by Lia Haberman
Once bitten, twice camera shy.
Just like last year, the American Film Institute released its best-of list counting down the top 10 movies and television shows of 2002. But unlike last year, the winners won't be feted on national television.
AFI and CBS decided to nix the televised ceremony after the inaugural kudos last January failed to attract celebs and tanked in the ratings. (Tuxedo rental boutiques and limo drivers are undoubtedly among the few lamenting the decision to cancel one of the endless awards shows scheduled during the pre-Oscar season.)
This year, in breaking from the usual award-season tradition of honoring individual actors, directors, screenwriters, et al., AFI is simply giving props to the entire "creative ensemble"--cast, director, producer, screenwriter, composer, cinematographer, editor and production designer--behind the institute's picks. (The key grips will have to sit this one out.)
Likewise, AFI isn't singling out one flick as 2002's best, instead listing 10 films alphabetically.
Among the winners was Martin Scorsese's Oscar-buzzing Gangs of New York. Also in the mix: the sequel to last year's AFI Best Picture, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Both movies have yet to open.
In fact, John and Jane Q. Public haven't had the chance to screen most of AFI's picks, since they either haven't opened or are only playing in limited release. The coming-soon attractions include Spike Jonze's twisted Adaptation of Charlie Kaufman's tortured script; Denzel Washington's directorial debut, Antwone Fisher; big-screen musical Chicago; tour-de-force trio Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore in The Hours (which garnered a Best Film nod from the National Board of Review); Jack Nicholson's About Schmidt (which was named top film by the Los Angeles film critics) and Phillip Noyce's adaptation of Graham Greene (news)'s 1950s novel The Quiet American.
In fact, only two of the honored films are either currently playing (the Frida Kahlo biopic Frida, starring Salma Hayek) or have been played out (the Weitz brothers About a Boy, starring Hugh Grant) at the multiplex.
The most notable dissee was Far from Heaven, which had been drawing plenty of Oscar attention to star Julianne Moore and was named Best Film on Monday by the New York Critics Association.
Meanwhile, a certain Big Fat movie that broke box-office records didn't make the AFI's top 10 list, but got an honorable mention in a catch-all category titled Moments of Significance. Corralled into this kiss-ass category are Steven Spielberg's sci-fi miniseries "Taken", Fox's "American Idol", MTV's "The Osbournes", the passing of Billy Wilder and the emergence of DVD and TiVo ("TiVo becomes a verb"), among others.
Three TV movies made the boob-tube honor roll: "The Believer", "Door to Door" and "The Gathering Storm". Despite the "It's not TV--it's HBO" disclaimer, "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" made the cut. Joining the dysfunctional Sopranos and Fishers' family picnic were "The Simpsons" of Springfield, the "Gilmore Girls" of Stars Hollow and the Romanos of Long Island. Rounding out the Programs of the Year category were "The West Wing" and "Boomtown".
"Sopranos" star James Gandolfini was just one of the celebs MIA at last year's Beverly Hills gala. Four of the five top film winners were no-shows at the first--and last--televised AFI Awards ceremony, where seat-fillers may have outnumbered stars. This year honorees are invited to a luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel on January 16 to receive their awards. No word on which celebs have RSVP'd.
Two separate juries of industry insiders and eggheads were convened to pick the winners. Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight fame was among those weighing in on the flicks, while TV Guide's Matt Roush deliberated on the couch potato nominations.
So far, based on the early picks by AFI, the National Board of Review and the L.A. and New York critics, the Oscar race doesn't have a clear-cut favorite. Things could become less clouded in coming days, with the Broadcast Film Critics Association out with its Critics Choice nominees Tuesday and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announcing the Golden Globe noms on Thursday. Oscar nominees won't be unveiled unti February 11.
Here's a complete list of the 2002 AFI Awards winners:
© 2002 E! Online