A Guided
Tour Of This Years Oscar Nominees
Well, this year marks the 75th Annual
Academy Awards ceremony, and while you may not have even heard of some of the
movies nominated, I have, and it's my job to give you some interesting facts,
insight, history and, as always, trivia.
Index
Best Picture
There was a lot of competition this year for nominations and there's tons of
competition in this category. Who will win the award? No one knows, but there's
plenty we can talk about before March 23rd. First of all, for the
second year in a row, a musical has been nominated for Best Picture: Chicago. It is worth noting
that no musical has won Best Picture since Oliver!
won in 1968. Now, that doesn't mean Chicago won't go home with
the gold, it simply means that a win for Chicago would be
historical. However, having won many awards already and being a critical and
box-office success, this is the one to beat. Plus, it's got 13 nominations (the
film with the most nominations has won Best Picture 18 out of the last 20
years), a feat very rarely achieved.
The biggest surprise
in this category is the nomination of Roman Polanski's
Holocaust film The Pianist. For
starters, the director isn't even allowed in this country (I'll get back to
that later). Second of all, most people expected About Schmidt to garner a nomination in this category. However,
Holocaust films always fare well with Academy voters.
And then there's The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.
Wait a minute…this is all starting to look familiar. Ahh,
yes, it reminds me of last year. I've said it before and I'll say it again,
fantasies don't win Best Picture. The
Wizard Of Oz, couldn't do it and neither will Peter Jackson's adaptation of
the most boring books I've ever read. (Oops, now the geek-mafia will come after
me, of course I'm a card-carrying-geek, but not for LOTR). Not to mention the
fact that only twice in Academy Award history has a fil
won Best Picture with not so much as a nomination for Best Director. Then
again, LOTR didn't win last year...how many times do Academy members expect
Peter Jackson to fly in from New Zealand only to return
empty handed?
Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York earned multiple nominations, and rightfully
so. This film has everything the public loves in a movie: drama, sex,
violence...but wait, traditionally, the Academy hasn't always gone for
"popular" favorites. This film got very mixed reviews from critics
and the public, but for the most part, it's been celebrated for it's acting,
not it's overall quality as a motion picture.
Finally, there's The Hours. This film has won critical
acclaim, despite being very, very hard to actually find in a theater. It should
reach wider release now that the nominations have been released. The Hours is driven mainly by its stars:
Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep,
Nicole Kidman and Ed Harris. The superb acting should effect the voters'
decisions, but will they vote for the film in this category, or just the acting
categories. Voters love a sweep, so you can count on this being a pretty big
contender if it wins a lot of awards earlier in the evening.
WHAT GOT LEFT OUT: About Schmidt, Adaptation,
Catch Me If You Can, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Far From Heaven, Igby Goes Down, My Big Fat Greek
Wedding, White Oleander
Back To Top
Best Director
Wow! Isn't it great to see Pedro Almodovar
in this category? Foreign language films don't often get too many nominations
outside the Foreign Language Film category, but this year seems to be the
exception. For some reason, Talk To Her
was not submitted for Foreign Film, so it's nice to see it not being ignored.
Obviously it's chances of winning are hurt by it the fact that it has only one
other nomination, and without a Best Picture nomination, Almodovar
would be only the second person in history to pull it off if were to win.
Remember when I promised to come back to Roman
Polanski? Well here it is: he won't be at the ceremony. How do I know this?
Because the minute he was seen, he'd be arrested. Polanski is a wanted fugitive
in the United States, he was convicted of
statutory rape of a 13 year old girl and fled to Europe to escape
incarceration. He hasn't been back to the U.S. since 1978. If he
were to win Best Director, it would be the most surprising thing since George
C. Scott won Best Actor for Patton.
Anyway, just the fact that he was nominated shows an unusual lack of politics
among the Academy's voters.
