Lost in the Oscars

HOLLYWOOD – "It happens pretty quickly," says Mike Szymanski, managing editor for movies for Zap2it.com, referring to the whole Academy Awards shebang. For a brief moment, moviedom buzzes with Oscar excitement. When it comes to pass, next thing you know, it’s over. People get back to work.

A lot of producers, writers, and actors flew to sets the following day. Some were on their way right after the show, deprived of the occasion to celebrate victory. This year’s best actress, Charlize Theron (Monster), was South Africa-bound for another project.

Thrill subsides. The luster of singer Alison Krauss’ $2 million sandals (price reflected by the diamond content – 565 small ones) fades. The $25 million, diamond-studded gown of Maria Menounos, ABC’s pre-show host, is promptly noted and more quickly forgotten. But the trends from the 76th Oscar victories peaked through the red carpet and showed sheen that may last for a while.

Pretty Women In ‘Ugly’ Roles

First there was Hilary Swank who won an Oscar acting award in 1999. The 5’7 star who gained recognition as Steve’s (Ian Ziering) girlfriend, Carly, in the TV hit series Beverly Hills 90210, took on the image of a cross-dresser and walked liked a man in the low-budget film, Boys Don’t Cry. Strapped chest, padded groin and shaved head – she hid her feminine curves and concealed her womanliness to portray Teena Brandon, a lesbian who led an extraordinary double life and transformed herself into a man under the name Brandon Teena. All the hassles for Swank’s physical transformation in this true-to-life flick didn’t go unrecognized. Her audacious and riveting performance earned her critical acclaim.

In 2000, the original "pretty woman," Julia Roberts, donned cleavage-baring and flashy outfits in outrageous shades of red and purple, among others. Most notable was her magical push-up bra underneath the garments that created a bountiful optical illusion. Then she put on the spiked shoes of Erin Brockovich, a single mom working as a legal file clerk in a small California town who discovered that a major utility company was poisoning the town’s water system with toxic waste. It was far from the attractive, "sweetheart" Roberts the public has grown accustomed to. The role was funny, shocking, and to some extent, even abrasive, given the liberal use of the F-word. But this one sealed the Oscar for her.

It was Halle Berry’s unattractive state that shone in 2001. In Monster’s Ball, she played the role of an ex-convict’s widow who found herself in an interracial love story set in generations of racists – far from her glamorous stint as a Bond girl.

The usually gorgeous Nicole Kidman got her first Academy Award in 2002 as she put on a fake nose for her role as Virginia Woolf in The Hours.

This year, it seemed Monster swallowed Charlize Theron in whole. She gained 30 pounds from a diet that consisted mainly of Krispy Kreme donuts and "anything that was swimming in cream or had cheese on top of it." Makeup artist Toni G. reconstructed Theron’s face with brown lenses and blotchy complexion. She also had to wear fake teeth. All this work so she could resemble hooker-turned-serial killer Aileen Wuornos in a movie that disturbed conventional sensibilities. In the end, no sign of Theron could be seen in the independent movie, only a surreal ghost of Wuornos who was executed three weeks after Theron agreed to take the role.

Independent Films, Lost No More

"There’s a blurry definition of what an independent film is," says Szymanski, also an entertainment journalist published in E!Online. "For instance, 21 Grams had a budget of only $2 million, but it made so much money," he clarifies.

For producer Scott Kroopf of Radar Pictures (The Last Samurai, Le Divorce), the script may be a basis if a film is to be considered independent or not. "Independent world gives birth to more original screenplays," he reasons.

After her art-house hit, The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola has come up with her ticket to Hollywood glory with Lost in Translation. While mainstream screenplays are pregnant with important speeches and never-ending action scenes measuring about 120 pages, her Oscar-winning script defied tradition with dialogues so spare some are even inaudible, totaling 75 pages. Brevity was what set it apart from the rest.

The topic is real: midlife crisis meets quarterlife syndrome. The story is heartfelt, sincere, witty, funny, and at the same time, tragic. The treatment, almost like a home video production, is not the norm.

"There is a common thought that you can’t be as edgy as you can in the studio system," observes Szymanski. But it seems film critics and award-giving bodies are slowly developing a taste for the "indies."

Lost in Translation was also nominated for best picture, and the 33-year-old Coppola was also nominated for best director, the first American woman ever to receive such an honor.

Movie giant, Warner Brothers, is also opening its own "indie" line to tap into the market.

From Past To Present, From Pages To The Screen

Indeed, there is a tension in the movie business that all artists experience: commercially successful versus artistically satisfying. Through time, everyone attempting to break in has always strived for a decent balance.

"If a book is successful, it already has a built-in audience," explains Szymanski.

Some of the early Oscar winners for best picture were adaptations from well-liked novels – Gone with the Wind, Hamlet, Around the World in 80 Days, among others. This year, The Lord of the Rings, the screen version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece owned the statuette.

Kroopf explains that, while producers want to celebrate art, there is also pressure for a project to appeal to commerce. And when a screenplay is adapted from a best-seller, the "literary pedigree" goes a long way. He says they are confident that the movie version will be received as warmly as the literary counterpart. Moreover, he says it’s easier to attract significant talent to literary properties. And this is because the actors, actresses have more to read about their character. Forget for a moment that, most actors and actresses who have starred in adaptations have ended up first in the awards race, most recent of which is Sean Penn (Mystic River).

"Best thing about books is that the incredible characters are written in such great detail. You really know who the people are. Character comes out of silence performance," says Kroopf.

Without a doubt, this actor-book tandem is here to stay. Director Rob Marshall is said to be orchestrating a film adaptation of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. Julianne Moore has agreed to star in Running with Scissors, a memoir about a guy’s weird upbringing and an even crazier mom. And a Collin Farrell film is due for release this year – A Home at the End of the World is adapted from the book by author Michael Cunningham, same guy who wrote The Hours.

Biographies And Musicals

Crime stories are always interesting to people. What does that say about our humanity these days? There is always the thirst to know why people act the way they do; and when crime is involved, why certain members of our society kill or cause harm to others. With the success of Monster and the public’s interest in following stories like the Laci Peterson double murder case, we can expect more bios in the future. Stories based on real life instances have a certain hook.

Szymanski also predicts that more film outfits will be cashing in on musicals, following the success of Chicago (1992).