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E D I T O R I A L
Monday, March 26: Academy Awards Special
Growing up in suburban Los Angeles, it was impossible to ignore the movie industry. Forget about that huge 'H O L L Y W O O D' sign in the foothills -- I'd walk past film crews occasionally on the way to elementary school. After I started reading the daily newspaper, I learned about the Academy Awards and eventually dreamed about walking across the stage to the adulation of millions and accepting my 'little golden man.' The local television stations covered the awards show exhaustively each year, and I looked forward to watching each year and trying to guess who would win -- despite the fact that my parental units protected me from seeing any movie without "Disney" stamped on it until my teen years. That didn't matter -- the show itself was enough. A few memories survive -- Marlon Brando sending out a Native American woman to turn down (or accept? I don't recall) his award, George C. Scott not even bothering to show up to turn down his award, an extended standing ovation for Charlie Chaplin, the streaker, and so forth.
What does any of this have to do with Hong Kong movies?
Absolutely nothing. Until this year.
People can say what they want about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon not being a Hong Kong movie -- that it was financed in part by a big Hollywood studio, that it was Taiwan's official entry for best foreign-language film, etc. - but I maintain that if you watch it without knowing who made it, you must realize that it's a HK movie. Not just because it has martial arts and flying thieves and mystical swords and meditating monks and solemn lovers and intervening fate and subtitles, but because it jams together two different genres and doesn't care if they mix well together, respects the spirituality (or lack thereof) of its characters, and features a strong, young, not always likable female whose main motivation is NOT sex or jealousy or greed . . . among other reasons.
Now we get to the awards show itself . . .
Tim Yip got cut off in his acceptance speech, when he won the first award presented for Best Art Direction. Julia Roberts went five times as long in her speech, but that's the power of movie stars for you.
Peter Pau's rapid fire naming of friends and co-workers was a delight to hear.
Tan Dun's joy at winning an award was highlighted by naming his wife and daughter as two special tigers.
Ang Lee was gracious in accepting the award for Best Foreign-Language Film but it would have been nice if he made some kind of nod to the world's filmmakers, something similar to Steven Soderbergh's express of gratitude for creative people.
Gladiator's win for Best Picture was not unexpected, I suppose, yet it's still a touch disheartening when a rather turgid melodrama is recognized as the best of any year. Ah, well, that's Hollywood . . .
As usual, feedback, whether positive or negative, is always welcome.
Peter
Editor / Reviewer / Webmaster
Current Editorial | Current Index
The Price of Success (3/19/01)
Is Jackie Chan Still the Man? part 1 (3/12/01)
Great Expectations (3/7/01)
In the Mood for Change (2/26/01)
Bronchitis on the Brain (2/12/01)
Hong Kong Sequel Blues (2/5/01)
Better or Best? (1/29/01)
To Dub or Not to Dub (1/22/01)
Scenes From a Fractured Skull (1/15/01)
Year-End Round-Up (1/7/01)
Briefly noted (12/31/00)
Wuxia Fantasies and the Black-and-White Western (12/24/00)
Raiders of the lost heart (12/17/00)
The movie week in review (12/10/00)
Redesigning A Better Tomorrow (12/3/00)
The fantasy begins again (11/26/00)
A return and a shortened work week, hurrah! (11/20/00)
That blasted job! (11/12/00)
Hollywood, Jet, Jackie, Fred, and Gene (11/6/00)
Did you want blood with that? (10/30/00)
Do you like cold pizza? (10/24/00)
Preparing for the Legend (10/16/00)
The pauper must pay (10/10/00)
A visit to Five Star Laser (10/05/00)
A brief vacation (9/25/00)
The editor's plea (8/20/00)
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