NEW YORK — Yes, ‘‘The Departed’’ was smart, highly entertaining moviemaking. But nary a critic would say it was Martin Scorsese’s best film — not by a mile. Yet nobody but a heartless grinch would begrudge the masterful director his hard-won Oscar, the first in six nominations. It just points to a simple rule of Oscar history: An award isn’t always about the actual work at hand. Often it amounts to a statement: that someone has finally arrived, or, in Scorsese’s case, is long overdue. In other words, when Oscar comes calling, it’s not always for the right film.
Many fans thought it a crime when Scorsese didn’t win the director prize for ‘‘Raging Bull’’ in 1981, losing out to Robert Redford for ‘‘Ordinary People,’’ or for ‘‘Goodfellas’’ in 1991, when he lost to Kevin Costner for ‘‘Dances With Wolves.’’
‘‘Yes, 'The Departed’ is not a film that history will rank up there with 'Raging Bull,’ ’’ says Jonathan Kuntz, a professor of film history at UCLA. ‘‘But sometimes these awards are like lifetime achievement awards.’’
(And sometimes they ARE lifetime achievement awards: Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman are both legendary directors who never won a directing prize and instead won special awards — Hitchcock in 1968 and Altman last year, months before he died.)
Ask any film buff, and they’ll name a litany of actors and actresses who won for roles that even the performers themselves considered unworthy. Bette Davis was passed over in 1935 for ‘‘Of Human Bondage,’’ so was rewarded for ‘‘Dangerous’’ the next year — a role that film historian Leonard Maltin calls ‘‘rather cheesy.’’ And Elizabeth Taylor didn’t win for ‘‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’’ in 1959, but two years later for ‘‘BUtterfield 8’’ — a film she freely disparaged, Maltin says.
More recently, how about Al Pacino? Nominated seven times for acting awards, including for ‘‘The Godfather’’ (parts one and two) and ‘‘Dog Day Afternoon,’’ he didn’t win until ‘‘Scent of a Woman’’ in 1993.
‘‘The last thing they’re voting on at the Oscars is the best work of the year,’’ says Tom O’Neil, columnist for The Envelope. ‘‘It’s about passing out hugs.’’ And sometimes, he says, the hugs come not too late, but too early.
‘‘When Nicole Kidman won for ’The Hours,’ it was all about her becoming a superstar,’’ O’Neil opines. And when Russell Crowe won for ‘‘Gladiator,’’ he continues, ‘‘It was about welcoming him into the Hollywood colosseum.’’
Is a system where people get rewarded retroactively or prematurely all that bad? Don’t blame the academy, says Maltin, who also covers film for ‘‘Entertainment Tonight.’’ The problem Oscar voters face is that they have no advantage of hindsight,’’ he says. So when people say, 'How could so-and-so never have won,’ ’’ well, it’s all about timing and luck of the draw. Why did Peter O’Toole not win for ‘‘Lawrence of Arabia?’’ Because he happened to be up that year against Gregory Peck for 'To Kill a Mockingbird.’ ’’
At least one analyst says the system is wrong. ‘‘I think Scorsese’s win is absolutely payback to a person who deserved it for his other work,’’ says Richard Walter, head of the screenwriting program at UCLA’s film school. Walter calls this year’s best-picture winner ‘‘Scorsese’s most uninteresting film in years — a bunch of men talking on cell phones, and occasionally a woman talking on a phone.’’
‘‘They should honor the person when they make a really good movie. Otherwise, why should the other nominees have to stand around and see a lesser film win?’’
It’s worth noting there apparently is no ‘‘payback’’ Oscar for certain categories — or at least it takes a whole lot longer. Sound engineer Kevin O’Connell was nominated for the 19th time this year, and still didn’t win — a record for Oscar losses. (He was nominated with two others for sound mixing on Mel Gibson’s ‘‘Apocalypto.’’) ‘‘I’m already checked into therapy tomorrow,’’ he quipped before the show.
For film buffs worried that their favorite has been passed over for the wrong reason, it’s worthwhile heeding the carefree attitude of the late Katharine Hepburn, herself a four-time best actress winner.
‘‘Don’t worry about not being nominated,’’ she said in a telegram to Audrey Hepburn, who’d been passed over for ‘‘My Fair Lady,’’ according to ‘‘Inside Oscar’’ by Mason Wiley and Damien Bona.
