The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006) (TV)

Directors:

Louis J. Horvitz
Roger Goodman

Writers:

Rich Blomquist (writer)
Josh Bycel (writer)

Release Date:

5 March 2006 (USA)

Plot:

Films contending for the annual awards include Brokeback Mountain (2005), Capote (2005), Crash (2004/I), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) and Munich (2005). |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Awards Show | Music | Number In Title

Awards:

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Jon Stewart	...	Himself - Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amy Adams	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Moustapha Akkad	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Jessica Alba	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Best Sound
Eddie Albert	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Muhammad Ali	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Altman	...	Himself - Honorary Award Recipient
Jennifer Aniston	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood	...	Herself - Winner: Best Costume Design
Lauren Bacall	...	Herself - Presenter
Eric Bana	...	Himself - Presenter
Anne Bancroft	...	Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Paul Beauregard	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Song
Dion Beebe	...	Himself - Winner: Best Cinematography
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Howard Berger	...	Himself - Winner: Best Makeup
Nicole Berger	...	Dancer
John Box	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Steve Box	...	Himself - Winner: Best Animated Feature
Christopher Boyes	...	Himself - Winner: Best Sound
Zach Braff	...	Chicken Little - Co-presenter (voice)
Sandra Bullock	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Best Art Direction
Tim Burton	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Animated Feature Film
Jordi Caballero	...	Dancer
John Canemaker	...	Himself - Winner: Best Short Film - Animated
Steve Carell	...	Himself- Presenter: Best Achievement in Makeup
George Clooney	...	Himself - Winner / Nominee / Presenter
Cedric Coleman	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Song
Russell Crowe	...	Himself - Presenter: Biographical film montage
Joan Cusack	...	Co-presenter: Best Animated Short (voice) (as Abby Mallard)
Yves Darondeau	...	Himself - Winner: Best Documentary Feature
Sandra Dee	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Judi Dench	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Matt Dillon	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Ferrell	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Best Makeup
John Fiedler	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Jamie Foxx	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actor
Anthony Franciosa	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Morgan Freeman	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Supporting Actor
Mahatma Gandhi	...	Himself (archive footage)
Sidney Ganis	...	Himself - Academy President (as Sid Ganis)
Jennifer Garner	...	Presenter - Best Sound Editing
Lou Gehrig	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul Giamatti	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Guy Green	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Himself - Nominee / Presenter
Paul Haggis	...	Himself - Winner: Best Picture / Screenplay
Tom Hanks	...	Himself
Salma Hayek	...	Herself - Presenter
Kasie Head	...	Trophy Presenter
Michael Hedges	...	Himself - Winner: Best Sound
Debra Hill	...	Herself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Joel Hirschhorn	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Dustin Hoffman	...	Himself - Presenter
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Gavin Hood	...	Himself - Winner: Best Foreign Film
Mike Hopkins	...	Himself - Winner: Best Sound Editing
Jordan Houston	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Song
Terrence Howard	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Documentary Short & Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Felicity Huffman	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
William Hurt	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Alberto Iglesias	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Original Score
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Himself - Presenter
Luc Jacquet	...	Himself - Winner: Best Documentary Feature
Tom Kane	...	Announcer
Catherine Keener	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Kathleen Kennedy	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Picture
Nicole Kidman	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Supporting Actor
Keira Knightley	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Robert Knudson	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Tami Lane	...	Herself - Winner: Best Makeup
Queen Latifah	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Original Song
Heath Ledger	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Ang Lee	...	Himself - Winner: Best Director
Ernest Lehman	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Joe Letteri	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Stu Linder	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Jennifer Lopez	...	Herself - Presenter
