The Oddest Moment During The Oscars

[FourScore]

FROM TOWLERROAD:
http://www.towleroad.com/2010/03/watch-the-oddest-moment-during-the-oscars.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+towleroad%2Ffeed+(Towleroad+Daily++%23gay+news)

The most head-scratching thing to happen during last night's lackluster Academy Awards ceremony happened right the announcement that "Music by Prudence" had won for Best Documentary Short. Elinor Burkett, a one-time producer of the film who yanked herself from the project last year, pulled what's being referred to as a "Kanye West moment" by rushing on stage during director Roger Ross Williams' acceptance speech.

Apparently, the two have been in the midst of a beef about the film (both legal and otherwise) about the creative aspects of the film.

Burkett tells Salon her side of the story: "What happened was the director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court. But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn't invited to any of them. And he's not speaking to me. So we weren't even able to discuss ahead of the time who would be the one person allowed to speak if we won. And then, as I'm sure you saw, when we won, he raced up there to accept the award. And his mother took her cane and blocked me. So I couldn't get up there very fast."

And Williams his: "That was handled by the publicist for the academy. I don't know what they told her. The academy is very clear that only one person can speak. I own the film. She has no claim whatsoever. She has nothing to do with the movie. She just ambushed me. I was sort of in shock."

MORE AT:
http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/2010/03/07/music_by_prudence_burkett/index.html

[begin_within]

1. It was bizarre. I feel sorry for Ross Williams. That idiot woman stole his biggest personal memory.

[hlthe2b]

2. There were lots of odd moments...

like the nod to horror movies? What on earth was that about? While the memorial segment featured James Taylor--who I love, it seemed rushed and thrown together... Apparently lots of people were left off, including Farah Fawcett (although MJ was featured) and Bea Arthur, who had a long career in movies before television... Several others too. Like the friends of the nominees coming up to herald them as though giving them a memorial, prior to announcing best actor and best actress awards. Really really strange.

This was an incredibly disjointed broadcast, in my opinion. I love Alec Baldwin and generally like Steve Martin, but I think Baldwin would have done much better on his own.

[harun]

14. I thought it was lame when they cut to an odd camera angle

when the winners of best documentary, The Cove, went on stage and one of them flashed a number to text to support the cause. Then they cut the mic on the one talking. I mean jeez give them their 10 seconds.

I wasn't going to watch it but caught that segment and it reaffirmed why I normally don't watch such nonsense.

[blogslut]

3. Ms. Burkett is an atrocious woman

Google her name and a link to a 2004 interview she gave to FrontPage Mag comes up. I won't post it here, just the title:Bush's Feminist War

[Javaman]

6. Her comment when she took the mic was very odd as well...

The guy said about 5 words, when she took the mic and said, "isn't that like a man, not allowing a woman a word in edge wise".

I was like wtf?

[gratuitous]

4. So that's what that was about

I didn't know who the hell that woman was, and neither did ABC. Williams looked perplexed, then shocked, then seemed to accept having his moment of glory stolen with a surprisingly good grace. I don't think I would have done any better, and I fear I would have done a whole lot worse.

[FourScore]

5. Yes. He was graceful about it. She looked like a jerk. n/t

[Demoiselle]

7. Ross Williams was wonderfully self-contained and gracious.

I would have clocked her the mouth with the Oscar.
I loved Alec Baldwin. I've never seen anybody underplay so beautifully. I love Steve Martin, too, but last night Baldwin made him look like he was working a little too hard to be funny.

I have a suggestion for the Oscar folk that might save them a few minutes.
Let the people on envelope duty skip the listing of the nominees . Just open the damn things and tell us who won! The nominees have already been named, complete with illustrative clips, for pete's sake.
And why do we need to be reminded which actors got nominations when their expectant little faces are all up there on the screen pretending to be calm as the envelope is opened.

Tom Hanks had the right idea at the end. He opened the envelope and said that Hurt Locker got it. No repeating the list, and no chit chat that I can remember.
Bravo, Tom.

