| Crouching Tiger: Four Out of Ten | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Those are fine awards to win for any Taiwanese movie. Why, then, do I still feel awfully disappointed? Because Crouching Tiger deserved to do much better. Chatters in the World Film chat shared the feeling. To quote AirChinaPilot: "In other words, it was a better production but didn't have that Hollywood insider appeal that the others had." JassyK says:"When Ang Lee didn't win director, I knew CTHD wouldn't win best pic. Hollywood politics won again." Of course it's asking too much anyway to expect the Oscars to truly honor art -- it's the industry congratulating itself, and it's great to see a subtitled outsider like Crouching Tiger winning anything at all. No single film swept the awards, either. Gladiator was ahead with five wins, including the Best Film award, which featured its producers ominously declaring "Strength and Honor!" as their motto. Traffic was tied with Crouching Tiger -- each won four golden men. While I was glad for Steven Soderbergh and even appreciated his here's-to-the-artists speech, I still can't believe a movie as overrated and timid as Traffic would win Best Screenplay.
As far as the losers go: I must admit I can't hide a bit of glee that the formulaic Billy Elliot went back to England empty-handed. But it's disappointing to think that if Crouching Tiger had won Best Director or Best Film, then maybe one of the other, unheard-of Foreign Films could have had a much better shot at a Best Foreign Picture nod, and the distribution and success that comes with it. What else? The otherworldly Björk sang a Dancer in the Dark tune in a pixie dress and Russell Crowe, who seems less Australian by the minute, won for wearing outfits that would have made Charlton Heston proud. Steve Martin was funnier than Billy Crystal, and there was another streaking incident--this time without a quip from David Niven, but prominently featuring Jennifer Lopez's gauzy dress. Oh my. For what it's worth, the big night is over, and Crouching Tiger did well. Very well, even -- just not well enough. I really wanted to see Ang Lee, who always wore a grin wider than Julia Roberts', onstage. If it's worth anything, he won Best Director and Best Picture at the Indie Spirits Awards, and he certainly won at the box office. In the end, for my money, the awards don't matter at all: they don't change the movies themselves one bit, and we all still know what we liked best last year. |
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Here's a complete list of all the categories Crouching Tiger was nomiated for: Best Picture
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