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Black actors have historic night at Academy Awards
By BRUCE BRITT
SEecial to BET.com
HOLLYWOOD - “Its a
reat nighl tonight!,” host
%:hris Rock dmckiii Sunday,
Feb. 27 in that sandpaper howl
of his at the 77th /E::rdemv
Awards. “We have four black
nominees! Its like the Def
()scu{am!"
Well, not quite. Russell Sim
mons’ l,)(/"}am crew would
never put on a show as sedate as
Sundays Oscars gala, but
Rocks point was well-taken.
Forget blockbusters; this year’s
Academy Awards presentation
was a “Blackbuster,” featuning
the highest concentration :f?
nominated African-American
talent in the Academy’s history,
including bids tor Don Chea
dle, Sogfiie Okenedo and two
nominations for Jamie Foxx.
Some notable black presen
ters and guests were rx[lso on
hand, injudir » Halle Berry,
»ean P l)i‘fidy" Combs,
Samuel L. Jackson and a rakish
looking Prince.
Whoopi Goldberg was the
sole teatured commentator in a
filmed tribute to Johnny Car
son. Meanwhile, Jay-Z, Spike
Lee and Ofimh Winfrey were
spotted in the wings, observing
LEL spectacle like royalty.
OK and Beyoncé sang ...
and sang ... and sang,
Not one, not two, but an
unprecedented three “mifi dur
ing Sundays event. Though
she cnmportcd herself well on
“Believe” (trom [olar Exprexs)
and Learn to be Lonely (from
The Phantom of the Opera ), the
Desuny’s Child diva’ delivered
her most impressive perform
ance during (Lc dlassical-uinged
‘Diary of a Mad Black Woman’
gets revenge with No. 1 debut
By PAUL CHAVEZ
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) _
Diary of a Mad Black Woman’
got its revenge ag{:imr mixed
critics reviews by earning
$22.7 million (eur017.2 mis:
lion) and taking first place at
the weekend box office.
The drama-comedy is
based on a script by Tyler
Perry from his play of the
same name and also features
him cross-dressed as a gun
toung grandmother .m«lj in
two other supporting roles.
The film’s™ strong debut
pushed Will Smith’s romantic
comedy Hitch to the second
spot with a weekend haul of
51 million (eurol6 million),
according to studio estimates
Sunday.
Films contending for top
honors at the Academy
Awards also continued to
draw healthy audiences with
best picture nominees Million
Dofir Baby, The Aviator and
Sideways ranked among the
top 11 films.
Einal figures were to be
released M%nday.
Diary ?f a Mad Black
Woman follows Kimberly
Elise’s character, Helen, who 1s
kicked out of her house by her
husband on their 18th wed
ding anniversary so his long
time mistress can move in.
Helen recovers from heart
break by reconnecting with
her cantankerous rEfloth
er Madm,.playfly Perry,
and by n:l?'mg on her faith.
The film received some
poor reviews, with The Asso
dated Press giving it a single
star in its four-star rating sys
tem and National %blic
Radio dcscnl;:;r(% it as “half
inspired and half really, really
terrible.”
Showing in 1,483 theaters,
Diary of a Mad Black Woman
avcraqui a_healthy $15,307
feur011,627) a cinema.
Perry, who has gained a
strong following amon
blacks with his pay, ol
be given credit for the film's
success, said Tom Ortenberg,
president of Lions Gate Films
ballad, “Vois Sur Ton Chemin
(Look to Your Path).” Sing
in a flawless French accent m':fi
subde R&B undertones,
Knowles solidified her stature as
the hip-hop age Diana Ross.
As expected, Jamie Foxx
nabbed 5: Best Actor award
for his masterful performance
in the Ray Charles biopic,
“Ray.” Accepting his trophy,
Foxx led the?)sau audience in
a rendinton of the cll-and
response chant from Charles
l‘)gt) hit Whard [ Szy. Then
the comic-turned-actor deliv
ered the most moving speech of
the night, urging the audience
w ‘give it up for Ray Charles
and recalling the night Oprah
inmxluccd,fiim w 0 a pioncering
black actor.
“Sidney Poitier said to me, ‘1
saw you once, and I looked in
your eyes and there was connec
tion,” Foxx recalled, performing
a spot-on impersonation of the
first Afncan American to win an
Oscar. “And (Poitier) says, 'l
ave to you responsibility.” So
i:m taking that responsibility
tonight.”
Foxx choked back tears as he
remembered his late grand
mother, who raised him as a
child and supported his acting
career.
“She talks to me in my
dreams,” Foxx said, his voice fal
tening with emotion. “And |
cant wait to go to slcclp tonight,
because we've got a sot to alk
about.”
