2008 The Best Speech Oscar goes to

On February 28, the 80^th Academy Award was held. For actors, this is a day for them to get awarded for their performance of the year. Whether they admit it or not, to bring the Oscar home is an honor for their career. We have seen many Hollywood stars burst into tears holding the Oscar in their hands. James Cameron shouted, “I’m king of the world!” after winning his Oscar for “Titanic”. No wonder they even prepare the acceptance speech before the Oscar night.  

Jim Emerson, famous film critic once wrote, “Your Oscar Speech: How not to blow it.” His guide of the list includes, “Get a grip,” “Don’t assume that God voted for you,” “Brevity is good,” “Prepare,” “Don’t over-prepare,” and “Enough with the flowery speechifying.” I strongly recommend his advice to potential Oscar winners since I believe the acceptance speech is so important that if they ruin their speech, they would ruin their whole career of the year, too. We want to see the winners appreciate their Oscar but we don’t want to see their over-joy ruin their beautiful images of the movies.  

I’d say this year, the best speech Oscar should go to Tilda Swinton who won the Best Supporting Actress for “Michael Clayton.” When her name was announced, we could see how much she was surprised and how much she appreciated her Oscar. She started her speech, “Ohhh, no,” out of surprise, but she successfully gave us a witty and cute speech. She thanked a good amount of necessary people and said a good one liner joke, which was “George Clooney, the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from “Batman & Robin,” the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch, you rock, man.” I know as soon as actors win their Oscars, it turns to be their moment and they have good right to spend their 45 seconds for whatever they want to say. However, giving a good speech also makes the party more enjoyable for the audience. Tilda Swinton’s speech was more than appropriate for the party, and I expect her next Oscar acceptance speech in the future.

Tilda Swinton’s full Oscar acceptance speech