# "It's a clean sweep!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865 "2004-03-01T05:11:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/1 "2004-03-01T05:11:34Z")
Stephen Speilberg said what I was thinking all night, “It’s a clean sweep!” Finally Peter Jackson gets his due! LOTR won in every category in which it was nominated. Has this happened on Oscar history before? ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/2 "2004-03-01T05:13:30Z")
Eww. That was awful. In all of Oscar history, has this ever happened before? ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/3 "2004-03-01T05:15:55Z")
I don’t know if it was a sweep, but the booming voice announced that ROTK tied “Titanic” for the most awards won. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/4 "2004-03-01T05:18:29Z")
Woohoo! The good guys do win sometimes!!! ---
**Author:** ![Nanook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nanook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/5 "2004-03-01T05:18:58Z")
TITANIC and BEN-HUR. Thank you, Jesus! ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/6 "2004-03-01T05:19:06Z")
> [@Dignan](#): > > I don’t know if it was a sweep, but the booming voice announced that ROTK tied “Titanic” for the most awards won. Along with _Ben Hur_. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/7 "2004-03-01T05:19:54Z")
Ben Hur also won 11 Oscars. Barry thanked the fans, that means _I_ have been thanked in a Oscar BP speach 🙂 Brian ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/8 "2004-03-01T05:27:54Z")
According to CNN, the previous record for a sweep was 9 (Gigi\* and Last Emperor) Brian \*Not to be confused with Gigli ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/9 "2004-03-01T05:41:10Z")
From the AP: After the first two installments of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy were shut out of major awards, “Return of the King” swept all 11 categories in which it was nominated. It matched the record 11 wins of “Titanic” and “Ben-Hur” and became only the third movie to sweep every nominated category, following “Gigi” and “The Last Emperor,” which both went nine- for-nine. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/10 "2004-03-01T05:46:21Z")
I was watching with **Harborwolf** and **Alias** , and we were getting a bit nervous after LOTR’s first two wins. Usually wins for technical categories (art direction, makeup, etc) are a sign that a film isn’t going to get any of the big prizes. I think it was around the best song win that it finally began to sink in. They won it all. It’s about damn time. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/11 "2004-03-01T05:49:27Z")
There’s a whole lot of yahoo-ing going on in the Embassy Theatre in Wellington, the local radio stations have been broadcasting the news, I expect the TV stations will be wall-to-wall Peter Jackson for ages yet. He and the production crew and team have done New Zealand proud. And finally, fantasy film gets the recognition it deserves. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/12 "2004-03-01T05:50:52Z")
Now if only Sean Astin had been nominated for Best Supporting, it could have been 12! _Could_. But Tim Robbins still might have won, and then it wouldn’t have been a complete shutout. Mr. Rilch called it, too. About two hours in, he said, “Someone’s gonna thank LOTR for not being in their category,” and the Best Foreign Language winner (IIRC) did just that! I’m with the people who said that these awards are for the trilogy in its entirety, not just for ROTK. IMHO, it’s not the best of the three: that would be Fellowship. But I’m not about to quibble! ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/13 "2004-03-01T05:55:24Z")
Um it wasn’t a sweep. ROTK didn’t win Cinematography. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/14 "2004-03-01T06:00:18Z")
> [@CyberPundit](#): > > Um it wasn’t a sweep. ROTK didn’t win Cinematography. It wasn’t nominated in that category. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/15 "2004-03-01T06:14:55Z")
Oops. You are right. I thought it was nominated because I had read a Slate discussion about the Oscars where David Edelstein wrote : “I would love to see Master & Commander win for cinematography, but my hunch is that Lord of the Rings will take all the tech awards.” ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/16 "2004-03-01T06:25:45Z")
> [@Arden Ranger](#): > > became only the third movie to sweep every nominated category, following “Gigi” and “The Last Emperor,” which both went nine- for-nine. Well, apart from all the movies that were nominated in one category and won that… ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/17 "2004-03-01T06:27:25Z")
Congrats, Peter & company. Well deserved. ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/18 "2004-03-01T07:35:54Z")
Excellent and about time. The only award LOTR _shouldn’t_ have won was “Best Original Screenplay.” 😉 So what’s the total over all three films? That’s got to be a record in itself. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/19 "2004-03-01T08:18:45Z")
> [@look!ninjas](#): > > IUsually wins for technical categories (art direction, makeup, etc) are a sign that a film isn’t going to get any of the big prizes. Well, here I go again: The scientific and technical awards were given out at a separate ceremony on February 14. Individual films are not nominated for scientific and technical awards. Art direction and makeup are artistic awards, not technical awards. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865/20 "2004-03-01T08:46:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Barry thanked the fans, that means _I_ have been thanked in a Oscar BP speach Me too. And when Billy Crystal thanked everybody on Long Island, where I’m unfortunately from, that means I got two mentions. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-clean-sweep/231865.md?page=2)