Foxx also recetved a best sup
porting actor bid for his role in
the hit man thnller “Collateral,”
but Morgan Freeman took the
prize for his portrayal of a
world-wise former boxer in the
Clint Eastwood tearjerker, Mil-
Releasing,
“The performance of the
film is really a testament to
Tyler Perry,” Ortenberg said.
“He's a culrural phenomenon
that is taking America by
storm. In the next few weeks,
those unfamiliar with Tyler
will become familiar with
Tyler.”
Audiences in exit polls gave
the film an A-plus rating and
the vast majority said they
would recommend the PG
-13 rated film to others,
Ortenberg said.
“Every once in a while there
is a film that comes out of
nowhere and gmbe the No. 1
s{)( ot and certainly ‘Diary of a
Mad Blac Woman' has done
that,” said Paul Dergarabedi
an, president of box-office
tracker Exhibitor Relations.
“It shows the power that the
urban audience wields at the
box office.”
Hitch, another PG-13 rated
film, played widely in 3,571
theaters and its $122 million
(eur092.7 million) over three
weeks made it the first film in
2005 to crack the SIOO mil
lion mark.
Million Dollar Baby, which
stars best-actress nominee
Hilary Swank as a bullheaded
boxer, ranked sixth with an
estimated $7.2 million
(euros.s million). Fellow
best-picture nominees 7he
Aviator, a biopic about
Howard Hughes, finished in
ninth with $3.9 million
(euro3 million), while the
drinking road-trip movie
Sideways ranked 11th with
$3.5 million (euro2.7 mil
lion).
The latest Wes Craven hor
ror film, Cursed, debuted in
fourth place with $9.6 million
(euro7.3 million), while the
weekend’s other new film, the
action-comedy Man. of the
House starring Tommy Lee
Jones, openzf in fifth place
rlvith $9 million (euro6.B mil
ion).
AUGUSTA FOCUS
lion Dollar Ba/zn The award
was Freemans fist Oscar win
and his fourth nominaton.
The wins for Freeman and
Foxx made it only the second
ume blacks wodr‘rc two of the four
act nzes ( revious time
fi‘iwz nxr‘; b Do
shington for Tnasnin
312:111 Hn;’ale Berry for Affmm'ri
“It means that Hollywood is
continuing to make history,”
Freeman said backstage. “We're
cvolving with the rest of the
world.’
While Don Cheadle and
Sophie Okenedo failed o nab
their respecuve Best Actor and
Best Supporting Actress nods
for Hotel Ruwanda, their nomi
nations alone were viewed as a
triumph since the limited
release film wasnt one of the
most widely viewed movies of
the year. Indeed, their perform
ances were so erful, the
Academy simply could not
have ignored them.
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Music, Literature, Theatre, Books,
TV, Dance, Film, Entertainment
So the good news Sunday
Rith is that the Academy of
otion Prcrur:nd Arts & Saences
came correct ve respect.
The bad news is th?t the actual
ceremony itself was ant-dlimac
tc.
Faced with tumbling ratings,
no huge hit movies amorgotop
nominees, and a Federal Com
munications fin(“ioafwmmrss ion
to assess anet
mn's 2004 Super Bow[l per
formance, Oscar organizers
lv)riem faced with a near-impossi
e eh.z.l]mie ; ~ create a t
approved show with anpgur?;clc—
uon of digjtal-age freakiness.
Producers hoped the presence
of fist-ume host RocE might
boost ratings, particularcl‘yi'
AMONg younger viewers wean
on rt)hge much rader MTV
Video Music Awards (indeed,
Rocks wild-card hosting turns
at MTV award shows probably
netted him the Oscar gig).
It was a brilliant move. Rock
is so righteously unpredictable,
you dare not touch the remote
for fear you'll miss something,
You can bet many viewers
o i e
ait S
g mflyu viewers h
rtunately, viewers
ing for some MTV-jyle j m
were probably sorely é?sap—
pointed. Al'{::r delivering a
serviceably funny opening
monologue in whigrt he
invoked the hnl;:rcncs of lcrdalg:/ie
: L Il Nk KL
nh?aln and Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
Rock pretty much stuck to the
sanitized script. He wasn't
whadk; he just never caught fire.
dJßock entered the theater Sun
ay to a standing ovation — a
d@);r show of support after
weeks of media amc&.) When
a conservative Internet blogger
called attention to an Entertain
ment Weekly interview where
Rock commented that few het
erosexual d‘rzcn cared about chs
Oscars, ight-wing medi
implied Rodr:gh w:";g homo
March 3, 2005
3
‘.t o |
; T‘ o - ‘
ie ’ o
o
[ —
Jamie Foxx holds up his
Best Actor Oscar trophy.
phobe. Rumors spread that
the Academy was ditching
Rock for a more politically cor
rect host.
But the smear campaign
eventually sputtered. Judgi
from the adoring rmponse%
received Sunday, it downright
backfired.
As we like to say in the *hood:
Dont hate.
1B