The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Directors:

Louis J. Horvitz
Joel Gallen

Writers:

Ellen DeGeneres (special material) &
Karen Anderson (special material) ...

Release Date:

25 February 2007 (USA)

Plot:

Films nominated for the annual awards include Babel (2006), _Departed, The (2006)_ , Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and _Queen, The (2006)_ . |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Awards Show | Film Industry

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 8 nominations

Cast

Ellen DeGeneres	...	Herself - Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Affleck	...	Himself - Presenter
Samantha Aisling	...	Best Costume Model
June Allyson	...	Herself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Konstantine Anthony	...	Eastern European #1
Alan Arkin	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Michael Arndt	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Screenplay
Adriana Barraza	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Brandon Barton	...	Dreamgirls dancer
Jessica Biel	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound
Jack Black	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Achievement in Makeup
Sorana Black	...	Best Costume Model
Cate Blanchett	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role & Presenter
Emily Blunt	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Costume Design
Peter Boyle	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Eric Bradley	...	Sound Effects Choir
Abigail Breslin	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role & Co-Presenter: Best Animated & Live Action Short Film
Henry Bumstead	...	Himself - In Memoriam Tribute (archive footage)
Milena Canonero	...	Herself - Winner: Best Costume Design
Steve Carell	...	Himself - Presenter
Rodney Charles	...	Dreamgirls dancer
Chyna Chuu	...	Best Costume Model
George Clooney	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Francis Ford Coppola	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Picture
Daniel Craig	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Art Direction
Tom Cruise	...	Himself - Presenter
Penélope Cruz	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Presenter: Best Original Score
Judi Dench	...	Barbara Covett (archive footage)
Catherine Deneuve	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Foreign-Language Films Montage
Cameron Diaz	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Animated Feature
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Green Oscars / Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Céline Dion	...	Herself - Performer
Tamara Dobson	...	Herself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects
Kirsten Dunst	...	Herself - Presenter
Clint Eastwood	...	Himself - Presenter: Honorary Oscar / Nominee: Best Director, Best Picture
Melissa Etheridge	...	Herself - Winner: Best Original Song
Jayme Lynn Evans	...	Best Costume Model
Will Ferrell	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Achievement in Makeup
Patricia Field	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Costume Design
Todd Field	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Adapted Screenplay
Glenn Ford	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute
Jodie Foster	...	Herself - Presenter: In Memoriam
Stephen Frears	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Director
Jennifer Gall	...	Actress Devil Wears Prada - Ann Hathaway Costume Design
Gael García Bernal	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Documentary Short Subject
Alejandro González Iñárritu	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Picture & Best Director
Al Gore	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: 'Go Green' Campaign
Ryan Gosling	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Eva Green	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Documentary Short Subject
Davis Guggenheim	...	Himself - Winner: Best Documentary, Features
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Himself
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Herself - Presenter
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Tom Hanks	...	Himself - Presenter
Anne Hathaway	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Costume Design
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck	...	Himself - Winner: Best Foreign Language Film
Corinthea Henderson	...	Dreamgirls dancer
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Djimon Hounsou	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Supporting Role & Performer: Original Song Nominees from 'Dreamgirls'
Hugh Jackman	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Original Score
Aakomon Jones	...	Dreamgirls dancer
Diane Keaton	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Picture
Nicole Kidman	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Art Direction
Rinko Kikuchi	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Graham King	...	Himself - Winner: Best Picture
Greg Kinnear	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound Editing
Don Knotts	...	Himself - In Memoriam Tribute
Don LaFontaine	...	Announcer (voice)
Sherry Lansing	...	Herself - Winner: Jean Hersholt Award
Queen Latifah	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Original Song
Jennifer Lopez	...	Herself - Presenter: Original Song Nominees from 'Dreamgirls'
Nick LoPiccolo	...	Himself
George Lucas	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Director
Tobey Maguire	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Original Screenplay
Mako	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Gabriel Mann	...	Himself
David Martí	...	Himself - Winner: Best Achievement in Makeup
James McAvoy	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound
Darren McGavin	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
George Miller	...	Himself - Winner: Best Animated Feature Film
Helen Mirren	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Presenter
William Monahan	...	Himself - Winner: Best Adapted Screenplay
Ennio Morricone	...	Himself - Winner: Honorary Award
Toyin Moses	...	Herself
Eddie Murphy	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Guillermo Navarro	...	Himself - Winner: Best Cinematography
Thomas Newman	...	Himself - Nominee
Jack Nicholson	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Picture
Peter O'Toole	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Clive Owen	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film
Jack Palance	...	Himself - In Memoriam Tribute (archive footage)
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Cinematography
Gordon Parks	...	Herself - In Memoriam Tribute (archive footage)
Stuart Parkyn	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Live Action Short
John C. Reilly	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Achievement in Makeup
Pilar Revuelta	...	Herself - Winner: Best Achievement in Art Direction
Montse Ribé	...	Herself - Winner: Best Achievement in Makeup
Keith Robinson	...	Himself - Performer
Anika Noni Rose	...	Herself - Performer
Nadia Sahari	...	Herself
Julian Salazar	...	Mayan
Gustavo Santaolalla	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Score
Thelma Schoonmaker	...	Herself - Winner: Best Film Editing
Martin Scorsese	...	Himself - Winner: Best Director
Jerry Seinfeld	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Documentary
Jaden Smith	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Animated & Live Action Short Film
Will Smith	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role & Presenter: America Film Clip
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Director
Maureen Stapleton	...	Herself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Meryl Streep	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Stephanie Tanner	...	Best Costume Model
Peter Templeman	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Live Action Short
Guillermo del Toro	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Foreign Language Film & Best Original Screenplay
John Travolta	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Original Song
Gina Tuttle	...	Announcer
Alida Valli	...	Herself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Mark Wahlberg	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jack Warden	...	Himself - Memorial Tribute (archive footage)
Ken Watanabe	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Foreign-Language Films Montage
Dion Watson	...	Dreamgirls dancer
Naomi Watts	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects
Rachel Weisz	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Eric Weldon	...	Trophy Presenter
Forest Whitaker	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Gerald White	...	Singer
Jack Wild	...	Himself - In Memoriam Tribute (archive footage)
Kate Winslet	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role & Presenter: Best Film Editing
Reese Witherspoon	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jane Wyatt	...	Herself- Memorial Tribute (archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:232 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Filming Locations:

Kodak Theatre - 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood & Highland, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Trivia:

Of the twenty actors nominated that year, Judi Dench was the only one not in attendance. She had recently had knee surgery and was still hospitalized on Oscar night.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At one point, Jack Black refers to Peter O'Toole as "English." While O'Toole speaks with an English accent, he is actually Irish.

Quotes:

[repeated line, taking envelope out of coat]
Al Gore: And so, my fellow Americans...
[interrupted by swelling music]

Movie Connections:

Features Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Soundtrack:

Our Town

Hello

Regular readers know I do not own a TeeVee. I consider them harmful to the visual imagination, and cannot think of anything on the box worth the compromise. Except the Oscars. So we rent a hotel room for that night to watch. And this time I am glad I did because of the surprise Apple ad.

Students of film will recall when the Mac was introduced in 1984, by the famed Superbowl ad. It was sixty seconds or so, made by Ridley Scott who had already turned the world of science fiction upside down with "Alien" and "Bladerunner." The legend of the ad was that it was aired just that once. It may be the most famous ad in TeeVee history. When the board of Apple balked at the cost, Jobs paid for it personally. Since then, the whole world has copied (in better or worse fashion) what was introduced by that woman runner.

This Oscar show may have been worthwhile in itself, not because of the awards but because we see film personalities playing the hardest role: themselves. But this iPhone ad, and the surprise of it meant that you were there. Its like seeing Jack Ruby shoot Osward live, or see the first step on the moon.

To appreciate the beauty of it, you have to realize how the Oscar show is assembled. The tone of the thing is that there is the Academy who presents itself as the champion of film history: each award of the year is in the context of a hundred years, all of which the Academy members supposedly know and honor. This is underscored each year with several montages, collections of film snippets assembled around a theme.

This is in the midst of other "entertainments." The host tells jokes, some nominated songs are sung, and there is usually another thin thing, this time Philobus shadow imagers. The montages are inserted as entertainment, and edited as such, so that we can guess the origin of the clip. But you have to be fast.

So this ad started and we all thought it was part of the show: clips that showed characters answering the phone. Only after it was over do you see it was an ad, indicated by the word "hello" and an image of the iPhone. The device won't appear for 4 months after I write this, but I will make a prediction about the product that will make this ad seem important in retrospect.

I predict as with many others, you will be able to buy ringtones from the iTunes Music Store. That's a bit obvious. I predict further that you will be able to buy "hello" video clips that will play on the caller's iPhone when you answer. Why do I think that?

Because I know it possible with the changes Apple is forcing on ATT/Cinglaur for video voice messages. But more because I know that Hollywood has been studying methods for fractional licensing of movies. The same person who would shell out $3 for two seconds of Bogart answering a call from his girlfriend would have trouble paying the same $3 for the entire movie to watch. Films will become marketing platforms in the future for snippets of themselves. I'm actually entering this side of the business and think it will be huge.

But it will also change film forever. Starting that night, with that ad.

So far as the show itself: hey, so the Academy gets to make awards based on who they like if they can also bend in some lessor awards to the Latino and Black ticketbuyers. Ho hum.

The clip from this show that will last is probably the host's declaration in Bush's face that there would be no awards without Jews, Blacks and Gays. Maybe that's a milestone too.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.