The 73rd Annual Academy Awards (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Louis J. Horvitz
Roger Goodman

Release Date:

25 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Family

Plot Keywords:

Oscar | TV Special | Live Performance | Oscar Statuette | Wheelchair

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Steve Martin	...	Himself - Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Affleck	...	Himself - Presenter: 'Traffic' Film Clip
Joan Allen	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Julie Andrews	...	Herself - Presenter: Honorary Award to Ernest Lehman
Javier Bardem	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Pilar Bardem	...	Herself - Audience Member
Paul Bartel	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Billy Barty	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Annette Bening	...	Herself - Presenter: 'Erin Brockovich' Film Clip
Halle Berry	...	Herself - Presenter: Song 'My Funny Friend and Me'
Juliette Binoche	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Co-Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film
Björk	...	Herself - Performer & Nominee: Best Original Song
Benjamin Bratt	...	Himself - Audience Member
Jeff Bridges	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Tim Burke	...	Himself - Best Visual Effects Winner
Ellen Burstyn	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nicolas Cage	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Jack Cardiff	...	Himself - Honorary Award Recipient
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects (as Chow Yun-Fat)
Arthur C. Clarke	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Original Screenplay (as Sir Arthur C. Clarke)
Neil Corbould	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Cameron Crowe	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Screenplay
Russell Crowe	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Leading Role & Presenter: Best Film Editing
Tom Cruise	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Director
Penélope Cruz	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Costume Design
Willem Dafoe	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Stephen Daldry	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Director
Benicio Del Toro	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Judi Dench	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Suporting Role
Danny DeVito	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Picture
Michael Douglas	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Picture
Bob Dylan	...	Himself - Perfomer & Winner: Best Original Song (via satellite from Sydney)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Richard Farnsworth	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Albert Finney	...	Ed Masry (archive footage)
David Franzoni	...	Himself - Winner: Best Picture
Morgan Freeman	...	Himself - Presenter: 'Wo hu cang long' Film Clip
Stephen Gaghan	...	Himself - Winner: Best Adapted Screenplay
John Gielgud	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Alec Guinness	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Tom Hanks	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role & Co-Presenter: Writing Awards
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Ed Harris	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Rob Harvey	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Goldie Hawn	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Original Score
Dustin Hoffman	...	Himself - Presenter: Honorary Award to Jack Cardiff
Susanna Hoffs	...	Herself - Performer
Anthony Hopkins	...	Himself - Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Award to Dino De Laurentiis
Kate Hudson	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role & Presenter: Best Makeup
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Himself - Presenter: Documentary Awards
Angelina Jolie	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Ashley Judd	...	Herself - Presenter: 'Chocolat' Film Clip
Stanley Kramer	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Ang Lee	...	Himself - Winner: Best Foreign Language Film & Nominee: Best Picture & Best Director
CoCo Lee	...	Herself - Performer
Ernest Lehman	...	Himself - Honorary Award Recipient
Laura Linney	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jennifer Lopez	...	Herself - Presenter: song 'Things Have Changed' & Best Original Song
Branko Lustig	...	Himself - Winner: Best Picture
Amy Madigan	...	Herself - Audience Member
Walter Matthau	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Frances McDormand	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Mike Myers	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Sound & Best Sound Effects Editing
John Nelson	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Randy Newman	...	Himself - Performer & Nominee: Best Original Song
Jack Nitzsche	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Herself - Presenter: song 'A Fool In Love'
Rhea Perlman	...	Herself - Audience Member
Jean Peters	...	Herself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Steve Reeves	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Robert Rehme	...	Himself
Beah Richards	...	Herself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Jason Robards	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Julia Roberts	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Presenter: Best Cinematography
Geoffrey Rush	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Winona Ryder	...	Herself - Presenter: song 'I've Seen It All'
Ridley Scott	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Director
Steven Soderbergh	...	Himself - Winner: Best Director
Kevin Spacey	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Julia Stiles	...	Herself - Presenter: Song 'A Love Before Time'
Ben Stiller	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Short Film, Live Action & Animated
Sting	...	Himself - Performer & Nominee: Best Original Song
Hilary Swank	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor in a Leading Role
John Travolta	...	Himself
Claire Trevor	...	Herself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Gina Tuttle	...	Announcer / Herself
Jack Valenti	...	Himself
Julie Walters	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Sigourney Weaver	...	Herself - Presenter: 'Gladiator' Film Clip
Douglas Wick	...	Himself - Winner: Best Picture
Rita Wilson	...	Herself - Audience Member
Marie Windsor	...	Herself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Janty Yates	...	Herself - Winner: Best Costume Design
Michelle Yeoh	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects
Loretta Young	...	Herself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Renée Zellweger	...	Herself - Host: Technical Awards Banquet
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Arthur C. Clarke Residence, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Company:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Trivia:

