Crash Collides with Mountain Atop Oscars

March 5, 2006

The Oscars were handed out tonight and while there were a handful of multiple winners, no single movie stood out.

Here is a complete list of the winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

• Crash

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

• Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

• Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• George Clooney in Syriana

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener

Best Achievement in Directing

• Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

• Crash

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

• Brokeback Mountain

Best Achievement in Cinematography

• Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Achievement in Editing

• Crash

Best Achievement in Art Direction

• Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Achievement in Costume Design

• Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Achievement in Makeup

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

• King Kong

Best Achievement in Sound

• King Kong

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

• King Kong

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

• Brokeback Mountain

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

• Hustle & Flow - "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

• Tsotsi - South Africa

Best Documentary, Features

• The March of the Penguins

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

• A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

Best Short Film, Animated

• The Moon and the Son

Best Short Film, Live Action

• Six Shooter

Reactions:

• Not much in the way of surprises tonight, which has been an ongoing theme throughout award season.
• Paul Giamatti lost to George Clooney. This is not a surprise, but for me it was disappointing as Paul Giamatti is one of my favorite actors.
• Similarly, Catherine Keener lost to Rachel Weisz and while not a surprise, I'm disappointed because Catherine Keener was also my personal favorite of the group.
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith should have won for Best Make-up. In fact, it should have won for best visuals and sound, but that's a rant for another day.
• The March of the Penguins beat Murderball. Again, not a surprise, but I disagree with the selection.
• Tsotsi beat out Paradise Now, which is the closest we've come to a real shock all night, and it's more of a light surprise than truly shocking.
• Brokeback Mountain lost to Memoirs of a Geisha for Best Cinematography, which is the biggest surprise so far.
• Reese Witherspoon beat Felicity Huffman, which was again not as much as a shock, but another disappointment.
• Crash won Best Motion Picture of the Year over Brokeback Mountain! That is a huge surprise. Out of all the categories in our Oscar vote, that one was the most one-sided. I'm in shock. No offense to the people who made Crash, but Brokeback Mountain was robbed.
• All in all, four movies each won three awards apiece, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, King Kong, and Memoirs of a Geisha. If I were forced to name one picture as the big winner of the evening, it would clearly be Crash since Best Motion Picture of the Year is the slightly more prestigious than Best Achievement in Directing won by Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain. And, of course, both King Kong and Memoirs of a Geisha won just technical awards.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Filed under: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong, Walk the Line, Brokeback Mountain, La marche de l'empereur, Memoirs of a Geisha, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Crash, Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Capote, Hustle & Flow, Tsotsi