Ludacris	...	Himself - Presenter: Song Performance 'It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp' (as Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges)
William H. Macy	...	Himself
Corinne Marrinan	...	Himself - Winner: Best Short Film - Documentary
Rachel McAdams	...	Herself - Presenter: Scientific & Technical Achievement Awards
James McAvoy	...	Himself / Mr. Tumnus, the Faun (archive footage)
Martin McDonagh	...	Himself - Winner: Best Short Film, Live Action
Frances McDormand	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Larry McMurtry	...	Himself - Winner: Best Adapted Screenplay
Ismail Merchant	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Bennett Miller	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Director
John Mills	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Robert Moresco	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Screenplay (as Bobby Moresco)
Pat Morita	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage) (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
John Myhre	...	Himself - Winner: Best Art Direction
John Nash	...	Himself (archive footage) (as John Forbes Nash)
Robert F. Newmyer	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Fayard Nicholas	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Jack Nicholson	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Picture
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Diana Ossana	...	Herself - Winner: Best Adapted Screenplay & Nominee: Best Picture
Nick Park	...	Himself - Winner: Best Animated Feature
Dolly Parton	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Original Song & Performer
George S. Patton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hammond Peek	...	Himself - Winner: Best Sound
Chris Penn	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Itzhak Perlman	...	Himself - Performer
Brock Peters	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Marisa Petroro	...	Trophy Presenter
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Rodrigo Prieto	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Cinematography
Richard Pryor	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Joe Ranft	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Gretchen Rau	...	Herself - Winner: Best Art Direction
Keanu Reeves	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Best Art Direction
Christian Rivers	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Gustavo Santaolalla	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Score
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Robert J. Schiffer	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Cathy Schulman	...	Herself - Winner: Best Picture
Michael Semanick	...	Himself - Winner: Best Sound
Moira Shearer	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Simone Simon	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Eric Simonson	...	Himself - Winner: Best Short Film - Documentary
Will Smith	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Foreign Film
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Picture & Best Director
Kevin Alexander Stea	...	Dancer - It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp
Peggy Stern	...	Herself - Winner: Best Short Film - Animated
Ben Stiller	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Visual Effects
David Strathairn	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Meryl Streep	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Honorary Award to Robert Altman
Hilary Swank	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor
Richard Taylor	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Charlize Theron	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Presenter
Three 6 Mafia	...	Themselves - Performers ("It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp")
Uma Thurman	...	Herself - Presenter
Lily Tomlin	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Honorary Award to Robert Altman
John Travolta	...	Himself - Presenter
Casey Tutton	...	Steve Martin's daughter in Jon Stewart's opening film
Ryan Tutton	...	Steve Martin's son in Jon Stewart's opening film
Ethan Van der Ryn	...	Himself - Winner: Best Sound Editing
Brian Van't Hul	...	Himself - Winner: Best Visual Effects
Nacho Vigalondo	...	Himself - Audience member
Naomi Watts	...	Herself - Presenter
Rachel Weisz	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Onna White	...	Herself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
John Williams	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Original Score
Michelle Williams	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Luke Wilson	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Best Live Action Short
Owen Wilson	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Best Live Action Short
Hughes Winborne	...	Himself - Winner: Best Editing
Shelley Winters	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Robert Wise	...	Himself, in memorial sequence (archive footage)
Reese Witherspoon	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Edward D. Wood Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Ed Wood)
Teresa Wright	...	Memorial sequence (archive footage)
Kathleen York	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Original Song & Performer (as Kathleen 'Bird' York)
Hawk Younkins	...	Himself
Ziyi Zhang	...	Herself - Presenter

