Did you enjoy 'Crash' as much as I did back in 2005?

I made further progress the other day in my quest to watch, in order, all of the movies that have won an Academy Award for Best Picture when I rewatched the 2005 winner, “Crash.”

Many of you will remember this outstanding movie, which was directed by Paul Haggis and featured a cast of well known actors. The cast included Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard and Michael Pena.

At its core, this movie is about racial and social stereotypes, prejudice and tension in Los Angeles. Written by Haggis, the story covers two days in the city and shows how the lives of a black police detective, the white district attorney, a black director, a Middle Eastern merchant, a Hispanic locksmith and others are interconnected and have a direct impact on each other (without them necessarily being aware of it). It’s been said that Haggis was inspired to write the screen play for his movie after he was carjacked in 1991, and a carjacking serves as a major plot point in “Crash.”

In addition to Best Picture, “Crash” also won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. According to the Internet Movie Database, “Crash” was the first Best Picture winner since 1976’s “Rocky” to win only three Oscars. Most Best Picture winners usually take home four or more.

By Hollywood standards, “Crash” was a very low budget movie. It was shot in just 36 days under a budget of $6.5 million. Haggis shot many of the scenes in his own house, used his own car in several scenes and even used his nextdoor neighbor in a non-speaking part.

When all was said and done, the movie went on to post gross revenues of $98.4 million. This may sound like a lot of money, but for a Best Picture winner it’s on the low end. In fact, “Crash” was the lowest grossing Best Picture winner since 1987’s “The Last Emperor.”

“Crash” beat out a number of outstanding nominees for the Best Picture award in 2005, including “Brokeback Mountain,” “Capote,” “Good Night and Good Luck” and “Munich.”

In the end, I really enjoyed rewatching “Crash.” How many of you have seen this movie? What did you like about it? What did you dislike about it? Let us know in the comments section below.

From here, it’s on to the 2004 winner, “Million Dollar Baby.” Directed by Clint Eastwood, this boxing movie starred Eastwood, Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman. I’m looking forward to seeing this movie because, for whatever reason, I’ve never seen it before.