Strong rivals fail to sink blockbuster
Predictable is the word that best sums up an awards ceremony free of upsets in the major categories.
'What can I say?' said LA Confidential director Curtis Hanson, admitting that he did not expect his nine-times-nominated picture to beat the tidal wave of Titanic.
'Only what Robert Capra wrote in his memoirs - don't put out your best picture in the same year as Gone With the Wind.' Titanic only lost in three of the 14 categories for which it had been nominated, with the most surprising failure being 87-year-old Gloria Stuart - who wore the specially recreated diamond from the film - in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Dame Judi Dench was a contender for her role in Mrs Brown until bookies stopped taking bets on Helen Hunt to win Best Actress.
Bets on Hunt's co-star in As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson, also closed last week in Las Vegas with the veteran odds-on favourite. Backstage, the few winners who scraped past Titanic said they were shocked to be there.
'I thought there was no way,' said Best Makeup winner Rick Baker.
'I mean, it's the unstoppable Titanic, isn't it? At least, this time around,' said Best Supporting Actress Kim Basinger.
'I might fall on my head tomorrow. I just don't believe I'm here,' said Hunt. 'I'm speechless at the fact that this has happened.' The Titanic phenomenon has been well reported, but news from Oscar night confirmed that it will go on.
Its creator, James Cameron, said he would eventually release a director's cut laser disc with 20 extra minutes of footage 'concentrating on the historical background'. Titanic also produced the best-selling soundtrack album of all time - and there will be a sequel, according to double Oscar winner for Dramatic Score and Best Song James Horner.
There will also be a musical tour.
However, 'this is not a franchise', insisted Horner. 'There will be a second album, but it's not going to go on and on. There'll be five or six concerts and that's it. It's a one-shot sort of thing.' But will there be a sequel to the film itself? The jokers were floating Part 2, The Titanic Arrives in New York, but Cameron had no comment.
'Tonight is a night to savour,' he said. 'The feeling is incomparable. For my next film I plan on going sideways - not up or down.'
