Orchestra drowns out Gore's 'announcement' at Oscars; Gore documentary wins two awards
(Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' wins two Oscars; Scorsese wins best director; Mirren best actress, Whitaker best actor, 'The Departed' best film)
Pressed by Best Actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio to announce something important at the 79th Academy Awards on Sunday night, former Vice President Al Gore – an Oscar nominee himself for his hit global warming documentary – took a little too long to get to the 'kicker,' so the orchestra drowned him out.
Gore appeared as a special guest of DiCaprio's, who told the crowd that the Oscars had turned green, as he used the occasion to call on the US government to introduce legislation that would enforce a reduction of carbon emissions.
"Cleaner cars, energy efficient homes, and green building help reduce greenhouse gas emissions," DiCaprio said in a statement issued Sunday before the ceremony.
"We need our leaders in Washington to listen to the growing chorus of scientists and experts saying that we must put in place binding emission reductions to combat global warming," DiCaprio's statement continued.
After DiCaprio lauded Gore for helping to raise awareness about global warming, he prodded him into revealing his 2008 plans in a "major, major announcement."
After saying that he was "just here for the movies, Leo," Gore said he hadn't planned on it, but feeling inspired he attempted to read a prepared speech – that is, until the orchestra cut him off.
"I guess with a billion people watching, it's as good a time as any," said Gore. "So my fellow Americans, I'm going to take this opportunity, here and now, to formally announce my intentions..."
While Gore has said that he has no intention of seeking the nomination for president again, many of his fervent supporters still hope he can be roped into running for the open presidency in 2008. If Gore decides to run, he will face formidable opponents in Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), as well as former vice presidential candidate and senator John Edwards. One recent report said that Gore would make a definitive decision sometime in September.
Ellen DeGeneres, host of Sunday's Oscar ceremonies, called out Gore during her opening monologue.
After pointing out that Jennifer Hudson had lost on television's American Idol but was now in the audience as a nominee for best supporting actress for the musical Dreamgirls, DeGeneres noted that Gore was also nominated even though he had once won, a reference to the 2000 presidential election which was awarded to Bush by the Supreme Court. Gore had won the popular vote, and the court stepped in to stop a recount in Florida, which had become embroiled in controversy, mostly due to partisan politics.
DeGeneres said, "I've tried to figure it out and there’s no rhyme or reason to who's going to win. Look at Jennifer Hudson. She was on American Idol, America didn’t vote for her and she's here with an Oscar nomination. Amazing. And here's Al Gore; America did vote for him, and then..."
Gore is up for best documentary for his film An Inconvenient Truth, while DiCaprio is nominated for his leading role in Blood Diamond.
According to wire reports, DiCaprio "was among several celebs who arrived at Sunday night‘s Oscar show in low-emission vehicles" as part of "Global Green‘s fifth annual 'Red Carpet-Green Cars' campaign" which included also "included Penelope Cruz, Forest Whitaker, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Gosling and former vice president-turned filmmaker Al Gore and his wife, Tipper."
And the winners are...
Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson, a first time nominee, won the best supporting actress award later in the telecast. Other early winners included Alan Arkin for his supporting role in Little Miss Sunshine. In an upset, the best foreign film award went to Germany's The Lives of Others, which Mexico's Pan's Labyrinth had been favored to win.
An Inconvenient Truth took home the Oscar for best documentary, and Gore appeared on stage with the filmmakers to accept the award.
Gore said, "My fellow Americans, people all over the world – we need to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue. It’s a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started with the possible exception of the will to act. That’s a renewable resource. Let’s renew it."
The documentary picked up another statue for Melissa Etheridge's original song, "I Need to Wake Up."
On Saturday, Guillermo Del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth, which picked up Oscars for best cinematography, make-up and art direction, told a reception in Beverly Hills that he had been surprised to learn that his film, a fable about a little girl who retreats into a fantasy world in fascist Spain, had been shown at the White House.
"I imagine Mr President finding that it was in Spanish, first of all," Del Toro told an audience at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "Having garnered praise from Stephen King, I felt it would be interesting to see what a true master of horror would think. Or a master of science-fiction if you think about the intelligence on Iraq."
For her performance as HM Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' The Queen, Helen Mirren won the best actress award. According to The Sun, Britain's real Queen has asked Mirren "round for tea — as a reward for playing her in the hit movie," which is expected to happen "at Buckingham Palace next month."
Forrest Whitaker won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker beat out DiCaprio and the legendary Peter O'Toole, who lost for a ninth time.
Another longtime "loser" at the ceremonies, director Martin Scorsese finally won for his film The Departed, which also picked up the award for best picture. After winning his director's award, Scorsese joked that maybe they "should check the envelope." It had been Scorsese's seventh nomination, six for direction of such films as Raging Bull," "Goodfellas" and Gangs of New York.
"The record holder for Oscar futility, sound engineer Kevin O'Connell, extended his losing streak to 19 nominations without a win," the Associated Press reports. "This time, O'Connell and two colleagues were nominated for sound mixing on 'Apocalypto,' Mel Gibson's portrait of the savage decline of the ancient Mayan empire, but they lost to another trio of sound engineers that worked on 'Dreamgirls.'"
William Monahan won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for The Departed, which was based on the hit Hong Kong import Infernal Affairs, and Michael Arndt won best original screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine. The award for best film editing also went to Martin Scorsese's The Departed, while Gustavo Santaolalla won for his score to Babel.
Awards for sound mixing went to Dreamgirls and for sound editing to Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. Best costume design was awarded to Marie Antoniette and best visual effects to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, while Happy Feet won best animated feature film.
The best foreign language winner, The Lives of Others, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, explores the surveillance culture under the communist regime of the former East Germany. Set in the 1980s, the film focuses on a successful dramatist and his longtime companion, a popular actress whose beliefs don't always toe the party line. The fallout comes when the minister of culture falls for the actress and assigns a secret service agent to find out more about the couple.
(with wire reports)
Crooks and Liars has a video clip of Gore's appearances at the Oscars at this link, and Think Progress also has video here.
The following video contains a CNN report that aired Monday morning:
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