Oscar Speeches Feature George Clooney
Oscar Speeches Feature George Clooney
Published: 3/6/06, 1:27 AM EDT
(AP) - A year of hard-edged movies didn't produce political or controversial Oscar speeches on Sunday night. Instead, George Clooney ruled the podium - even during speeches he didn't give.
Clooney won the ceremony's first statuette, for best supporting actor in "Syriana," and did so graciously.
"All right, so I'm not winning (best) director," said Clooney, who later lost in the directing and screenplay categories for "Good Night, and Good Luck."
The actor-director seemed to recognize what his first Oscar would do to his legacy.
"It's a funny thing about winning an Academy Award, this will always be sort of synonymous with your name from here on. Oscar-winner George Clooney, sexiest man alive 1997, `Batman,' died today in a freak accident."
But the dark-haired leading man also came up in other acceptance speeches.
Howard Berger, co-winner for makeup for "The Chronicles of Narnia," said, "Well, I'm just glad that Clooney doesn't do makeup."
Accepting the award for documentary short, Corinne Marrinan thanked her family, HBO and the Academy - for sitting her next to Clooney at the nominees luncheon.
The traditional refuge of the tear-jerker, the best actress' speech, was nice but not classic. Reese Witherspoon won for her role in "Walk the Line" as June Carter - whom she described as "a real woman who has dignity and honor and fear and courage."
Tenderness was found, instead, in Philip Seymour Hoffman's acceptance speech for best actor for his performance as Truman Capote in "Capote."
Trembling and clearly shaken, Hoffman shielded his eyes for much of his speech with the envelope that read his name as winner.
"My mom's name is Marilyn O'Connor. She's here's tonight," he said. "I'd like it if you see her tonight to congratulate her. She brought up four kids alone and she deserves congratulations for that."
"We're at the party, Mom, ya know?"
Paul Haggis, who wrote and directed the night's big winner, "Crash," alluded to the film's socially conscious message.
"I just want to thank those people who take big risks in their daily lives when there aren't cameras rolling," said Haggis, adding, "and the people out there who stand up for peace and justice and against intolerance."
Some of the stranger speeches came in the smaller categories, including one that was strictly for the birds.
Luc Jacquet, director the documentary winner "March of the Penguins," took the stage with his three producers and four stuffed penguins. He began his acceptance by whistling, which he said meant "thank you" in penguin.
A peculiar new practice of playing very soft orchestra music as soon as award winners got to the podium helped keep the speeches clean of natural emotion. This foolhardy idea may have been meant to ease the inevitable rise in volume to signal "time."
This was not done for the one speaker who should have been cut short: the rambling Sid Ganis, president of the Academy. His vanity remarks should have had the band in full force after 20 seconds.
But the veneer of the Oscar broadcast was utterly shattered when "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," the anthem from "Hustle & Flow," won for best song.
Three 6 Mafia, who had just performed their song, stormed the stage with a raucous, sometimes-bleeped acceptance speech of exuberant shout-outs - the likes of which the Academy Awards had never seen.
Host Jon Stewart had his best moment following the spectacle.
"How come they're the most excited people here tonight?"
Good question.
Credit BellSouth