Rob Marshall is one of very few people to be
nominated for their feature film debut, but he may become one of even fewer to
actually win. Chicago was an ambitious first project for Marshall; directing a
mainstream musical in this day and age isn't exactly easy. By some minor
miracle, Chicago has been a big hit,
and it's mostly due to his directorial abilities. Also, with 13 nominations,
you have to think that the guy at the helm of this movie did something majorly right. There's also the fact that this movie has
been in planning stages since before Marshall was born, so it's
one of those "finally" type things. Everyone's wanted to do it and
he's the one who did, but will that be enough to send him home with the gold?
Stephen Daldry's chances of
winning Best Director look better this time around than when he was nominated
for directing Billy Elliot, a cult
favorite that never caught on with the critics. The Hours however has been widely hailed as one of the year's best
films. Also, voters could split their ballots between Chicago and The Hours by
spreading around the top two awards. This could be one of those rare times when
Best Picture and Best Director go to different films.
And finally there's Martin Scorsese. This is his
sixth Oscar nomination, and he's never won. While many agree that Gangs Of New York is more notable for
Daniel Day-Lewis's performance, Scorsese is long overdue for an Oscar, even if
he's not the most deserving of the nominees this year.
WHO GOT LEFT OUT: George Clooney for Confessions Of A
Dangerous Mind, Todd Haynes for Far From Heaven, Spike Jonze for Adaptation,
Alexander Payne for About Schmidt
Back To Top
Best Actor
The Best Actor category this year is one of the most
competitive there has been in years. All
theses men are deserving of the nomination, unfortunately, barring a major
surprise tie, only one of them can go home with the gold.
First up we have Adrien
Brody for The Pianist. Brody plays Wladyslaw
Szpilman, a Jewish piano player living in Warsaw during the
Holocaust. He portrays the complete
catalog of emotions and makes this entire movie what it is. Also to his advantage, Brody plays a real
person, something Academy voters love. In addition, Brody is the only on in this category who doesn't already have an Oscar to call his own, perhaps voters will decide to spread the wealth. Unfortunately,
not many people saw The Pianist, it
wasn't in too many theaters, and it's not being released on video for a little
while still. Even if that obstacle is
overcome, will voters overlook the controversy surrounding the director of the
film?
Next we have Nicholas Cage earning his second
nomination for the dual roles of Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. Cage earned critical acclaim and audience
raves for this film, a stretch for him.
The Academy like people taking on more than one
role, but they don't tend to honor comedic acting as much as drama. Cage is the lone comedic role in this
category, so he may be out of luck.
Michael Caine called
himself an "experienced loser" in this category, his previous Best
Actor record being 0-3 (he is 2-0 on Best Supporting Actor however, so don't
feel too bad for him). This could be his
lucky year. Caine's
film, The Quiet American, reached
wider release on February 14, and that could be just the push he needs to
finally break this category. Caine plays a foreign correspondent for The London Times near the end of French occupation in Vietnam. He give one of the best performances of his
career (certainly better than Jaws: The Revenge),
and he did it all for way less than he usually gets paid. So what's the downside? There barely is one, except that he has won
two Oscars, but never in this category, also his role wasn't the flashiest of
the year.
Next we have Daniel Day-Lewis who played Bill the
Butcher in Gangs Of
New York. Everyone loved his
performance in this movie, even those who didn't like the movie all that much. In addition, the Academy always falls for
actors who put on accents. If voters get
over the bloodiness of this film Day-Lewis could become a two-time winner.
And last, but never least, there's the man who needs
no last name, Jack. That's right, Jack
Nicholson is nominated for the twelfth time, becoming the most nominated man,
and tying Katharine Hepburn's long-standing (albeit not standing anymore)
record. Nicholson delivered what many
are calling the performance of his career in About Schmidt as a retired, recently widowed, insurance actuary. Jack put aside his usual over-the-top style
to play, perhaps, his most reserved role ever.
Certainly he is deserving of the nomination, but will the Academy really
give him a fourth Oscar, making him the most honored male actor, and tying Katharine
Hepburn for most acting Oscars? Only
time will tell. He won the Golden Globe
and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards this
year and if he wins the SAG award on February 22, he'll be a shoo-in. Plus, who doesn't love Jack? He's always fun to watch at the award
shows. As I mentioned before, however,
the Academy may be looking to spread the wealth. With all the
pre-nomination buzz in his favor, Nicholson looks like he's the one to beat,
but we won't know for sure until about 11 o'clock on March 23rd.
