WHY 'CRASH' UPSET 'BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN'
Oscars: The low budget film sent out more DVDs to SAG members than has ever been done before.
By Jerome Cleary
In pulling a major upset for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, “Crash” had many things working in its favor.
For starters, it was a film about Los Angeles that was shot in L.A. and featured a racial-ethnic-cultural clash that perhaps can best be understood and appreciated if you live in L.A., which the majority of the Academy members do.
It was also an ensemble piece with well-known actors along with up and coming actors.
Although it came out last May, which differs from many Oscar nominated and winning films that are released in December, it had some precedents on its side. In recent years, “Silence of the Lambs” and “Forrest Gump” both came out in February, even earlier than “Crash” and won major prizes.
And although “Crash” did not have a huge Oscar campaign budget, it did do what no other film nominated did.
It sent out the most DVDs ever mailed to Academy members.
Producers shipped out 30,000 copies and later 100,000 copies to all the members of the Screen Actors Guild — something that has never been done before.
It also helped that “Crash” was released on DVD this past September giving it further buzz and viewership for five months leading up to the awards.
In addition, the film had continuous screenings at the Beverly Hills Music Hall Theatre for three months, along with numerous interviews after the film screened with the director and some cast members.
As the time passed between May 2005 and January 2006, “Crash” also became office cooler fodder and that made even more people want to be in on the film about Los Angeles’ division of race and class.
It all added up to ingredients for an upset — perhaps upstaged only by the Oscar for best original song honors which went to “It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle & Flow.”
Since no one film grabbed the voters to make it a sweep of awards for one film, charm, grace and likeability carried a lot for this year’s winners. This was reflected with Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon for Best Actress and George Clooney for Best Supporting Actor.
Both actors are extremely well thought of and liked in Hollywood and across the country too. It does not hurt that both Witherspoon and Clooney have a body of work of films that have shown a great range over the years.
This year the Oscar telecast captured and retained two important things. It retained the old school charm and class of Hollywood and still allowed itself to breathe enough to let the humor flow throughout the evening.
Though it may have come as a shock to many when the film “Crash” won Best Picture, there were many foreshadowing events leading up to the upset.
The first hint may have come when the show opened with host Jon Stewart in bed dreaming whereupon the former Oscar hosts one by one appeared — Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman and Steve Martin.
All roads in the opening pointed to humorous homage to “Brokeback Mountain” as Stewart ended a dream sequence in bed with a clothed George Clooney.
“Is this a dream?” Stewart had been asking people in his dream, finally having Clooney telling him it was not — and Stewart celebrating that he had just slept with one of People magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive.
In accepting the Best Picture Oscar, Cathy Schulman, one of the producers of “Crash” thanked the Academy “for embracing our film about love and about tolerance, about truth."
“We are humbled by the other nominees in this category. You have made this year one of the most breathtaking and stunning, maverick years in American cinema.”
“Crash” director/producer Paul Haggis also shared an Oscar with Robert Moresco for penning the screenplay to the intense drama, which featured an ensemble cast and went into the 78th Academy Awards with six nominations.
The top acting awards went to performers who tackled real-life characters: Philip Seymour Hoffman as writer Truman Capote and Witherspoon as singer June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.”
“Brokeback Mountain,” which tells the tragic romance between two gay Wyoming cowboys, earned top honors at the Golden Globes and had the most nominations — eight — heading into the Oscars.
It wound up winning three awards — best director for Ang Lee, original score for Gustavo Santaolalla and adapted screenplay honors for Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, whose work was based on the short story by Annie Proulx — but was shut out of the acting categories.
It was the first directing win for Lee, who was previously nominated for 2000's “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
George Clooney, 44, earned a supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of a troubled CIA agent in the Middle East political drama “Syriana.”
Clooney, who had also been nominated for directing and co-writing “Good Night, and Good Luck,” used his acceptance speech to address critics who contend Hollywood is out of touch with the mainstream.
“I would say that ... we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while, I think. It's probably a good thing,” Clooney said. “We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular, and we bring up subjects.”
Rachel Weisz, 34, was named best supporting actress for her portrayal of murder victim Tessa Quayle in the thriller “The Constant Gardener.”
