Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 2004

The Contenders:

Leonardo DiCaprio: The Aviator
Johnny Depp: Finding Neverland
Don Cheadle: Hotel Rwanda
Clint Eastwood: Million Dollar Baby
Jamie Foxx: Ray (winner)

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 2004

The Contenders:

Martin Scorsese: The Aviator
Clint Eastwood: Million Dollar Baby (winner)
Taylor Hackford: Ray
Alexander Payne: Sideways
Mike Leigh: Vera Drake

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 2004

The Contenders:

The Aviator
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby (winner)
Ray
Sideways

Everybody Loves Raymond

Films: Ray
Format: DVD from personal collection on rockin’ flatscreen.

A couple of years ago, a Half-Price Books near where I work had a massive sale. If you wanted to take part in the sale, you bought a bag for $35 and anything you could fit in the bag was yours. I walked out with more than 50 DVDs. One of those was the two-disc set of Ray, since I knew it was a movie I’d watch eventually. I was mostly daunted by the length, since Ray is a little more than 150 minutes long. I like Ray Charles as much or more than the next person, but that’s a pretty serious commitment.

Ray is a straightforward biopic of Raymond Charles Robinson, better known to the world as Ray Charles. While there are a few moments of something like magical realism, Ray appears to be a true biography of the man without removing the warts. Ray Charles (played in the film by Jamie Foxx) was a unique musical presence, a man who revolutionized a great deal of music and a true innovator. He was also a man who had a number of children outside of his marriages and who was a heroin addict for a very long time. All of this is included in the movie, and that inclusion is important.