WHO GOT LEFT OUT:
Kieran Culkin for Igby Goes Down, Richard Gere for Chicago, Tom Hanks for Road To Perdition,
Dennis Quaid for The
Rookie and Far From Heaven, Sam
Rockwell for Confessions Of A Dangerous
Mind, Robin Williams for One Hour
Photo
Back To Top
Best Actress
This year, the Best Actress category is filled with a wide range of characters, from a suicidal novellist to a confused housewife, from a disabled painter to two cheating wives, 2002 brought some amazing performances.
Salma Hayek became the first Latina woman in history to score an Oscar nomination with
Frida, her pet-project. Hayek plays the title character in the true story of Frida Kahlo the Mexican painter who is injured in a trolley accident at a young age and has to deal with numerous surgeries, intense pain, a cheating husband, an affair with Leon Trotsky and a host of other things throught her life. Hayek plays the part to emotional perfection. Hayek has a disadvantage because she is a newcomer to the awards, though she's not the only one. In this category, only Hayek and Diane Lane are first time nominees, but none of these actresses has ever won an Oscar.
Nicole Kidman gets her second nomination in as many years for her appearance altering turn as novellist Virginia Woolf in
The Hours. Kidman's character shows a quiet, suicidal insanity. It isn't a glamourous role, nor a flashy one, but still Kidman shows an enviable range of talents in this performance. Kidman has the sympathy vote going for her as her divorce from Tom Cruise is still fresh in everyone's memory. Also, there are still some who think she should have won last year for
Moulin Rouge. On the other hand, she's only one third of the movie, unlike the other actresses in this category who each dominate their respective films. Also, as previously stated, this is a rather reserved role, something the Academy may not choose to acknowledge over the other, more emotionally charged roles.
Julianne Moore pulled off a rare feat this year, earning two acting nominations. The first is for her leading role in
Far From Heaven. Moore plays Cathy Whitaker, a 1950's housewife coping with the recent discovery that her husband (Dennis Quaid, strangely ignored by the Academy this year) is homosexual. In addition she starts to forge a strange relationship with their black gardener and his daughter. She manages to deal with the social taboos of 1950's Hartford with a variety of emotions, and delivers a performance that's out of this world. Moore has been nominated twice before for Oscars, and this was certainly a great year for her. On the other hand,
Far From Heaven was largely ignored by the Academy, earning a dissappointing four nominations.
Then there's Renee Zellweger nominated for her show-stopping performance as murderous mistress Roxy Hart in this year's smash hit,
Chicago. Zellweger earned her second consecutive nomination for this breakout role, by showing off her ample...umm...talents. She sings, she dances, she doesn't wear a hell of a lot, what more could an audience ask for? In all seriousness,
Chicago is the most popular musical in decades, mostly due to Zellweger's multi-faceted performance. This Texan gave the most convincing Chicago accent I've heard, while also mastering several completely new arts. Unlike the other stars of this film, Renee had never been in musical theater (her co-stars Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones both performed on the London stage before making movie careers on this side of the pond). Another factor to note is the amazing performance she gave in this year's
White Oleander, which could help give her that extra push towards gold.
And finally, there's dark horse nominee Diane Lane for
Unfaithful. This movie was released so early in the year, it was on video before anyone else in this category was even in limited release. Lane plays housewife Connie Sumner (is it me, or are there a lot of housewives in this category?) who has an ongoing affair with a French man she meets in Soho. Lane shifts emotions so quickly that sometimes she can show 4 or 5 different emotions in a span of a few seconds; her face tells you everything that's going on in her character's mind. Her performance, while shocking at times, is strangely human and vulnerable. Unfortunately, many Academy members have probably long forgotten this movie, not leaving Lane much of a shot. However, stranger things have happened, the fact that she got a nomination at all is a testament to the staying power of this role.