‘‘Someday,’’ she wrote, ‘‘you’ll get it for a part that doesn’t rate it.’’
"I'm just not a party girl, and I don't think I ever will be," says Jennifer Hudson in today's wrap-up of Oscar after-parties by Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker. And catch up with the final Red Carpet Diaries from columnist Richard Roeper.
According to this report, Brad stayed home with the kids while Angelina was jetting back to Africa. They're smart enough to know that "Babel" wouldn't win big...
Rubbing shoulders: Who was with who at the after-parties
By SOLVEJ SCHOU
Associated Press Writer
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) - A global mix of British stars, Hispanic ingenues, hip-hop royalty, politicos and Oscar winners united under one language at this year's Academy Awards parties: glamour. From Vanity Fair's celebrity-packed after-party to Elton John's annual Oscar viewing bash, Sunday night's festivities were as diverse as they were glitzy.
Best supporting actress winner Jennifer Hudson, wearing a snug gold beaded gown, showed up to Vanity Fair's party at Morton's just before 1 a.m., thrusting her trophy for "Dreamgirls" into the air. ...
At the same time, best actor winner Forest Whitaker entered the bash and was trailed by a long line of fans and well-wishers.
Clutching his best director trophy for mob drama "The Departed," long-overdue Oscar winner Martin Scorsese answered heaps of praises and hugs with a grin plastered across his face.
A few feet away, "Departed" star and best actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio wolfed down veggie egg rolls.
Accents and myriad languages swirled around the massive restaurant.
Mexican actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna chatted in Spanish next to Bernal's one-time paramour Natalie Portman, while Spanish starlet and best actress nominee Penelope Cruz milled.
British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, sans his "Borat" natty threads and wearing a snazzy tux, joked with fellow Brit Orlando Bloom, and danced to Gnarls Barkley's hip-hop hit "Crazy."
Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, in a slender, white gown, chatted up Jennifer Lopez and Lopez's husband, Marc Anthony.
Even former supermodel rivals Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks laughed together, towering over everyone else in their dazzling dresses.
Al Gore, on hand to celebrate his documentary win for "An Inconvenient Truth," was a party favorite and was seen with "Prestige" actor Hugh Jackman and others as he made the rounds.
Other figures from the world of politics and punditry on the scene included Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Arianna Huffington, Anderson Cooper and comedian Bill Maher, who held court with Dennis Hopper and Sean Penn in a corner booth, smoking cigars and surrounded by beautiful women.
Earlier in the evening, at Elton John's 15th annual Oscar viewing party to benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Sheryl Crow, Gloria Estefan and rapper Eve sat in silver-sheathed chairs and ate risotto, filet mignon and chocolate pudding on plates resting on mirrored table tops.
Designer Zac Posen sat with former Marilyn Manson flame Dita Von Teese, who chatted up British rock royals Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly Osbourne at the next table.
The party raised $4.2 million for John's foundation, due in large part to Sharon Stone.
After John complained about the Oscar telecast's beastly four-hour running time, saying that "people were snoozing" across the country, Stone helped out on-stage with the night's mega auction of prizes.
Stone, unsteady on her feet and slurring her words, rambled, "I've been sitting at my table with P. Diddy and Jon Bon Jovi, and I'm a little messed up," later calling herself a "bad girl."
She did manage, however, to get two different attendees bidding on a chance to attend John's 60th birthday bash to each front $250,000.
Earlier, Combs bid $65,000 on a lesson with soccer star David Beckham, but lost out.
After dinner, British singer James Blunt joined John with a rowdy set of tunes, including John's hit "Tiny Dancer."
Outside, drinking a beer, "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell waxed poetic on former "Idol" finalist Hudson.
"I feel like her foster parent," he said, beaming about the woman he once berated on "Idol."
Saturday night's Vibe magazine pre-Oscar bash continued the party pack's diverse, fun-loving vibe.
Hosted by one-time Oscar nominee Queen Latifah, the shindig at West Hollywood's Republic attracted a vibrant cross-section of the black community, who sipped vodka martinis and sweated to pounding hip-hop.
Combs and his entourage showed up on the dance floor. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman made an appearance, wearing hoop earrings and smoking a cigar.
