Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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"P1 f Movies Ul Change of pace good, crucial for Oscars David Cloninger is a senior journalism major and is sports edi tor. He can be reached by e-mail at gamecockencore ©hotmail.com I was sitting in my room the other day when my friend Jeff called, informing me of a cer tain event that was about to take place in the entertainment world. “Be sure to tune into channel 12 Sunday, man, the Oscars are coming on!” Jeff exclaimed. Good God, I thought. It was once again time to honor those tru ly brilliant in the movie circuit by handing them an 18-inch gold-plated statue of a sword-wield ing naked guy, and knowing of my expertise of the good films out there, Jeff decided to let me know. However, according to my opinions (which are the only ones that matter anyhow), the Os cars have been deficient in their awards for the past few years, giving statues to people who have been in the business for 50 years instead of those with really good talent. io sum u up, me uscars nave gone me way of the Grammys - they suck. But, this year offered a change of pace when people who won awards actually deserved them. Maybe Hollywood has finally es caped from under Samuel Goldwyn’s thumb. Best Picture “American Beauty” won, and deservedly so. Anyone who thinks it shouldn’t have is obviously still waiting for the “Titanic” sequel, entitled “Titanic 2: This Time it’s Personal.” “Beauty” didn’t have any notable competition against it, except for “The Cider House Rules,” and that couldn’t win because it deals with abortion. If you haven’t noticed, controversial topics like neo-Nazism (“American History X”), racism (“Mississippi Burning”) or excessive violence (“GoodFellas”) don’t win major Oscars. Although “Beauty” won, it is more a factor of non-competition against it rather than its own merits. Best Actor This award always goes to the person whose character is either handicapped or dies in the film, no matter what the competitors have done. How else do you explain Art Carney (of “The Honeymoon ers” fame) winning in 1974 over Jack Nicholson in “Chinatown” and A1 Pacino in “The Godfather, Part Two”? Kevin Spacey, so excellent in “The Usual Suspects,” won for his portrayal of Lester Burnham in “Beauty.” Spacey won it over the likes of main com petition Denzel Washington of “The Hurricane,” and justifiably so. While Washington tends to play the same character in every movie (a strong, outspoken man who is kept down by unspoken forces), Spacey makes his own characters. And for all of you out there who think Jim Carrey was snubbed, foiget about it. Carrey was excellent as Andy Kaufman in “Man on the Moon,” but it wasn’t an acting job. Carrey is Kaufman 15 years later. Why should we give an Oscar to someone who plays himself? Best Actress The NCAA Tournament should have been in on this Cinderella story, as Hilary Swank from “Boys Don’t Cry” picked up the stat uette. However, she wasn’t the true winner. Annette Bening of “Beau ty” was the original winner, but the producers were afraid she’d get so excited during her acceptance speech she would go into labor. To avoid the messy affair, Swank was named winner. Also, Julianne Moore got gypped out of an award again. She keeps getting put up against the really standout performances, knocking her subtle but excellent acting down in the eyes of the Academy. Her performances in “Boogie Nights” as well as “The End of the Affair” were both over looked on Oscar night, and also her turn as a drugged-out, adulter ous wife in “Magnolia” was left out of the nominations. This puts her in for a make-up Oscar, similar to Paul Newman’s 1986 Best Ac tor award, in the future. Best Supporting Actor The one award of the night where someone truly got the shaft. Michael Caine walked off with the honor for “The Cider House Rules,” emphasizing the real Hollywood system. They figured Cider wouldn’t get best picture or other awards, so they had to give it one major gift for being a good film. Sadly, Tom Cruise’s electrify ing performance in “Magnolia” was left uncredited, as well as Michael Clarke Duncan’s gentle giant in “The Green Mile.” But, I was glad to see the little snot from “The Sixth Sense” lost. The movie has Bruce Willis in it, for crying out loud. As in “Hudson Hawk” Bruce Willis. Best Supporting Actress The award really went