Lucky Marty, poor Peter

Posted by Mission Man at 2:04 AM

I caught the last few minutes of the Academy Awards last night, just in time to see Helen Mirren rewarded for her brilliant spot-on portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II. I was extremely glad to see Martin Scorsese finally win his Oscar for "The Departed," even if I don't think it's his best film, because it could easily be argued that he's deserved it many times over in the past and been screwed every time (see "Goodfellas). I also don't argue that "The Departed" shouldn't have beaten "The Queen" for best film, although I would have preferred to see it go the other way.

However, while Forest Whitaker's rendition of Idi Amin was amazing in "The Last King of Scotland," I shed a tear that one of the greatest actors of our time was once again denied by the Academy.

Peter O'Toole must be the most snakebitten actor in the history of film when one considers his unrewarded performances in such films as "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Lion in Winter," "The Stunt Man," and "My Favorite Year."

The sad part is that with his age (and obvious frailty), this may have been his last shot. And that's a crying shame.

I knew when I was young that the Oscars were a bit of joke when Cliff Robertson in "Charly" beat out O'Toole in "The Lion in Winter." It was confirmed when "Titanic" got the nod over "L.A. Confidential." But I really hoped that this year would be the year when they got it right in most of the major categories. Well, I suppose two out of four ain't bad.

P.S. I was gratified to learn the Al Gore did win the Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth," even if Leo DiCaprio couldn't talk him into announcing a run for the big job last night. Oh well, there's still Stockholm to come.