The Academy Awards are rarely a poignant affair, but names like Halle Berry, Sidney Poitier, and Randy Newman combined to add a touch of sweetness to the night of glitz at the brand new Kodak Theatre in Hollywood last night.
There were no real shocks at the 74th annual Academy Awards, where A Beautiful Mind took home Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actress honors, and overall, there were no real clear-cut winners. When so many people are considered front-runners, it's a given that one of them has to win. Favorites A Beautiful Mind, Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring, and Moulin Rouge all took home a handful of trophies for acting and technical accomplishments.
In fact, the biggest surprise of the night came when 16-time nominee Newman, the Susan Lucci of the Oscar's, finally won a Best Original Song trophy for Monsters, Inc.
But those big names who did win did it with class and style. Best Actress went to a tearful Halle Berry, the first black woman in the history of Oscar to take home a Best Actress trophy.
"This moment is so much bigger than me," she said, after being so overcome by emotion she was unable to speak for a moment as she watched her standing ovation. "Thank you for choosing me to be the vessel through which this blessing may flow."
In a night when legendary African-American actor and class act Portier took home an honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, his protegee Denzel Washington earned Best Actor honors for Training Day - much to the absolute ecstasy of presenter and friend Julia Roberts. "I'll always be chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps," he said.
First-time nominee Jennifer Connelly, from A Beautiful Mind, won for Best Supporting Actress as was expected; Supporting Actor honors went to Brit Jim Broadbent for Iris.
It was Tom Cruise, not host Whoopi Goldberg who opened the show, in a quiet reflection on Sept. 11. He cited the importance of the industry in hard times, and the "little bit of magic" that movies bring to everyone's lives. A charming montage of everyone from Average Joes to Iggy Pop to Donald Trump sharing their personal favorites followed. It was a theme repeated throughout the night: Yoko Ono loves Pinocchio. Drew Barrymore, Annie Hall. Elton John, 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Whoopi Goldberg then entered the Kodak Theatre Moulin Rouge-style, suspended midair on a trapeeze, decked in sparkling sequins, top hat, and feathers, proclaiming, "I am the original sexy beast!!"
She spent the night in an array of flowing velvet frocks, poking fun at the recent controversies surrounding the ceremonies in her typical brand of sauciness. "So much mud has been thrown this year, all the nominees look black."
It was a night filled with odd little accents - for some reason, actors Donald Sutherland and Glen Close sat backstage as announcers. In an homage to magic and imagination and special effects, performers from Cirque de Soelil writhed and bounced their way around the arena. The Academy called upon famous screenwriters including David Mamet, and the Coen brothers to write pieces gracefully explaining concepts like Film Editing and Art Direction to us laymen.
Twists like these made the four-and-a-half hour ceremony that much more bearable.
Washington, who Goldberg introduced as "everyone's fantasy," presented Poitier with his honor. In a montage of movies and interviews with African-American actors Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding Jr., Eriq la Salle, Spike Lee, and many others thanked him for his work in blazing the trail for actors of color.
Portier touted the "courageous, unselfish choices" made by visionary filmmakers who gave him the chance to break into what was, at times, a brutal Hollywood. "The industry benefited from their effort. America benefited from their effort. And in ways large and small, the world benefited from their effort."
Newman, another legend in his field, finally was able to enjoy a standing ovation of his own after performances by Sting, Enya, Paul McCartney, and Faith Hill. Poofy-haired Jlo presented him with his first Academy Award. "I don't want your pity," he joked to his audience.
The list of the night's presenters drew from legends like Barbara Streisand, and young newcomers like Kirsten Dunst, who looked lost in her sparkling gown amid the big-time glamour. Barbie and Ken-esque husband and wife Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon, a seemingly bra-less Gwenyth Paltrow, and Charlie's Angel Cameron Diaz were just a few others who braved the teleprompter. Quintessential New York City representative Woody Allen also made an unprecedented appearance in front of a projection of the changed skyline of New York to a rousing standing ovation.
"I thought that they wanted their Oscar's back," he said of the unexpected call from the Academy, when they asked him to introduce a montage of films shot in New York. "For New York City, I'll do anything."
Kevin Spacey called for a moment of silence for the fallen from Sept. 11. and those that have passed this year, including actor Jack Lemmon, director Ted Demme, and Beatle George Harrison. "Film freezes life in its finest hour," he said.
One of those responsible for making the cinema what it is today, Sundance Festival founder, actor, director, and sex symbol Robert Redford, took home an honorary trophy for Lifetime Achievement.
The Gene Herschel Humanitarian Award went to director Arthur Hiller, whose ironic statement was greeted with whoops and hollers from Hollywood's finest:
"It's so embarrassing to receive an award for doing what you should be doing."
