76th Academy Awards

76th Academy Awards
Date	February 29, 2004
Site	Kodak Theatre; Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Preshow	Billy Bush; Chris Connelly; Maria Menounos
Host	Billy Crystal
Producer	Joe Roth
Director	Lou Horvitz
	Highlights
Best Picture	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Most awards	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11)
Most nominations	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11)
	TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Duration	3 hours, 44 minutes
Viewership	43.56 million; 26.68 (Nielsen ratings)

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The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 (01:30 March 1 UTC). The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.

The nominees were announced on January 27 at 5:38 a.m. PST (13:38 UTC) by Academy president Frank Pierson and actress Sigourney Weaver, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in the Academy's Beverly Hills headquarters. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King swept all 11 categories in which it was nominated. It matched the record 11 wins of Titanic and Ben-Hur and beat the previous record of Gigi and The Last Emperor for the largest sweep of every nominated category, both of which had achieved nine-for-nine.

The big contenders for the 76th Academy Awards (for the best achievement in film in 2003) included The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Lost in Translation, and in the highly competitive Best Actor category, with strong work from Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Jude Law. Penn eventually won the award, after failing three previous nominations.

[edit] News and recap

Billy Crystal returned for the eighth time to host the presentation. His opening monologue poked fun at the change (or lack thereof) between the time he had hosted the ceremony in 1991, and the current one: "Things were so different then. You know how different it was? Bush was president, the economy was tanking and we'd just finished a war with Iraq."

However, the bulk of Crystal's good-natured barbs—and the comments of many of the presenters and award recipients as well—were directed at New Zealand and Return of the King, which dominated an evening lacking in surprises. The front-runner (or near front-runner) in every nominated category turned out to be the actual winner, although The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was the first ever film of the fantasy genre to win Best Picture. Despite the lack of "drama" due to an "Obvious Winner" ceremony, the show attracted an audience of 43.56 million, breaking a low-ratings streak which had started back in 2001 due to the popularity of the best picture winner.

The television broadcast on ABC was aired live with a five-second tape delay, possibly because of the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction controversy during Super Bowl XXXVIII. It was shown live in many other countries around the world (satellite delays notwithstanding). Host Billy Crystal joked during the awards ceremony that Robin Williams was the cause of the 5-second delay.

Jack Black and Will Ferrell finally shed light (and lyrics) on the mysterious song that the orchestra would play whenever a winner would make a speech.

[edit] Notable quotations

(Riding Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo) "IIIIIII CANT BELIEVE THE YANKEES GOT A-ROD!" – Billy Crystal during his opening montage celebrating about how his beloved Yankees just got reigning MVP Alex Rodriguez

(Being kidnapped in Mystic River) "What are you doing? This isn't how you get to the World Series!" – Crystal once again from his opening montage joking that he was being kidnapped in Boston.

"Things were so different then. You know how different it was? Bush was president, the economy was tanking and we'd just finished a war with Iraq." – Host Billy Crystal, remembering how things had been different thirteen years before, when he first hosted the Oscars.

"For the very, very first time, we're being simulcast in Aramaic." – Host Billy Crystal said jokingly, referring to the ancient language used in Mel Gibson's new film, The Passion of the Christ.

"Pussy Galore! I just got it! That's vulgar!" – Billy Crystal, "reading" Sean Connery's mind.

"Forty years ago, this country went down a rabbit hole in Vietnam — millions died. I fear we're going down the rabbit hole once again." – Errol Morris upon receiving his Best Documentary Oscar for The Fog of War.

"I can't wait for his tax audit—scary times." – Host Billy Crystal, in response to documentarian Errol Morris's comment that he fears America in Iraq is "going down a rabbit hole once again."

"It's now official—there is nobody left in New Zealand to thank." – Host Billy Crystal, in reference to the numerous awards won by The Lord of the Rings, which was produced in New Zealand, and won the most awards that night.

"We're so thankful that The Lord of the Rings did not qualify for this category." – Denise Robert, wife of director Denys Arcand, in her acceptance speech for the Best foreign language film The Barbarian Invasions, also the Lord of The Rings reference was due to the numerous wins it got that night.

"Do you know that people are moving to New Zealand just to be thanked?" – Host Billy Crystal.

"If there's one thing that actors know—other than there weren't any WMDs—it's that there is no such thing as best in acting." – Sean Penn in his Best Actor acceptance speech.

"I'm so honored and touched and relieved that the Academy and members of the Academy have seen past the trolls and the wizards and the hobbits and are recognizing fantasy this year. Fantasy is an 'F' word that hopefully the five second delay won't do anything with." – Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, as he received his Oscar for Best Picture.