Runtime:

214 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hilton Hotel - 9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Trivia:

First time since 1962 that the four acting winners (Best Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Best Actress (Reese Witherspoon), Best Supporting Actor (George Clooney), and Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Weisz)) were all first-time nominees.

Quotes:

Jon Stewart: For those of you who are keeping score at home, I just want to make something very clear: Martin Scorsese, zero Oscars; Three 6 Mafia, one.

Movie Connections:

References Batman & Robin (1997)

Soundtrack:

Travelin' Thru

The academy regained some if its credibility.

Not only was this is a good show to watch, also most of the winners were surprising. No movie swept away the awards and the 'big' Oscars were evenly handed among the favorite movies of the evening. It made it a very unpredictable evening and because of that it also was fun to watch. It's never fun to see one movie just win all of the 'big' Oscars, especially when the movie is not deserving enough of it. So, for the more neutral and unbiased viewer, like myself, this was a great awards show in which the Adademy Awards, for me, regained some of its credibility and respect.

The show was fast paced and there weren't any slow or distracting moments. All of the presenters were good and didn't try to be forced funny all the time, like often in the past was the case. As for Jon Stewart, he surprised me. I never really had been a fan of him but he was a great presenter of the evening. Unlike the other presenters from the past, he stood there as a presenter that told some fun jokes in between and not as a comedian who tried to make the audience laugh with basically every single sentence. Stewart never overdid things and because of that he was a great presenter that also was fun to listen to.

A bit disappointing however were the montages. I normally always enjoy the montages during the Oscars but the montages used this year contained some weird and unimpressive movie choices at times. It also got a bit tiresome after a while when they kept repeating to the viewers that they should watch movies in theater's rather than home on DVD or on portable-DVD. It felt like one big, unpaid for, advert that in my opinion also was just totally pointless.

As for the winners...Like I said before, it was a great evening for the neutral movie-viewer. It was a mostly unpredictable evening, with some great and also some surprising winners. The Oscars were handed out extremely even and fair this year. "King Kong" took home 3 Oscar, as well as "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Crash" and "Brokeback Mountain". "King Kong" won the most important technical awards, "Memoirs of a Geisha" the most important visual awards and both "Crash" and "Brokeback Mountain" won the 'big' important awards. So, it was a very balanced evening for most movies.

Not all of the awards were a surprise though of course. Most movie buffs already knew that it was simply bound to happen once, that Philip Seymour Hoffman would win an Oscar for best actor and it really was no surprise to anyone that he won this year for his role in "Capote". It also was fairly determined that Reese Witherspoon would receive the Oscar for best actress, which she also did. Judi Dench already had received enough nominations and credit, plus she already won an Oscar once, Charlize Theron already one won recently, Keira Knightley will almost certainly still win an Oscar later within about 5 or maybe 10 years, the way her career progresses at the moment. She's young, talented and beautiful, so she'll get there. And Felicity Huffman...yeah right, like she even had a chance. So no, also Reese Witherspoon was surely no surprise, also because she already had won many other big awards this year for her role in "Walk the Line". Also no real surprises were; "La Marche de l'empereur" for best documentary feature, "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" for best animated feature film and George Clooney for his supporting role in the movie "Syriana". Clooney was nominated two more times, first best screenplay and directing for "Good Night, and Good Luck.". Three nominations, so he was almost bound to receive one. For best screenplay and best directing would had been too controversial, so giving him one for his acting seemed like a fair and predictable move. Clooney himself also knew that he wouldn't receive the Oscar for best screenplay or directing after he had one the best supporting actor award.

Of course biggest surprise of the evening was "Crash" winning the best picture award, especially after Ang Lee already had won the best director award during the evening. Everyone basically assumed that "Brokeback Mountain" would win best picture and most of the other important awards of the evening, with maybe "Good Night, and Good Luck." as the most important underdog. Yeah sure "Crash" had 6 nominations this evening but honestly, who would had ever expected it to win so many and important awards. The movie almost didn't seem to make a chance to win against "Brokeback Mountain" and any of the other movies nominated. But yet it won, which is good for the unpredictability, surprise and credibility level of this year's award ceremony.

All in all, "The 78th Annual Academy Awards" was an unpredictable and fun evening with a good presented- and fast show set around it. 2005 was a great and competitive year for the Oscar's. No one will totally agree with the Oscar's handed out this year but for the neutral viewer there was plenty to enjoy.

8/10