Sunday, March 05, 2006

And The Oscar Goes To . . .

Philip Seymour Hoffman (left, as "Capote," courtesy Sony Pictures Classics) wins Best Actor! We told you so here at Hell's Kitchen! His portrayal of Truman Capote in the film "Capote" was eerie in its depth.

Three years ago he was nominated for a Tony for Best Supporting Actor in Eugene O’Neill’s magnum opus "Long Day’s Journey Into Night." Our comment then was that he should have received the Tony Award:

"Hoffman in particular is breathtaking in the third act when he enters after a night of drunken whoring: 'Be always drunk, nothing else matters,' he tells Edmund, then, 'I love your guts, Kid. Everything else is gone. You're all I've got left.'"

Hoffman was shaking while accepting the award, and credited his mother, Marilyn O’Connor, with much of his success. Interviewed on CNN last month, he described the role of Capote as very challenging, but said the role of the oldest O’Neill son rivaled it in complexity.

Hell's Kitchen congratulates you, Mr. Hoffman. The award is overdue in our opinion.

Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana won for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain." They adapted Annie Proulx's short story.

"Crash" was the upset winner for Best Picture, which many expected would go to "Brokeback."

George Clooney won Best Supporting Actor for the Middle East thriller "Syriana." His acceptance speech was truly classy, as he paid tribute to all the other nominees; he then went on to say how proud he was to be a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, who had shown bravery in giving Hattie McDaniel an Oscar “when most blacks were still sitting in the back of the theatre.” He’s proud to be out of touch with the mainstream if that’s what it means, and we’re proud of Irish-American George Clooney. First of the night! Clooney beat out among others Matt Dillon ("Crash") and Paul Giamatti ("Cinderella Man," where he portrayed Joe Gould, manager of Irish-Am world boxing champ Jim Braddock).

Above, left, Clooney in "Syriana." (Warner Bros. photo) Right, Vivian Leigh ("Scarlett O'Hara") and Hattie McDonald ("Mammy") in "Gone With the Wind," which garnered McDaniel an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1940. (MGM photo)

George also showed up in a bit part with host Jon Stewart during the opening, where Stewart woke up from a dream to find George in his bed telling him it was not a dream, get the show started.

Martin McDonagh won for his short film "Six Shooter," which imdb.com calls "a black and bloody Irish comedy," and at 27 minutes, not likely to outwear its welcome. McDonagh was born in Britain but has Galway roots. He is the 1998 Tony Award winner for "The Beauty Queen of Leenane." His literary influences include John Millington Synge, and he writes about the West of Ireland, especially the Aran Islands. He made sure to thank his parents back home in Ireland.

Below left, Paul Giamatti ("Joe Gould") tells Russell Crowe ("James J. Braddock") the score in "Cinderella Man." Universal Pictures photo

The score of "Cinderella Man" didn't pick up any Oscar nominations, but it does win honorable mention from WGT for its Irish-flavored score. If you've got the movie or soundtrack cued up, listen for Paul Giamatti (Braddock manager Joe Gould) whistling "Londonderry Air" before Braddock's big championship showdown with Max Baer. This is followed by "The Hope of the Irish," composed and conducted by Thomas Newman, who scored the film. Buy the soundtrack or DVD at Amazon.com. (Music snippets for Windows Media Player, hosted by Amazon.com)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can you possibly be proud of George Clooney when he has constantly bad-mouthed our country, making us sound like terrorists, and then worked to make the real terrorists in the Middle East look like the innocent and misunderstood ones?!

Just because someone is Irish-American doesn't mean that he/she automatically gets respect. Respect and honor must be earned. George Clooney has neither. He is a traitor; just another Jane Fonda.

pathickey said...

Eric,

The Brits executed 16 guys that they considered traitors - Clooney seems like he's in pretty good company. Bad mouthing George Bush don't make you a traitor - hell, even is old man bad mouth's him.

We Americans got a job of work to do: support the troops; help them finish their mission; nake sure that they have jobs to come home to; take care of the 'greatest generation' - the real heroes who beat the Depression, the Nazis and Tojo ( with a pimp-slap to Il Duce as well); work on our educational system; and make some money to invest in the Future.

Clooney ain't a problem seems like a pretty good guy.

Gerry Regan said...

Last we looked, the first amendment to our Constitution still allows Clooney -- or anyone else -- the right to freedom of speech.