A View on the Academy Award Nominations
by Tim Wick
Well they are out. Let's take a quick look at the Oscar Nominations and
make a few keen observations about this years list. Picks come later -
right now I will make the catty comments to "prove" that I know more than
the Academy does:
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
- Russell Crowe - A BEAUTIFUL MIND
- Sean Penn - I AM SAM
- Will Smith - ALI
- Denzel Washington - TRAINING DAY
- Tom Wilkinson - IN THE BEDROOM
I expected a snub for Ewan MacGregor although his work in Moulin Rouge was
worthy of a nomination. This one is odd for me because I've only seen two
of the five performances. Thought I would have seen more than that.
The fact Billy Bob Thornton is not nominated for his work in either
Monster's Ball or The Man Who Wasn't There practically renders this
award invalid before it is even given.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Jim Broadbent - IRIS
- Ethan Hawke - TRAINING DAY
- Ben Kingsley - SEXY BEAST
- Ian McKellen - LORD OF THE RINGS - FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
- Jon Voight - ALI
It is really nice to see McKellan get recognized for FOTR. I haven't seen
Broadbent in Iris but advance word is that his work was far better in
Moulin Rouge but too flashy for most voters. When are these idiots going
to realize that it is much harder to do comedy than it is to do serious?
Every actor in the world knows this!
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
- Halle Berry - MONSTER'S BALL
- Judi Dench - IRIS
- Nicole Kidman - MOULIN ROUGE
- Sissy Spacek - IN THE BEDROOM
- Renée Zellweger - BRIDGET JONES' DIARY
I was really concerned that Kidman would miss getting nominated but I see
she managed to get in there. Make no mistake, this award has probably
already been engraved with Spacek's name on it. I can't understand why
Naomi Watts didn't get a nod for Mulholland Drive. I like Renee Zellweger
but I think her work was far better in last year's Nurse Betty. Of
course, perhaps the Academy is trying to make up for that snub.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Jennifer Connelly - A BEAUTIFUL MIND
- Helen Mirren - GOSFORD PARK
- Maggie Smith - GOSFORD PARK
- Marisa Tomei - IN THE BEDROOM
- Kate Winslet - IRIS
Well that makes three acting nominations for Iris. The film hasn't even
been released locally. I guess I'll have to keep my eye open for it. Ha ha
- Iris - keep my eye open - get it?
Sorry.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
- JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS
- MONSTERS, INC.
- SHREK
OK, I admit that I've not seen Jimmy Neutron yet. I hear it's pretty
good. There is no way in the world that it is better than Waking Life. A
whole lot of people in Hollywood were smoking crack when they failed to
nominate Waking Life.
Not that it matters. Shrek should have a lock on this one.
ART DIRECTION
- AMÉLIE - Aline Bonetto (Art Direction) -- Marie-Laure Valla (Set Decoration)
- GOSFORD PARK - Stephen Altman (Art Direction) -- Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
- HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE - Stuart Craig (Art Direction) -- Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Grant Major (Art Direction) -- Dan Hennah (Set Decoration)
- MOULIN ROUGE - Catherine Martin (Art Direction) -- Brigitte Broch (Set Decoration)
The only one that suprises me a little is Gosford Park. I liked the art
direction in that film, but think that the bleak landscapes and battle
scenes of Black Hawk Down were better. A.I also had downright stunning
Art Direction. But I guess I agree with these for the most part.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- AMÉLIE - Bruno Delbonnel
- BLACK HAWK DOWN - Slawomir Idziak
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Andrew Lesnie
- THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE - Roger Deakins
- MOULIN ROUGE - Donald M. McAlpine
Yep. About right. All were absolutely exquisitely shot films. I have to
think FOTR has this one sewn up. And speaking of sewn up (the puns keep on
coming - I kill myself).....
COSTUME DESIGN
- THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE - Milena Canonero
- GOSFORD PARK - Jenny Beavan
- HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE - Judianna Makovsky
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor
Once again there is nothing shocking here. The real question is weather the
academy will go for the safe period piece (bet on it) or the more creative
and original costuming required to make a fantasy epic (yeah, right).
DIRECTING
- A BEAUTIFUL MIND - Ron Howard
- BLACK HAWK DOWN - Ridley Scott
- GOSFORD PARK - Robert Altman
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Peter Jackson
- MULHOLLAND DRIVE - David Lynch
The only nomination that Mulholland Drive gets is right here. Criminal.
The more I think about that film, the more I like it. Interesting that
Black Hawk Down gets another directing nod for Ridley Scott. Where in the
hell is Baz Luhrman? Did Moulin Rouge direct itself?
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- CHILDREN UNDERGROUND
- LALEE'S KIN: THE LEGACY OF COTTON
- MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING
- PROMISES
- WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
Haven't heard of any of these so I don't know which one is about the
holocaust. I'm guessing Children Underground. I don't want to make light
of the holocaust - I just think that it is getting a little silly that in
order to determine the winner of this category, you need to determine the
film that is about the holocaust. I think a good argument could be made
that subject matter alone does not make it the best film in the category but
it's clear that the academy voters don't really agree.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
- ARTISTS AND ORPHANS: A TRUE DRAMA
- SING!