"...And he's wearing shoes, ladies and gentlemen!" – Billy Crystal commenting on Peter Jackson's appearance after the latter's acceptance speech.

"It's a clean sweep." – Steven Spielberg announcing the Best Picture Oscar for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

[edit] Winners & nominees

[edit] Breakdown

(Awards won/nominations)

11/11	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2/10	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2/6	Mystic River
1/7	Cold Mountain
1/4	Finding Nemo
1/4	Lost in Translation
1/2	The Barbarian Invasions
1/1	Monster

[edit] Special honors

Director Blake Edwards received the Honorary Academy Award for his work on such films as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Days of Wine and Roses, and Victor/Victoria. The award was presented by Jim Carrey. During Carrey's presentation of the award, the 81-year-old Edwards was seen sitting in a wheelchair backstage, watching the presentation from the wings. When Carrey introduced Edwards, his electric wheelchair appeared to malfunction. The wheelchair, with Edwards, rocketed across the stage at high speed. As Edwards passed Carrey, he snatched his Honorary Oscar from Carrey's hand. The wheelchair then crashed through a wall on the opposite side of the stage. (Although it looked like Edwards in the wheelchair, this pre-arranged stunt was actually performed by veteran stuntman Mickey Gilbert.)

Edwards emerged, covered with dust and plaster, and clutching his award. Jim Carrey helped Edwards to the microphone. "That felt good!" quipped the director, referencing a line frequently used by Clouseau in the Pink Panther films. He concluded his acceptance speech with "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, [referring to his wife, Julie Andrews] the beautiful English broad with the incomparable soprano, and promiscuous vocabulary thanks you, and I sure as hell thank you."

[edit] In Memoriam

A special memorial was presented by Tom Hanks to legendary comedian and past Oscar host Bob Hope.

A second special memorial was presented by Julia Roberts to legendary actress and four time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn.

The annual "In Memoriam" tribute was presented by Academy President Frank Pierson, starting with another legendary actor that died in the previous year, Gregory Peck. Peck is followed by a list of Academy members who had also died in the previous year: Wendy Hiller, David Hemmings, Hope Lange, screenwriter George Axelrod, Charles Bronson, Michael Jeter, screenwriter David Newman, Ron O'Neal, Academy Award winner Art Carney, director Elia Kazan, documentary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, Karen Morley, Buddy Ebsen, director John Schlesinger, filmmaker Stan Brakhage, producer Ray Stark, movie trailer innovator Andrew J. Kuhen, John Ritter, Hume Cronyn, Buddy Hackett, composer Michael Kamen, screenwriter John Gregory Dunne, Robert Stack, Alan Bates, Gregory Hines, Jack Elam, Jeanne Crain, Ann Miller, Donald O'Connor

[edit] Partial list of Presenters and Performers

[edit] Presenters

Catherine Zeta-Jones- Best Supporting Actor
Robin Williams- Best Animated Feature
Ian McKellen- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Best Picture Segment.
Chris Cooper- Best Supporting Actress
Angelina Jolie- Best Art Direction
Bill Murray- Lost in Translation Best Picture Segment
Oprah Winfrey- Mystic River Best Picture Segment.
Tobey Maguire- Seabiscuit Best Picture Segment
Will Ferrell and Jack Black- Best Original Song
Sofia Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola- Best Adapted Screenplay
Frank Pierson- In Memoriam Tribute
Nicolas Cage - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Best Picture Segment
Tom Cruise- Best Director
Steven Spielberg- Best Motion Picture

[edit] See also

Academy Award portal

[edit] External links

76th Academy Awards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] News and recap

[edit] Notable quotations

[edit] Winners & nominees

[edit] Best Picture

[edit] Best Actor in a Leading Role

[edit] Best Actress in a Leading Role

[edit] Best Actor in a Supporting Role

[edit] Best Actress in a Supporting Role

[edit] Best Director

[edit] Best Original Screenplay

[edit] Best Adapted Screenplay

[edit] Best Cinematography

[edit] Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

[edit] Best Costume Design

[edit] Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

[edit] Best Editing

[edit] Best Sound Editing

[edit] Best Visual Effects

[edit] Best Makeup

[edit] Best Music, Original Song

[edit] Best Music, Original Score

[edit] Best Short Film, Animated

[edit] Best Short Film, Live Action

[edit] Best Documentary, Short Subjects

[edit] Best Documentary, Features

[edit] Best Foreign Language Film

[edit] Best Animated Feature

[edit] Breakdown

[edit] Special honors

[edit] In Memoriam

[edit] Partial list of Presenters and Performers

[edit] Presenters

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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