to “best-looking supporting actress.” The hell-hot Angelina Johe followed in the footsteps of dad Jon Voight to win for “Girl, Interrupted,” beating out Catherine Keener for “Be ing John Malkovich.” Johe was very good in her role as a drugged out psycho ward patient, but that’s her real fife, not acting. Keener should have won for being the sly, manipulative bitch she por trayed in Malkovich. Like I said, the award went to best-looking, not best actress, because the other three nominees look like some thing I won’t even say. Best Director There have been only four times ever that the director of the best picture didn’t win best director. One of those was last year, where Steven Spielberg won for Saving Private Ryan but the picture prize went to Shakespeare in Love. This year was no surprise, as Sam Mendes won for Beauty. I think Spike Jonze deserved his nomina tion, just for that one scene in Malkovich where all the John Malkovich clones are speaking to one another. Sorry, sport, first-time director nominees don’t win. On the whole, I was pleased with this year’s ceremony, but there are still glaring omissions to the Oscars. Clint Eastwood has never won best actor, Martin Scorsese has never won best director and “Fight Club” didn’t win anything, while “The Matrix” won four awards (I think two of them were for best wooden acting and best use of the term, ‘Whoa’). However, we cannot change these facts, so follow my friend Brian’s sure-fire plan to enjoy the Oscars next year: Watch the ceremony alone, drink laige amounts of beer and curse at the television. Swank wins for gender-bending role by Erica Werner The Associated Press Los Angeles - Hilary Swank chopped her hair off, wore her husband’s clothes to her audition and ran her everyday errands as a man. From her first day on the set of “Boys Don’t Cry,” she refused to let cast and crew see her as anyone but Brandon Teena, a young woman in rural Nebraska living life as a man. That work paid off Sunday with a best actress Oscar. “We have come a long way. To think that this movie wouldn’t have been made three-and-a-half years ago and we made it now for under $2 million, and now this, is quite re markable,” Swank said, glowing but composed, in accepting her award. Swank, 25, was the youngest of the five nominees and the only unknown in a field that included Annette Bening, cit ed for her role as an unhappy suburbanite in “American Beau ty-” The harrowing, gender-bending “Boys Don’t Cry” was based on the true story of Teena, killed by two men after she told police they raped her when they learned her true identity. Swank paid tribute to Teena in her acceptance speech. “His legacy lives on through our movie to remind us to always be ourselves, to follow our hearts, to not confonn,” she said. “I pray for the day when we not on ly accept our differ ences but we actuai ly celebrate our diversity.” Swank, a native of Washington state who grew up wanti ng to be an astronaut, was practically an un known before “Boys Don't Cry.” She moved to Los Angeles at age 16 with her newly di vorced mother. Addressing her mother during her acceptance speech she said, “It looks like living out of our car was worth it.” Her relative anonymity helped her land the “Boys Don’t Cry” role because director Kimberly Peirce didn’t want to cast a star.. Special To The Gamecock Academy Award Winners Staff Reports The Associated Press Picture: “American Beauty.” Actor: Kevin Spacey, “American Beauty.” Actress: Hilary Swank, “Boys Don't Cry.” Supporting Actor: Michael Caine, “The Cider House Rules.” Supporting Actress: Angelina Jolie, “Girl, Interrupted.” Director: Sam Mendes, “American Beauty.” Foreign Film: “All About My Mother,” Spain. Original Screenplay: Alan Ball, “American Beauty.” Adapted Screenplay: John Irving, “The Cider House Rules.” Original Song: “You'll Be in My Heart” from “Tarzan,” Phil Collins. Original Score: “The Red Violin,” John Corigliano. Cinematography: “American Beauty.” Art Direction: “Sleepy Hollow.” Visual Effects: “The Matrix.” Film Editing: “The Matrix.” Sound: “The Matrix.” Sound Effects Editing: “The Matrix.” Costume: “Topsy-Turvy.” Makeup: “Topsy-Turvy.” Live Action Short Film: “My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples In New York.” Animated Short Film: “The Old Man and the Sea.” Documentary Feature: “One Day in September.” Documentary (short subject): “King Gimp.”