Of the 20 nominated actors, Albert Finney was the only one not in attendance. As of 2008, he has never been to an Academy Awards ceremony.

Quotes:

Julia Roberts: I have a television, so I'm going to spend some time here to tell you some things.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Things Have Changed

Yeah, Steve!

You know what I love about the Academy Awards ceremonies? They provide insight into the personalities of so many of our favorite Hollywood stars. There was a great, although short, interview with Anthony Hopkins in the pre-show event, where an obviously star-struck reporter asked him how he did what he did and whatnot, and Hopkins responded simply, `Well, that's what they pay me to do so I do it.' There's something really refreshing about knowing that even such gigantic stars as Anthony Hopkins are really just regular people like the rest of us.

Steve Martin, not very arguably the greatest host the Academy Awards have ever had, hosts the show this year, delivering some of his less effective but always amusing comedy. In the ceremony for the 2002 Oscars, Martin was absolutely hilarious from beginning to end, but I thought that this year he had a few jokes that were a little too dry or tasteless and weren't as effective as his brand of humor generally is. This year he kind of reminded me of the heavily rehearsed and almost universally flat humor of someone like Dennis Miller, although not necessarily quite THAT bad. Nonetheless, I still think that Martin is the best host that the Academy Awards have ever had.

Russell Crowe certainly seemed upset or angry or something this year, which rather amazed me since he had such an enormous presence at the ceremony, not the least reason for which was his spectacular role in Gladiator. Obviously, Björk had the most memorable outfit, showing up and performing in what looked to be a swan draped over her neck, but she is an eccentric and artistic person, and at least it's nice to see someone who didn't just show up wearing a $20,000 dress like everyone else at the ceremony. There comes a point where even the most ridiculously expensive attire becomes repetitive and boring. Notice, for example, that her outfit may very well have been made by Björk herself, and yet it's the one that was the most talked about.

Björk's performance was also one of the highlights of the evening. It's so weird that she can deliver such a good performance when she is so obviously terrified, but she is definitely one of the more talented musicians working today, and has also proven her skill as an actress in the excellent (although more than a little depressing) Dancer in the Dark. Best Picture went to Gladiator, obviously, just like we all knew it would. This year was particularly strange in that category, since you could tell that Gladiator would win Best Picture just by looking at its cover. It's an epic film and it is amazingly well made in every category. I also thought it was strange that Crouching Tiger was in the Best Picture category, since it kind of defeats the purpose of having a Best Foreign Film category at all. If that's the way they run it, they might as well just combine the two categories.

On the other hand, I think it's very important to have a Foreign Film category separate, because it allows for more focus on foreign films, which tend to be the best films. And besides that, Crouching Tiger, if any foreign movie, deserves to transcend the Foreign Film category and participate in the most anticipated category of the evening.

So now that we actually have an Academy Awards ceremony where there is not too much controversy over who won the big awards (at least not as much as there was in the ceremony in 1999), it's still disappointing that no one has done anything about the streams of celebrities that come onstage to deliver wooden speeches about the next category. If these are sometimes multiple Oscar winners, why do they read their introductions as though they're reading it for the first time off an index card?