WHO GOT LEFT OUT: Meryl Streep for
The Hours, Susan Sarandon for
Moonlight Mile, Nia Vardalos for
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Michelle Pfieffer for
White Oleander, Mandy Moore for
A Walk To Remember
Back To Top
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actor is another very diverse category this year. In fact all the stereotypical supporting roles are in here: a mob boss, a flower poacher, an AIDS victim and two wronged husbands.
Chris Cooper earned his first ever Oscar nomination for
Adaptation after years of notable performances in films like
American Beauty and
October Sky. Cooper plays John Laroche, a hick with long hair and missing teeth who just happens to be the "smartest guy" he knows. Laroche is the title character in Susan Orlean's book,
The Orchid Thief, upon which the movie is based. Cooper's character is the human incarnation of passion; he can become passionate about anything (flowers, tropical fish, you name it and he's been obsessed with it), the exact opposite of Meryl Streep's character who can't find true passion in her life and longs to be like Laroche. Cooper's performance scored well with the critics, and audiences alike. It's a comedic role, but not a goofy or outlandish one. Cooper doesn't allow Laroche to become a caricature, though it would be so easy. On the other hand, unfortunately, very few people saw
Adaptation and it has yet to generate the kind of buzz that would make this a sure thing for Cooper. The only other strike against him is that he's competing against some of the biggest names in the industry.
Unlike novice nominee Cooper, Ed Harris has been in this category three times before. Harris has previously been nominated for his supporting roles in
Apollo 13,
The Truman Show and
Pollack. This year's nominated role, that of AIDS afflicted writer Richard Brown in
The Hours, stretches his talents even more than before. Harris is amazing in his brief but powerful role and like Cooper in Adaptation, he has the marvelous Meryl Streep to play off of. Harris bring everything an actor should to this role: emotion, subtlety and just the right amount of physicality. For Ed Harris, the 4
th time could be the charm.
Veteran actors in supporting roles often earn the Academy's attention, and this year was no different. That's why no one was surprised when Paul Newman was named a Best Supporting Actor nominee for his role as Irish mob boss John Rooney in
Road To Perdition. Newman is no stranger to the red carpet, this is his 10
th Oscar nomination (8 times for Best Leading Actor of which he won 1, once for producer of Best Picture nominee
Rachel, Rachel (1968). In addition, he's been given 2 honorary awards by the Academy). Newman's role in
Perdition is brief but memorable. As Tom Hanks's father figure Newman brought manipulation and deception to a new emotional level.
Newman's not the only past winner in this category, Christopher Walken won an Oscar for his haunting role in Deer Hunter. On the other hand, Walken hasn't been nominated since his win, until now. In his role as Frank Abagnale, Sr., Leonardo Dicaprio's father in Stephen Spielberg's
Catch Me If You Can Walken displays a new talent: subtlety. Another talent some people didn't realize he had was displayed beautifully, namely his ability to NOT scare the pants off everyone seeing the movie. This is probably his most reserved role ever. Walken's character is on an emotional rollercoaster due to his wife's infidelity, his son leaving home for parts unknown and his own impending bankruptcy. He manages to take all these blows and keep ticking while gently sinking into his own depression and psychological disarray. Walken does a masterful job in this role and certainly deserves the nomination, but it's unlikely that he'll win seeing the competition.
And finally we come to 2002's most accomplished actor. Let's be honest, how many of us had heard of John C. Reilly before this year? Sure, we'd all seen him in some of his 20-something previous film roles, but we were never really that conscious of him. That's all changed however as John C. Reilly earns his first Oscar nomination for the role of Amos Hart in the smash-hit
Chicago. Reilly was probably the only person sure to get nominated this year, having turned in stellar performances in
Gangs Of New York and
The Hours in addition to
Chicago. Amos Hart is the mechanic husband of cheating wife, and accused murderer Roxy Hart. He defends his wife, on and off, throughout the film, but his role is really epitomized by his song "Mr. Cellophane." Amos is barely noticed by the lawyers, the press, even his own wife. At least the Academy voters noticed him.
