Bill Conti, who has done more Academy Awards than the darn statue itself, presented another incredible job of juggling different themes and playing them at the right time (cudos for the orchestra as well). Besides being the stick man for the evening (a great one at that), the man knows how to write great classical overtures,just listen to the Rocky scores, North and South and The Right Stuff. A great and gifted composer and a great and gifted and very patient stick man.

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Originally posted by TimT:
I liked his rendition of the Girl, Interrupted theme everytime Angelia Jolie slithered out.

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Everytime? I thought she only slithered out once...

I also noticed they played the "Don't Rain On My Parade" song for the two American Beauty stars (Spacey and Benning). I guess they couldn't fit a marimba, tabla, framedrum, and detuned mandolin down in the pit to play Thomas Newman's theme...

Yes, I am referring to her HIGHNESS, "Ms. Julia Roberts" and her comments toward Bill Conti.

Just a few things that you should know, "Ms. Julia":

Bill Conti is also an Academy Award winner, for The Right Stuff in 1983. Bill is also noted for composing the Rocky theme.

(Note: Bill Conti has never worked on a Julia Roberts film, and probably never will now.)

Bill has been in this business for a lot longer than you have been and has added to many a film he has worked on (inspite of the fact that he doesn't make $20,000,000.00 a film).

Jerry Goldsmith said it best, no movie has saved bad music, but a lot of music has saved bad movies (or something to that effect). I could make some sort of comment here regarding that, but I'll pass. However, think of the impact that music has on your films.

In the future, have a little more respect for the people in the background who have helped you look and appear good on the screen.

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Originally posted by SBD:
She almost went Liz Taylor on us for a moment.

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LOL. SBD, ya know, I thought the exact same thing... I wonder how many others in the audience thought that?

Joan Allen, Glenn Close, Kathleen Turner, and many others have been forgotten, even though they've done excellent work. I'm still awaiting the day that Joan Allen get's recognized for her work beyond the "nomination."

Tom Cruise was just as lost when he was there to present some thing or other. Difference being, his hearing is better than Taylor who is in her late 60's. When they told him not to open the thing before reading the nominees, he heard, she didn't. Confusion leading from one thing to another, she looked crazy. He just looked stupid.

If you're going to make fun of Taylor, don't forget the other loser.

Goldsmith more-or-less said that a lot of good movies have been home for bad scores, but no good score has ever saved a bad movie.

The exact quote is the following:

"No music has ever saved a bad picture, but a lot of good pictures have saved a lot of bad music."

Henri Mancini once said virtually the same thing.

My two cents: There are good movies that can still be good with a bad score, but, if a producer needs to salvage a bad film, he had better find a way to hire Jerry Goldsmith.

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Originally posted by Greg Bryant:
Sorry, I'm just not the president of the Julia Roberts Appreciation Society. So many fine actresses out there with excellent acting chops, and all we get over and over again is Julia (or the new crop of little teen "actresses").

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Julia Roberts is harldly a "teen" actress. I should know, she's just a couple of days older than I am.

She's beautiful, has a dazzling smile, she's sexy as all get-out and she's talented.

Best of all -- and most importantly -- she makes money at the box office. Because of that, she can command $20 million per film.

Julie Roberts sells tickets. And because she sells tickets, we are inundated with her image. It's not her fault.

I can't believe all the sour grapes I've been reading on this thread about her.

You knew she was going to win. Not one of the other actresses was given a chance in hell of surprising us. It was self-evident. Joan Allen and all those other actresses that have been named as more deserving have been just as deserving in other years when they didn't win and someone else did.

Wanna talk about least deserving Best Acress Oscar? Let's talk Gwyneth Paltrow. Was that a set-up or what? She was mildly good but not sensational or tremendous or even exceptional. Cate Blanchett was all those things, but she didn't win.

Bill Conti is an Oscar winner. He wrote a score that owes more to classical composers and Henry Mancini than for anything original Conti did with it, but he won the Oscar.

Conti is a journeyman...no more. He is not a great composer. He is a great conductor, though, and he orchestrates extremely well.

But let's not blow things way out of proportion, guys. If Conti had a problem with Julia Roberts' comments, he can handle it himself.

If you don't like Julia Roberts as an actress, that's really too bad.

But she HAS the Oscar, she HAD her say, she HAD her way with the stick man, and the rest of the world is just delighted with it!

the girl was fricking joking! She didn't mean any disrespect...she was happy for winning...which I would have been as well.

I can't believe people took her seriously, when she was obvisiouly joking. Had Steve Martin said the same thing, everyone would have gotten it.

People, go out have some fun, and stop being so fricking serious about everything.