- THOTH
Never heard of any of them. Whatever.
FILM EDITING
- A BEAUTIFUL MIND - Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
- BLACK HAWK DOWN - Pietro Scalia
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - John Gilbert
- MEMENTO - Dody Dorn
- MOULIN ROUGE - Jill Bilcock
Memento gets a nod here! That's great! But for A Beautiful Mind, which
is a competent but not particularly stunning edit job, these are all fine
examples of an editor's craft.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- AMÉLIE
- ELLING
- LAGAAN
- NO MAN'S LAND
- SON OF THE BRIDE
Amelie is all that really matters here. No Man's land won the Golden Globe,
but it has no other nominations and probably no real chance. Haven't really
heard of any of the others....
MAKEUP
- A BEAUTIFUL MIND - Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Peter Owen and Richard Taylor
- MOULIN ROUGE - Maurizio Silvi and Aldo Signoretti
Um......I love Moulin Rouge. Really. I hated Planet of the Apes. But
what the heck is going on here?
MUSIC (SCORE)
- A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - John WIlliams
- A BEAUTIFUL MIND - James Horner
- HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE - John Williams
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Howard Shore
- MONSTERS, INC. - Randy Newman
Moulin Rouge was apparently not qualified because the score was derivative
of original music. I am guessing that Hedwig and the Angry Inch wasn't
nominated because it was a stage musical first.
MUSIC (SONG)
- KATE & LEOPOLD - "Until" Music and Lyric by Sting
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - "May It Be" Music and Lyric by Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan
- MONSTERS, INC. - "If I Didn't Have You" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
- PEARL HARBOR - "There You'll Be" Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
- VANILLA SKY - "Vanilla Sky" Music and Lyric by Paul McCartney
Moronic rules mean that the only two films this year that were actually
MUSICALS have no songs nominated. The only original song from Moulin
Rouge was "Come what may" and it was originally written for (but not used
in) Luhrman's Romeo & Juliet. Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a stage
musical first, so none of it's songs are eligable.
Meaning that in this year - as in every year - this award is completely
meaningless.
BEST PICTURE
- A BEAUTIFUL MIND
- GOSFORD PARK
- IN THE BEDROOM
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
- MOULIN ROUGE
As a whole, the list looks very good. Unless Peter Jackson sells his soul
to the devil, A Beautiful Mind has this one shorn up.
SHORT FILM -- ANIMATED
- FIFTY PERCENT GREY
- FOR THE BIRDS
- GIVE UP YER AUL SINS
- STRANGE INVADERS
- STUBBLE TROUBLE
Hey! I've actually seen two of these ones! "For the Birds" is a wonderful
short that was included with Monsters, Inc. I saw "Fifty Percent Grey" at
the Butt-Numb-a-thon and really enjoyed it. Perhaps the rest will be
available in a downloadable format before the award ceremony.....
SHORT FILM -- LIVE ACTION
- THE ACCOUNTANT
- COPY SHOP
- GREGOR'S GREATEST INVENTION
- A MAN THING (Meska Sprawa)
- SPEED FOR THESPIANS
Never heard of a single one.
SOUND
- AMÉLIE
- BLACK HAWK DOWN
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
- MOULIN ROUGE
- PEARL HARBOR
Couldn't find anything better than Pearl Harbor to round this one out????
SOUND EDITING
- MONSTERS, INC.
- PEARL HARBOR
Only two films nominated. What, exactly, is the point of this award?
VISUAL EFFECTS
- A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor and Mark Stetson
- PEARL HARBOR - Eric Brevig, John Frazier, Ed Hirsh and Ben Snow
Now I wasn't nuts about all the effects work in Harry Potter, but I still
can't believe it wasn't nominated.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
- A BEAUTIFUL MIND - Written by Akiva Goldsman
- GHOST WORLD - Written by Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff
- IN THE BEDROOM - Screenplay by Rob Festinger and Todd Field
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
- SHREK - Written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman
Good to see Shrek get a writing nod. In the Bedroom wasn't written by a
member of the writers guild so many thought it would not get nominated. I'm
glad that thinking turned out to be wrong.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
- AMÉLIE - Screenplay by Guillaume Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeunet; Dialogue by Guillaume Laurant
- GOSFORD PARK - Written by Julian Fellowes
- MEMENTO - Screenplay by Christopher Nolan; Story by Jonathan Nolan
- MONSTER'S BALL - Written by Milo Addica & Will Rokos
- THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS - Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson
All terrific choices. Memento was in the same category as In the
Bedroom so I'm really pleased to see both recognized here.
The real question - which other awards may help clarify - is how much A
Beautiful Mind's chances for a best picture Oscar will help it in other
categories. If it wins in some of the technical categories where FOTR was
clearly superior, the fix is in and you'll see Jennifer Connelly, Russel
Crowe and Ron Howard cheerfully grasping gold statuettes. If FOTR grabs
the gold early on, things could get a little interesting.
Now we have to wait a month and a half to find out! Crud!
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