WHO GOT LEFT OUT: John C. Reilly for
The Hours, John C. Reilly for
Gangs Of New York, George Clooney for
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Dennis Quaid for
Far From Heaven, Alfred Molina for
Frida, Richard Gere for
Unfaithful.
Back To Top
Best Supporting Actress
Traditionally, supporting actresses play the abused wives, the best friends, the confidantes, sometimes even the daughter of the main character. This year's Best Supporting Actresses play roles which defy those boundries. Among them we have a mother-in-law, an under-appreciated housewife, a killer, a prison matron, and an author.
First we have the amazing Kathy Bates, Oscar winner for her role in
Misery. Bates has made a career of playing oddball characters, and this is no exception. Her role as Roberta Hertzel, the strange mother of Jack Nicholson's Son-In-Law to be, even includes the year's most unlikely nude scene. While it's not as crazy as her role in
Misery, or even her role in 1998's
Primary Colors which also earned her an Oscar nomination, this brief but hilarious turn showcases all of Ms. Bates talent.
Next up there's Queen Latifah for her role as Matron "Mama" Morton in
Chicago. While she was the first woman to make it into the all-male world of rap, her film career to this point hasn't been all that promising. That is before she landed this role as the seemingly kind prison marton who's really only in it for the money. While not the most emotional role in the category, she sure has one of the coolest. Latifah has never been nominated for an Oscar before, but if she continues to make movies like this, she's sure to be nominated again in the future. I think it's really sad to see Queen Latifah as the only black nominee this year, considering last year the host, honorary Oscar recipient, Best Actor and Best Actress were all black. All in all, her chances don't look too good against Streep and Moore, but she could surprise us. Hasn't she already?
Also from
Chicago there's Catherine Zeta-Jones who played murderess Velma Kelly. Ms. Jones got her start in the London theatre scene before coming over here to break into films. Now, she finally gets back to her musical roots with what may someday be considered her breakout role. If she wins on March 23rd, she'll have an Oscar of her own to add to the 2 already on the mantle (her husband, Michael Douglas won for Best Picture
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Best Actor for
Wall Street.) While technically a supporting role, Zeta-Jones carried this movie every bit as much as Gere or Zellweger.
Then there's Julianne Moore, ringing up her second nomination this year for her small role as suicidal 50's housewife Laura Brown in the drama
The Hours. Moore's role is so brief, you might even forget she's in this film if it weren't for her amazing few scenes. She starts out as the depressed housewife, then becomes suicidal. She even goes so far as to drop her son off with a sitter and rent a hotel room to kill herself in. In the end she settels for leaving her family, but the real acting starts when you realize the connection between the three stars of the film.
And finally, the amazing Meryl Streep. As you probably know by now, Meryl Streep made history this year by earning her 13th acting nomination, besting the previous champ Katharine Hepburn (though all 12 of Hepburn's nominations were for Leading Actress, and 2 of Streep's were for Supporting Actress). Streep is nominated this year for her role as author, turned drug addict, turned killer Susan Orlean in
Adaptation. The wonderful thing about Meryl Streep is that she plays her characters so well, you manage to always forget she's Meryl Streep. Orlean is a woman searching for a true passion. Streep's portrayal of Orlean's search is one of the most amazingly emotional comedic turns I've seen in a long time (maybe since Diane Keaton in
Annie Hall). Streep may also get votes from people who were disappointed that she failed to get nominated in the leading category for her breathtaking role in
The Hours.
WHO GOT LEFT OUT: Cameron Diaz for
Gangs Of New York, Julia Roberts for
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Sandra Bullock for
Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Susan Sarandon for
Igby Goes Down, Renee Zellweger for
White Oleander
CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR MORE CATEGORIES
Any questions or comments can be sent to me by clicking here
Back To The Oscar Trivia Page
©2003 Andrew's Websites
http://www.geocities.com/skrelborn
http://www.geocities.com/oscartrivia
http://www.geocities.com/totth820