'The Departed' wins Oscar best picture 'The Departed' wins Oscar best picture (Agencies) Updated: 2007-02-26 13:25 Martin Scorsese accepts his Oscar for best director for 'The Departed' at the 79th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 25, 2007. [Reuters] Los Angeles - The mob saga "The Departed" won the best-picture Academy Award on Sunday, a triumph for a homegrown American film in an evening that featured the most internationally diverse field of nominees in the history of Hollywood's highest honors. Related readings: "Dreamgirls" no sure thing for Oscar song win Martin Scorsese finally won the best-director Academy Award that had eluded him throughout his illustrious career, taking the prize for his mob epic "The Departed" after five previous losses. Forest Whitaker earned the best-actor Oscar for "The Last King of Scotland," in which the soft-spoken actor played an uncharacteristically flamboyant role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Helen Mirren reigned, winning best actress for her portrayal in "The Queen" of British monarch Elizabeth II facing ebbing loyalty after the death of Princess Diana. Jennifer Hudson won the supporting-actress Oscar for "Dreamgirls," though her co-star and fellow front-runner Eddie Murphy lost the supporting-actor prize to Alan Arkin of "Little Miss Sunshine." "More than anything, I'm deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received, which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection," said Arkin, who plays a foul-mouthed grandpa with a taste for heroin in the road comedy. Hudson won an Oscar for her first movie, playing a powerhouse vocalist who falls on hard times after she is booted from a 1960s girl group. The role came barely two years after she shot to celebrity as an "American Idol" finalist. "Oh my God, I have to just take this moment in. I cannot believe this. Look what God can do. I didn't think I was going to win," Hudson said through tears of joy. "If my grandmother was here to see me now.

She was my biggest inspiration." "Little Miss Sunshine," which came out of the low-budget independent world to become a commercial hit and major player in Hollywood's awards season, also won the original screenplay Oscar for first-time screenwriter Michael Arndt. The film follows a ghastly but hilarious road trip by an emotionally messed-up family rushing to get their darling girl (10-year-old supporting-actress nominee Abigail Breslin) to her beauty pageant. "When I was a kid, my family drove 600 miles in a VW bus with a broken clutch," Arndt said, describing a road trip that mirrored the one in the film. "It ended up being one of the funnest things we did together." The nonfiction hit "An Inconvenient Truth," a chronicle of Al Gore's campaign to warn the world about global warming, was picked as best documentary. "People all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue. It's a moral issue," Gore said, joining the film's director, Davis Guggenheim, on stage.

"An Inconvenient Truth" also won original song for Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up." "Mostly, I have to thank Al Gore for inspiring me, showing me that caring about the earth is not Republican or Democrat, it's not red or blue. It's all green," Etheridge said. Earlier, Gore appeared with best-actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio to praise organizers for implementing environmentally friendly practices in the show's production. DiCaprio set up a gag with Gore, asking the 2000 presidential candidate if there was anything he wanted to announce. "I guess with a billion people watching, it's as good a time as any. So my fellow Americans, I'm going to take this opportunity here and now to formally announce my intentions ...," Gore said, his voice trailing away as the orchestra cut him off. Composer Gustavo Santaolalla won his second straight Oscar for original score for "Babel," a film "that helped us understand better who we are and why and what we are here for," he said.

He won the same prize a year ago for "Brokeback Mountain." The dancing-penguin musical "Happy Feet" won the Oscar for feature-length animation, denying computer-animation pioneer John Lasseter ("Toy Story") the prize for "Cars," which had been the big winner of earlier key animation honors. "I asked my kids, `What should I say?' They said, `Thank all the men for wearing penguin suits,'" said "Happy Feet" director George Miller. The savage fairy tale "Pan's Labyrinth" took the first two Oscars, for art direction and makeup, the wins for the Spanish-language film kicking off an Oscar evening stuffed with contenders from around the world. "Pan's Labyrinth" also took the cinematography Oscar. "To Guillermo del Toro for guiding us through this labyrinth," said art director Eugenio Caballero, lauding the writer-director of "Pan's Labyrinth," the tale of a girl who concocts an elaborate fantasy world to escape her harsh reality in 1940s Fascist Spain.

Germany's "The Lives of Others," about a playwright and his actress-girlfriend who come under police surveillance in 1980s East Berlin, won the foreign-language Oscar, the films it beat including "Pan's Labyrinth." "Letters From Iwo Jima" won the sound-editing Oscar for Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman. Murray's father was an Iwo Jima survivor. "Thank you to my father and all the brave and honorable men and women in uniform who in a time of crisis have all made that decision to defend their personal freedom and liberty no matter what the sacrifice," Murray said. The record holder for Oscar futility, sound engineer Kevin O'Connell, extended his losing streak to 19 nominations without a win. This time, O'Connell and two colleagues were nominated for sound mixing on "Apocalypto," Mel Gibson's portrait of the savage decline of the ancient Mayan empire, but they lost to another trio of sound engineers that worked on "Dreamgirls." "Apocalypto" lost in all three categories in which it was nominated, all for technical achievements.

