But there were some wonderful and history making moments at this year's Academy Awards, which will be remembered for years to come. The biggest surprise of the evening had to be Woody Allen arriving on stage, making his first appearance at the Academy Awards ever. The audience gave him a rousing standing ovation, after which he introduced a film clip package celebrating movies that have featured New York in them. It was a great moment. One of the other great moments was Sidney Poitier's wonderful speech when he accepted his Honorary Academy Award. He discussed the bravery and the dedication of all the individuals who gave him a chance, and helped him to be the person he ended up being. It was a moving speech about the difficulties he faced, and it will be long remembered as one of the greatest Oscar speeches ever given. One of the funniest moments of the night had to be Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller presenting the Costume Design Oscar, and showing a clip of them arguing over their presentation and them each making fun of each other over some of their film choices.
But of course, the biggest history made at this year's Academy Awards were Denzel Washington and Halle Berry winning the top acting awards. For one thing, Halle Berry's win for Best Actress marked the first time that a black woman has ever won the Best Lead Actress award, probably the biggest moment in history we saw at last Sunday's ceremony. Denzel Washington's win marked only the second time in history that a black actor won the lead actor award since Sidney Poitier had won in 1963. So while we're here talking about two winners, let's discuss all the winners at the 74th Annual Academy Awards.
Well, going simply by the predictions I made in this column (I actually made several last minute changes to my contest entries and personal choices right before Oscar weekend), I was only correct on predicting 12 of the categories. Denzel's victory wasn't that big of a surprise, but again, I think the Academy voted more here for a body of work, as Denzel should have won this for other performances, particularly Malcolm X in 1992. I'll save my discussion on Best Actress for a separate article, but let's say that my happiest moment on Oscar Night was the moment when Halle Berry won Best Actress, so very well deserved, and my prediction held true. Best Supporting Actor, so tough to predict all film awards season, threw most of us for a loop. Most thought Ian McKellen had it all sewn up after his SAG win, but Jim Broadbent surprised to take it home for Iris. Best Supporting Actress, the easiest to predict, went according to prediction, as Jennifer Connelly won, but her acceptance speech was one of the most disappointing ever, as she read from a piece of paper without hardly any emotion. It's always disappointed me when people read from paper or lists when giving acceptance speeches, especially for such a high honor as the Academy Awards. You should speak from the heart.
