# Academy Awards 2002 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968 "2002-03-25T05:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/41 "2002-03-25T21:09:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*On the other hand, you can’t really give it to part of the work without giving it to the rest, as well. At least, that had _better_ be the reason that FotR didn’t win. > > The Oscars just aren’t really set up to handle a nine-hour movie released over the course of three years. \*\* I have to agree. It’s not like any Oscars have been given out to a decent movie saying, “The whole movie wasn’t really that good, but this hour and half right here was fantastic. That part gets the Oscar, the other parts don’t.” LOTR is one story, split up into 3 movies. I really don’t think 1/3 of a story deserves an Oscar. Would it be possible for Peter Jackson to release all three movies all at the same time, melded into one movie, when “Return of the King” comes out, in order to win the Oscar? Or would have the releasing of FOTR and TTT disqualify something like that? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/42 "2002-03-25T21:25:28Z")
> [@](#): > > They chose the movie about the anti-Semite struggling with an illness over the clear best film of the year. This is as bad as giving the Oscar in 94 (?) to the charming retard instead of to Shawshank Redemption. Kirkland, you complain about an anti-Semite then go on to ruin any credibility you have with your “charming retard” comment. * * * Shirley, I agree that the Sutherland/Close commentary was odd. And who let Thoth loose backstage? Also, I remember Kirstie Alley saying something like, “I’d like to thank my husband for giving me the big one every night.” to Parker Stevenson when she won an award. Did Frances McDormand do the same? Speaking of tits, Cameron Diaz’s dress was: a) ugly; b) should have been pair with fuzzy slippers; and c) clearly showed her nipple. Didn’t know Streisand was going to appear. Thank gawd I fell asleep. I can’t stand that chick. I was amazed that Hollywood gave a standing ovation to Woody Allen. Yes, he’s an amazing director (for those who like that sort of quirky film), but he’s also a borderline pedophile who entered into an incestuous relationship with his step-daughter. Eeew. Couldn’t tell if anyone chose to stay seated… Thought Memento should have won for best original screenplay. Thought Russell Crowe did an amazing job as John Nash. Haven’t seen any other Crowe film except LA Confidential, so don’t know if Gladiator was any good. Halle Berry is just amazingly beautiful. It’s too darn bad she’s always weeping. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/43 "2002-03-25T21:57:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kirkland1244 \* > \*\*Not giving the statue to Lord of the Rings sets up problems for the next two awards shows. Pressure will be high to correct this mistake, and could lead to an awkward situation… especially if they get to the 2004 show, and the most epic film production accomplishment in history is still Oscar-less. > \*\* There is no mistake to correct so there is no problem. Best Picture isn’t awarded on some sort of scientific scale, it is an aggregated opinion of the peple in the industry. They liked ABM better then FOTR, how is that a mistake? ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/44 "2002-03-25T22:20:06Z")
What was the deal with having so many of the nominees also be presenters? Halle Berry, Denzel, Will Smith, Russel Crowe and a couple others all presented awards. Were there no other actors available??!!! Come on, share the wealth a little. I for one, missed having more of the “Old Hollywood Elite” show up. Where were Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Liz Taylor, Jessica Lange, Dustin Hoffman, Charlton Heston…I mean, these are the Oscars for cripes sake!! I got tired of seeing the same 10 people on camera all night. So where DID Ethan Hawke get the bruise on his cheek? Overall, Whoopi was not good. I guess everyone in the audience must have alot to drink during the show because they kept laughing for some reason. Her jokes were lame, and I got tired of all the “honey’s” and “girlfriend’s” very early in the show. Longest Oscars of all time: 4 hours and 23 minutes. And I will probably forget who won what by Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/45 "2002-03-25T22:26:20Z")
It’s custom for the opposite gender winner of the same category in the previous year to present the award in the current year, thus Russell presented Best Actress this year since he won last yaer, same with Julia Roberts. They save the big names, like Hanks, Ford, etc. for the big awards, Director and Picture. First time I ever saw DeNiro and Pacino together was when they presented Best Picture to Forrest Gump. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/46 "2002-03-25T22:28:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > \*\* > I was amazed that Hollywood gave a standing ovation to Woody Allen. Yes, he’s an amazing director (for those who like that sort of quirky film), but he’s also a borderline pedophile who entered into an incestuous relationship with his step-daughter. Eeew. Couldn’t tell if anyone chose to stay seated… > > \*\* Strangely enough, Woody Allen has never been convicted of anything close to incest or pedophilia. Curiously, he’s never even been tried. And unless I’m completely mistaken, he’s never even been charged. Except by Mia. And even stranger still, if we’re speaking in absolutes based on his marriage, just how creepy and evil do you suppose he must be for his “victim” to have ended up marrying him? It looks a little strange, but none of us are on the inside of any of those relationships. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/47 "2002-03-25T22:32:40Z")
