At Hollywood's Senior Prom, the film that captured most of the attention this winter from critics and the media - while audiences stayed away - was upset in the Best Picture category by "Crash."
"Brokeback Mountain" was such a break-out leader - having won the Golden Globe and numerous other awards - that when presenter Jack Nicholson announced "Crash!" you could hear the gasps from the audience.
Other than that big surprise, what a miserable time was had by all! Host John Stewart bombed and never connected with the stars he was trying to entertain - hey, maybe he shouldn't have admitted to the press last week that he only saw one movie last year and had to be dragged to that. (It was "40-year-old Virgin.) And that he hasn't performed live on stage in 10 years wasn't a problem for the show's producers because what mattered was, he came cheap. Maybe next year they can save up and pay Billy Crystal $2 million to host this fiasco. Stewart did have a couple of good lines with his dry wit though, such as "Raise your hand if you were not in 'Crash'" he quipped referring to the movie's large ensemble cast.
The best speech of the night was given by Reese Witherspoon who beat out Felicity Huffman is a very tight Best Actress race. She's incredibly sweet and charming, and one of the hardest working actresses in Hollywood. Philip Seymour Hoffman was the odds-on favorite to win Best Actor and the academy didn't disappoint him, although he had his doubts.
Backstage after his win, Seymour grabbed his crotch and said, "I literally lost all control of my bowels up there." Asked why he was he so nervous, he said, "It's a no-brainer. It's not the most comfortable environment."
Another great quip was by Yves Darondeau, documentary feature Oscar winner for "March of the Penguins" who said,"looking out on these tuxedos tonight, it's like seeing the movie again."
The rest was predictably dull. The E! channel ran 8 hours of pre-show nothing lead-in to sap any energy out of the festivities before they began. Isaac Mizrahi didn't get close enough to Scarlett Johansson to feel her up again like he did at the Globes. The fashion were fabulous (Jessica Alba - wow), but did Lauren Bacall pee herself on stage? That was embarrassing to watch. And even though only three songs were nominated, Three 6 Mafia won for best original song with "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp". Who are they again? At least they woke us up.
