Academy Award Nominations
 

Best Actor:

Denzel- Training Day
Will- Ali


Best Actress:
Halle- Monster's Ball

Maybe there is a greater chance that a brotha will win this year... :rolleyes: :confused:

Re: Academy Award Nominations
 

As long as the majority is still picking the winners, I seriously doubt it. Tom Hanks will probably win for Cast Away. Meanwhile, I thought the movie was incredibly boring and could have been about an hour and a half shorter.

I keep my fingers crossed for Will, Halle, and Denzel.

I wish them all the best of luck.

Re: Re: Academy Award Nominations
 

I think we are gonna have to do MORE than finger crossing. LMAO
(prayer, prayer, prayer etc. etc)

It's the truth, but it's a doggone shame. :mad:

African Americans Celebrate
 

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movi...ors/index.html

African-American nominees celebrate nominations
February 12, 2002 Posted: 3:58 PM EST (2058 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Actress Halle Berry said Tuesday the Oscar nomination of herself and two other African-Americans in the top acting categories is an achievement worth celebrating.

Berry, who has won critical acclaim for her performance in the drama "Monster's Ball," noted that actor Sidney Poitier is scheduled to receive an honorary award the night of the Academy Awards and that Whoopi Goldberg is set to host the festivities. Both are African-Americans.

"So, it will be a really good night for people of color, as well as everybody else, but especially for us," a delighted Berry told CNN.

Actor Denzel Washington, already an Oscar winner for his supporting role in the Civil War drama "Glory," was nominated for best actor for his performance as a corrupt cop in "Training Day." Will Smith was nominated for his turn as Muhammad Ali in "Ali."

It's the first time three African-Americans have been nominated for leading roles since 1972. :eek: :eek:

Smith said he, too, is pleased by the recognition of African-American actors. He noted that Poitier was the last man to win a best actor award "and that was 28 years ago." Poitier won best actor for 1963's "Lilies of the Field."

Said Smith: "I'm really honored and excited to be a part of this point in history."

Smith said the recognition for "Ali" is especially exciting because the film was made with "a 90 percent black cast."

Berry paid tribute to her peers in the best actress category and said hers is a rare spot to be in for a minority.

"Women of color aren't often named, so to be there and not only (to) represent myself -- but ... all of us in a way ... it feels great," Berry said.

The awards will be handed out March 24.

One man's perspective on Monster's Ball
 

I picked this up from the NPHC listside. It is originally from the seeingblack (sp?) site. The commentator seems a bit 'cised:

> I Take No Pride In Berry's Oscar Nomination
> By Miles Willis
>
> As an African-American man, I find nothing to be proud of in actress Halle Berry's recent Academy Award nomination. I haven't even seen the film, so it's not that I don't think her performance deserves to be so recognized. Nor is the significance of her nomination, and its potential for opening up more doors and attitudes for black actresses, lost upon me.
I simply find the premise of "Monster's Ball", in which a character played by one of our most prized beauties, falls in love with a racist white prison guard, played by an actor named Billy Bob no less, who led her late husband to his execution, deliberately insulting. With its profanely incongruous and utterly implausible scenario, the plot of this film is a sneering, in-your-face taunt to all black men.
Imagine the seething indignation that a Jewish man might feel while watching a story in which the widow of a Nazi concentration camp victim has an intimate relationship with the SS officer that shoved her husband into one of those ovens at Auschwitz!
And for Ms. Berry, "Monster's Ball" is unfortunately just the latest screening, at least since 1992's "Boomerang", in which we must endure seeing her in the throes of passion with white men. Her character boldly exposed her breasts to a white man in the movie "Swordfish", another `got down' with an old white senator
in "Bullworth", and had two white men, husband and lover/co-conspirator, in playing "The Rich Man's Wife".
Of course portraying Dorothy Dandridge required Berry's character, as Dandridge once described her own romantic/marital relationships, to 'throw (herself) at white men.' It seems that that's all Hollywood will throw at Ms. Berry. I don't think
that it's mere coincidence.
The motivation behind this phenomenon is clearly rooted in the legacy of slavery. Many plantation owners were notorious sexual predators who forced themselves upon slave women and girls of their choice at their leisure, and their men were powerless to stop it. On today's plantation, Hollywood confirms that `old times there (truly) are not forgotten' as they recreate those longed-for days of unrestricted dalliances with their chattel by casting the best looking black actresses with white actors.
At the same time they marginalize black men, both in front of
and behind the camera, into cinematic inferiority and insignificance, denying them access to the opportunity to tell passionate tales of black people in love.
Except for the all-black film adaptations of "Carmen" and "Porgy and Bess", the latter having been referred to by some black sctors as a `coon show', Dandridge, always near the top of any list of all-time most beautiful African-American women, never had an on-screen black lover, or an off-screen one for that matter, since only white men could advance her career. Lena Horne never played opposite white actors, but felt compelled to marry a white man just so that she could more fully enjoy the accoutrements of her show business celebrity.
Fast forward to 1992 with Whitney Houston who starred in the movie, "The Bodyguard". As one of the most successful pop singers in history, with cover-girl looks and proven cross-over appeal, she could have made a romantic drama with Denzel, Wesley, Morris, etc that would surely have been a box office smash.
Instead, Hollywood produced a big budget heavily promoted blockbuster in which Whitney's character takes a white man as her protector and lover. I felt snubbed and disrespected, having
to just stand by and let `Massa' take my woman for himself, just like before.
Now let's flip the scenario as we consider the country music vocalist Leann Rimes. She is a beautiful, successful recording artist who surely will act(?) in movies someday. But can you imagine her first role being analogous to Whitney's, that of a singer with a black bodyguard/lover? It's inconceivable! Why? I think its because the media has so successfully demonized black men that the movie industry would run the risk of offending white male viewers with such a pairing. But they obviously have no such concerns about our sensibilities.
Angela Bassett, a critically acclaimed and enchantingly beautiful actress, was Robert De Niro's character's girlfriend in a recent movie ("The Score"). Thandie Newton's character in the second "Mission Impossible" movie was shared between two white characters. Even the original super-sister Pam Grier
had a white lover in "Foxy Brown".
The main purpose of the movie industry is to create fantasy, and it's pretty obvious whose fantasies Hollywood [is] trying to satisfy. I want to go to big-budget, action-packed, exciting, romantic, heavily-promoted and critically acclaimed movies and
see beautiful black women with guys who look (at least somewhat) like me, so that I can fantasize about them being with me, just like the white men do when they go see movies with beautiful white women like Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts. Obviously Hollywood could care less about what black men would like to see.
The sex scene in "Monsters Ball' is so graphic that according to Berry herself, her husband walked out of the theater. I feel you there, Eric.
I don't even want to see it. And we must remember that when the movie industry finds that a particular type of movie is successful, it makes a whole bunch more just like it. So you can bet that if Halle wins an Oscar for "Monster's Ball", and maybe even just because of the acclaim her portrayal has generated, we can expect to see more movies with fine black women gettin' down with mangy, white redneck 'billybobs' that
> de-humanize and execute their black men; after all, vicious racists need love too. I find that prospect truly monstrous.

This morning I heard that Vanessa L.Williams turned down the role in Monster's Ball. I didn't hear the actual report, but that was interesting.

Halle DESPERATELY wanted the part, according to Halle.

Re: One man's perspective on Monster's Ball
 

Thanks for the info Steeltrap. Once again I have comments-a-plenty concerning this piece, but hence I think it would be a whole other thread.
But I will say the following: I think these types of movies could be "the industry's" way of saying " SO BLACK MEN, YOU WANT TO SNATCH UP ALL OF OUR WHITE WOMEN, WELL WE CAN SNATCH UP YOURS TOO! "
To me, that sounds just as crazey as some of the examples used to prove the article's point.

