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CNN Live Saturday

Hollywood Puts Finishing Touches on Oscar Preparations

Aired March 23, 2002 - 12:47   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.
KATE SNOW, CNN ANCHOR: The movie capital of America is almost ready for its close-up. Hollywood is putting the finishing touches on Oscar preps, just ahead of tomorrow's big bash, of course. CNN's Daryn Kagan is providing some special coverage for us from the Kodak Theater. She joins us live with more red carpet rehearsal. Daryn, how's it going out there?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Kate, it's really exciting out here. Hard to believe that, in just about 28 hours, the biggest movie stars in the world will be walking down the red carpet. Let's give you a look right now at what's going on.

The red carpet is covered in white plastic right now. That's to protect it. It was kind of misty and a little damp here this morning. And as you can see, many, many fresh flowers being put in place, in order to make this the most festive and beautiful place in Hollywood for tomorrow night.

Here's an interesting fact. One of the biggest movie stars in the world, Robert Redford. He's received a best supporting actor Oscar, but never a best actor Oscar. He's going to get a special award tomorrow night. To tell us more about that, we have Paul Clinton, our movie reviewer for cnn.com. Hi, good to see you here in your element.

PAUL CLINTON, CNN.COM: Good to see you. Actually, it was best director 1980 for "Ordinary People." That's what he won for.

KAGAN: Oh, you're right, you're right. My bad.

CLINTON: And he was up for "Sting," but didn't win. But Robert Redford is getting an honorary Oscar and it's well deserved. This man has contributed so much.

KAGAN: And we're not just talking acting.

CLINTON: No, we're not talking acting at all. In 1968 he did a little movie called "Downhill Racer," and it was done by his studios when he was very, very hot. And he found that when it was done, they weren't pushing it. Nobody was doing anything with the movie. The studio was not behind it. It really made him mad.

So he turned around and started forming the Sundance Institute and the festival. And the Sundance Institute is very important, it goes year around. And the Sundance festival, of course, is when we're all there for 10 days and all the craziness and all the movies.

And one of the big movies last year, that's now up here for three Oscars, is "In the Bedroom." And we did a little piece on "In the Bedroom" to show you.

KAGAN: Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hit him at all? Come on, tell me you hit him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a scuffle. It wasn't serious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you call the police?

CLINTON (voice-over): "In the Bedroom" is just the latest in a long line of movies connected to either Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival or his Sundance Institute workshops. These films have gone on to great critical acclaim, public success, and yes, have even caught the eye of Oscar.

TOM WILKINSON, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: The great thing for "In the Bedroom," which was a film not made for a lot of money, a really tiny budget. It has a good message to all those filmmakers, young filmmakers, especially, you don't need 50 million bucks to make a movie.

CLINTON: "In the Bedroom" cost a reported $1.3 million, or $5 million depending on the source, and has earned more than $30 million at the box office. But for Redford, it's never been about the money. His famous festival is center stage 10 days a year. But it's his Sundance Institute, which sponsors year-round workshops and seminars, that have become instrumental in helping filmmakers hone their craft.

In 1996, he explained his philosophy during an exclusive CNN interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: I just believe this. I have a very strong hunch that there's a great audience out there that is crying for new, something new, more. More options. More diversity. A product that is more story content driven, more character driven, that they can relate to on a very personal level. I really believe that there's a great audience waiting for that to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Sissy Spacek, who has earned a best actress nomination for "In the Bedroom," wasn't sure about the importance of Sundance when I spoke with her last year.

(on camera): What do you think winning an award at Sundance means for a film?

SISSY SPACEK, BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE: I don't know. I'm -- I'm -- I assume it means a great deal.

CLINTON (voice-over): She does now. And so does the film's co- writer and director, Todd Field.

TODD FIELD, ADAPTED SCREENPLAY NOMINEE: What Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute have accomplished is tremendous. It's really miraculous, what they've achieved.

CLINTON (on camera): Good for him. Well done, Robert.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And, of course, what's so interesting about Redford being honored here tomorrow is that Sundance is so anti-Hollywood.

CLINTON: Sundance is -- it was all developed to work outside the system. So I don't want anybody to get confused that "In the Bedroom" being here is a sign that this is what Sundance is all about, because it's not. It's about helping the young filmmaker.

Now, "Memento" was also here, up for two Academy Awards, and it came out of Sundance, as well as "Sexy Beast" and Ben Kingsley. All came out of Sundance last year. It's amazing. But it's not an Oscar factory.

KAGAN: Yes, it's going to be interesting. Not only Robert Redford, but tomorrow we're going to also see Sidney Poitier. He's being honored as well. So some huge, big stars. Looking forward to seeing them in person. Kate, back to you.

SNOW: Well, I've got to get some predictions out of you guys before you leave. That's what this is all about, right? Daryn, do you or Paul have any predictions, in terms of the Sundance films?

KAGAN: I was talking about this earlier. For best picture, you're kind of going out of left field. You think maybe dark horse "Moulin Rouge" might pull it out?

CLINTON: I just said that was my dream. And I know you hated it. So, you know, I'll take you to it again. I'll buy you popcorn. You've got to see it again.

KAGAN: And you'll explain it to me, after I stop blinking from all that edit.

CLINTON: You've got to see it. But "Moulin Rouge" is the dark horse. You either love it or hate it. The big contenders are "Beautiful Mind" and "Lord of the Rings." "Lord of the Rings," mainly because it won 13 nominations. And usually that means winning the best picture -- not always.

The other one is "A Beautiful Mind." A lot of talk around the movie. A lot of controversy. I think it's going to work in their favor. And people are going to go, I'm not going to listen to that stuff. And it's just, it was made for an Oscar nomination.

KAGAN: And you were pulling for Denzel Washington for best actor and you're pulling for Halle Berry.

CLINTON: I want Halle to win. I want Halle to win best actress. She is so good in this role.

KAGAN: I can guarantee, if nothing else, she'll probably win best-dressed, Kate. It's going to be phenomenal to see all these people in person tomorrow.

SNOW: I can't wait to see how you look, Daryn.

KAGAN: I'll tell you, I'm wearing red.

(LAUGHTER)

SNOW: Excellent. Thanks so much.

KAGAN: I need to clean up a little bit between today and tomorrow. So I've got a lot of work cut out for me. See you tomorrow, 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

SNOW: Fantastic. Thanks so much. And just another reminder of that, CNN's special coverage of Oscar night will continue tomorrow, of course. Daryn Kagan, as she mentions, joins Leon Harris tomorrow to host our one-hour special "Hollywood's Gold Rush." That's Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time here on CNN.

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