And the Oscar goes to... - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

And the Oscar for the Best Show in Town goes to . . .

. . . the producer(s) of the 73rd Annual Academy Awards, of course!

As usual and as expected, this year’s Oscars was a great show, well-crafted from beginning to end just like the movies (of Year 2000) it was honoring, with more than 27 trophies at stake, a spectacular show watched by more than 800 million worldwide (the Philippines included, with RPN 9 doing a marvelous job of covering it live, though very slightly delayed, with the commercial load just enough this time).

While local stars (and producers and scriptwriters and directors and other industry people) were marching yesterday down Morayta Street on the way to Mendiola under the scorching summer sun, denouncing what they called the suppression of "freedom of expression" in the wake of the Live Show brouhaha, their counterparts in Hollywood were starting to assemble at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, all dressed to the nines, for the much-awaited, much-touted and much-ballyhooed Oscar Awards. Talk about the two faces of showbiz, one wearing a big smile and the other crumpled with a big frown.

Thank God, nobody stole the trophies this time, unlike last year when somebody did, turning the founder of the lost/stolen trophies into an overnight sensation, enjoying his 15 minutes of fame when he was invited to the event, seated among the biggest stars on earth whose brilliance match those in the skies.

Nobody wore a black armband like some stars (Richard Gomez, Ricky Davao, etc.) and the film critics (Manunuri) did at the 24th Urian Awards during the weekend, as a sign of protest for – you guessed it – the death of "freedom of expression" and to mourn the passing of Manunuri Pio de Castro (last week, due to a stroke five years ago that paralyzed him).

But black was the color of the night and among those who showed up beautifully wrapped in expensive black gowns were Winona Ryder, Penelope Cruz (described as "the New Audrey Hepburn"), Annette Benning, Julia Roberts (Best Actress for Erin Brockovich) , Julie Andrews (whose stage appearance was highlighted by the strains of – what else? – The Sound of Music) and Sarah Jessica Parker (of Sin in the City fame).

Billy Crystal, who hosted the Oscars these past many years, was said to be "out of town" so Steve Martin (doesn’t he look like Makati Mayorable Edu Manzano?) took over. With Martin cracking those witty jokes, poking fun at his colleagues, you didn’t really miss Crystal, did you?

I just love – don’t you? – Martin’s one-liners (mostly delivered during his show-opener monologue), to wit:

• "I love watching young stars on the screen because it reminds me of my own death."

• "It’s not easy to keep a marriage in Hollywood because we sleep with so many different people" (commenting on the successful marriage of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson)

• "I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but I didn’t see the tiger and the dragon. Now I know why. They were crouching and hidden."

Even Ben Stiller (remember the guy with something sticky in There’s Something About Mary?) had his own one-liner before he announced the winner of the Best Short Film award, "We have a saying in Hollywood that it’s not the length of your film that matters but how you use it."

Through it all, Julia Roberts (escorted by boyfriend Benjamin Bratt) was laughing and laughing she could hardly contain herself even when she was trying to cover her mouth. But Russell Crowe (Best Actor for The Gladiator) was poker-faced even as Martin was making fun of him.

Unlike in past Oscars when the presenters would say, ". . . and the winner is . . ." they now say, ". . . and the Oscar goes to . . ." The winners, in turn, rush, almost running, to the stage and don’t tarry or dilly-dally, unlike they do hereabouts, and their thank you speeches are short and snappy (and not kilometric like local winners are prone to do).

Also, nobody thanked God (maybe they did so in their hearts), again unlike hereabouts when the name of God is invoked a dozen times.

There were technical surprises, too, such as when Bob Dylan sang his song Things Have Changed (from the movie Wonder Boys) via satellite from Sydney from where he also accepted his award and delivered his thank you speech. Now, did you see that lady martial artist fly across and away from the stage at the conclusion of the theme song (by Ko Ko Li) from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Amazing, wasn’t it?

I choked when I saw Asian Talent shine at the Oscars 2001, thanks to Chinese director Ang Lee (of Crouching Tiger) which won a handful of trophies, including that of Best Foreign Language Film), his stars Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh and other talents involved in the making of the movie. Chinese films now, Filipino films tomorrow? Let’s hope, let’s hope!

A few years back, it must be noted that our very own Lea Salonga shown at the Oscars when she sang A Whole New World, theme song of the Disney animation Aladdin.

The touching part came when the Academy paid tribute to Hollywood stars who have gone ahead (to Kingdom Come) last year, complete with film clips showing them at their best.

All in all, the Oscars 2001 was, as I’ve said, a great show: Very innovative, very creative, very imaginative, very entertaining, very witty and very humorous.

Perhaps local award-giving bodies can learn a thing or two from the Oscars, such as:

• Limit those long production numbers (you know, the usual song-dance routines)

• Invite a comedian to host the show to perk up what could degenerate into a long, boring night (ho-hum!)

• Do away with the usual pairs of presenters and let last year’s winners hand the trophies to this year’s winners (it’s more sentimental and meaningful that way, isn’t it?)

So there. See you next year. Same time, same place.