Well, the obvious question first. Did they get it fairly right this time?
Initial observations, very happy to see City of God’s director get a nomination for best director. I thought Cold Mountain was a little overrated, but I’d be very happy with seven nominations they managed to get.
Return of the King did as well as expected, Master and Commander did better than I expected.
Looks pretty good to me. They even gave a Best Actor nod to Johnny Depp–he won’t win, but he definitely deserved the nomination. Still, I find it hard to take the Oscars too seriously. It’s more about politics than about which nominee deserves the award. I wish I still had the URL for the site that lists all the movies and actors over the years that should have gotten awards but didn’t–Citizen Kane, for instance, which failed to take Best Picture despite being widely recognized as one of the best movies in the history of film.
Tolstoy never got a Nobel Prize for Literature. Does that make it total crap?
Yeah, the Oscars are very politicized. But, like the Neilsens, they’re the only game in town until someone comes up with something better. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an even bigger joke than the Motion Picture Academy, and I’m not going to touch anything with “People’s Choice” in its name with a 10-foot pole.
That said, I like Master and Commander doing so well. I really do think it’s my movie of the year. ROTK is splendid, and I think it’ll win, but I liked Master and Commander better.
I want Bill Murray to win the Best Actor. I haven’t seen Sean Penn’s performance, but Murray was stellar in Lost in Translation. And the Academy snubbed him two earlier times for Groundhog’s Day and Rushmore. The latter snub was almost criminal. And the way these things are decided, they’ve already declared that Penn hurt his chances by skipping the Globes, while Murray endeared himself with his wry, humble speech.
Peter Jackson will probably win Best Director.
Coppola will win Best Original Screenplay.
I’m betting here, but M&C may win Best Adapted Screenplay. At least, I think it should. It was a better job of adaptation than Jackson’s ROTK. They melded two different O’Brien novels into one movie, and it worked!
Best Actress? Ugh. Don’t even want to go there.
[edited to add] Doh’, and M&C not nominated in script category. [/edit]
I don’t think Master and Commander was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, which is a pity.
I personally think Kings is finally going to clean up. Coppolla is nice for original screenplay. Too bad McKellan didn’t get some gold for Gandalf when he was nominated in the first (really the best film for the characters).
watch for a HUGE UPSET in the make-up category!!!
Yeah. McKellan’s Gandalf the Grey was just brilliantly acted. He perfectly conveyed the mix of humor, acerbity, power, and concern that define Gandalf. Ah well. I usually don’t agree with the Oscars.
The Castle-Hughes actress nomination for Whale Rider is a pleasant surprise.
Troy
Umm, no, not even close, though McKellan was certainly limited by the script.
RotK in no way deserves best picture, though I think Jackson will, undeservedly IMO, win best director.
Umm, no, not even close, though McKellan was certainly limited by the script.
RotK in no way deserves best picture, though I think Jackson will, undeservedly IMO, win best director.[/quote]
Read more closely, John. I was talking about Fellowship, not RotK. McKellan’s work as Gandalf the Grey was excellent, not Gandalf the White.
I think its interesting this year to see a really diverse group of candidates for some of the acting awards.
It seems to me a lot of the acting nominations went to smaller movies (Whale rider, Thirteen, Pieces of April, The Cooler, etc.) which is certainly better to see than a whole bunch from 2-3 big movies.
Im a little surprised that Cold Mountain wasnt thrown into the Best Picture mix… I havent seen it yet but it seemed to me that the Academy would lean towards another Minghella epic over a seemingly paint by numbers movie like Seabiscuit (which I enjoyed but it is pretty cliched and mushy)
Diane Keaton? Was she really that good in her movie… or is this a comeback oscar?
And say what you want about Last Samurai (I really liked it) but I hope Ken Watanabe wins for best supporting actor. He really was the star of that movie… even though Cruise tries the hardest.
Had Cold Mountain come from any studio other than Miramax and I think it would have scored a Best Picture nod. The backlash against Miramax has been a few years in coming and finally hit this year. I think the final straw was an editorial pushing Martin Scorcese for best director last year seemingly written by former Academy President Robert Wise, but actually ghost written by Harvey Weinstein. The Weinsteins have increasingly had the attitude that they can guarantee the Oscar for their movies and its finally bitten them in the ass.
Seabiscuit, on the other hand, I think made it due to excellent word of mouth from the DVD. It had lost a lot of momentum by the time end of year awards were first being handed out in December, but the DVD has been doing stellar in rental and sales and helped with a come from behind nomination.
This was one of the few years I was more happy then disgusted.
Happy Thoughts:
Keisha Castle Hughes! I will admit it’s not like an amazing, earth-shattering performance but still deserving!
Naomi Watts in 21 Grams. Way overlooked performance.
Charlize, of course. A lock if there ever was one.
Bill Murray! If they had snubbed him again… wow.
Sofia for director
City of God with so many nominations.
Ken Watanabe, awesome selection
Depp as a dark horse.
Disgusted Thoughts:
All those noms for Mystic River, one of the most overrated movies in recent memory.
City of God NOT nominated for Best Foreign Film? Are you shitting me?
Marcia Gay Harden, best supporting actress for Mystic River… what the hell? This over Scarlett from Lost in Translation?
Early Preditions:
ROTK, Jackson
Penn (though I’m hoping Bill)
Charlize (LOCK)
Anyone but Tim Robbins PLEASE
Zellwegger
Sofia, original screenplay
City of God, adapated screenplay
I certainly hope Naomi Watts could pull off the award for her performance in 21 Grams… she’s done an amazing job in all of her movies so far (hey, she was even good in Tank Girl!)… but from reviews I’ve seen of Monster, it seems like Charlize is a bit of a lock.
City of God NOT nominated for Best Foreign Film? Are you shitting me?
City of God was actually elegible for 2002 Best Foreign Film award and was submitted by Brazil but did not make the final cut for last year’s awards.
Ahh no wonder. Thanks Kevin.
Then how is it eligible for any awards this year? Why does it get two years of eligibility? Or don’t foreign films need an actual US release to qualify?
Foreign films get their own special category based on the year it was released in its home country. To qualify for the rest of the awards a film must be released in the US during the year in question. City of God was released in Brazil in 2002, hence its elegibility for the 2002 foreign film award. It was not officially released in the US until early 2003. It did show up at a few film festivals in 2002 which created a bit of confusion with a few critics like Roger Ebert who put it on their Best of 2002 list.
To clarify the last question- to “qualify” the film merely needs to be selected by the country it originated in. Consequently no release in the US is required for the Best Foreign Language Award.
The Best Picture nominees are so far off it’s amazing. Last Samurai? 28 Days Later? Luther? A Mighty Wind?
Also, it is an absolute crime that Gigantic didn’t get nominated for Best Documentary. That’s about all I have to say.
I’d give it to Kill Bill. I’m sure the snooty academy people would roll their eyes at that suggestion, but they gave best picture to Titanic, so whatever.
I liked the movie, but honestly, I don’t think it was a particularly good adaption of the book (or the book series). The books are as much about Maturin as they are about Jack. The movie was almost entirely about Jack.
Taken by itself, the movie is very good. But taken as an adaption of existing material, I think it’s just so-so.
I liked the movie, but honestly, I don’t think it was a particularly good adaption of the book (or the book series). The books are as much about Maturin as they are about Jack. The movie was almost entirely about Jack.
Taken by itself, the movie is very good. But taken as an adaption of existing material, I think it’s just so-so.[/quote]
Do you think Paul Bettany(sp) aka Mr. Jennifer Connelly should have received a nod for Best Supporting Actor?