Jerome Cleary is an actor, writer and comic at The World Famous Comedy Store-www.freecomedytickets.com and can be reached at: jeromeclearytalk@aol.com
By Jerome Cleary
In pulling a major upset for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, “Crash” had many things working in its favor.
For starters, it was a film about Los Angeles that was shot in L.A. and featured a racial-ethnic-cultural clash that perhaps can best be understood and appreciated if you live in L.A., which the majority of the Academy members do.
It was also an ensemble piece with well-known actors along with up and coming actors.
Although it came out last May, which differs from many Oscar nominated and winning films that are released in December, it had some precedents on its side. In recent years, “Silence of the Lambs” and “Forrest Gump” both came out in February, even earlier than “Crash” and won major prizes.
And although “Crash” did not have a huge Oscar campaign budget, it did do what no other film nominated did.
It sent out the most DVDs ever mailed to Academy members.
Producers shipped out 30,000 copies and later 100,000 copies to all the members of the Screen Actors Guild — something that has never been done before.
It also helped that “Crash” was released on DVD this past September giving it further buzz and viewership for five months leading up to the awards.
In addition, the film had continuous screenings at the Beverly Hills Music Hall Theatre for three months, along with numerous interviews after the film screened with the director and some cast members.
As the time passed between May 2005 and January 2006, “Crash” also became office cooler fodder and that made even more people want to be in on the film about Los Angeles’ division of race and class.
It all added up to ingredients for an upset — perhaps upstaged only by the Oscar for best original song honors which went to “It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle & Flow.”
Since no one film grabbed the voters to make it a sweep of awards for one film, charm, grace and likeability carried a lot for this year’s winners. This was reflected with Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon for Best Actress and George Clooney for Best Supporting Actor.
Both actors are extremely well thought of and liked in Hollywood and across the country too. It does not hurt that both Witherspoon and Clooney have a body of work of films that have shown a great range over the years.
This year the Oscar telecast captured and retained two important things. It retained the old school charm and class of Hollywood and still allowed itself to breathe enough to let the humor flow throughout the evening.
Though it may have come as a shock to many when the film “Crash” won Best Picture, there were many foreshadowing events leading up to the upset.
The first hint may have come when the show opened with host Jon Stewart in bed dreaming whereupon the former Oscar hosts one by one appeared — Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman and Steve Martin.
All roads in the opening pointed to humorous homage to “Brokeback Mountain” as Stewart ended a dream sequence in bed with a clothed George Clooney.
“Is this a dream?” Stewart had been asking people in his dream, finally having Clooney telling him it was not — and Stewart celebrating that he had just slept with one of People magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive.
In accepting the Best Picture Oscar, Cathy Schulman, one of the producers of “Crash” thanked the Academy “for embracing our film about love and about tolerance, about truth."
“We are humbled by the other nominees in this category. You have made this year one of the most breathtaking and stunning, maverick years in American cinema.”
“Crash” director/producer Paul Haggis also shared an Oscar with Robert Moresco for penning the screenplay to the intense drama, which featured an ensemble cast and went into the 78th Academy Awards with six nominations.
The top acting awards went to performers who tackled real-life characters: Philip Seymour Hoffman as writer Truman Capote and Witherspoon as singer June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.”
“Brokeback Mountain,” which tells the tragic romance between two gay Wyoming cowboys, earned top honors at the Golden Globes and had the most nominations — eight — heading into the Oscars.
It wound up winning three awards — best director for Ang Lee, original score for Gustavo Santaolalla and adapted screenplay honors for Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, whose work was based on the short story by Annie Proulx — but was shut out of the acting categories.
It was the first directing win for Lee, who was previously nominated for 2000's “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
George Clooney, 44, earned a supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of a troubled CIA agent in the Middle East political drama “Syriana.”
Clooney, who had also been nominated for directing and co-writing “Good Night, and Good Luck,” used his acceptance speech to address critics who contend Hollywood is out of touch with the mainstream.
“I would say that ... we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while, I think. It's probably a good thing,” Clooney said. “We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular, and we bring up subjects.”
Rachel Weisz, 34, was named best supporting actress for her portrayal of murder victim Tessa Quayle in the thriller “The Constant Gardener.”
Jerome Cleary is an actor, writer and comic at The World Famous Comedy Store-www.freecomedytickets.com and can be reached at: jeromeclearytalk@aol.com
posted by JeromeCleary @ 12:39 AM
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