Gibson, whose "Braveheart" was the big winner at the 1995 Oscars, had been condemned by many in Hollywood for an anti-Semitic rant he made during his drunken-driving arrest last summer. Once an evening of backslapping and merrymaking within the narrow confines of Hollywood, the Academy Awards this time looked like a United Nations exercise in diversity. The 79th annual Oscars feature their most ethnically varied lineup ever, with stars and stories that reflect the growing multiculturalism taking root around the globe. "What a wonderful night. Such diversity in the room," said Ellen DeGeneres, serving as Oscar host for the first time, "in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion and sexual orientation. "And I want to put this out there: If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars," she said, adding: "Or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that." Competing for best picture was Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel," a sweeping ensemble drama.

The film's cast ranges from A-listers such as Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett to comparative unknowns Adriana Barraza from Mexico and Rinko Kikuchi from Japan, who both earned supporting-actress nominations for "Babel." Also in the running were Stephen Frears' classy British saga "The Queen," a portrait of the royal family in crisis, and Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language war tale "Letters From Iwo Jima." Those films joined two idiosyncratic American stories nominated for best picture, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' road comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and Martin Scorsese's crime epic "The Departed." Though set among the distinctive cops and mobsters of Boston, "The Departed" had a global connection, it was based on the Hong Kong crime thriller "Infernal Affairs." The film won the adapted-screenplay Oscar for William Monahan, who thanked Scorsese and "The Departed" star DiCaprio, a best-actor nominee. "Thanks to Marty and Leo for reading the script and calling each other and saying let's make it," Monahan said.

With a Directors Guild of America award and other top film honors behind him, Scorsese was considered a shoo-in to earn the directing Oscar, a prize that has eluded him throughout his illustrious career. The best-picture race was up for grabs, with all five films in the running but many Oscar watchers generally figuring it was a three-way race among "Babel," "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine." Organizers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hoped the suspense of the wide-open best-picture category would help offset moviegoers' relative lack of interest in the competing films. TV ratings for the Oscars tend to be lower when fewer people have seen the top nominees. Collectively, the five best-picture nominees had drawn a total domestic theatrical audience of about 38.5 million people, about a third the number of fans who have gone to see the contenders in recent peak years when such blockbusters as "Gladiator" or "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" have won.

Top World News September 19, 1990 : Goodfellas opens Introduction On this day in 1990, the Martin Scorsese-directed Mafia film Goodfellas, starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco and Joe Pesci, opens in theaters around the United States. The movie, which was based on the best-selling 1986 book Wiseguy, by the New York crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, tells the true story of the mobster-turned-FBI informant Henry Hill (Liotta), from the 1950s to the 1980s. Goodfellas earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Pesci won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as the psychotic mobster Tommy DeVito. Martin Scorsese, who was born on November 17, 1942, in New York City, received critical acclaim for one of his earliest films, Mean Streets (1973), which marked the first time he worked with Robert De Niro.

The two men also collaborated on Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and The King of Comedy (1982). Following Goodfellas, in which De Niro played the Irish mobster Jimmy Conaway, the actor collaborated with Scorsese on Cape Fear (1991), which co-starred Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange, and Casino (1995), which was co-written by Pileggi and co-starred Pesci and Sharon Stone. Scorsese’s movie credits also include Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004) and The Departed (2006), which earned him his first Best Director Oscar after five previous nominations in the same category. Prior to co-starring in Goodfellas, Ray Liotta, who was born on December 18, 1954, appeared in such films as Something Wild (1986), with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels, and Field of Dreams (1989), with Kevin Costner.

Liotta’s later credits include Cop Land (1997), with Sylvester Stallone, Hannibal (2001), with Anthony Hopkins, and Narc (2002). Joe Pesci, who was born on February 9, 1943, appeared in such movies as Raging Bull, Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) before his award-winning performance in Goodfellas. His later film credits include the blockbuster Home Alone (1990), in which he played a bumbling burglar; the comedy My Cousin Vinny (1992), with Marisa Tomei; and A Bronx Tale (1993), which marked Robert De Niro’s directorial debut. Lorraine Bracco, who was born on October 2, 1954, earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Goodfellas as Henry Hill’s wife, Karen.

