76th Academy Awards
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The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Joe Roth and was directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted for the eighth time. He first presided over the 62nd ceremony held in 1990 and had last hosted the 72nd ceremony held in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, California held on February 14, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Jennifer Garner.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won a record-tying eleven awards including Best Director for Peter Jackson and Best Picture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other winners included Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Mystic River with two awards and The Barbarian Invasions, Chernobyl Heart, Cold Mountain, Finding Nemo, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, Harvie Krumpet, Lost in Translation, Monster, and Two Soldiers with one. The telecast garnered nearly 44 million viewers in the United States, making it the most-watched telecast in four years.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 76th Academy Awards were announced on January 27, 2004, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Frank Pierson, president of the Academy, and the actress Sigourney Weaver.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received the most nominations with eleven; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World came in second with ten.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 29, 2004. With eleven awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic as the most awarded films in Oscar history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moreover, its clean sweep of its eleven nominations surpassed Gigi and The Last EmperorTemplate:'s nine awards for the largest sweep for a single film in Oscar history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The film was also the tenth film to win Best Picture without any acting nominations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Best Director nominee Sofia Coppola became the first American woman and third woman overall to be nominated in that category.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By virtue of her father, Francis Ford Coppola and her grandfather, Carmine's previous wins, her victory in the Original Screenplay category made her the second third-generation Oscar winner in history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At age thirteen, Best Actress nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes became the youngest nominee in that category until being surpassed by Quvenzhané Wallis, who was nine at the time of her nomination, in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> With Sean Penn and Tim Robbins's respective wins in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories, Mystic River became the fourth film to win both male acting awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Awards
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Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (Template:Double-dagger).<ref name="Oscars2004">Template:Cite news</ref>
Honorary Award
- To Blake Edwards in recognition of his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Films with multiple nominations and awards
Template:Col-beginTemplate:Col-1-of-2
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 11 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| 2 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World |
| Mystic River |
Presenters and performers
The following individuals presented awards or performed individual numbers.<ref name="VarietyOscars" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Presenters (in order of appearance)
Performers (in order of appearance)
| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Sortname Harold Wheeler |
Musical arrangers | Orchestral |
| Template:Sortname | Performer | Opening number: Mystic River (to the tune of "Ol' Man River" from Show Boat), Lost in Translation (to the tune of "Maria" from West Side Story), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music), Seabiscuit (to the tune of "Goldfinger" from Goldfinger) and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (to the tune of "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Template:Sortname Sting |
Performers | "You Will Be My Ain True Love" from Cold Mountain |
| Template:Sortname Alison Krauss |
Performers | "The Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain |
| Template:Sortname | Performer | "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| Template:Sortname Catherine O'HaraTemplate:Ref label |
Performers | "Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from A Mighty Wind |
| Template:Sortname Benoît Charest<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
Performers | "Belleville Rendez-vous" from The Triplets of Belleville |
| Template:Sortname Will Ferrell |
Performers | "Get Off the Stage" song parody during the Best Original Song presentation<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> |
Ceremony information
In light of the record low viewership from the preceding year's ceremony, the Academy sought to make several changes and hire a new producer for the upcoming show. AMPAS announced that unlike previous years where the ceremony typically was held in either late March or early April, the festivities would be held in late February.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> AMPAS director of communications John Pavlik explained that the purpose of moving the telecast a month earlier was "to bolster the ceremony's sagging television ratings and protect the Oscar's status as the nation's pre-eminent awards event."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite several Academy officials denying such reasons, some industry insiders speculated that the earlier Oscar date was also implemented to mitigate the intense campaigning and lobbying during Oscar season put forth by film studios.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This marked the first time since the 14th ceremony that the awards were held outside the aforementioned time frame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In August 2003, the Academy hired film producer Joe Roth to oversee production of the ceremony. The following month, Roth recruited veteran Oscar host Billy Crystal to emcee the awards gala for the eighth time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To stir interest surrounding the awards, Roth produced three trailers promoting the ceremony that each was set to different pop tunes (Madonna's "Hollywood", OutKast's "Hey Ya!", and Pink's "Get the Party Started"). The trailers contained clips of previous ceremonies with slogans such as "Expected the unexpected" and "It's Oscar night" occasionally flashing between scenes.<ref name="Oscar trailer">Template:Harvnb</ref> These promotional spots were shown at movie theaters, on several cable channels, and at participating Blockbuster stores.<ref name="Blockbuster">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Academy also granted talk show host Oprah Winfrey unprecedented access to rehearsals and meetings as part of a month-long series on her eponymous talk show covering behind the scenes preparation of the telecast.<ref name="Blockbuster"/>
MPAA ban on screeners
In September 2003, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) initially banned distribution of screeners to awards groups, citing fears of piracy.<ref name="Piracy">Template:Harvnb</ref> Many independent film studios and prominent film directors objected to this decision charging that this would hurt smaller films for Oscar consideration since they heavily rely on screeners to lure Academy members' attention.<ref name="Piracy" /> The following month, AMPAS and the MPAA reached an agreement in which Academy members would receive the screeners on the condition that they keep them out of reach from people unaffiliated with AMPAS.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2003, a federal judge in New York overturned the ban citing that it violated federal antitrust laws.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Overturn">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Box office performance of nominated films
