Cameron,'Titanic' Kings of the World

 

By Aeron Ives

 

"I'm king of the world!" James Cameron joked gleefully during his Best Director acceptance speech at the Academy Awards. And no words could have been more appropriate on the night of Monday, March 23rd, when the world was once again rocked by Cameron's masterpiece "Titanic." Nominated for a record-tying 14 Academy Awards, "Titanic" took home 11 awards-tying "Ben-Hur" for most wins ever-shortly after setting a record for most consecutive weeks atop U.S. film charts with 14.

Where the film did not fare so well was in the acting categories: Leonardo DiCaprio and Billy Zane were not nominated; Kate Winslet lost to Helen Hunt in the Best Actress Category; and Gloria Stuart lost to Kim Basinger for Best Supporting Actress. "Men In Black" defeated "Titanic" for Best Makeup. "Titanic" swept the 11 other categories it was nominated in, including Best Picture, Best Director (James Cameron), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Effects Editing. It also won for Best Original Song for "My Heart Will Go On"-no surprise considering the soundtrack's number one status on the music charts.

Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor for "Good Will Hunting," beating the likes of Burt Reynolds and Anthony Hopkins. Basinger won for "L.A. Confidential" over Gloria Stuart, Minnie Driver ("Good Will Hunting"), Julianne Moore ("Boogie Nights") and Joan Cusack ("In and Out"). In the Best Actress category, Helen Hunt struck Oscar gold, defeating Kate Winslet and the other nominees. Hunt's co-star in "As Good As It Gets," Jack Nicholson, received his third career Oscar win. He acknowledged fellow nominees Peter Fonda, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Duvall, and joked about how young Matt Damon is. Damon, though, also won, with friend Ben Affleck, for Best Original Screenplay ("Good Will Hunting"). The two gave a spirited acceptance speech, thanking Cuba Gooding Jr. for showing them "how to give [their] acceptance speech."

Best Supporting Actree nominee Helena Bonham Carter, and winner Kim Basinger.

 

The awards show concluded with Sean Connery's presentation of the Best Picture award to "Titanic," of course. In the acceptance speech, Cameron said, "We're here tonight to celebrate the magic of movies, and I am grateful every day to get to be a part of that magic and a practitioner in it and I love it. And tonight has been such a great celebration for us. It seems to somehow express this strange wave that has happened with 'Titanic,' where people all over the world have opened their hearts to this movie." And their hearts will go on.

 

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