Even Sunday night's traditional Governors Ball following the Academy Awards got a new, savvy look.
Instead of the usual rows of tables, the rooftop ballroom was filled with chairs and divans.
Gone were Wolfgang Puck's suppers served by waiters. Guests could fill their plates with delicacies at buffets stationed around room.
"I think it works," Clint Eastwood said.
Associated Press Writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report.
AP
To kiss or not to kiss. That was the debate Melissa Etheridge and her lesbian partner were having before this year's Oscar show.
"I have not been one to kiss my partner in public just for sensationalism," Etheridge, who won the Academy Award for original song, told reporters after Sunday's show.
But when her name was called for "I Need to Wake Up" from the film "An Inconvenient Truth," Etheridge planted one right on the lips of Tammy Lynn Michaels.
"I was kissing her because that's what you do, you kiss your loved one when you win an Oscar, that's what I grew up believing," Etheridge said backstage. Then, holding up the golden statue she'd just won, the musician quipped, "This is the only naked man that will ever be in my bedroom."
Who knows? If not for the new "Thank-You Cam," Sunday night's nearly four-hour Oscar telecast might have run six hours.
The new backstage Internet alternative to the long-held practice of Oscar winners reading long and boring lists of people to thank, and then finding themselves out of time to say anything meaningful, proved a success in its first outing. ...
Producer Laura Ziskin came up with the idea: Winners could blather on as long as they wanted, but not on-air. Instead, they could do so backstage in front of the Thank-You Cam, and their words would be relayed onto the Internet through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Web site. The videos will remain posted until next year's Oscar show.
Almost every winner took advantage of the offer, including Chicago's Jennifer Hudson, who still fretted she was about to be cut off.
"Y'all are going to start playing music on me," said the Oscar winner for supporting actress.
Best actor winner Forest Whitaker used his time in front of the Thank-You Cam to thank the voice coach who helped him mimic Idi Amin's Ugandan accent in "The Last King of Scotland."
Producer Graham King and director Martin Scorsese of "The Departed" jogged each other's memories, making sure they left out none of the people in their film's ensemble cast.
Foreign-language film winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who was cut off by the orchestra as he tried to thank his wife during the telecast, devoted his entire minute on the Thank-You Cam to her.
Helen Mirren, best actress for "The Queen," also gave earnest tribute to her spouse. Then she offered up a backhanded comment to her attorney.
"To my lawyer for making a good deal," Mirren said. "Well, not so good, but never mind."
It's not like Alan Arkin has spent the past four decades worrying about it, but Lyndon Johnson was president the last time the winner of the supporting actor Oscar was nominated for an Academy Award. That was in 1968, for "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter."
Arkin finally took home the gold statue on Sunday for his tragi-comic role as a heroin-snorting grandfather in "Little Miss Sunshine."
"I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it," he said of winning awards. "I do my work. My main concern is being in projects where I can be excited about something."
He also has his thoughts on why, at age 72, he finally won.
"It's because of my age," Arkin said. "Everybody thinks I'm going to keel over in a year or two."
LOS ANGELES — The Warner Bros. film "The Departed" could see a financial boost as soon as this morning from its Sunday-night win as best picture at the 79th annual Academy Awards.
The film was released on DVD just two weeks ago, the third of the best-picture nominees to hit retail shelves, and its Oscar buzz is likely to lead to increased sales.
"Little Miss Sunshine," from Fox Searchlight, a News Corp. company, and "Babel" from Paramount Vantage, a division of Viacom Inc., have also been released on DVD.
Films can also see a theater box-office bump as large $50 million from Oscar-generated heat.
It was a memorable but not completely triumphant Oscar night for black actors as Forrest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson won trophies but Eddie Murphy lost in an upset.
As expected, Whitaker won best actor Sunday for his frightful yet charismatic performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Chicago's Jennifer Hudson, a former "American Idol" contestant, scored the best supporting actress award for her debut performance in the musical "Dreamgirls."
"Receiving this honor tonight tells me that it's possible, it is possible for a kid from East Texas, raised in South Central L.A. and Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen," Whitaker said as he accepted his award.
Murphy, also, was favored to win, but experienced a surprising loss early in the evening to Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine").
"I was definitely shocked. It makes you a little bit nervous," Hudson said backstage. "You can never be too sure. He did an unbelievable job."