[dmr]

24. He probably did that because they were running overtime. n/t

[MilesColtrane]

8. Elinor Burkett accused his 87 year old mother of trying to block her from the podium with her cane.

She took herself off the movie because it wasn't the story she wanted to tell. Then when it wins an award she's right there to grab for the hardware.

What a horrible woman she is.

[AngryOldDem]

9. That was the most classless thing I've seen in a while.

If she took herself off the project last year, then she had no right to claim any credit for it. Furthermore, they should have kicked her ass right out of Kodak Theater.

Roger Ross Williams handled himself well -- but what else could he have done?

[Cass]

10. Aha, I wondered what that was all about. I felt so bad for Ross Williams when that woman rushed the

stage and butted in. Truly classless move on her part and to know the backstory on all this makes it even worse.

Now the only other mystery I wonder about is why George Clooney seemed to be in such a rotten mood. That's what it seemed like anyway, everytime they flashed to him he had a real dour look on his face like he was pissed off about something.

[jehovas_waitress]

11. The strangest for me was hearing "I Am Woman" after Kathryn Bigelow's win. N/T

[JBoy]

12. New exclusive photo! -->

[bridgit]

13. We were watching Williams and all, "Ah, man. That's really cool" then someone blinked their eyes...

And we were all, "Who the fuck *is* this belligerent chatty-ass Endora fucking knock-off woman, crikey!!"

[Gin]

16. wonder who kept the oscar?

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[onenote]

18. he was shown for about three seconds after her speech

and he pursed his lips. it could have meant anything.

[Iggo]

21. He made like an "Oh, yikes!" face.

It looked like he was just reacting to her stirring the pot a little.

No big. A lot of us were making that face...lol.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catherine Vincent]

22. ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEm7bLjscl0

LOL!

[RainDog]

17. funny. my son said "Kanye West moment" when the woman wouldn't stop talking

sad that this is part of the experience for the guy who won.

[LeftinOH]

19. She was obnoxious- but the sound cut out (probably intentionally), then the "get off the stage"

music started, and the cameras quickly pulled back to an extreme wide shot. It seemed like the director of the telecast (whoever it was) was really on top of things. My impression was that the director wasn't about to let things get out of control.. well done, I say.

[arcadian]

20. Funny that that is now called "pulling a Kayne"

[Skip Intro]

25. Unfair to Burkett. Both were announced as the winners. Williams should have waited until she was

up there too before speaking.

I didn't know what the hell was going on at the time, and thought Kanye as well, but she had just been named one of the winners. That would seem to indicate she had as much right to be on that stage accepting the award as he did.

Watch the first five seconds of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbB1A_VGRos&feature=player_embedded


It seems very unfair to blame her for accepting an award she'd just been announced as having won.

[FrenchieCat]

26. You appear to be correct.....her name was called as well,

and there were two Oscars to hand out, not just one.

However, I would suggest that Ms. Burkett could have first taken her Oscar from the presenters right there on the stage, and then stood next to Williams, and allowed him to at least finish his sentence. That would have been much more the way to approach this. Considering that she didn't bother getting her Oscar, and then she almost pushed him out of the way, and started talking while he was talking was tacky, no matter what the backstory on this was.

As they were both winners, and he hadn't yet hogged the microphone, her standing there and smiling, while allowing him to finish at least his sentence if not his entire speech and at some appropriate place whispering, I have something to say too, would have been a better way to go....because as it were, she simply looked pushy and out of place, not because of who she was, but how she kind of took over without any mind to what he was doing.

[begin_within]

27. I did read that they have a rule that only one winner can speak.

Even if there are 12 people winning a particular award, only one of them is allowed to speak. Obviously these two could not come to an agreement on who would do the talking. What's strange to me is if she removed herself from the production, why was she still listed on the credits, why was she nominated at all, and why was she at the Oscars at all?