LOS ANGELES — Twenty years ago, Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” won four Academy Awards including best picture, beating out “Gosford Park,” “In the Bedroom,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Moulin Rouge!”
But the biggest moments of the night belonged to Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”) and Denzel Washington (“Training Day”), marking the first and only time that both lead acting Oscars have gone to Black performers — a triumph that coincided with Washington presenting an honorary Oscar to Sidney Poitier, the first Black performer to win the lead actor trophy.
Los Angeles Times columnist Glenn Whipp and film critic Justin Chang sat down to reminisce about the impact of that memorable night and how the motion picture academy has — and mostly hasn’t — followed through on its promise.
