Is ROTK a shoo-in for Oscar?

I can think two other reasons for why TTT got less nominations than FOTR:
1)Everyone knows that ROTK will be back next year. Why not give other movies and people a chance this year instead of TTT?
2)Much of the technical work in TTT is a continuation of the work of FOTR. I know this was a consideration for musical score where IIRC there is some kind of rule which prevented Howard Shore from getting a second nomination. Of course this same reason may hurt ROTK in a few technical categories but there is no reason why it should hurt its BP chances.

So I don’t think the fewer TTT nominations hurt ROTK’s BP chances in any significant way.

I think this is why there was no make-up nomination this year. It’s the saem make-up job they rewarded last year.

[qoute]That said, do I think “The Two Towers” has a prayer of winning an Oscar this year in anything but technical categories?

[/quote]

Has the actor who played Gollum been nominated for Best Supporting Actor? His soliloquy was a tour de force.

Nup. Would have been nice but it really wasn’t any more than a pipe dream.

the odds of the a fantasy, Sci-fi or comedy film wining I think is slim to non

The winner of best film is always the most critically acclaimed Drama of the year

“The winner of best film is always the most critically acclaimed Drama of the year”
Always? No. For instance there were several musicals which won in the 60’s: Sound of Music, Oliver! etc. Later there was Annie Hall, Silence of the Lambs, Shakespeare in Love etc… The front-runner this year is another musical Chicago.

So every now and then a “genre” film does win. ROTK, with its likely critical acclaim, box-office success, and prior LOTR nominations is in an excellent position to be one of the exceptions.

“I would argue that Lucas got his Thalberg on the strength of three movies. I mean, nothing else in his career was really of note (except perhaps Indiana Jones, and I would submit that Indiana Jones was more Spielberg than Lucas).”

Lucas was directly involved with making:

American Graffitti
Raiders of the Lost Ark (and sequels)
Body Heat
Juraissic Park
Willow

and a whole slew of other films (including Howard the Duck, which we can safely assume did not burnish his reputation). Lucas is also responsible for the development of THX sound technology and has taken great steps in advancing the careers of budding film makers.

Taken as a whole, his career and his achievements make him worthy of the Thalberg. Until Peter Jackson can also make the same claims he’s not getting any Thalberg award.