At the time of the nominations announcement on January 27, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees was $638 million with an average of $127 million per film.<ref name=BoxOfficeOscars>Template:Cite news</ref> The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $338.3 million in domestic box office receipts.<ref name=BoxOfficeOscars/> The film was followed by Seabiscuit ($120.2 million), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ($85.3 million), Mystic River ($59.1 million), and finally Lost in Translation ($34.8 million).<ref name="BoxOfficeOscars" />
Of the top 50 grossing movies of the year, 45 nominations went to 10 films on the list. Only Finding Nemo (1st), The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2nd), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (3rd), Seabiscuit (16th), Something's Gotta Give (21st), The Last Samurai (23rd), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (31st), Brother Bear (32nd) Cold Mountain (37th), and Mystic River (46th) were nominated for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, or any of the directing, acting, or screenwriting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Tape delay implementation
In light of the controversy surrounding the halftime show during Super Bowl XXXVIII, network ABC implemented a five-second tape delay to ensure that profanity and obscenity were not seen or heard.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> AMPAS president Frank Pierson protested this decision in a written statement, stating, "Even a very brief tape-delay introduces a form of censorship into the broadcast—not direct governmental control, but it means that a network representative is in effect guessing at what a government might tolerate, which can be even worse."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In response, producer Joe Roth reiterated that censorship would only be applied to profanity and not political speeches.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Critical reviews
The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Chicago Tribune television critic Steve Johnson lamented that the show "felt almost numbingly familiar and disappointingly genteel." He also criticized broadcaster ABC's decision to implement the five-second tape delay.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tom Shales of The Washington Post quipped that the ceremony "was about as entertaining as watching Jell-O congeal." He also added that the lack of surprises among the awards contributed to the dull atmosphere of the telecast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Columnist Tim Goodman of San Francisco Chronicle bemoaned, "The 76th annual Academy Awards dragged on without much drama or comedy, sucking the life out of the event even while it was doing justice to the masterpiece that is The Lord of the Rings."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly praised Crystal's hosting performance saying that he "has located the perfect middle ground between Steve Martin's adroit silliness and Whoopi Goldberg's unapologetic hamminess." On the show itself, he said that it "managed to do what Hollywood may not have: convince us that this was a great year for the movies."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Film critic Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer wrote that the show was "the funniest and least tedious in memory." He also extolled producer Joe Roth by concluding, "As far as this old critic's concerned, Mr. Roth, you did a fine job."<ref name="Sarris Oscar review">Template:Harvnb</ref> USA Today critic Robert Bianco commented that despite the lack of suspense due to the Lord of the Rings sweep of the awards "Crystal was able to lace funny bits throughout the evening." He further lauded the show as "more glamorous and upbeat than last year's war-muted event, and decently paced."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ratings and reception
The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 43.56 million people over its length, which was a 26% increase from the previous year's ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An estimated 73.89 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also earned higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 26.68% of households watching over a 41.84 share.<ref name="TVB Oscars">Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, it garnered a higher 18Template:Ndash49 demo rating with a 15.48 rating over a 38.79 share among viewers in that demographic.<ref name="TVB Oscars" /> It was the highest viewership for an Academy Award telecast since the 72nd ceremony held in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In July 2004, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations at the 56th Primetime Emmys.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two months later, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Louis J. Horvitz's direction of the telecast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
"In Memoriam"
The annual "In Memoriam" tribute was presented by Academy President Frank Pierson. The montage featured an excerpt of "The Love of the Princess" from The Thief of Bagdad, composed by Miklós Rózsa (Ben-Hur, Spellbound, Quo Vadis, King of Kings, El Cid).<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
- Gregory Peck
- Wendy Hiller
- David Hemmings
- Hope Lange
- George Axelrod – Screenwriter
- Charles Bronson
- Michael Jeter
- David Newman – Screenwriter
- Ron O'Neal
- Art Carney
- Elia Kazan – Director
- Leni Riefenstahl – Documentary Filmmaker
- Karen Morley
- Buddy Ebsen
- John Schlesinger – Director
- Stan Brakhage – Experimental Filmmaker
- Ray Stark – Producer
- Andrew J. Kuehn – Movie "Trailer" Innovator
- John Ritter
- Hume Cronyn
- Buddy Hackett
- Michael Kamen – Composer
- John Gregory Dunne – Screenwriter
- Robert Stack
- Alan Bates
- Gregory Hines
- Jack Elam
- Jeanne Crain
- Ann Miller
- Donald O'Connor
A separate tribute to comedian, actor, and veteran Oscar host Bob Hope was presented by Tom Hanks.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Later, actress Julia Roberts presented one to actress Katharine Hepburn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
- 10th Screen Actors Guild Awards
- 24th Golden Raspberry Awards
- 46th Grammy Awards
- 56th Primetime Emmy Awards
- 57th British Academy Film Awards
- 58th Tony Awards
- 61st Golden Globe Awards
- List of submissions to the 76th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
Notes
- aTemplate:Note:Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara performed the song as their film characters Mitch Cohen and Mickey Crabbe (to which they were credited as performers on the telecast).<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
References
Bibliography
External links
- Official websites
- Academy Awards Official website Template:Webarchive
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Official website Template:Webarchive
- Oscar's Channel Template:Webarchive at YouTube (run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
- News resources
- Oscars 2004 BBC News
- Academy Awards coverage Template:Webarchive CNN
- 2004 Academy Awards Template:Webarchive USA Today
- Analysis
- 2003 Academy Awards Winners and History Template:Webarchive Filmsite
- Academy Awards, USA: 2004 Template:Webarchive Internet Movie Database
- Other resources