Oscar nominations: thoughts?

[cthomer5000]

Despite an amazing peformance by Daniel Day-Lewis, there is no way Gangs of New York should be anywhere near the best picture award.

And congrats to Julianne Moore. I hope she wins both supporting and lead actress.

[cthomer5000]

Leading Actor
Adrien Brody in THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
Nicolas Cage in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Michael Caine in THE QUIET AMERICAN (Miramax and Intermedia)
Daniel Day-Lewis in GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
Jack Nicholson in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)

Supporting Actor
Chris Cooper in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Ed Harris in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
Paul Newman in ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)
John C. Reilly in CHICAGO (Miramax)
Christopher Walken in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (DreamWorks)

Lead Actress
Salma Hayek in FRIDA (Miramax)
Nicole Kidman in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
Diane Lane in UNFAITHFUL (20th Century Fox)
Julianne Moore in FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features)
Renée Zellweger in CHICAGO (Miramax)

Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)
Julianne Moore in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
Queen Latifah in CHICAGO (Miramax)
Meryl Streep in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Catherine Zeta-Jones in CHICAGO (Miramax)

Animated Feature
ICE AGE (20th Century Fox) Chris Wedge
LILO & STITCH (Buena Vista) Chris Sanders
SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (DreamWorks) Jeffrey Katzenberg
SPIRITED AWAY (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki
TREASURE PLANET (Buena Vista) Ron Clements

Art Direction
CHICAGO (Miramax) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gord Sim
FRIDA (Miramax) Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso
Set Decoration: Hannia Robledo
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Dennis Gassner
Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Cinematography
CHICAGO (Miramax) Dion Beebe
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Edward Lachman
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Michael Ballhaus
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Pawel Edelman
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Conrad L. Hall

Costume Design
CHICAGO (Miramax) Colleen Atwood
FRIDA (Miramax) Julie Weiss
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Sandy Powell
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Ann Roth
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Anna Sheppard

Director
CHICAGO (Miramax) Rob Marshall
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Martin Scorsese
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Stephen Daldry
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Roman Polanski
TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics) Pedro Almodóvar

Documentary Feature
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (United Artists and Alliance Atlantis)
A Salter Street Films/VIF 2/Dog Eat Dog Films Production
Michael Moore and Michael Donovan
DAUGHTER FROM DANANG (Balcony Releasing in association with Cowboy Pictures)
An Interfaze Educational Production
Gail Dolgin and Vincente Franco
PRISONER OF PARADISE (Alliance Atlantis)
A Média Vérité/Café Production
Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
SPELLBOUND (THINKFilm)
A Blitz/Welch Production
Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch
WINGED MIGRATION (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Galatée Films/France 2 Cinéma/France 3 Cinéma/Les Productions de la Guéville/Bac Films/Pandora Film/Les Productions JMH/Wanda Vision/Eyescreen Production
Jacques Perrin

Documentary - short subject
THE COLLECTOR OF BEDFORD STREET
An Alice Elliott Production
Alice Elliott
MIGHTY TIMES: THE LEGACY OF ROSA PARKS
A Tell the Truth Pictures Production
Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston
TWIN TOWERS
A Wolf Films/Shape Pictures/Universal/Mopo Entertainment Production
Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port
WHY CAN'T WE BE A FAMILY AGAIN?
A Public Policy Production
Roger Weisberg and Murray Nossel

Achievement in film editing
CHICAGO (Miramax) Martin Walsh
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Thelma Schoonmaker
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Peter Boyle
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Michael Horton
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Hervé de Luze

Best foreign language film of the year
EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO An Alameda Films/BluFilms/Foprocine/Gob. del Estado de Veracruz-Llave Production
Mexico
HERO
A Beijing New Picture Film Company/Elite Group Enterprises Production
People's Republic of China
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST
A Sputnik Oy/Pandora Film/Pyramide Prods. Production
Finland
NOWHERE IN AFRICA
An MTM Medien & Television München Production
Germany
ZUS & ZO
A Filmprodukties de Luwte Production
The Netherlands

Achievement in makeup
FRIDA (Miramax) John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba
THE TIME MACHINE (DreamWorks and Warner Bros.) John M. Elliott, Jr. and Barbara Lorenz

Original score
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (DreamWorks) John Williams
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Elmer Bernstein
FRIDA (Miramax) Elliot Goldenthal
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Philip Glass
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Thomas Newman

Original song
Burn It Blue from FRIDA (Miramax)
Music by Elliot Goldenthal
Lyric by Julie Taymor
Father and Daughter from THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE (Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies)
Music and Lyric by Paul Simon
The Hands That Built America from GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
Music and Lyric by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
I Move On from CHICAGO (Miramax)
Music by John Kander
Lyric by Fred Ebb
Lose Yourself from 8 MILE (Universal)
Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto
Lyric by Eminem

Best motion picture of the year
CHICAGO (Miramax)
A Producer Circle Co., Zadan/Meron Production
Martin Richards, Producer
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
An Alberto Grimaldi Production
Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
A Scott Rudin/Robert Fox Production
Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line)
A New Line Cinema and Wingnut Films Production
Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, Producers
THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
An R.P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runtime LTD. Production
Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde, Producers

Best animated short film
THE CATHEDRAL
A Platige Image Production
Tomek Baginski
THE CHUBBCHUBBS! (Columbia)
A Sony Pictures Imageworks Production
Eric Armstrong
DAS RAD
A Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH Production
Chris Stenner and Heidi Wittlinger
MIKE'S NEW CAR (Buena Vista)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Pete Docter and Roger Gould
MT. HEAD
A Yamamura Animation Production
Koji Yamamura

