Well it happened, the fears of many an Oscar pundit came true - "Crash" beat out the more deserving favourite "Brokeback Mountain" for the best picture nod at this year's Oscars. In what was otherwise a quite predictable ceremony, the Academy followed many of the pundits estimates to the letter with "Crash" and "Brokeback" landing three awards each in the big categories, "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "King Kong" taking three each in the technical areas, and the rest fairly evenly spread.
Yet there were still a few surprise announcements. Aside from the best film shock, the other big (but far more welcome) surprise was "Hustle and Flow" song "Hard Out Here for a Pimp" winning best song. Host Jon Stewart didn't hit all his marks with one or two of his monologue jokes especially getting an icy reception, but proved a major improvement over Chris Rock's utter bombing last year, and was bitingly funny at times. As hosts go no, he's far from the next Billy Crystal but a welcome Steve Martin-esque alternate.
However its that 'Best Film' issue that's going to have everyone talking over their water coolers today, and left people like me wondering simply why? Was the conservative Academy wanting to go with the safer option? As "Crash" is admittedly a great ensemble performance piece did all the actors (who make up the majority of voters in the Academy) push for it? Lionsgate championed this film hard right from its release mid-year and sent out an insane amount of screeners - how much impact did that have? The answers will debated for many years to come.
Anyway here's the full list of this year's winners:
BEST PICTURE Crash
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Capote"
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Reese Witherspoon - "Walk the Line"
DIRECTING Ang Lee - "Brokeback Mountain"
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE George Clooney - "Syriana"
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Rachel Weisz - "The Constant Gardener"
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
SCREENPLAY (Adapted) "Brokeback Mountain"
SCREENPLAY (Original) "Crash"
ART DIRECTION Memoirs of a Geisha
CINEMATOGRAPHY Memoirs of a Geisha
COSTUME DESIGN Memoirs of a Geisha
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE March of the Penguins
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
FILM EDITING Crash
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Tsotsi
MAKEUP The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
MUSIC (SCORE) Gustavo Santaolalla - "Brokeback Mountain"
MUSIC (SONG) "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - Hustle & Flow
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) Six Shooter
SOUND EDITING King Kong
SOUND MIXING King Kong
VISUAL EFFECTS King Kong