I didn't read the whole article. But Halle knew what she wanted, she went after it. She wants that Academy award.

I apologizefor the double post but did that article say that Dandridge didn't have an on- screen lover or a off-screen lover?

Harry Belafonte was her love interest in Carmen Jones and she was married to one of the Nicholas Brothers in real life, right?

I dunno.:confused:

You're correct. Dandridge and Belafonte were love interests in Carmen Jones, and Dandridge's first husband, and father of her child Harolyn was Harold Nicholas.

I think the author was conveniently forgetting those facts :rolleyes: because DD did have some Caucasian on-screen lovers and off-screen (Otto Preminger, the director, and her loser husband Jack Denison).

OK I get it, so black men can go after all the white women they want in real life but black women can not like white men in movies? That is so ridiculous. That whole article was ridiculous. HOw are you going to argue about amovie you haven't even seeen because of what you assume is the premise?

What a SHODDY piece of dare-I-say journalism.:rolleyes:

http://www.plaudersmilies.de/happy/xyxthumbs.gif My sentiments exactly!!

My votes go to Halle in Monsters Ball she was excellent. The role was another leap for Halle as an actress; it too showcased her talent.

And Denzel in Training Day, great acting and a surprising change for him. The thug look was working' on him too. MMM MMM MMM :)

YEAH!!!!:mad: What she said!!!!!!!!!!!

I stayed up to see it!
 

Congratulations Denzel and Halle.

I wonder if the "problems" GC had was so that we could not discuss this HISTORICAL EVENT?

Naaaaaaa, I'm only kidding. ;)






http://www.boomspeed.com/razzie/bbberry.gif

I'm so proud of Halle and Denzel!!! Huge congrats to the both of them! It was so touching when Halle won. The way she broke down in her seat almost made me want to cry too!

WOW!!!
 

I screamed so loud when Halle won I probably woke up the whole neighborhood!!! I was in tears along with her. I just couldn't help myself. When Julia said "I love my life", I knew Denzel had won. Just the week before I saw her on ET and she said she hoped that Denzel would win the Oscar. I'm still so excited!!!!!

Re: I stayed up to see it!
 

You know that after I quit jumping up and down and clappping I sooooo wanted to comne on GC and discuss! It was really my second instinct!

I am still grinning though! Halle worked her butt off for this Oscar and I think it WILL do good things for us in Hollywood- think of all the advances that Sidney Poitier (who made SUCH AN AMZING SPEECH) caused in Hollywood, just by being a classy amazing individual.

How can I learn to speak like Sindey POitier? Anyone know? I would give a lot to be able to effectively deliver such simple, elegant prose.

I read that Will and Jada had to leave the ceremony early because Willow had an ear infection and was rushed to the hospital.


I wondered why there was a picture of him on the screen. I was like, Okay, now I know I saw them in the audience.

:confused:

http://blackamericaweb.com/index.cfm...=38423&CATID=5

An editorial cartoon from BlackAmericaweb.com


Commentary:

By Roland S. Martin
BlackAmericaWeb.com
rolandm@BlackAmericaWeb.com

When Halle Berry's name was called Sunday night as the winner in the Best Actress category at the Academy Awards, I tried with all my power to literally shake the foundation of my home with a booming yell.

Not only was I happy to see this talented and gorgeous sister rewarded for her work in Monster's Ball - the first time she has ever been nominated for the prestigious award - it was clearly a breakthrough for the years black women have toiled in relative obscurity in Tinsletown.

Critics at such media entities like Salon.com have criticized Halle for the tears she shed; some even called it a near-nervous breakdown. But no critic was as shameful, pathetic and cynical than Richard Corliss of Time Magazine, who managed to weave in remarks about her hit-and-run accident, past abusive relationships and being the product of an interracial marriage. That's a disgrace and should be noted as such.

Others have suggested, and they include a number of African Americans, that she should have been more dignified in her response and not allow the moment to overwhelm her.

