Post by hassan1024 on Feb 24, 2007 12:38:51 GMT 3
Another reason why the Oscars will pale in comparison with the Blahs...
enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/features/article2300389.ece
WORST LOSER
A wandering boom mike captured Samuel L Jackson's feelings on losing out on the 1995 best supporting actor award. When the winner - Martin Landau - was announced, Jackson could clearly be heard saying, "Shit!" It was, to be fair, what many other people were thinking at the time. But the winner of the worst loser award goes to Bill Murray, whose fabulously grouchy turn at the 2004 Oscars delighted the global television audience. Murray had been nominated in the best actor category, for his role in Lost in Translation. When Sean Penn's name was pulled out of the envelope, he sat with a face like a smacked arse, and refused to clap. He was later heard whingeing to the organisers: "If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn't have turned up."
Winner: Bill Murray
WORST GAFFE
The director Bernardo Bertolucci irritated his hosts in his 1987 acceptance speech for best director, The Last Emperor, with some trademark sexual imagery. "If New York tonight is the Big Apple," he said, "then LA, for tonight, is the Big Nipple." The audience was shocked into silence, but no complaints were made - as an Oscar-winner, Bertolucci, for one night at least, had his teeth around that nipple.
Perhaps the Academy deserved it. They have, on occasion, been known to make the odd gaffe themselves. In 1938, Spencer Tracy, the only actor before Tom Hanks to win two best actor gongs in consecutive years (for Captains Courageous and Boys Town), was on the receiving end of one such howler. Having reached the podium to receive the first of his best actor awards, he was a little surprised to see that the engraving did not bear his own name, but that of one "Dick Tracy". Tracy, though, never discovered whether the slip was an innocent error, or some Oscar-night tomfoolery.
Winner: The Academy
WORST PRESENTER
In his advancing years, Sir Laurence Olivier, the grand old man of British acting, secured the worst presenter award, despite being asked to present only one award - the 1985 Oscar for best picture. The 78-year-old got a little ahead of himself, and, instead of reading out the nominees, simply opened the envelope and shouted "Amadeus!"
Another senior moment might have been avoided had Billy Crystal, the host of the 1991 Oscar ceremony, pointed Hal Roach in the direction of a functioning microphone. The centenarian, who was being honoured for his silent classics, such as the Laurel & Hardy series, made his minutes-long, unamplified speech to a baffled audience. As the old man traipsed off, Crystal quipped that it was "fitting, since Mr Roach started in silent film".
Winner: Sir Laurence Olivier
WORST SNUB
When Marlon Brando won the best actor award in 1973, he chose to make a bizarre political statement, by staying away from the Oscars and sending an Apache Indian called "Sasheen Lightfeather" to collect his award instead. Brando was protesting against Hollywood's treatment of American Indians. The only trouble was that "Sasheen Lightfeather" in fact, was not actually an Apache. Indeed, her real name was Maria Cruz, a jobbing actress, who, in 1970, had won the Miss American Vampire competition.
Winner: Marlon Brando
WORST WINNER'S SPEECH
James Cameron's schizophrenic acceptance speech for Titanic might be considered a natural selection for this category. One moment he was "King of the World"; the next he was praying silence for the 1,500 victims of the real Titanic disaster; the next he was urging the assembled guests to "party till dawn". But, in truth, the best actress winners have this category sewn up. When Sally Field won her second such Oscar in 1985 for Places in the Heart, she gave an acceptance speech so eye-wateringly bad that the LAPD briefly considered issuing a warrant for her arrest. "I haven't had an orthodox career," she mewled, "and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time, I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!" After the ceremony, Field was, quite rightly, pilloried - as was Gwyneth Paltrow, following her disastrous acceptance speech at the 1999 ceremony. Paltrow didn't really give a speech as such - she just stood there in her pink ballgown, emitting water in all directions like a faulty sprinkler. But at least Paltrow had the good grace to be mortified afterwards. That is more than can be said for Halle Berry. In 2002, Berry won best actress for Monster's Ball. Her acceptance was probably the most self-important moment yet seen in a ceremony not short on self-importance. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. This moment is so much bigger than me," she blubbed, insincerely. "This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened... Thank you. I'm so honoured. I'm so honoured. And I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the vessel for which His blessing might flow." Something was flowing through her vessel that night, but it wasn't heavenly.
Winner: Halle Berry
MOST UNDESERVING LOSER
Orson Welles's 1941 masterpiece, Citizen Kane, is now considered by many film buffs to be one of the greatest movies ever made. But at the 1942 Oscars, it was all but shut out by the Academy, which was reputedly riled at Orson Welles's influence in Hollywood at such a young age (he was only 26 when he made the film).
Their blindness robbed a great film of the acclaim it deserved. Best picture was awarded instead to How Green Was My Valley; best director to John Ford for the same film; best actor to Gary Cooper in Sergeant York. The only category in which Citizen Kane emerged victorious was best original screenplay - an Oscar that Welles shared with his co-writer Herman J Makiewicz.
