By Allan Mendiola
TIME TO SHINE (Courtesy of the Ampas)
By Allan Mendiola
It is another year and another Oscar snub for Marty.
Martin Scorsese, the acclaimed director of “The Aviator,” went home empty-handed for the fifth time, losing 2004’s Best Director honor to former Oscar winner Clint Eastwood.
Scorsese put together a film of Hollywood epic proportions in “The Aviator,” but both he and the film lost out on Best Director and Best Picture honors to Eastwood and his emotionally charged boxing drama: “Million Dollar Baby.”
In addition to its wins for Best Picture and Director, “Million Dollar Baby” claimed Academy Awards for best actress Hilary Swank and for Best Supporting Actor Morgan Freeman. The veteran actor of such Oscar nominated films as “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” Freeman finally took home the gold with this, his fourth try for the Oscar.
Scorsese wasn’t the only one to leave the Oscar ceremony empty-handed after being nominated before. “Being Julia” just wasn’t enough for Annette Bening, who lost out on the Best Actress Oscar for the second time to Hilary Swank; both were nominated five years ago in the same category, with a then relatively unknown Swank winning for her breakthrough performance in “Boys Don’t Cry” over Bening’s work in “American Beauty.”
Not so surprisingly, the Best Actor Oscar went to Jamie Foxx for his powerhouse performance as music sensation Ray Charles in “Ray.” Foxx was the clear-cut front-runner to take home the Oscar after having claimed many critics’ honors as well as the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award for “Ray.” Some might see Foxx’s win as a sort of triumphant rise to the top story considering that he has gone from a WB network sitcom star (not to mention star of the raunchy comedy flick “Booty Call”) to a full-fledged Academy Award winner.
First-time Oscar host Chris Rock kept his remarks relatively clean throughout the show, but that didn’t stop him from taking potshots at such stars as Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and even himself.
When all was said and done with the 77th Annual Academy Awards, one tough “Baby” knocked out the competition and entered its name into Oscar history books.
Martin Scorsese and Annette Bening, meanwhile, just have to try again another year for that elusive Oscar glory.
