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CNN Live Today

History Made at 74th Annual Oscar Awards

Aired March 25, 2002 - 10:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt there were some moments and no doubt Peter Travers, film critic from "Rolling Stone" magazine, was watching.

Peter, good morning.

PETER TRAVERS, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

KAGAN: You have seen your fair share of Oscar shows in your day. But this has run to run up there...

TRAVERS: I've seen them all.

KAGAN: All 74.

TRAVERS: All 74.

KAGAN: Didn't mean that, sorry.

I'm kind of looking like I have seen all 74 Oscar after staying up all night. But really in terms of film history, this really just had to be a magnificent Oscar Awards and Academy Awards for you to have witnessed.

TRAVERS: I know, Daryn, you and Leon were out there, so I'm just having this vicarious thrill just by talking to both of you today, because you were both right there when it happened. And I've gone to Oscar shows where no history was made at all. It was basically just boring all the time.

This was a four-hour plus show where history did get made, and that's exciting. Didn't you feel it?

KAGAN: It was electric, and especially going in, and, you know, Leon and I on the red carpet, this was probably one of the most wide- open Oscar races across the board that we've seen in recent years. There wasn't a "Titanic." Of course, the groundwork was laid with the nominees for it to happen as it did, but there wasn't one clear story or one clear winner going in. And yet, what we ended up with is one the significant story lines of an Oscar show in a long time.

TRAVERS: Totally. And not just the historic winning of Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, which delights me, because both performances are very tough performances. These are not sappy roles. I don't think they have anything to apologize for what they have won for, instead of it just being a racial idea that Hollywood has recognized the talent of black-American actors; these performances are worth the awards they have won. And that is pretty historic all by itself.

KAGAN: I was backstage while the awards were going on, and Sidney Poitier, after he was awarded his Lifetime Achievement Award, he came back and was asked some questions about, well, come on, has Hollywood changed enough? And he said some pretty politically correct answers about saying, you know what, "I can tell you that Hollywood has changed in the 50-plus years that he's been in this town," which is incredible to believe right there. He said, "I can also tell you that there still is room for change to come.?

TRAVERS: There sure is, because how are we going to build on that in the future,too?

KAGAN: Where does it go from here?

TRAVERS: You don't really know, so you are going to be watching the next few years of actors, too. Does Hollywood say, since we have now had this historic moment, we have done it, and now we'll move on, and we won't do it again.

I think what Halle Berry said was, yes, a door got opened, and now all of us really have to watch and see what Hollywood does, and also the opportunities have to be there for these roles. A role like "Monster's Ball" doesn't come along very often. Denzel Washington, being a movie star, has more of a shot.

And I think it's wonderful. A lot of people criticized Halle Berry because her next role is a Bond girl in the new Bond film. I think that is very shrewd. I think she is a movie star and an actress, and that gives you longevity in Hollywood, and it will make her a power out there.

KAGAN: Well, and I talked to her about that, because she is taking off. She is going right back to London where she has been. I had a chance to talk with her one on one after she won the award, and she said, you know what, Peter, that's exactly what she wants to do. She wants to have the opportunity to do the kind of roles like "Monster's Ball," which it looks like she is not wearing a stitch of makeup, and she wants to be able to dress-up, do the clothes and do the Bond girl thing, and be a movie star as well.

TRAVERS: And she's done it. You know, last night, we saw a lot of things. The minute I saw Woody Allen actually walk out there, and be at this place that he has basically despised all his life, to do that tribute to New York, you have got a feeling that a lot was actually happening, and a lot was going go on that night. Despite the length of that show, there was a lot that went on there.

I think the tribute to Sidney Poitier was really classy. I really liked it.

I thought the film montage of what went on in terms of New York movies was really classic. Yes, I could have done without the Cirque Desole (ph) and the mimes, and Glenn Close and Donald Sutherland backstage. I could have cut a good an hour and 15 minutes out of that show. But the people that taped it, if you're going to go look at that, don't throw that one away, because there are moments on that that are classic Hollywood history.

KAGAN: It is keeper.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Mimes never catch a break.

KAGAN: I actually liked Cirque Desole, but I'm a fool for that kind of stuff.

TRAVERS: You were just full of the moment.

KAGAN: I was just feeling the love.

Peter Travers from "Rolling Stone," thank you very much.

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