Also worth mentioning are the 1995 Academy Awards, where two of the most iconic movies of the 1990s, Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption lost out to a smorgasbord of mediocre fare (notably Forrest Gump). Despite both films being nominated in seven categories, The Shawshank Redemption won nothing, while Pulp Fiction, like Citizen Kane before it, went home with only one award, for best original screenplay.
Winner: Orson Welles
MOST CRINGE-INDUCING MOMENT
The 1999 ceremony, notable for Roberto Benigni's exuberance and Gwyneth Paltrow's waterworks, might have been nominated in its entirety, but one incident stands out. In the Academy's wisdom, the best music nominees' work was to be showcased by a troupe of dancers who would "interpret" the various scores in their dance. The idea backfired - the music of Saving Private Ryan was interpreted by a pouf-sleeved flamenco dancer to much hiding of eyes. Other nomineesmight have included Rob Lowe's baffled smile as he danced with Snow White in 1989. And who can forget David Letterman's calamitous presenting shift in 1995, when he asked Tom Hanks, then the world's biggest film star, to prepare a carpet for a mechanical dog that ran in circles.
Winner: The Saving Private Ryan Flamenco
WORST STATUETTE SLIP-UP
Meryl Streep had clearly been drinking in the atmosphere too much in the aftermath of her 1979 triumph in the best actress category for Kramer vs Kramer. Having carried her statuette around with her most of the evening, she suddenly found herself without it - which was when a kind fellow party-goer pointed out that there was something resembling an Oscar on the back of the toilet.
At least Streep got to keep her Oscar. The worst statuette slip-up award goes to Alice Brady, who won the best supporting actress gong in 1937 for In Old Chicago. Brady didn't make it to the ceremony, but an unidentified man accepted the award on her behalf, before disappearing from sight. The Oscar was never seen again.
Winner: Alice Brady
WORST FASHION CRIME
After her involvement with Titanic, the greatest comedy ever made, one might have thought that Celine Dion's credibility could fall no lower. That was before her appearance at the 1999 Oscar ceremony in a white John Galliano tuxedo, worn back-to-front, with a matching fedora. The outfit channelled the twin influences of the early hip-hop duo, Kris Kross, and the classic children's movie, Bugsy Malone. It deservedly drew much tittering from the press corps and wins the award for worst fashion crime. A special mention, though, needs to be paid to Lizzy Gardiner, the costume designer for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, who showed up in a dress made entirely out of 200 American Express gold cards in the name of Lizzy Gardiner. The Academy, however, clearly thought that Gardiner was on the money - they awarded her the Oscar for best costume design.
Winner: Celine Dion
enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/features/article2300389.ece
WORST LOSER
A wandering boom mike captured Samuel L Jackson's feelings on losing out on the 1995 best supporting actor award. When the winner - Martin Landau - was announced, Jackson could clearly be heard saying, "Shit!" It was, to be fair, what many other people were thinking at the time. But the winner of the worst loser award goes to Bill Murray, whose fabulously grouchy turn at the 2004 Oscars delighted the global television audience. Murray had been nominated in the best actor category, for his role in Lost in Translation. When Sean Penn's name was pulled out of the envelope, he sat with a face like a smacked arse, and refused to clap. He was later heard whingeing to the organisers: "If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn't have turned up."
Winner: Bill Murray
WORST GAFFE
The director Bernardo Bertolucci irritated his hosts in his 1987 acceptance speech for best director, The Last Emperor, with some trademark sexual imagery. "If New York tonight is the Big Apple," he said, "then LA, for tonight, is the Big Nipple." The audience was shocked into silence, but no complaints were made - as an Oscar-winner, Bertolucci, for one night at least, had his teeth around that nipple.
Perhaps the Academy deserved it. They have, on occasion, been known to make the odd gaffe themselves. In 1938, Spencer Tracy, the only actor before Tom Hanks to win two best actor gongs in consecutive years (for Captains Courageous and Boys Town), was on the receiving end of one such howler. Having reached the podium to receive the first of his best actor awards, he was a little surprised to see that the engraving did not bear his own name, but that of one "Dick Tracy". Tracy, though, never discovered whether the slip was an innocent error, or some Oscar-night tomfoolery.
Winner: The Academy
WORST PRESENTER
In his advancing years, Sir Laurence Olivier, the grand old man of British acting, secured the worst presenter award, despite being asked to present only one award - the 1985 Oscar for best picture. The 78-year-old got a little ahead of himself, and, instead of reading out the nominees, simply opened the envelope and shouted "Amadeus!"
Another senior moment might have been avoided had Billy Crystal, the host of the 1991 Oscar ceremony, pointed Hal Roach in the direction of a functioning microphone. The centenarian, who was being honoured for his silent classics, such as the Laurel & Hardy series, made his minutes-long, unamplified speech to a baffled audience. As the old man traipsed off, Crystal quipped that it was "fitting, since Mr Roach started in silent film".