Bracco, who began her career as a model, later appeared in such movies as Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Radio Flyer (1992), The Basketball Diaries (1995), with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Riding in Cars with Boys (2001). She is perhaps best known for her role as Tony Soprano’s psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the hit HBO series The Sopranos, which originally aired from 1999 to 2007. Article Details: September 19, 1990 : Goodfellas opens Author September 19, 1990 : Goodfellas opens URL NEWS IN BRIEF | Backstage NEWS IN BRIEF By | Posted March 1, 2007, midnight Share: The 79th annual Academy Awards delivered few surprises Feb. 25, with Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) winning for best actress and best actor, while Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) took home the supporting-actor awards.

Mirren, Whitaker, and Hudson won Golden Globes and SAG Awards for their roles; however, the Golden Globe and SAG supporting-actor honors went to Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls). The Departed won the awards for best picture and director, with Martin Scorsese getting his first win after five previous nominations for directing and two for screenwriting. The awards ceremony took place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Shareeka Epps and Ryan Gosling won the trophies for best actress and best actor at Film Independent's 2007 Spirit Awards on Feb. 24 for their performances in the classroom drama Half Nelson. Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) won for best supporting actor, an honor he also claimed the following night at the Academy Awards, while Frances McDormand (Friends With Money) won for best supporting actress. Little Miss Sunshine took the awards for best picture, best first screenplay (for subsequent Oscar winner Michael Arndt), and best director (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris). The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. released a report Feb. 21 that claims film industry employment could drop in 2008 if Hollywood's unions go on strike in the midst of their upcoming contract renegotiations.

The organization estimates that film and TV jobs in Los Angeles will increase by 4.5 percent in 2007 before falling 1.4 percent in 2008 due to strike uncertainty. The Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guild of America, and the Directors Guild of America will renegotiate key contracts in 2008, beginning with the WGA this fall. Some industry experts think signs of a de facto strike already exist: Producers are preparing to stockpile episodes of hit TV shows in anticipation of a writers' strike, and the current pilot season is tilting toward more reality programming. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is on a campaign to increase diversity in casting and hiring in the entertainment industry. In a Feb. 21 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the RainbowPUSH Coalition leader said, "We must go to each of the companies and agencies and urge them to make the industry open up and expand the market and the opportunities." He began his quest the day before by meeting with Ron Meyer, president and chief operating officer of Universal Studios. Jackson said he has planned sessions with various studio heads, talent agents, and others in the industry.

Read Also: BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Oscar winners chosen as vote ends Oscar winners chosen as vote ends Giant Oscars statuettes have been moved into position The winners and losers of this year's Academy Awards have been decided, with all votes for the most prestigious prizes in show business now cast. More than 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had until 1700 Los Angeles time on Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday) to vote. The winners in the 24 categories will be revealed at a glittering ceremony at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on Sunday. Crime drama The Departed is bookmakers' favourite to be named best picture. It is thought to be leading the race ahead of Babel and Little Miss Sunshine. Dame Helen Mirren is expected to add an Oscar to her host of best actress awards for The Queen, which is also up for best picture alongside Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. Seating has been erected outside the Kodak Theatre Martin Scorsese is tipped to take his first best director Oscar for The Departed after five previous nominations in the category.

Preparations for the event are under way, with giant Oscars statuettes in place and grandstand seating erected outside the Kodak Theatre. A flurry of specialist film awards ceremonies were held in Hollywood at the weekend as the countdown to the 79th Academy Awards entered its final stages. The writers of Children of Men won the Scripter Award for best adaptation of a book. Casino Royale, Curse of the Golden Flower and Pan's Labyrinth were the big winners at the Production Design Awards. Best production design went to Casino Royale, while Curse of the Golden Flower won in the period film category and Pan's Labyrinth's took the prize for a fantasy film. The Costume Designers Guild honoured The Queen and TV series Elizabeth I at its ninth annual awards ceremony. The musical Dreamgirls took the motion picture prize at the 43rd annual Cinema Audio Society Awards, honouring outstanding achievement in sound mixing.

Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars : NPR Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars Embed Embed Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars Embed Embed Former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson won best supporting actress for her first-ever film role, as a singer denied a chance at stardom in Dreamgirls. Gary Hershorn/Reuters/Corbis hide caption toggle caption Gary Hershorn/Reuters/Corbis After five nominations for the prize during a five-decade-long career, acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese finally received a best director Oscar Sunday night. The auteur won the honor for The Departed, a mob epic that also nabbed the best picture award. Standing onstage to accept the first Oscar of his career, Scorsese received a standing ovation and pretended he couldn't believe it. "Could you double-check the envelope?" Scorsese asked jokingly. After all, the 64-year-old filmmaker had been nominated a total of seven times — twice for screenwriting. "So many people over the years have been wishing this for me — strangers, you know," Scorsese said in his acceptance speech.