These are the kinds of folks who turn off the lights and throw everyone out of the house to end a good party. It is easy to criticize Halle and all the fuss being made about her win and that of Denzel Washington's for Best Actor. But people should show some respect for an individual's performance and the historical nature of the win.

Regardless of what any of us want to say or think, black female actresses have gotten the scraps in Hollywood. The industry has been far more accepting in providing strong roles for black men then they have for black women. As men, we often don't want to recognize all of the things that black women -- and women in general -- must face when getting acting roles. There is the constant slapping down of some men who want to be put you in their movie if you go to bed with them. There are the demeaning roles of "the sex object," which have nothing to do with one's talents.

Use your imagination to recall the many rejection letters and doors slammed in the face of Halle and other women after a casting call. Think about the roles she had to take that required her sexy figure to be more prominent than her skills. Sit back and imagine spending thousands of dollars on acting lessons, and the best you could get in a film were a couple of lines.

Black women like Hattie McDaniel and Whoopi Goldberg have been honored with Best Supporting Actress Oscars. Yet we all know that the pinnacle of any actor's career is to be considered the leading man and the leading lady. Having your name above the marquee in Hollywood is the same as being the CEO of a company: you're the top dog. And when you have to spend so much time and energy fighting the battles of race and sexism, even the most dogged and determined woman can give up.

You don't have to be Halle Berry or an actor to understand all of this. Imagine yourself receiving an award for something you did. Didn't you think back on all that you had to go through to get to that moment and how it felt good to be validated for the hard work and perseverance? I've been there. And like Halle, I've cried my butt off.

Halle's tears also can be tied to the woman she has carried around with her for so long: Dorothy Dandridge. There is little doubt that Berry crossed a serious threshhold when she did The Dorothy Dandridge Story for HBO. She spent six years trying to get the movie made, and she clearly identified with the struggles of Dandridge and how they somewhat parallel her own.

Ever since doing the Dandridge movie, which won her an Emmy and other accolades, Berry has talked about having a newfound sense of history, purpose and courage to take on more demanding roles. Prior to it, she admitted to being a fragile ego that wasn't sure what her place was in the business.

And when you walk in the shadows of those who came before you, it's proper to recognize them when you do good. I, too, was in tears thinking of what Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge and in the words of Halle, what "every nameless, faceless woman of color" had to endure in order that a Halle Berry could stand on that stage one day.

Those tears are similar to those I have shed when remembering A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the struggle they had to endure to be unionized. The tears have come when listening to a speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he discussed his faith in God while staring death in the eye. The tears flowed in 1984 when Jesse Jackson stood before an audience at the Democratic National Convention, giving a sense of pride and hope for another generation, much like the Fannie Lou Hamer's and Ralph Bunche's did for the previous generation. The tears I shed at the 1995 Million Man March weren't just for that day, but for the countless black men who were on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial who didn't get a chance to come home.

My heart always aches and my soul forever hears the echoes of our ancestors when such accomplishments are made because my spirit tells me that when they were catching hell, they were saying, "I can't give up because someone will come along after I'm long gone to pick up the torch the continue the journey."

The day after Halle won the sun came up, people went to work, children were at school, the war continued in Afghanistan and peace was still a long way off in Israel. But we should be grateful that we got a chance to witness history.

Hollywood may not all of a sudden open up the floodgates for black actors and actresses as a result of Halle and Denzel's big wins. But we can at least revel in knowing that the accomplishment of one sister as Best Actress in an overwhelmingly white Academy has been duly recognized. And maybe, like Halle said, there is a young woman out there who can turn to her mom or dad and say, "It can happen to me."

Black America, never allow our pain from days past to cause our souls to repress the praise of accomplishments present and future. Our ancestors didn't so why should we?

Roland S. Martin is editor of BlackAmericaWeb.com and news editor of Savoy Magazine.

http://blackamericaweb.com/index.cfm...38428&CATID=11
Pre Oscar photos, etc.