77th Academy Awards

The 77th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2004 and were held on February 27, 2005, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by comedian Chris Rock.

The nominees were announced on January 25, 2005. Martin Scorsese's biopic of the eccentric Howard Hughes, The Aviator, led the pack with eleven nominations including Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. Marc Forster's Finding Neverland and Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby each had seven nominations. Ray and Sideways rounded out the nominees for Best Picture.

The 77th Academy Awards was the first Oscar telecast since the 73rd Academy Awards to receive a TV rating of TV-14. This is most likely due to many "edgy" comments made by Chris Rock during the ceremony. Since this, every future telecast to date would receive a TV-14 rating.

Hilary Swank won her second Academy Award for Best Actress; among her fellow nominees was Annette Bening, who had also been nominated when Swank won her first award in 1999.

At age 74 Clint Eastwood became the oldest director to win the Oscar. This was also the second straight year that he directed two Academy Award-winning performances.

With The Aviator winning 5 Oscars, this was the last Oscar ceremony (as of the present date) at which another film won more Oscars than the Best Picture winner. The last time this had happened was either in 1981 (Raiders of the Lost Ark) or in 1977 (Star Wars), depending on whether one counts the Special Achievement Award that Raiders received for its sound effects editing as a true win. In addition, Cate Blanchett won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, marking the only time in Academy Awards history that an actor won an Oscar for portraying an Oscar-winning actor.