"I went walking in the street, people say something to me. I go in a doctor's office, I go in — whatever, elevators — people saying, 'You should win one, you should win one.' I go for an X-ray — 'You should win one.'" Apparently, Academy voters also thought it was about time to honor Scorsese, who was previously nominated for Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Last Temptation of Christ, Gangs of New York and The Aviator. Backstage, Scorsese told reporters what he was thinking when his name was called. Article continues after sponsorship "Good thing I didn't get it before. It's a good thing I waited," he said, adding, "Maybe it would have changed the kind of movies I made or something. I couldn't trust myself. I don't know if I was strong enough if I had gotten it before, quite honestly, you know, and I'm glad that it went this way." The Departed won four of the five Oscars for which it was nominated. But the most-nominated film, Dreamgirls, only came away with two awards.

One of them went to failed American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson for best supporting actress — for her role as a singer who doesn't get a chance to become a star. In accepting the award, Hudson — who won for her first-ever film role — said the story hit close to home. "I didn't think I was going to win but... wow," Hudson said. "If my grandmother was here to see me now, she was my biggest inspiration for everything, because she was a singer and she had the passion for it. But she never had the chance, and that was the thing that pushed me forward to continue." Dreamgirls had earned three of the five nominations in the best song category. But it lost to Melissa Etheridge and her anthem about global warming — I Need to Wake Up. Backstage, Etheridge told reporters she was a bit surprised by the upset. "Dreamgirls is what music and movies is about," Etheridge said. "It's a musical. It's what I grew up loving," adding, "But that's the way it goes, I guess." Etheridge's song came from the soundtrack for this year's best documentary feature, An Inconvenient Truth, which chronicled former Vice President Al Gore's campaign to save the environment.

Onstage, Gore thanked Hollywood for spreading his go-green message. Earlier while onstage with fellow environmental activist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Gore played along with the persistent questions about whether he'll make another run for office. "My fellow Americans, I'm going to take this opportunity right here and now, to formally announce my intentions to..." Gore said before the orchestra broke in and he walked off, laughing arm-in-arm with DiCaprio. This year's awards had a decidedly global cast. Winners accepted in a variety of languages: Spanish, Chinese and Italian. And the films dealt with such topics as the human cost of the diamond trade in Africa; World War II from the Japanese perspective; a little girls' reaction to the Spanish Civil War; Queen Elizabeth's reaction to the death of Princess Diana; and four families drawn together by tragedy in Morocco. Forest Whitaker won best actor for his portrayal of the notorious Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker delivered one of the most emotional speeches of the night: "When I was a kid, the only way that I saw movies was from the backseat of my family's car at the drive-in. And it wasn't my reality to think I would be acting in movies.

So receiving this honor tonight tells me that it's possible. It is possible for a kid from East Texas, raised in South Central L.A., in Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen." In the best supporting actor category, Alan Arkin upset Eddie Murphy, who took an uncharacteristically serious turn in Dreamgirls. Backstage, Arkin seemed a bit embarrassed for being singled out for the best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Little Miss Sunshine. "I feel in a sense like a hypocrite, because I don't believe in competitions between artists," Arkin said. "I'm happy I have this," he added. "It's very nice. But I don't keep score." He may be the only one. Red Carpet Review: Oscar Fashion 2007 Scorsese Takes Home Oscar : NPR Scorsese Takes Home Oscar Embed Embed Embed Embed Martin Scorsese won an Academy Award for best director Sunday night, after five nominations but no wins. His film, The Departed, also won best picture. Other winners included Jennifer Hudson, Alan Arkin, Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren. Entertainment reporter Desa Philadelphia talks with Luke Burbank.

Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars Embed Embed Former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson won best supporting actress for her first-ever film role, as a singer denied a chance at stardom in Dreamgirls. Gary Hershorn/Reuters/Corbis hide caption toggle caption Gary Hershorn/Reuters/Corbis After five nominations for the prize during a five-decade-long career, acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese finally received a best director Oscar Sunday night. The auteur won the honor for The Departed, a mob epic that also nabbed the best picture award. Standing onstage to accept the first Oscar of his career, Scorsese received a standing ovation and pretended he couldn't believe it. "Could you double-check the envelope?" Scorsese asked jokingly. After all, the 64-year-old filmmaker had been nominated a total of seven times — twice for screenwriting. "So many people over the years have been wishing this for me — strangers, you know," Scorsese said in his acceptance speech. "I went walking in the street, people say something to me.

