The one I feel strongest about is the little girl in “Whale Rider”. I can’t remember ever – EVER – being so moved by a performance (or at least a scene – you know the one). I haven’t cried since that geranium wilted in E.T., but that’s the closest I’ve come in 20 years. Every woman I know who saw that cried during that scene and it was just a single person talking. I just can’t say that any other performance over the last year genuinely moved me emotionally. the movie dragged at times, IMO, but was still good.
And, I know I’m in the minority here, but I thought L.I.T. was pretty damn boring. It might be my least favorite Bill Murray performance ever. Can anyone really say they thought he was better in this than “Caddyshack” or “Groundhog Day”? There are 50 actors out there who could have played this role. I hope this is not what he’ll be remembered for.
I hope ROTK and Peter Jackson get theirs. I think they both will.
Maybe Depp for actor.
Whale Rider for actress.
Nothing for Seabiscuit. Nothing for Cold Mountain. Seabiscuit was the most neutered, by-the-book, vanilla movie from the past year. Movies like that shouldn’t even get the 'nom. Read the book to see just how much life they sucked out of the story.
At least American Splendor got a screenplay nomination. Should have had more. It would have been very interesting to see it get Art Direction for the fascinating way it brought several worlds together seamlessly.
It’s nice to note that a few more of us who didn’t think Lost in Translation was the greatest movie since The Great Train Robbery are popping their heads out of hiding. Scarlett Johanssen gave a miserable performance that undermined any value in a movie that had very little going for it in the first place. If we hadn’t been told that she has a philosophy degree from an Ivy League college and had been married to a world-famous photographer for two years we would have thought she was exactly what she portrayed - an inarticulate high school student on her honeymoon. The Academy got it as right in denying her an acting nomination as they got it wrong in giving Sofia Coppola a screenplay nom.
And Finding Nemo was a vaguely pleasant film without any of the wit of animated movies like Monster’s Inc. Of course, I could live a long, full life without ever hearing Albert Boooks’’ voice ever again, but the problem with the movie was the flat, dull script.
I’m not big LotR fan, but I’m very surprised that in a year in which the Academy would nominate Johnny Depp for a brilliant performance in a less-than-serious film that they would ignore Sean Astin, who gave the only major performance in a film that otherwise got nominated up the wazoo.
Not going to give preferred winners because there’s still a few films I hope to get to before the awards, but I do have to say that this year’s nominations are not as much of a complete embarrassment as they have been the past few years.
Best Picture: Return of the King. I feel the movie deserves it.
Best Actor: Bill Murray. Great performance and Murray seems liked by Hollywood.
Best Actress: Charlize Theron. Roles in which women are raped or abused (Jody Foster in The Accused, Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry) or crazy (Jessica Lange in Blue Sky, Angelina Jolie in Girl Interrupted) have typically been Academy favorites. Add “pretty actress looking ugly and fat” to the list this year.
Best Direction: Peter Jackson. I would’ve loved for Stephen Frears to have been nominated for Dirty Pretty Things, but Jackson has been the one I’m pulling for to win since Fellowship of the Ring. I really feel he deserves it, too, not just as some reward for all three movies. The only director last year who accomplished anything even close to RotK was Lars von Trier for Dogville, but that film wasn’t released in the U.S.
Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin. The Academy loves to resurrect careers and I think they’d love the idea of bringing Balwin back from the dead. He was once considered a big star and they probably figure an Oscar could restore him to his Hunt for Red October days.
Supporting Actress: Renee Zellwegger. Though part of me wonders if the Academy will hold off and wait to give her a Best Actress award instead since she’s usually a leading lady, not a character actor.
Best foreign: Unfortunately, I didn’t see any of the nominees.
Adapted Screenplay: Return of the King.
Original screenplay: Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation. It’s well known that Best Original Screenplay is often given to the films that are generally considered the best of the year, but forced to bow to other movies because of hype or stars getting “lifetime achievement” sympathy. Past winners include Neil Jordan for The Crying Game, Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction and Jane Campion for The Piano. I really believe RotK deserves everything it’ll win this year, but a lot of voters will want to make sure Coppola doesn’t leave empty handed.
Animated: Finding Nemo. I don’t see any Spirited Away type sleeper this year.
I thought City of God was up for best foreign film last year because it was released in 2002 in brazil, but it was released last year in the US so it was up for all the other categories.
But I could be wrong. A quick check of IMDB doesn’t show it getting nominated for best foreign film last year.
Good movie though. A lot of the stuff that usually seems to slip through the cracks made it in this year.