I just about got chastized at work because I dared criticize Halle Berry’s speech. She’s a great actress, and, yes, blacks are given the shaft (no pun intended … well, maybe) when it comes to getting good roles. I don’t deny that. But enough with the bawling! It’s one thing to have some controlled sobbing or some chin-quivering, but to be outright bawling like a 4-year-old that scraped its knee is just silly. And this is a woman in a profession that is all about having supreme control over your emotions. There’s something to be said for delivery, after all. MLK Jr. had plenty to bawl about when he gave the “I Have a Dream” speech, but it was his commanding, confident delivery that sold the thing. I’m not saying an Oscar acceptance speech is in the same exalted category, just trying to point out the importance of delivery in making political points. OTOH, Denzel was daaaamn classy. I would give anything to be as smooth as he is. I would say he should have won for The Hurricane, but I’m not takin’ an Oscar away from Kevin Spacey (and on a side note, a LOT of people thought Crowe should have won that year, too, for The Insider. One of the best year’s for best actor nods I can remember). ---
**Author:** ![KillerHamster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/41988e/32.png) [@KillerHamster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KillerHamster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/48 "2002-03-25T22:53:16Z")
Halle Berry is not black. She is half-white/half-black. Her black father treated her and her family like shit, and her white mother raised her mostly on her own. Despite this, Halle is MUCH prouder of her black heritage. She even gets angry when someone points out the fact that she’s not completely black. Her speech was a load of BS. I almost couldn’t watch it. She didn’t kick in any doors. She walked through one that was already open. Just because a small amount of blacks didn’t get a stupid trophy from a group of egocentric rich people doesn’t mean that blacks are oppressed in Hollywood. She acted like she accomplished something monumental last night. She didn’t do anything. She won a small statue for pretending to be someone else. It’s nothing world-shaking. She won the award for her performance, not because she’s half-black. She thinks she’s Rosa Parks or something. What a load of B.S. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/49 "2002-03-25T23:27:28Z")
Stoid, Farrow found nude Polaroids of her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi, in Allen’s apartment, while she was still involved with Allen. Yes, he later married Soon-Yi, but that may have been simply to save face. In either event, the facts are clear: he was a father figure to Soon-Yi, both in the sense that he was Farrow’s long-time partner (13 years) and in the sense that he had known her since she was adopted by Farrow at the age of 8. At what age he began to have a secret affair with her is unknown (he claims it was after she turned 18), but regardless he has admitted having an affair with her. I’ll give you that he may not technically be a pedophile since Soon-Yi was not a minor when the affair was found out. A claim was made by Farrow that he molested Dylan and Seamus but the judge and child psychologist found no evidence of that. However, I stand by my claim that he had an incestuous relationship with Soon-Yi. BTW, The judge in the custody case slammed Allen in his denial of visitation with his Farrow’s other adopted daughter, Dylan. His entire opinion can be found in Farrow’s book _What Falls Away_. Presumably he has more “facts” than I do and is in a better position to draw conclusions about Allen’s character. Personally I think Allen is an all-around icky guy in my opinion, and I’d no sooner give him a standing ovation than I’d give OJ a standing ovation. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/50 "2002-03-25T23:40:35Z")
Being in the capitol of geekland i am in the minority. I in now way thought LOTR deserved Best picture. Was it entertaining, sure! Was is visually impressive, you bet! We it well written, well not bad. Was it well acted, mostly… But overall i think had LOTR gotten the oscar it would have continues the recent tradition of giving it out to the prettiest film, not so much the most intriguing film. What happened to our Lawrence of Arabias, our Citizen Kanes, even our American Beauties(which sadly did not win)? I think some people’s passion about the story that they have enjoied throught their life has forshadowed the fact that the movie was just not as great as the hype that surrounds it. Remember Titanic? Remember the Hype around it when it came out and for months afterwards? Remember how sick of it we all got? I’m not saying that LOTR was as bad as Titanic, but it certainly wasn’t as good as a lot of other movies I could name. I mean over all Memento was a better film than LOTR. I just don’t see the fascination. I saw it once in the theater… i’ll probably see the other 2 just to complete the story. But hell, I probably won’t even buy a copy when it gets released on DVD. It just wasn’t that good. _puts on his flame retardant jammies and prepares to be blasted by the fanboys_ ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/51 "2002-03-25T23:48:37Z")