I go in a doctor's office, I go in — whatever, elevators — people saying, 'You should win one, you should win one.' I go for an X-ray — 'You should win one.'" Apparently, Academy voters also thought it was about time to honor Scorsese, who was previously nominated for Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Last Temptation of Christ, Gangs of New York and The Aviator. Backstage, Scorsese told reporters what he was thinking when his name was called. "Good thing I didn't get it before. It's a good thing I waited," he said, adding, "Maybe it would have changed the kind of movies I made or something. I couldn't trust myself. I don't know if I was strong enough if I had gotten it before, quite honestly, you know, and I'm glad that it went this way." The Departed won four of the five Oscars for which it was nominated. But the most-nominated film, Dreamgirls, only came away with two awards. One of them went to failed American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson for best supporting actress — for her role as a singer who doesn't get a chance to become a star.

In accepting the award, Hudson — who won for her first-ever film role — said the story hit close to home. "I didn't think I was going to win but... wow," Hudson said. "If my grandmother was here to see me now, she was my biggest inspiration for everything, because she was a singer and she had the passion for it. But she never had the chance, and that was the thing that pushed me forward to continue." Dreamgirls had earned three of the five nominations in the best song category. But it lost to Melissa Etheridge and her anthem about global warming — I Need to Wake Up. Backstage, Etheridge told reporters she was a bit surprised by the upset. "Dreamgirls is what music and movies is about," Etheridge said. "It's a musical. It's what I grew up loving," adding, "But that's the way it goes, I guess." Etheridge's song came from the soundtrack for this year's best documentary feature, An Inconvenient Truth, which chronicled former Vice President Al Gore's campaign to save the environment. Onstage, Gore thanked Hollywood for spreading his go-green message.

Earlier while onstage with fellow environmental activist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Gore played along with the persistent questions about whether he'll make another run for office. "My fellow Americans, I'm going to take this opportunity right here and now, to formally announce my intentions to..." Gore said before the orchestra broke in and he walked off, laughing arm-in-arm with DiCaprio. This year's awards had a decidedly global cast. Winners accepted in a variety of languages: Spanish, Chinese and Italian. And the films dealt with such topics as the human cost of the diamond trade in Africa; World War II from the Japanese perspective; a little girls' reaction to the Spanish Civil War; Queen Elizabeth's reaction to the death of Princess Diana; and four families drawn together by tragedy in Morocco. Forest Whitaker won best actor for his portrayal of the notorious Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker delivered one of the most emotional speeches of the night: "When I was a kid, the only way that I saw movies was from the backseat of my family's car at the drive-in. And it wasn't my reality to think I would be acting in movies. So receiving this honor tonight tells me that it's possible.

It is possible for a kid from East Texas, raised in South Central L.A., in Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen." In the best supporting actor category, Alan Arkin upset Eddie Murphy, who took an uncharacteristically serious turn in Dreamgirls. Backstage, Arkin seemed a bit embarrassed for being singled out for the best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Little Miss Sunshine. "I feel in a sense like a hypocrite, because I don't believe in competitions between artists," Arkin said. "I'm happy I have this," he added. "It's very nice. But I don't keep score." He may be the only one. The 79th Annual Academy Awards Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 7 reviews in total 8 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Martin you the man, and hail to the queen and king! And rightfully the best film of 2006 wins best picture!!

from Petersburg, Virginia 26 February 2007 "The 79th Annual Academy Awards" hosted by wacky and funny Ellen turned out to be a delight, and a ball of fun with the show running nearly four hours long. The skits and speeches from Ellen and the presenters was full of wit and laughter, and many of the speeches from the winners were touching and warming especially Forrest Whitaker's. And the awards went pretty much as expected with the only real surprise was Alan Arkin upsetting Eddie Murphy for best supporting actor. Helen Mirren's award for best actress was no surprise as everyone said she was a lock for her role in "The Queen", and Forrest Whitaker had been expected to win for "The Last King of Scotland", so it's a hail to the king and queen night victory. Really the most pleasing moment of all was Martin Scorsese's win for best director after five previous nominations, finally Martin you won! And to add icing on the cake Scorsese's "The Departed" wins best picture! Clearly "The Departed" was the best film of 2006 and certainly deserved the award for best picture.

"The Departed" had a plot and twist of complex characters that any other film simply couldn't match. Overall a pretty good Oscars show, that finally paid tribute to a long over due directing legend like Martin Scorsese, it was finally Martin's time! Also a last note it was just fine to see legends Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton present the best picture award, and a shaved bald headed Jack now that's wild and freaky! Was the above review useful to you? 5 out of 10 people found the following review useful: A suiting and satisfying conclusion of the movie year 2006. from Groningen, The Netherlands 26 February 2007 The Academy Awards of 2006 will be remembered as the year Scorsese finally won his Oscar and the year of evenly handed out Oscars and little real surprises. It's never fun when one movie completely dominates the awards, this really wasn't the case this year. The awards were evenly handed out and there was no big winner, although "The Departed" of course won the most important awards.