Best live action short film
FAIT D'HIVER
An Another Dimension of an Idea Production
Dirk Beliën and Anja Daelemans
I'LL WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE … (J'ATTENDRAI LE SUIVANT …)
A La Boîte Production
Philippe Orreindy and Thomas Gaudin
INJA (DOG)
An Australian Film TV & Radio School (AFTRS) Production
Steven Pasvolsky and Joe Weatherstone
JOHNNY FLYNTON
A Red Corner Production
Lexi Alexander and Alexander Buono
THIS CHARMING MAN (DER ER EN YNDIG MAND)
An M&M Productions for Novellefilm Production
Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen

Achievement in sound
CHICAGO (Miramax) Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty and Ivan Sharrock
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott Millan, Bob Beemer and John Patrick Pritchett
SPIDER-MAN (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick

Achievement in sound editing
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins
MINORITY REPORT (20th Century Fox and DreamWorks) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott A. Hecker

Achievement in visual effects
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke
SPIDER-MAN (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier
STAR WARS EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES (20th Century Fox) Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow

Adapted screenplay
ABOUT A BOY (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman
CHICAGO (Miramax) Screenplay by Bill Condon
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Screenplay by David Hare
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

Original screenplay
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Written by Todd Haynes
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan
Story by Jay Cocks
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (IFC/Gold Circle Films) Written by Nia Vardalos
TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Pedro Almodóvar
Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (IFC Films) Written by Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón

[Fritz]

The oscars usually seem to be based off pretentiousness.

[sterlingice]

Just... don't... care...
Pretentious old people, handing out gold bald men to movies no one saw and acting awards to actors/actresses in movies so painful they are dubbed "character" flix because they have no plot.

SI

[sachmo71]

Well, at least LOTR: TT was nominated for best picture. Maybe ROTK will win it next year...sort of an achievement taco for Mr. Jackson. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.

[sterlingice]

From a friend of mine, who is "in the know" (i.e. his family is in the theater business and they win every Oscar pool imaginable)- apparently RotK is already slated to win next year- basically an award for all three movies- so don't try to win best picture next year.

SI

[QuikSand]

I'm disappointed that Adaptation received recognition only for the acting performances. The screenplay (adapted, of course) got a nod, and I think ought to be a serious player. I had hoped against hope that itmight be a surprise entry for Best Picture and Best Director. Alas.

We really need a "coolest movie" catgeory... where we can properly reward movies like The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction, Memento, and Adaptation.

[Craptacular]

Woohoo! I didn't see a single movie on that list.

[Anrhydeddu]

To adapt from sterlingince:

Just... don't... care...
Pretentious elitists and snobs, handing out gold bald men to movies no one saw and acting awards to actors/actresses in movies so painful they are dubbed "character" flix because they have no plot or any entertainment value whatsoever, despite they telling you are supposed to appreciate and fawn over such contrived charades and power brokering. LotR is probably the only exception.

Does anyone else remember that article (I forgot where) that talked about the intense lobbying, manipulations and corruption that goes on in producing the list of nominees and the winners, as well?

[Cuckoo]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
Despite an amazing peformance by Daniel Day-Lewis, there is no way Gangs of New York should be anywhere near the best picture award.

AGREED 100%. This was one of the most bloated, disjointed, and muddled pile of messes I've seen in quite some time. And this received a screenplay nomination?!? Director, maybe. I can see the beauty in the look of the film, and I certainly think that Day-Lewis deserves the nod. Every critic went nuts for this thing, though, and it was crap, a mediocre film at best. I'm very disappointed in this one.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by QuikSand
I'm disappointed that Adaptation received recognition only for the acting performances. The screenplay (adapted, of course) got a nod, and I think ought to be a serious player.

Did you notice that the nomination is for both Charlie and Donald Kaufman?

Apparently, it's the first ever nomination for a fictional character.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Cuckoo
AGREED 100%. This was one of the most bloated, disjointed, and muddled pile of messes I've seen in quite some time. And this received a screenplay nomination?!? Director, maybe. I can see the beauty in the look of the film, and I certainly think that Day-Lewis deserves the nod. Every critic went nuts for this thing, though, and it was crap, a mediocre film at best. I'm very disappointed in this one.

I pretty much agree with everyone that studio advertising has a TON to do with nominations, and the older I get the more disenchanted I've become with the Oscars. the bottom line is that the Oscars are one large advertisement for the movie industry itself (partiuclarly the major studios). Right off the bat we know that most independent films aren't seriously considered. An indie film might be able to snag an award here and there, but would never be seriously considered for something like best picture.


Still, I guess I like to suspend disbelief and hope that the major studios will at least push their own best work. I tried very hard to like Gangs of New York, it just wasn't that great a movie. It had too much going in in terms of storyline, and was pretty much a mess. The fact that it was nominated for screenplay is absurd at best.


Maybe if you take all the awards shows combined and look closely at them, you can get a true idea of the best work of the year.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Maple Leafs
Did you notice that the nomination is for both Charlie and Donald Kaufman?

Apparently, it's the first ever nomination for a fictional character.

I'm actually pretty sure there's been one before. I remember reading about it when entertainment put out their oscar preview issue.

[Upstate J]

The actor that really stood out to me was Daniel Day-Lewis. He is my favorite villian, ever! He makes young, impressionable kids want to be ruthless jerks. Sweet!!