MORNING AFTER THE OSCARS

Mayor Lito Atenzia has transformed this stretch of Avenida Rizal from Carriedo Street to Claro M. Recto Avenue in Manila's Santa Cruz district into a pedestrian mall. When I was a kid, this was a bustling commercial strip; boasting a row of several movie theaters — Odeon, Galaxy, State, Ideal and Avenue to name a few. At nightfall, the signs of these theaters and various bazaars exhibited an exciting array of neon lights. It was fabulous!

Regrettably, since the aboveground tracks of the light rail transit was built along Avenida Rizal, most enterprises in the area began to lose their charm and glitter. People started to shop and spend their leisure times at the newer air-conditioned malls being built all over Metro Manila.

My father’s office was located at Florentino Torres. He would always take me along on Saturdays when he worked only until noon. After having our lunch in one of the Chinese restaurants in Ongpin, we would then see a movie in Avenida Rizal. This was how I developed a keen fondness for Hollywood movies and its annual Oscar Award festivities. Not that I’ve become a movie and Oscar geek, but watching the Oscars becomes even more exciting when you’ve seen most of the nominated films.

Ironically, in this year’s Oscars, I didn’t see the winner of the Best Movie category, Crash, which practically surprised a lot of people, including its entire cast. I was convinced Brokeback Mountain would snatch the award without a hitch. I was wrong .

I was happy for Philip Seymour Hoffman for having won the Best Actor award, but disappointed he didn’t bark his acceptance speech. Nonetheless, my hunch tells me the members of the Academy voted for him, not only for his incredibly believable portrayal of Truman Capote, but as an overall acknowledgement of his excellence as a character actor in the many films he had done in the past. He reminds me of Geoffrey Rush — not so pretty to look at, but one hell of a great actor.

I should have continued to follow my intuition and root for George Clooney to win the Best Actor award for his portrayal of a CIA operative in Syriana, but allowed the buzz to influence my choosing Matt Dillon in Crash. Lesson learned here: Don't believe the hype!

I’m sure the Internet is teeming with coverage of the Oscar awards ceremony, so I don’t intend to delve much into it; however, I just want to point out another buzz; that is, behind Felicity Huffman’s supposedly astonishing portrayal of a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual (she was among the nominees for Best Actress). I saw Transamerica and throughout the movie, a particular thought kept gnawing at me: Why didn’t the producers opt for a male actor for the role? I thought it was a definite casting blunder; unless, of course, the film was intended as a mere showcase for Ms. Huffman.

This makes me wonder how the 1999 movie, Boys Don’t Cry, would have turned out if the role of Teena Brandon (who was in the throes of sexual identity and preferred to pursue life in her male identity as Brandon Teena) was played by a male actor instead. It would somehow lose its credibility, I’m sure. Therefore, regardless of Felicity Huffman's overly-hyped performance, Transamerica would have fared better, I'm sure, had the transgender role was given to a male actor instead. Hollywood has enough talented make-up artists to handle the visual transformation.

Incidentally, Hilary Swank won the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Teena Brandon in which she was paid a measly $75 a day for a total of $3,000 for doing Boys Don’t Cry. She won another Oscar for Best Actress — acting opposite Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood in the 2004 movie, Million Dollar Baby. She played Maggie Fitzgerald, a 30-something, down-on-her-luck waitress who dreams of becoming a professional boxer.

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