Twenty years ago, Halle Berry and Denzel Washington became the first and only Black actors to win both lead acting Oscars in the same night. It's a milestone the film academy hasn't lived up to.
when he won the Oscar in 2002 for “Training Day.” Poitier had received his honorary award earlier in the evening, and he was on Washington’s mind. “Forty years I’ve been chasing Sidney; they finally give it to me and what do they do? They give it to him the same night.” The telecast cuts to Poitier and his family in the balcony, doubling over in laughter. “I’ll always be chasing you, Sidney. I’ll always be following in your footsteps. There is nothing I’d rather do, sir.
. “This door tonight has been opened,” she said. Twenty years later, Berry remains the only Black woman to win the lead actress Oscar.Watching that extraordinarily moving speech again, it’s hard not to feel depressed — no, enraged — that, having opened just long enough for Berry to walk through it, that door seems to have slammed promptly shut again.
This year, Smith seems likely to become just the fifth Black man to win a lead actor Oscar, after Poitier, Washington, Jamie Foxx and Forest Whitaker. That’s still a lousy track record, even if Black men have obviously fared better than Black women in the lead category.
, and while we’ll never know for certain, it’s now widely believed that Crowe destroyed his own winning campaign, allowing the tide to turn against him and in Washington’s favor at the worst possible moment.WHIPP:— stood in contrast with the kind of damage that “A Beautiful Mind’s” competitors were trying to inflict on the film. This Oscar campaign season was just the absolute worst — its vicious backbiting has not been equaled.
While the controversy and the movie itself have faded, time has been kinder to other nominees. Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” remains an exhilarating spectacle of sound and vision. Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park” stands as another expert ensemble piece from the master. And if someone needs an introduction to Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movies, I’ll make some popcorn and watch “The Fellowship of the Ring” again ...
The British Academy of Film and Television, meanwhile, gave best picture to “The Fellowship of the Ring” — the right choice, I think, and one I wish the academy had echoed.
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