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

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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), The Departed (2006), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and The Queen (2006). |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Film Industry | Awards Show

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
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'
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
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
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 / Herself
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
Monty Westmore	...	Himself - in memorial sequence (archive footage)
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)
Jane Wyman	...	Herself - in memorial Sequence (archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:232 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Kodak Theatre - 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Trivia:

For the first time since 1929, the year the Oscars were handed out first, none of the actors nominated for Best Actor received a nomination for a performance in any of the Best Picture nominees.

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:

Host: Jennifer Hudson is here from American Idol, America didn't vote for you and yet you're here with an Oscar Nomination. And Al Gore, America did vote for you.

Movie Connections:

Features The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Soundtrack:

Our Town

Some terrible bits but mostly worthy winners – shame Sky did such a bad job on it again

Another year comes round and we find ourselves facing down the barrel of a long night of clapping and awards. However with Sky yet again buying the rights and sticking it on a subscription only channel, all I had was a two hour highlights show which I suppose is not too bad as it is long enough to get it all in but not so long that there will be loads of dead time to content with. We open with some time "interviewing" the stars on the red carpet and we get to see how out of her depth Fern Cotton is – she can do silly things for the BBC but surrounded by the stars she just seems like a little girl all dressed up.

Anyway, we move into the show proper and I can only assume that Ellen DeGeneres was terrible because Sky cut it back to nothing. Regardless though, what little of her I did see left me pretty unimpressed and I didn't think she was that suited to this big event and was not particularly funny. The musical numbers were a bit too long but they were a welcome addition compared to the dance interpretations of various films – my god they were cringe worthy (and what bad taste to have a "devil" dancer following the "in memoriam" section). As usual some of the presenters are given terrible lines to deliver and some of them can do nothing with it – those presenting with someone else seem to struggle the most as they deliver unfunny "routines" with barely a touch of chemistry.

The winners themselves were a rather mixed bunch but nothing really too contentious. The main awards mostly fell as predicted. Did anyone on Earth doubt that Mirren would take it, but her acceptance speech was a bit weird. Meanwhile Whitaker deserved it for a great turn. I'm not so sure about Hudson but I have not seen any of the films in the "supporting actress" category so I cannot really comment. Arkin is always a class act and I'm glad he picked one up for Little Miss Sunshine – also giving that film exposure. Although I wasn't all that taken by The Departed, it was a solid "best picture" and was a good opportunity to give Scorsese his Oscar – he deserves it more for other films but he deserves one, full stop. Talking of legends, the Honorary Award for Morricone was a good one and well deserved when you think back over how memorable his work has been down the years. Of course I say this without actually having seen his award because, along with about 12 other awards, Sky neglected to show the presentation or even give a quick recap of "other" awards. Why they chose to not even spare 60 seconds for these I cannot say but it was shoddy and yet another reason I regret them being able to bully their way into every series or event they chose. A more cynical reviewer may suggest that the halfassed way they have covered the Oscars in recent years might be because they only bought it to prevent others having it, but luckily I am not cynical (although their childish spat with the equally childish Virgin in the UK at the moment might change that for me).

Overall then a solid show with mostly good winners. Personally I think The Departed was flattered a little but otherwise the best people did win the big awards and, although it wasn't particularly tense or surprising, it did make for an OK year.