Leading up to the Oscars, some speculated that the recent release of Murphy's lowbrow, cross-dressing comedy "Norbit" would injure his Oscar prospects. The "Norbit" producers hesitated over releasing it in the middle of Murphy's Oscar campaign, but director Brian Robbins said it was Murphy who insisted on releasing it on schedule.
Some also thought Murphy showed a slightly cavalier attitude about acting honors when he accepted a Screen Actors Guild award and lightly mocked earlier, earnest speeches.
"No, I'm sorry," the 45-year-old comedian said after a moment, cracking up with laughter. "It's just when the British people come and get the awards, it's so smooth with their stuff. And I feel goofy up here, 'cause I don't be winning stuff."
Still, black actors took two of the four main acting awards, and other nominees included Will Smith and Djimon Hounsou.
"It's a wonderful year to be an African-American actor," Beyonce Knowles (who co-starred with Murphy and Hudson in "Dreamgirls") said on the red carpet before the ceremony.
Although Jesse Jackson noted that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences includes only 110 African-Americans out of 5,830 members, such years have been increasingly frequent.
After a long history of the Academy Awards being a largely all-white affair (Chris Rock once called the Oscars a "million white man march") this was the third year where multiple black actors won Oscars.
Denzel Washington ("Training Day") and Halle Berry ("Monster's Ball") memorably shattered the Oscars' racial ceiling in 2002, the first time blacks won both lead-acting prizes. In 2005, Jamie Foxx ("Ray") and Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") won Academy Awards, prompting Freeman to say: "It means that Hollywood is continuing to make history. We're evolving with the rest of the world."
• Also, Ebert cohort and Web site editor Jim Emerson presents his complete report on the night's show: "In an evening of upsets, 'The Departed' pulled ahead in the final moments of the 79th Academy Awards to take best picture Oscar and also the director prize — at last — for the long overlooked Martin Scorsese."
• Sun-Times TV columnist Doug Elfmanrates the telecast's better moments: "Maybe 'Little Miss Sunshine’s' Abigail Breslin, 10, and Will Smith’s son Jaden, 8, should have been co-hosts. They announced two awards for short films (Abigail and Jaden are short, ha ha). And they were more relaxed and composed than just about anyone else, including DeGeneres, but then anxiety is part of Ellen’s shtick."
• Sun-Times celebrity columnist Bill Zwecker rounds up the hottest moments from the red carpet: "Michael Sheen, when asked how he felt about following up his performance as Tony Blair in “The Queen” with the upcoming 'Frost/ Nixon' — portraying David Frost in the film based on the play — joked, 'I’d better find a fictional character — quick! And hopefully, an American at that!' "
• Fashion reporter Maureen Jenkins awards couture's winners and losers on the red carpet, such as, "Best vintage-inspired flashback: Although Jennifer Lopez walked the red carpet in a vintage-looking stone-adorned, empire waist gown from Marchesa (she also wore Marchesa to this year’s Golden Globes), the design was new. But her much shorter bobbed hair looked straight out of a 1960s roller set (albeit a glamorous Hollywood-ready one)."
HOLLYWOOD — Backstage at the Oscars ceremony, Jennifer Hudson said the statuette is “going home to my new house in Chicago — along with my SAG Award, my Golden Globe and my BAFTA [from the British film academy].”
Asked if she brought any of her local roots into her “Dreamgirls” performance, she said, “I just drew on it all. It comes from the heart, and that’s what I put into it.”
The front-runner for the prize throughout the Oscar season, Hudson might have had a scare when her “Dreamgirls” co-star Eddie Murphy lost unexpectedly to Alan Arkin.
“I was definitely shocked, but you just can’t count on anything,” Hudson said. “Once again, everything is unpredictable. I'm still in shock. It will take awhile to get used to this.”
She’s always called herself a singer first and an actress second. But after tonight, she said, “Maybe I have to think that through again!”
LOS ANGELES — It was a celebrity mash-up backstage at the Academy Awards as A-list presenters and winners met and mingled in the wings, stage right. Tom Hanks met Anne Hathaway. Host Ellen DeGeneres chatted with young Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. And Naomi Watts bumped into George Clooney, literally, as he left the stage and she prepared to take it. And where else but the Oscars could you see a line for the ba