But perhaps the biggest winner of the evening was the Mexican/Spanish movie "El Laberinto del Fauno", that took home 3 awards though not the most important (Best foreign language film) one. Nevertheless I think that Guillermo del Toro went home extremely satisfied. Lets face it, 2006 wasn't the greatest year for movies. Sure there were some great movies released but not exactly the type of movies that will grown into becoming classics. There also wasn't really one movie or person this year that I hoped would win. I didn't really felt much for any of the nominations this year, with perhaps the exception of the more 'smaller' awards, like best visual effects. The ceremony also wont be remembered as the most hilarious or legendary one. Nevertheless it's good to see that they brought back the show-element and the entire ceremony felt less organized and scripted. The ceremony felt like one big whole this year and was more personal and natural, with presenter Ellen DeGeneres actually walking between- and talking to the stars and taking part of the show elements, without feeling the constant obligation to constantly talk after, between and before the handing out of every single award.

Normally there is a tense atmosphere, this year it was more relaxed, which was i think due to the presenting skills of DeGeneres and the flow of the entire show. Normally the comedy of the show is more of a spoofing caliber, it now felt professional and well thought out, with some fun moments with comedians Will Ferrel and Jack Black. But of course that all doesn't mean that DeGeneres also doesn't take time to make fun of some of the stars. I love the Oscars for that, it's the only time of the year you can say anything straight into the face of those persons, knowing that you can get away with it. The award presenters were all good. None of them really did their best to make a lasting impression, which I take as a positive thing. I mean after all, this is THE evening of the nominees, not of the presenters. Most memorable the duo Jaden Smith and Abigail Breslin, with Smith messing up his lines but still staying cool and funny under it and continue with presenting. Not bad for an 9 year old, who obviously has his parents talents. Also fun was Robert Downey Jr. who wasn't too embarrassed to make fun of his own drugs past.

Clint Eastwood seemed very nervous presenting and messed up his lines, which was odd to see from a person of his caliber and acting past, though he would claim it was because of he forgot his glasses. It was good to see that the old American Zoetrope-gang, Lucas, Spielberg and Coppola were the ones to hand out the best director award, which went to their old friend Martin Scorsese. It was the bald(!) Jack Nicholson that had the honor of presenting the award for the best movie of the year. The evening didn't had that many big surprises. The acting awards went to the most predicted ones, with the exception of the best supporting actor award that went to Alan Arkin instead of favorite Eddie Murphy. No big surprise that Helen Mirren won an Oscar, which was perhaps the most in advance predicted winner of the evening. Same goes for Forest Whitaker who did the best speech of the evening, though he of course was also the one that could prepare himself the best, since it almost was a formality for him to pick up the award. There were some memorable events the evening, such as Ennio Morricone getting an Honorary Award.

Just like Scorsese, he should already had won an Oscar years ago for at least 3 of his works but nevertheless it was great to see that he finally got the recognition he deserved from the Academy before his death. Because lets face it, the guy is almost 80-years already and he has his best years behind him, though he himself would probably disagree with me. Morricone wasn't too happy in advance that he received this Honorary Award, claiming that it would look like as if his career was over already but nevertheless he seemed emotional and touched by this honor when he stood on the stage, next to his friend and interpretor Clint Eastwood, since Morricone himself (still) doesn't speak a word English. Another highlight was Scorsese getting a standing ovation, not necessarily for his win for "The Departed" but more for his career and the fact that he finally won an Oscar, after being nominated 7 times already. Of course "The Departed" is not his best or most influential works, so it's sort of a double feeling that he won his long deserved Oscar for this movie.

For him "The Departed" obviously was a movie for 'in between', who could had ever thought that this would be his movie for which he would win the biggest awards. But on the other hand I'm of course glad that he now will always be remembered as Oscar winner-Martin Scorsese instead of 8(+ probably) time Oscar nominee. Too bad that the ceremony turned a bit too political at times with a too prominently present Al Gore. It was also weird to see Gore holding an Oscar, though the cause he fights for is of course a good one. Nevertheless, politics and Oscars should never mix in my opinion. Not the best year for the Oscars but a memorable enough evening nevertheless. 7/10 *** This review may contain spoilers *** SPOILERS It really is about time for him to win an Academy Award. I mean, he directed Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and Casino, so it is about time for him to win. Anyway, this is a typical Academy Award show that has some very funny moments. There are some movies and actors that deserved to win an Oscar, but some did not. I also like the scene in which Ellen DeGenerous makes Steven Spielberg take a picture of her with Clint Eastwood.

