Oscar Commentary
Published February 12, 2003
Director
Nominated: Rob Marshall, "Chicago"; Martin Scorsese, "Gangs of New York"; Stephen Daldry, "The Hours"; Roman Polanski, "The Pianist"; Pedro Almodovar , "Talk to Her."
Will Win: Rob Marshall
Should Win: Martin Scorsese
Should Have Been Nominated: Peter Jackson (The Two Towers)
What the Hell?: Pedro Almodavar?!
Foreign Film
Nominated: "El Crimen del Padre Amaro," Mexico; "Hero," People's Republic of China; "The Man Without a Past," Finland; "Nowhere in Africa," Germany; "Zus & Zo," The Netherlands
Will Win: El Crimen del Padre Amara
Should Win: The Man Without a Past
Should Have Been Nominated: Y Tu Mama Tambien
What the Hell?: I've not seen them all, so I'm a little biased here.
Adapted Screenplay
Nominated: Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, "About a Boy"; Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, "Adaptation"; Bill Condon, "Chicago"; David Hare, "The Hours"; Ronald Harwood, "The Pianist."
Will Win: Chicago
Should Win: Adaptation
Should Have Been Nominated: Road to Perdition, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can
What the Hell?: About a Boy?!
Original Screenplay
Nominated: Todd Haynes, "Far From Heaven"; Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, "Gangs of New York"; Nia Vardalos, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"; Pedro Almodovar, "Talk to Her"; Carlos Cuaron and Alfonso Cuaron, "Y Tu Mama Tambien."
Will Win: Toss-Up, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Gangs of New York
Should Win: My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Should Have Been Nominated: Again, another good collection.
What the Hell?: None. Good collection.
Animated feature film
Nominated: "Ice Age"; "Lilo & Stitch"; "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"; "Spirited Away"; "Treasure Planet."
Will Win: Lilo and Stitch
Should Win: Spirited Away
Should Have Been Nominated: Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie
What the Hell?: Treasure Planet?!?!
I'll save my own views for the comments section. Incidentally, an amazing number of these films are based on books, and so most of the links are to the books that inspired the films.
- Oscar Commentary
- Published: February 12, 2003
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- Section: Video
- Writer: Phillip Winn
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Comments on this articleComments
Thanks for the post, Phillip. Let me respond:
Andy Serkis: I agree that he probably shouldn't win the Oscar, especially without the WETA team that created him. But since Gollum's expressions, motions, etc. were all based on his performance, I thought a nomination was certainly deserved.
Minority Report: I found this movie completely engrossing, and thought that it was Spielberg's redemption for the disaster that the last 20 minutes of A.I. was. Again, not an Oscar winner methinks, but certainly in the running for nomination.
Treasure Planet: What a disappointment. Granted, Veggie Tales wasn't what I had hoped it could be - but still...
TTT should have been nominated for best adapted screenplay because so much more than one book went into this film. Quotes distinguishing character have been selected from 3 detail-rich rings books and the Hobbit to create an insanely great dialogue between elves and men, wizards and dwarfs, hobbits and trees, etc.
No makeup and no costume for TTT is just absurd. I think Weinstein counterprogrammed his own Oscar vote to win his favorite, Chicago, and it backfired.
But Scorsese gotta be hurtin- Shutout!
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/3145)
And now my own opinion: Andy Serkis did a great job as Gollum, but a huge portion of his success was because what he did was new. To award Andy the Oscar but not the CGI team that created Gollum seems odd to me. Ask yourself, was Andy Serkis really as good a supporting actor as, um, any of the nominated actors? I don't think so.
That said, Peter Jackson deserved a nod as director.
Minority Report didn't work for me as a screenplay. I bought the DVD, but only because I found myself (barely) able to ignore gaping plot holes and enjoy the look and feel of the film.
I suspect that they threw a nomination at Treasure Planet because they didn't want to have fewer than five nominated films.