Editor's note

By Matt Hirschfeld

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Reese Witherspoon just won. She traipsed up to the stage in her second-hand dress and accepted her Oscar for Walk the Line. “Well deserved,” I thought. I’d never seen any actual footage of June Carter Cash, but I assumed Witherspoon deserved it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was next up. His performance in Capote was astonishing and he was a shoe-in for Best Actor. He gave a typically humble speech.

I was watching the 2006 Oscars and making a mental list of the nominated movies I missed out on in 2005. I really cared only about two movies back then, though: Brokeback Mountain and Crash.

Two races were left in the program: Best Picture and Best Director. Both Brokeback and Crash were up for each award, and each film had won two Oscars so far that night.

Brokeback needed to win—I would hear nothing to the contrary. I shared a certain affinity with the movie (and no, it’s not a likeness for cowboys or Western gear) and I thought it was a better movie overall. And despising Crash fueled my biased feelings even more.

The next award announced, Best Director, made my day. Ang Lee won for Brokeback and I let out a sigh of relief. Throughout Oscar history, Best Director and Best Picture have lined up about 75 percent of the time.

Only Best Picture presenter Jack Nicholson stood in the way of making my night. Brokeback and Crash were front-runners for the award and I was so sure Brokeback had it in the bag.

And then Jack ruined it all. He opened the envelope and uttered that one-word movie title. Nicholson raised his eyebrows with a surprised expression as the cameras quickly zoomed in on the producers of Crash and its cast.

I furiously gave the remote a nice little click before the producers made it to the stage. I was in a negative disposition for the rest of the night. I lived alone at the time, so only my Beagle sensed my bitter wrath.

None of my friends share my interest in awards season. It doesn’t matter to them who won a Golden Globe or a SAG award and who is favored to win at this Sunday’s Oscars. Kelly’s story on page 5 can get you and your friends talking about who’s nominated at this year’s Oscars and how to have your owned Oscar-themed get-together.

And just in case any of you are interested, here are my predictions for this year’s main races:

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt

I’m picking Slumdog over fellow Best Picture nominee and gay-interest movie Milk. I’ll never concede that Brokeback was inferior to Crash, but I’ve learned sometimes you’ve got to set aside personal preferences in favor of the big, or—in this case—best, picture.

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