Also, the Departed won Best Picture. This is a typical Academy Award show that is hosted by Ellen DeGenerous. The usual awards are given out. You know, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Animated Film, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Score, Best Song, Best Costume, Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Short, Best Visual Effects, Best Foreign Film, and Best Documentary. Wow, that was a mouth full. There are also the usual Oscar surprises, such as Jack Black and Will Ferrell singing. Like always, also, this goes far beyond of how long it is supposed to be. Overall, this is a regular but fun Academy Awards show. Some of the winners totally deserved it, such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest definitely deserved to win Best Visual Effects, and it did, but some did not deserve it. Pan's Labyrinth should have won best Foreign Language Film, and not the Lives of Others. I am also glad that Happy Feet won Best Animated Picture. There is one thing I would like to point out. Will Smith should have won Best Actor.

I mean, he definitely deserved to win, but he did not! Anyway, some choices are good, some choices are bad, and this is like every other Academy Awards show, but they are always fun to watch. 9/10 Recommended Award Shows: The Emmys. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Hello from Virginia Beach 3 March 2007 Regular readers know I do not own a TeeVee. I consider them harmful to the visual imagination, and cannot think of anything on the box worth the compromise. Except the Oscars. So we rent a hotel room for that night to watch. And this time I am glad I did because of the surprise Apple ad. Students of film will recall when the Mac was introduced in 1984, by the famed Superbowl ad. It was sixty seconds or so, made by Ridley Scott who had already turned the world of science fiction upside down with "Alien" and "Bladerunner." The legend of the ad was that it was aired just that once. It may be the most famous ad in TeeVee history. When the board of Apple balked at the cost, Jobs paid for it personally.

Since then, the whole world has copied (in better or worse fashion) what was introduced by that woman runner. This Oscar show may have been worthwhile in itself, not because of the awards but because we see film personalities playing the hardest role: themselves. But this iPhone ad, and the surprise of it meant that you were there. Its like seeing Jack Ruby shoot Osward live, or see the first step on the moon. To appreciate the beauty of it, you have to realize how the Oscar show is assembled. The tone of the thing is that there is the Academy who presents itself as the champion of film history: each award of the year is in the context of a hundred years, all of which the Academy members supposedly know and honor. This is underscored each year with several montages, collections of film snippets assembled around a theme. This is in the midst of other "entertainments." The host tells jokes, some nominated songs are sung, and there is usually another thin thing, this time Philobus shadow imagers. The montages are inserted as entertainment, and edited as such, so that we can guess the origin of the clip. But you have to be fast.

So this ad started and we all thought it was part of the show: clips that showed characters answering the phone. Only after it was over do you see it was an ad, indicated by the word "hello" and an image of the iPhone. The device won't appear for 4 months after I write this, but I will make a prediction about the product that will make this ad seem important in retrospect. I predict as with many others, you will be able to buy ringtones from the iTunes Music Store. That's a bit obvious. I predict further that you will be able to buy "hello" video clips that will play on the caller's iPhone when you answer. Why do I think that? Because I know it possible with the changes Apple is forcing on ATT/Cinglaur for video voice messages. But more because I know that Hollywood has been studying methods for fractional licensing of movies. The same person who would shell out $3 for two seconds of Bogart answering a call from his girlfriend would have trouble paying the same $3 for the entire movie to watch. Films will become marketing platforms in the future for snippets of themselves. I'm actually entering this side of the business and think it will be huge.

But it will also change film forever. Starting that night, with that ad. So far as the show itself: hey, so the Academy gets to make awards based on who they like if they can also bend in some lessor awards to the Latino and Black ticketbuyers. Ho hum. The clip from this show that will last is probably the host's declaration in Bush's face that there would be no awards without Jews, Blacks and Gays. Maybe that's a milestone too. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Even though I didn't catch the whole thing, it was still great. from Portland, Oregon, USA 25 February 2007 When I read that "The 79th Annual Academy Awards" started at 5 pm, I assumed that the lead-in started then. When I turned the channel on at about 5:50, I saw that they were well into the ceremony. Criminy! But no worries, I saw most of it, and I really liked it.

I especially laud them for FINALLY giving Martin Scorsese what he's deserved for so long, for giving Alan Arkin what he's deserved for so long, and for giving Ennio Morricone what he's deserved for so long. Kudos above all to Al Gore for calling on the world to deal with global warming and reminding us that it's not a political issue, but a moral one (and I'm glad to see that Leonardo DiCaprio is part of the movement to curb global warming). What do I think of Ellen DeGeneres as a host? Well, after Jon Stewart last year, I guess that anyone might seem a little weak, but I liked how she did (particularly that trick with Scorsese). Even if she's not the best host ever, she's gotta be better than Bob Hope. I notice that Best Actress went to Helen Mirren - who's also deserved an Oscar for years - for playing a queen, and Best Actor went to Forest Whitaker for playing a king (the last one of Scotland, that is). Jennifer Hudson's win is the perfect slap in the face to "American Idol" (they kicked her off, believing that she had no talent).

