Hollywood takes swipes at Bush, Iraq war

[West Coast Democrat]

HOLLYWOOD (AFP) - Sunday's Oscars was an opportunity for Hollywood stars to slam President George W. Bush and the US-led war in Iraq.

The first salvo came from master of ceremonies Billy Crystal, who opened the show with a reminder about the first Oscar show he hosted 13 years ago.

"Everything was so different," the comic said. "Bush was president, the economy was tanking and we'd just finished a war with Iraq."

(snip)

Sean Penn, who won the best actor award for "Mystic River," took a shot at the Bush administration's failure to find Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction.

"If there's one thing that actors know -- apart from the fact that there were no WMDs -- is that there are no bests in acting," he said.

more.....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040301/ts_afp/oscars_film_lifestyle_040301181532

[stanwyck]

1. I hate to admit this

but I was hoping for more. I understand that the actors/directors/writers/etc. were at a professional awards show for the entertainment industry so they may have felt political rhetoric was inappropriate. However, I believe what is happening in our country is so important that the risks are worth being inappropriate. I don't condemn those who just wanted to thank their peers. But I was hoping for more impassioned speeches from those who were given such an incredible forum with millions of viewers. The show was rather boring. Everyone was so polite and so well-behaved and so well-groomed that the entire show lacked any spontaneity or energy. Crystal was fine. But I'm one of the few, I guess, who prefer the edgier style of Steve Martin. We could have used a Bette Midler, Cher, or Michael Moore to give the show some energy. I'm happy, though, for Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.

[West Coast Democrat]

2. Awarding Penn & Robbins was the ultimate "In Your Face"

from Hollywood to the conservative establishment.

[Warpy]

3. They remember last year

Remember the footage that seemed to show Michael Moore being hooted down by the whole academy? Well, it was a shotgun mike and it was aimed at a table of reliably wingnut Repuglicans at the ceremony. The way a shotgun mike picks up sound, it isolates the rest of the room and the applause away from the howler monkeys. Any real statements against Bushco would have been treated the same way, and you can take THAT to the bank. Mr. and Mrs. America would have heard a demonstration in favor of our WAH president, not the speech telling them the truth, and cetainly no applause from the rest of the crowd.

Drive by sneers were the best they could do, and they did them well.

[pacifictiger]

4. Perhaps they felt restrained because

of justifiable concern about backlash these days. I noted that when one of them made a political remark Billy Crystal came back with something like he now needs to be careful because of tax audits. It got a laugh, but Im sure everyone is certainly very much aware of an element of truth about retaliation by the thugs.

[Arugula Latte]

5. What a boring awards show it was

zzzzzzzzz ... nothing really controversial, no streakers, no suspense (okay, okay, we get it, they liked Lord of the Rings) ... zzzzzzzz ... I'll give the Oscars one more chance next year, and if it doesn't pick up I'm going to stop watching for good.

[VolcanoJen]

6. I thought everyone performed admirably

I especially enjoyed the speech given by the gentleman who won Best Documentary for "The Fog of War," a documentary about Robert McNamara. He talked about how we shouldn't fall back into the rabbit hole again, and I found his comments to be perfectly sane and non-abrasive.

Sean Penn's comment about WMD's was fantastic, and it did look as though he had much, much more to say.

:D

[peekaloo]

7. Errol Morris

He's made some really great, offbeat films over the years.

[graywarrior]

8. Didn't the show have a 5 minute delay?

That would cut down on spontaneity

[pinniped]

9. I can hear it now from the stupid repukes...

I'm never listening to Dixie Chicks again...blah...blah...blah...

I'm never going to watch George Clooney again...blah...blah...blah...

I'm never going to watch Sean Penn again...blah...blah...blah...

I'm never going to watch Tim Robbins again...blah...blah...blah...

...but Toby Keith rules.:eyes:

[MichaelHarris]

10. Well

It cetainly leaves Bill Oreilly very little to piss and moan about. He's predicted for weeks it was going to be a bush bash. It'll be interesting to see how he spins it.