boogiepop Phantom, and Shrine of the Morning Mist

Manga I'm Currently Reading
Read Or Die, Hayate the Combat Butler, and Megatokyo.hack//Roots, .hack//Sign, 5 cm per Second, Ah! My Goddess, Angelic Layer, Avenger, Basilisk, Binchou-tan, Black Cat, Bleach, Blood+, Boogiepop Phantom, Case Closed, Le Chevalier d'Eon, Chobits, Chrono Crusade, Coyote Ragtime Show, D.Gray-Man, D.N.Angel, DearS, Death Note, Dennou Coil, Desert Punk, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, Ergo Proxy, Eureka 7, Excel Saga, Fighting Beauty Wulong, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Flag, Full Moon, Gantz, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Gintama, Great Teacher Onizuka, Gundam Seed, Gundam Wing, Hayate the Combat Butler, Hellsing Ultimate, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Innocent Venus, InuYasha, Jigoku Shojo, Kage Kara Mamoru, Karin, Kino?s Journey, Love Hina, Loveless, Lovely Complex, Lucky Star, Makai Senki Disgaea, Marchen Awakens Romance, Meine Liebe, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Mononoke, Monster, Naruto Shippuuden, Negima?!, Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion, Nerima Daikon Brothers, NHK ni Youkoso, Night Walker, Ninja Nonsense, Noir, Ouran High School Host Club, Peacemaker Kurogane, Pokemon, Prince of Tennis, R.G. Veda, Ragnarok, Rec, Red Garden, Robotech, Romeo x Juliet, Rosen Maiden, Rurouni Kenshin, Saikano, Sailor Moon, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Sci-fi Harry, School Rumble, Scrapped Princess, Serial Experiments Lain, Shingu, Shuffle!, Shrine of the Morning Mist, So Long Mr. Despair, Solty Rei, Sousei no Aquarion, Speed Grapher, Super Milk Chan, Tales of Phantasia, Tenchi Muyo, Tenjhou Tenge, Texnolyze, The Third. Trinity Blood, Tsubasa Chronicles, Urusei Yatsura, Welcome to the N.H.K., Winter Cicada, X-1999, Xenosaga, XxxHolic, Yu Yu Hakushou, Yume Tsukai, Zero no Tsukaima, Zipang

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