As is often the case, the best parts are the montages. I liked that the writing montage included scenes from "The Shining", and the history montage included a scene from "Dr. Strangelove". Good that they included Robert Altman in the "In Memoriam", but I think that he should have gotten his own montage. I bet that this ceremony must have really irked the right-wingers. Aside from the fact that a lesbian hosted, a lesbian won for Best Original Song (and for a documentary about global warming at that), honorary winner Sherry Lansing sits on a stem cell research board, and they gave some awards to "Babel" and "El laberinto del Fauno/Pan's Labyrinth" (both by Mexican directors). I hope that tomorrow night, Stephen Colbert - in his right-wing commentator persona - rants against the Academy for all this. In fact, they ought to have him host the Oscars next year; he would probably be better than Jon Stewart. So, it was a great ceremony. Each of the Best Picture nominees received at least one Oscar. If Scorsese really meant that "The Departed" was his first movie with a plot, then it paid off. A fine few hours.

But what did Cameron Diaz do to her face? Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Some terrible bits but mostly worthy winners  shame Sky did such a bad job on it again from United Kingdom 10 March 2007 Another year comes round and we find ourselves facing down the barrel of a long night of clapping and awards. However with Sky yet again buying the rights and sticking it on a subscription only channel, all I had was a two hour highlights show which I suppose is not too bad as it is long enough to get it all in but not so long that there will be loads of dead time to content with. We open with some time "interviewing" the stars on the red carpet and we get to see how out of her depth Fern Cotton is  she can do silly things for the BBC but surrounded by the stars she just seems like a little girl all dressed up. Anyway, we move into the show proper and I can only assume that Ellen DeGeneres was terrible because Sky cut it back to nothing.

Regardless though, what little of her I did see left me pretty unimpressed and I didn't think she was that suited to this big event and was not particularly funny. The musical numbers were a bit too long but they were a welcome addition compared to the dance interpretations of various films  my god they were cringe worthy (and what bad taste to have a "devil" dancer following the "in memoriam" section). As usual some of the presenters are given terrible lines to deliver and some of them can do nothing with it  those presenting with someone else seem to struggle the most as they deliver unfunny "routines" with barely a touch of chemistry. The winners themselves were a rather mixed bunch but nothing really too contentious. The main awards mostly fell as predicted. Did anyone on Earth doubt that Mirren would take it, but her acceptance speech was a bit weird. Meanwhile Whitaker deserved it for a great turn. I'm not so sure about Hudson but I have not seen any of the films in the "supporting actress" category so I cannot really comment. Arkin is always a class act and I'm glad he picked one up for Little Miss Sunshine  also giving that film exposure.

Although I wasn't all that taken by The Departed, it was a solid "best picture" and was a good opportunity to give Scorsese his Oscar  he deserves it more for other films but he deserves one, full stop. Talking of legends, the Honorary Award for Morricone was a good one and well deserved when you think back over how memorable his work has been down the years. Of course I say this without actually having seen his award because, along with about 12 other awards, Sky neglected to show the presentation or even give a quick recap of "other" awards. Why they chose to not even spare 60 seconds for these I cannot say but it was shoddy and yet another reason I regret them being able to bully their way into every series or event they chose. A more cynical reviewer may suggest that the halfassed way they have covered the Oscars in recent years might be because they only bought it to prevent others having it, but luckily I am not cynical (although their childish spat with the equally childish Virgin in the UK at the moment might change that for me). Overall then a solid show with mostly good winners.

Personally I think The Departed was flattered a little but otherwise the best people did win the big awards and, although it wasn't particularly tense or surprising, it did make for an OK year. Was the above review useful to you? 3 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Unmemorable Author: Christopher Smith 5 May 2007 Perhaps I am bit a bit biased considering I have never found host Ellen DeGeneres all that funny and that none of the five films nominated for Best Picture (The Departed, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen) blew me away, but for whatever reason, the Academy Awards this year were, well, pretty terrible. While I have always loved watching the Academy Awards, there are very few times where I have actually found them memorable, or at least worthy of the hype. This year was no different. In fact, this will probably go down in history as more of a disaster than anything else. I doubt five years from now, there will be clips of this year's presentation floating around since there were no memorable moments at all to be found here other than Martin Scorsese winning his Oscar for Best Director.

The rest of the show, I actually felt embarrassed for those in attendance. Ellen DeGeneres jokes fell flat 95% of the time, The acceptance speeches were blah as always, and worst of all, Will Ferrell's musical number was one of the unfunniest moments in the history of television and that's coming from a Ferrell fan. Film historians can go ahead and forget about this one. 3/10 Was the above review useful to you?

Question: Which director won his first Oscar in 2007, after five previous nominations in the best director category, for The Departed?
Answer: Martin Scorsese