76th Academy Awards

The big contenders for the 76th Academy Awards (for the best achievement in film in 2003) included The Return of the King (film) and Lost in Translation, and in the highly competitive Best Actor category, strong work from Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Bill Murray.

The Return of the King (film) swept all 11 categories in which it was nominated. It matched the record 11 wins of Titanic and Ben-Hur and became only the third movie —with nine or more nominations— to sweep every nominated category, following Gigi and The Last Emperor, which both went nine-for-nine.

News and recap

Billy Crystal returned for the eighth time to host the presentation. His opening monologue poked fun at the change (or lack thereof) between the time he had hosted the ceremony in 1991, and the current one: "Things were so different then. You know how different it was? Bush was president, the economy was tanking and we'd just finished a war with Iraq."

However, the bulk of Crystal's good-natured barbs--and the comments of many of the presenters and award recipients as well--were directed at New Zealand and The Return of the King (film), which dominated an evening lacking in surprises. The front-runner (or near front-runner) in every nominated category turned out to be the actual winner. However, it should be noted that The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King became the first ever film of the Fantasy genre to win Best Picture. Despite the lack of "drama" due to an "Obvious Winner" ceremony, the show attracted an audience of 43.71 million, breaking a low-ratings streak which had started back in 2001 due to the popularity of the best picture winner.

Sofia Coppola's win for best original screenplay for Lost in Translation made the Coppola family (Carmine, Francis Ford, and Sofia) the second three-generation Academy-Award winning family, after the Hustons (Walter, John, and Anjelica).

The television broadcast on ABC was aired live with a five-second tape delay, possibly because of the Janet Jackson breast-baring Super Bowl incident. It was shown live in many other countries around the world (satellite delays notwithstanding).

The Passion of the Christ was one of the most financially successful and was seemingly a sure winner of the Best Foreign Language Award, yet as it was an American film produced in the 'dead' languages with no country of origin, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic, it was not eligible for contention.

Notable quotes

"Boy a lot has changed in the last 10 years. Bush was in office, the economy was a mess and we'd just finished a war with Iraq." - Host Billy Crystal, remembering how things were different 13 years ago when he also hosted the Oscars.

"For the very, very first time, we're being simulcast in Aramaic." - Host Billy Crystal said jokingly, referring to the ancient language used in Mel Gibson's new film, The Passion of the Christ.

"Forty years ago, this country went down a rabbit hole in Vietnam — millions died. I fear we're going down the rabbit hole once again." - Errol Morris upon receiving his Best Documentary Oscar for The Fog of War.

"I can't wait for his tax audit—scary times." - Host Billy Crystal, in response to documentarian Errol Morris's comment that he fears America in Iraq is "going down a rabbit hole once again."

"It's now official — there is nobody left in New Zealand to thank." - Host Billy Crystal, in reference to the numerous awards won by productions from that country.

"We're so thankful that The Return of the King (film) did not qualify for this category." - Denise Robert, wife of director Denys Arcand, in her acceptance speech for the Best foreign language film The Barbarian Invasions.

"That felt good." - Blake Edwards, after rolling across the stage in a wheelchair and crashing into a wall.

"Do you know that people are moving to New Zealand just to be thanked?" - Host Billy Crystal.

"If there's one thing that actors know —other than there weren't any WMDs— it's that there is no such thing as best in acting." - Sean Penn in his Best Actor acceptance speech.

"I'm so honoured and touched and relieved that the Academy and members of the Academy have seen past the trolls and the wizards and the hobbits and are recognising fantasy this year. Fantasy is an 'F' word that hopefully the five second delay won't do anything with." - Peter Jackson, as he received his Oscar for Best Picture.

"It's a Clean Sweep." - Steven Spielberg announcing the best picture oscar for _The_Return_of_the_King_(film).

Major winners and nominees

This is a breakdown of only major winners. For a complete list of nominees and winners, see: 76th Academy Awards nominees and winners

Feature Films

Category	Winner	Producers/Country
Best motion picture of the year	*The Return of the King (film)*	Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne and Fran Walsh
Best foreign language film	*The Barbarian Invasions*	Canada
Best documentary feature	*The Fog of War*	Errol Morris and Michael Williams
Best animated feature film of the year	*Finding Nemo*	Andrew Stanton

Directing

Achievement in directing: The Return of the King (film) - Peter Jackson

Acting

Category	Winner	Movie
Best actor in a leading role	Sean Penn	Mystic River
Best actress in a leading role	Charlize Theron	Monster
Best actor in a supporting role	Tim Robbins	Mystic River
Best actress in a supporting role	Renée Zellweger	Cold Mountain

Writing

Category	Winner	Movie
Original screenplay	Written by Sofia Coppola	Lost in Translation
Adapted screenplay	Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson	The Return of the King (film)

Breakdown

(Awards won/nominations)

11/11	The Return of the King (film)
2/10	The Far Side of the World
2/6	Mystic River
1/7	Cold Mountain
1/4	Finding Nemo
1/4	Lost in Translation
1/2	The Barbarian Invasions
1/1	Monster

Special honors

Blake Edwards received the Honorary Academy Award for his work on such films as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Days of Wine and Roses, Victor/Victoria and the Pink Panther series. Edwards is married to Oscar-winning singer-actress Julie Andrews.

In Memoriam

A special Memorial was presented by Tom Hanks to legendary comedian and past Oscar host, Bob Hope.

A second special Memorial was presented by Julia Roberts to legendary actress and four time Oscar winner, Katharine Hepburn.

The annual "In Memoriam" tribute was presented by Academy President Frank Pierson, starting with another legendary actor that died in the previous year, Gregory Peck. Peck is followed by a long list of too many Academy members that left us too soon: Wendy Hiller, David Hemmings, Hope Lange, screenwriter George Axelrod, Charles Bronson, Michael Jeter, screenwriter David Newman, Ron O'Neal, Art Carney, director Elia Kazan, documentary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, Karen Morley, Buddy Ebsen, director John Schlesinger, filmmaker Stan Brakhage, producer Ray Stark, movie trailer innovator Andrew J. Kuhen, John Ritter, Hume Cronyn, Buddy Hackett, composer Michael Kamen, screenwriter John Gregory Dunne, Robert Stack, Alan Bates, Gregory Hines, Jack Elam, Jeanne Crain, Ann Miller and finally, Donald O'Connor.

External links

Academy Awards ceremonies | 2004 film awards | 2003 in film

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