| "Because art is important "This film is a tribute to his survival
"Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil," Kidman said S
Best-picture front-runner "Chicago," which had a leading 13 nominations, was shaping up as the big winner numerically, taking the supporting-actress prize for Catherine Zeta-Jones and four technical awards
Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, said it was especially important to carry on with a cultural event such as the Oscars at a time when American values were being questioned around the world 5 million, was a surprise winner against a field of nominees that included $100 million Hollywood hits "Ice Age" and "Lilo & Stitch
"Well, I'm glad they cut back on the glitz," host Steve Martin quipped at the show's start " In "Chicago," Zeta-Jones played a jailed vaudeville scamp scheming for celebrity after slaying her husband and sister
Zeta-Jones was the first performer to win an acting Oscar for a musical since Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey for 1972's "Cabaret "The Pianist" was directed by Roman Polanski, a Holocaust survivor himself Over a 15-year career, Brody has focused on provocative films over commercial ones, among them "The Thin Red Line" and "Summer of Sam Bush Tightened security included a National Guard mobile lab to test suspicious substances and police sharpshooters stationed on a building across the street from the Oscars
Earlier, demonstrators on both sides of the war issue gathered near the Kodak Theatre, site of the Oscars
The Japanese fantasy "Spirited Away" won the award for animated feature film "Working with this woman was like making great jazz," he said A few, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins among them, showed up in fuel-efficient gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles instead of limousines as a statement against U "
Brody played the title character in "The Pianist," based on the real-life story of musician Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who lived through World War II by hiding from the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto "
"My hormones are too way out of control to be dealing with this," Zeta-Jones said S "
After a few initial references to the war and its effects on the Oscars, Martin's opening monologue stuck to mocking nominees, other celebrities and Hollywood at large Shame on you, Mr "
World events sparked several emotional highlights, including Brody's tearful speech and an attack on President Bush by filmmaker Michael Moore, winner of the best-documentary Oscar for "Bowling for Columbine
Anti-war protesters held signs such as "Bush Betrays USA," "Bush: Dumb and Dangerous" and "Oscar for Peace And because you believe in what you do and you want to honor that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld The movie, which had a limited U He invited his fellow documentary nominees on stage, saying they were there in "solidarity with me, because we like non-fiction, and we are living in fictitious times We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons "You probably noticed there was no fancy red carpet tonight "
"In light of all the troubles in this world, I wish us all peace," Cooper said as he received his award
A few stars and filmmakers backed out of the 75th annual Oscars, either in protest of the war or because they felt uncomfortable making merry when people were dying in Iraq
Her Oscar win was a Hollywood ending for Kidman after a turbulent couple of years
"This film would not be possible without the blueprint provided by Wladyslaw Szpilman," Brody said
release last fall and grossed a modest $5
Due to deliver her second child with husband and Oscar winner Michael Douglas in a few weeks, Zeta-Jones joined co-star and fellow supporting-actress nominee Queen Latifah in the Oscar performance of "I Move On," the best-song nominee from "Chicago That'll send them a message dependence on overseas oil
"We are against this war, Mr
Chris Cooper won supporting actor for "Adaptation "
The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Brody lost 30 pounds in six weeks to capture Szpilman's gauntness after years of deprivation in the Warsaw ghetto And some celebrities opposed to the war wore peace pins
Backstage, televisions normally tuned to awards pre-show festivities largely carried news coverage of the war until shortly before the Oscars began Shame on you," Moore said, amid a mix of boos and applause from the crowd Kidman, Brody Win Best-Actor Oscars
Mar 23, 11:51 PM EST
Adrien Brody was a surprise best actor winner Sunday for his role as a Holocaust survivor in "The Pianist," and Nicole Kidman was named best actress for portraying novelist Virginia Woolf in the somber drama "The Hours," at an Oscar show overshadowed by the U
Kidman emerged as a big star in her own right later that year with "Moulin Rouge," which earned her a best-actress Oscar nomination, and the horror hit "The Others "
"My experience making this film made me very aware of the sadness and the dehumanization of people in times of war, and the repercussions of war "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" won the sound-editing and visual-effects awards, while "Frida" took the makeup and original score statuettes -led war on Iraq "
Cooper, a veteran character actor whose credits include "American Beauty" and "Lone Star," played a scraggly haired, toothless horticultural poacher on a mission to preserve rare orchids in the film loosely based on author Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief "
Pedro Almodovar won the original screenplay Oscar for "Talk to Her," and Ronald Harwood the adapted screenplay award for "The Pianist And whether you believe in God or Allah, may he watch over you, and let's pray for a peaceful and swift resolution," Brody said, fighting back tears and drawing a standing ovation
The only best-actor nominee who did not already have at least one Oscar, Brody won with his first nomination
By the show's halfway mark, ABC News twice offered a brief war update, then switched back to the Oscars
Documentary winner "Bowling for Columbine" is Moore's alternately hilarious and horrifying examination of gun violence in America " Half a block from the area where stars arrived, supporters of U "
"Chicago" won the film editing, sound, art-direction and costume-design prizes
Cooper thanked his "Adaptation" collaborators, especially Meryl Streep She had a miscarriage in 2001 and broke up with husband Tom Cruise, in whose shadow she had lingered throughout their 11-year relationship
The Oscar for foreign-language film went to the German drama "Nowhere in Africa," about a family of Jews who leave Germany before World War II and settle on a farm in Kenya
Moore, a harsh critic of the Bush administration, received a standing ovation troops in Iraq chanted "USA, USA," and held a banner reading "God Bless America "
Planners scrapped the glitzy red-carpet arrival festivities " In "The Hours," Kidman played suicidal author Virginia Woolf, wearing a fake nose to capture the writer's plain features S Bush S |