Bygbaby.com MindspillUntil last year I never cared about watching the Oscars because movies that I enjoyed the previous year were pretty much not nominated & actors/actresses that I supported were looked over.

Now this year, I have seen almost all of the major releases that have been nominated for an award so I feel pretty passionate about who & what will win.

You best believe that I am pulling for Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker & Eddie Murphy to bring home the Oscar, which I believe will show the world that “WE” can make things happen in a white oriented environment that has shunned us for decades.

So without further adieu, here is my comprehensive but narrowly focused recap of the 79th Academy Awards.

Movies/Actors I Care About That Won:

  • Pan’s Labyrinth:
    • Best In Art Direction
    • Achievement in makeup
    • Achievement in cinematography
  • Dreamgirls:
    • Best Sound Mixing
    • Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
    • Achievement in visual effects
  • An Inconvenient Truth
    • Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song): I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth” Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge
  • The Last King of Scotland
    • Best performance by an actor in a leading role: Forest Whitaker

My Favorite Moments:

  • Elements in Motion Performance
  • Ellen’s opening when she talked about how diverse this years Academy awards are this year & when she “If there were no Blacks, gays or Jews, there would be no Academy Awards.” I guess you had to see it because it was both funny & real.
  • The Dancing Silhouette performances (I don’t remember their real name).
  • Gwyneth Paltrow’s sachet out to announce the best Cinematography award. Home girl had a MEAN walk, almost like a Sista’.
  • The 50-year foreign film tribute put together by Giuseppe Tornatore Director of “Nuovo cinema Paradiso” (one of my favorite foreign films of all time). It was awesome & I love foreign films.
  • Jennifer Hudson’s acceptance speech, I actually did my bitch scream because I was so excited to see her win!!! American Idol, eat your hear out & here is another reason to celebrate Black History Month.
  • The Dreamgirls cast performance: They truly set it off!
  • Forest Whitaker’s acceptance speech with a special focus on when he honored his ancestors “who guide his steps everyday”. I loved that line & the timing!

Disappointing/Boring Moments:

  • Céline Dion’s performance (I find her voice annoying)
  • Looking at tattered Phillip Seymour Hoffman offer the award for Best Performance by an actress in a leading role. He looked like a hot damn mess!
  • Looking at Jack Nicholson with that bald head & psycho black sunglasses

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Academy Awards History:

When the first Academy Awards were handed out on May 16, 1929, movies had just begun to talk. That first ceremony took place during a banquet held in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The attendance was 270 and tickets cost $5.

Unlike today’s ceremony, suspense was in short supply. Back then, the winners were known prior to the banquet. Results were given in advance to the newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. on the night of the Awards. In 1940, guests arriving for the affair could actually buy the 8:45 p.m. edition of the Los Angeles Times and read the winners. As a result, the sealed-envelope system was adopted the next year and remains in use today.

Interest in the Academy Awards has always run high, though not at today’s fever pitch. While the first presentation escaped the media, an enthusiastic Los Angeles radio station covered the second banquet during a live one-hour broadcast. Every presentation since then has had broadcast coverage.

The first 15 Awards presentations were banquet affairs held first in the Blossom Room, then at the Ambassador and Biltmore hotels. After 1942, increased attendance and World War II made banquets impractical, and the Awards moved to theaters, where they’ve been held since. (read more)
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Black Academy Awards History:

  • Hattie McDaniel (1939), Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gone With the Wind
  • James Baskett (1948), Honorary Award “for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney’s Song of the South”
  • Sidney Poitier (1963), Best Actor in a Leading Role for Lilies of the Field
  • Isaac Hayes (1971), Best Music, Original Song for “Theme from Shaft” from Shaft
  • Louis Gossett, Jr. (1982), Best Actor in a Supporting Role for An Officer and a Gentleman
  • Irene Cara (1983), Best Music, Original Song for “Flashdance…What a Feeling” from Flashdance
  • Prince (1984), Best Music, Original Song Score for Purple Rain
  • Stevie Wonder (1984), Best Music, Original Song for “I Just Called to Say I Loved You” from The Woman in Red
  • Lionel Richie (1985), Best Music, Original Song for “Say You, Say Me” from White Nights
  • Herbie Hancock (1986), Best Music, Original Score for ‘Round Midnight
  • Denzel Washington (1989), Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glory
  • Whoopi Goldberg (1990), Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ghost
  • Cuba Gooding, Jr. (1996), Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jerry Maguire
  • Halle Berry (2001), Best Actress in a Leading Role for Monster’s Ball
  • Denzel Washington (2001), Best Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day
  • Sidney Poitier (2002), Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award “for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence.”
  • Jamie Foxx (2004), Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ray
  • Morgan Freeman (2004), Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Million Dollar Baby
  • Three 6 Mafia (Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, and Paul Beauregard) (2005), Best Music, Original Song for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from Hustle & Flow