76th Academy Awards

News and recap

Billy Crystal returned for the eighth time to host the presentation. His opening monologue poked fun at the change (or lack thereof) between the time he had hosted the ceremony in 1991, and the current one: "Things were so different then. You know how different it was? Bush was president, the economy was tanking and we'd just finished a war with Iraq."

Related Topics:
Billy Crystal - 1991 - Bush - Iraq

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However, the bulk of Crystal's good-natured barbs--and the comments of many of the presenters and award recipients as well--were directed at ', which dominated an evening lacking in surprises. The front-runner (or near front-runner) in every nominated category turned out to be the actual winner.

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Sofia Coppola's win for best original screenplay for Lost in Translation made the Coppola family (Carmine, Francis Ford, and Sofia) the second three-generation Academy-Award winning family, after the Hustons (Walter, John, and Anjelica).

Related Topics:
Sofia Coppola - Lost in Translation - Carmine - Francis Ford - Walter - John - Anjelica

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The television broadcast on ABC was aired live with a five-second tape delay, possibly because of the Janet Jackson breast-baring Super Bowl incident. It was shown live in many other countries around the world (satellite delays notwithstanding).

Related Topics:
Television - Broadcast - ABC - Tape delay - Janet Jackson - Super Bowl

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