The Academy Awards
Chris Rock will host the 77th Academy Awards telecast, producer Gil Cates announced today. This will be Rock's first stint as Oscar host.
"I am a huge fan of Chris Rock," said Cates. "He always makes me laugh and he always has something interesting to say. Chris represents the best of the new generation of comics. Having him host the Oscars is terrific. I can't wait."
Rock made his screen debut in "Beverly Hills Cop II" and became a comic to watch when he spent three years on the cast of "Saturday Night Live." His transformation into a comic cultural force, though, came with a series of HBO specials, including 1996's "Bring the Pain," which won him ecstatic reviews nationwide as well as Emmys for writing and outstanding special.
Rock currently is shooting THE LONGEST YARD with Adam Sandler and recently provided the voice of the zebra in the animated feature MADAGASCAR, both to be released in May 2005. His other film credits include HEAD OF STATE, BAD COMPANY, DOWN TO EARTH, NURSE BETTY and DOGMA.
Rock recently also completed the North American portion of his "Black Ambition Tour" and hosted the "20th MTV Video Music Awards" in 2003. He has won three Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards for his work. He also is the author of Rock This!
Oscar's grassroots charity program, Oscar Night® America, moves into its second decade in February, having raised nearly $11 million for local charities around the United States during the first decade.
A record 46 cities will participate in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' program, which sanctions local charitable Academy Awards® show-viewing parties and provides them with some extra elements of glamour such as posters, programs and the use of the Academy's famous Oscar® logo.
Last year, Oscar Night® America parties raised over $1.7 million for local charities in 37 cities. Since its inception in 1994, the program has generated funding for a wide spectrum of charitable organizations every — cent staying within the community where it was raised, none of it going to the Academy.
This year, from Seattle to West Palm Beach, organizations will attempt to re-create the glamour and excitement of the Academy Awards® ceremony. The cities chosen to host Oscar Night® America parties in 2004 are Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Greenville, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tucson, Washington, D.C. and West Palm Beach. All of the parties will feature a live broadcast of the 76th Academy Awards® Presentation, which is being televised by the ABC Television Network.
Academy Awards 2005 winners
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jamie Foxx
RAY
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Morgan Freeman
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Hilary Swank
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett
THE AVIATOR
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
THE INCREDIBLES
Brad Bird
ART DIRECTION
THE AVIATOR
Dante Ferretti (Art Direction); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration)
BEST PICTURE
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Clint Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy and Tom Rosenberg
CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE AVIATOR
Robert Richardson
COSTUME DESIGN
THE AVIATOR
Sandy Powell
DIRECTING
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Clint Eastwood
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BORN INTO BROTHELS
Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
MIGHTY TIMES: THE CHILDREN'S MARCH
Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston
FILM EDITING
THE AVIATOR
Thelma Schoonmaker
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE SEA INSIDE
Spain
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar
HONORARY AWARD
Roger Mayer
HONORARY AWARD
Sidney Lumet
MAKEUP
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
Valli O'Reilly and Bill Corso
MUSIC (SCORE)
FINDING NEVERLAND
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
MUSIC (SONG)
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
"Al Otro Lado Del Río"
Music and Lyric by Jorge Drexler
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
SIDEWAYS
Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman; Story by Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
RYAN
Chris Landreth
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
WASP
Andrea Arnold
SOUND EDITING
THE INCREDIBLES
Michael Silvers and Randy Thom
SOUND MIXING
RAY
Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamessa
VISUAL EFFECTS
SPIDER-MAN 2
John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are the most well known, influential, and prestigious, of film awards. The gold-plated statues (and the award they represent) have been presented annually since May 1929 by a professional organization known as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), based in Beverly Hills, California, which was founded in 1927. Pricewaterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) has managed the Academy Awards balloting process since 1935. The now-famous confidential envelope system was introduced in 1941. This marked the first year of complete secrecy and, "the Envelope Please" has become a familiar phrase that often ties thought to the Academy Awards® ceremony.
Aside from the early years of the institution, the awards honored films made during the previous calendar year to allow the ceremony to cover films for a single 12 month period. Beginning with the 1934 awards ceremony, all awards have been based on openings in the previous calendar year. Until 1954, the Oscars were usually on a Thursday evening. From 1955 to 1958, they were presented on a Wednesday. From 1959 until 1998 the Oscars were, with a few exceptions, presented on a Monday. Only since 1999 has the Awards ceremony taken place on a Sunday (traditionally in March). In 2004, the ceremony was moved even earlier to improve ratings and to be more relevant to the awards 'season'.
The establishment of the Academy (and its system) has had a major effect and influence upon the film industry, due to the enormous boost a nomination or award (for a film or actor) creates. Studios have often engaged in expensive marketing campaigns to help sway voters and encourage contractual loyalty during voting. The Academy has tried to limit the influences of pressure groups and promotion, box office receipts, and studio public relations and marketing on voting results with little result. It has also attempted to limit votes for melodramatic sentiment, past mistakes, personal popularity, and "prestige" or epic scale, but those influences have often had an effect upon the outcome of some poll results.
The worth however, vision, influence, and innovative qualities of many films are not given the same opportunites. Beginning primarily in the 80's, moneymaking 'formula' blockbusters with big production budgets have often been crowd-pleasing giants (and Best Picture winners), but they haven't necessarily been great films with depth or critical acclaim by any measure. The Academy Awards is still in search of the balance between quality and popularity, where movies are weighed on the inspirational, and film making value, and not the value of dollars involved.
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