Winner: Sir Laurence Olivier
WORST SNUB
When Marlon Brando won the best actor award in 1973, he chose to make a bizarre political statement, by staying away from the Oscars and sending an Apache Indian called "Sasheen Lightfeather" to collect his award instead. Brando was protesting against Hollywood's treatment of American Indians. The only trouble was that "Sasheen Lightfeather" in fact, was not actually an Apache. Indeed, her real name was Maria Cruz, a jobbing actress, who, in 1970, had won the Miss American Vampire competition.
Winner: Marlon Brando
WORST WINNER'S SPEECH
James Cameron's schizophrenic acceptance speech for Titanic might be considered a natural selection for this category. One moment he was "King of the World"; the next he was praying silence for the 1,500 victims of the real Titanic disaster; the next he was urging the assembled guests to "party till dawn". But, in truth, the best actress winners have this category sewn up. When Sally Field won her second such Oscar in 1985 for Places in the Heart, she gave an acceptance speech so eye-wateringly bad that the LAPD briefly considered issuing a warrant for her arrest. "I haven't had an orthodox career," she mewled, "and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time, I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!" After the ceremony, Field was, quite rightly, pilloried - as was Gwyneth Paltrow, following her disastrous acceptance speech at the 1999 ceremony. Paltrow didn't really give a speech as such - she just stood there in her pink ballgown, emitting water in all directions like a faulty sprinkler. But at least Paltrow had the good grace to be mortified afterwards. That is more than can be said for Halle Berry. In 2002, Berry won best actress for Monster's Ball. Her acceptance was probably the most self-important moment yet seen in a ceremony not short on self-importance. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. This moment is so much bigger than me," she blubbed, insincerely. "This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened... Thank you. I'm so honoured. I'm so honoured. And I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the vessel for which His blessing might flow." Something was flowing through her vessel that night, but it wasn't heavenly.
Winner: Halle Berry
MOST UNDESERVING LOSER
Orson Welles's 1941 masterpiece, Citizen Kane, is now considered by many film buffs to be one of the greatest movies ever made. But at the 1942 Oscars, it was all but shut out by the Academy, which was reputedly riled at Orson Welles's influence in Hollywood at such a young age (he was only 26 when he made the film).
Their blindness robbed a great film of the acclaim it deserved. Best picture was awarded instead to How Green Was My Valley; best director to John Ford for the same film; best actor to Gary Cooper in Sergeant York. The only category in which Citizen Kane emerged victorious was best original screenplay - an Oscar that Welles shared with his co-writer Herman J Makiewicz.
Also worth mentioning are the 1995 Academy Awards, where two of the most iconic movies of the 1990s, Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption lost out to a smorgasbord of mediocre fare (notably Forrest Gump). Despite both films being nominated in seven categories, The Shawshank Redemption won nothing, while Pulp Fiction, like Citizen Kane before it, went home with only one award, for best original screenplay.
Winner: Orson Welles
MOST CRINGE-INDUCING MOMENT
The 1999 ceremony, notable for Roberto Benigni's exuberance and Gwyneth Paltrow's waterworks, might have been nominated in its entirety, but one incident stands out. In the Academy's wisdom, the best music nominees' work was to be showcased by a troupe of dancers who would "interpret" the various scores in their dance. The idea backfired - the music of Saving Private Ryan was interpreted by a pouf-sleeved flamenco dancer to much hiding of eyes. Other nomineesmight have included Rob Lowe's baffled smile as he danced with Snow White in 1989. And who can forget David Letterman's calamitous presenting shift in 1995, when he asked Tom Hanks, then the world's biggest film star, to prepare a carpet for a mechanical dog that ran in circles.
Winner: The Saving Private Ryan Flamenco
WORST STATUETTE SLIP-UP
Meryl Streep had clearly been drinking in the atmosphere too much in the aftermath of her 1979 triumph in the best actress category for Kramer vs Kramer. Having carried her statuette around with her most of the evening, she suddenly found herself without it - which was when a kind fellow party-goer pointed out that there was something resembling an Oscar on the back of the toilet.
At least Streep got to keep her Oscar. The worst statuette slip-up award goes to Alice Brady, who won the best supporting actress gong in 1937 for In Old Chicago. Brady didn't make it to the ceremony, but an unidentified man accepted the award on her behalf, before disappearing from sight. The Oscar was never seen again.
Winner: Alice Brady
WORST FASHION CRIME
After her involvement with Titanic, the greatest comedy ever made, one might have thought that Celine Dion's credibility could fall no lower. That was before her appearance at the 1999 Oscar ceremony in a white John Galliano tuxedo, worn back-to-front, with a matching fedora. The outfit channelled the twin influences of the early hip-hop duo, Kris Kross, and the classic children's movie, Bugsy Malone. It deservedly drew much tittering from the press corps and wins the award for worst fashion crime. A special mention, though, needs to be paid to Lizzy Gardiner, the costume designer for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, who showed up in a dress made entirely out of 200 American Express gold cards in the name of Lizzy Gardiner. The Academy, however, clearly thought that Gardiner was on the money - they awarded her the Oscar for best costume design.
Winner: Celine Dion