please pardon my typing, i’m hopped up on cold medicine and didn’t feel like proofreading 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kirkland1244](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kirkland1244](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kirkland1244)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/52 "2002-03-26T00:02:21Z")
There has never been anything like LOTR. And it is not one movie broken in three parts. Its is three movies that carry one story. It is based on three separate books. Each movie contains a full three act structure, a plot that leads to an internal resolution. Each one is marketed as a separate film, registered as a separate film and released as a separate films. The LOTR is three interconnected films. Not one film broken in three parts. Any Academy that would give an Oscar to warmed over crap like Gladiator (a massive film that recieved undeserved praise) and not Lord of the Rings (a massive film that recieved totally deserved praise) is goofed in the head. This is as bad as giving it to Forrest instead of Shawshank, worse than giving it to Titanic over LA Confidential and unthinkable in the light of giving it to Gladiator instead of Traffic or Crouching Tiger. Its really too bad that actors dominate the Academy. The biggest prize in Hollywood being decided by people rightfully characterized as “cattle” by Alfred Hitchcock. Kirk ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/53 "2002-03-26T00:06:30Z")
“I never said all actors were cattle. I said all actors should be treated like cattle.” Alfred Hitchcock ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/54 "2002-03-26T00:15:36Z")
I guess my feelings on LOTR can be summed up as thus: I would take a lot of the acclaim at a higher level if the people who were lavishing it hadn’t been such drooling fans of the book. I feel that the acclaim is basically baised representations of people wanting to see it made into a film. It’s like Oprah bookclub books being made into movies and then being gushed about by Oprah watching drones. I never read the LOTR books because they never inmterested me, i couldn;t get into them. I enjoyed the movie. But, even though I can appreciate the work that went into making it and the skill behind it. As a movie it’s just not that good. It’s entertaining eye candy, in the same vein as Star Wars and the Indiana Jones flicks. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/55 "2002-03-26T00:17:55Z")
No, Kirkland, you are wrong about one more thing (how many is that is just this thread?). LOTR is three movies, but it is based on one nevel, which was divided by the publisher into three volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/56 "2002-03-26T00:22:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > \*\*even our American Beauties(which sadly did not win)? > \*\* What are you talking about? American Beauty _won_ Best Picture. I loved LotR, but as I’m a fan of the book my opinion is apparently worthless as I lack the critical faculties to view it objectively. 😉 (Incidentally, many of the harshest reviews I’ve heard of the film have come from fans, but _they’re_ hardly being objective either.) ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/57 "2002-03-26T00:23:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Katisha \* > \*\* > > What are you talking about? American Beauty _won_ Best Picture. > \*\* You;re right i realized after i posted and couldn;t edit… damn this cold medicine!!! ---
**Author:** ![Kirkland1244](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kirkland1244](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kirkland1244)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/58 "2002-03-26T00:47:20Z")
It’s still three movies. The award is for best picture. You start with credits, go through three acts, end with credits you’ve got a picture. It’s not for “best complete story.” Kirk ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/59 "2002-03-26T01:51:11Z")
I was going to start a thread with this question but maybe someone can answer it here: Was Sidney Poitier in the movie **Stir Crazy**? Seriously. During the montage of his films, I could have sworn for, like, three seconds they show the scene with Wilder and Pryor entering the prison from Stir Crazy – I thought the movie’s title was listed at the bottom of the screen and then Poof! it was gone. I taped the show so I can verify this if I have to (I haven’t yet). So the questions are: a. Did anyone else notice this? b. Could it have been some bizarre, technical glitch that occurred only on my TV and with my VCR? or, c. Did I hallucinate the whole thing? For the love of God, somebody help me please. ---
**Author:** ![Kirkland1244](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kirkland1244](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kirkland1244)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968/60 "2002-03-26T01:55:11Z")
Sidney Poitier directed **Stir Crazy.** Kirk [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academy-awards-2002/99968.md?page=4)