# Shafted by the Academy: An Oscar©s Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585 "2002-03-22T19:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/1 "2002-03-22T19:19:36Z")
In this poll, let’s nominate films, actors, actresses and performances that were not nominated for Academy Awards this year. Nominate up to 5 in each category, and discuss why you think they deserve mention. Standards for this thread are open to interpretation. For example, if you believe that _The Saga of Joe Blow_ is the Best Picture this year, nominate it. If, however, you believe that _The Saga of Joe Blow_ is merely the Best Picture _among those not nominated_ , you may nominate it here as well. My picks… **BEST PICTURE** [ul] [li]_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_. It’s probably one of the better movies made this year, though certainly not the best. However, since it is undoubtedly the favorite of millions of children (and parents) around the world this year, it deserves honorable mention.[/li][li]_The Others_. A rarity in modern horror: no violence, no special effects, minimalist soundtrack, and no histrionic screaming. The plot had its slow moments, but the twist at the end redeemed it. Nicole Kidman’s performance was suitably restrained; the performances of the two little children stole the show (see below).[/li][li]_From Hell_. A genuinely creepy crime drama that made the audience _feel_ the seedy underbelly of turn-of-the-century London. Nice set design, too.[/li][/ul] **BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS** [ul] [li][Alakina Mann](http://us.imdb.com/EGallery?source=ss&group=0230600&photo=AU20_1_10.jpg&path=pgallery&path_key=Mann,+Alakina), _The Others_. Never have I been so blown away by the performance of a little girl in a movie. Clearly one of the best pre-adolescent Supporting Actress performances since Anna Paquin in _The Piano_.[/li][li]Maggie Smith, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_. Because she’s Maggie Smith and she was in a movie last year (and yes, I know she’s nominated for _Gosford Park_).[/li][/ul] **BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR** [ul] [li]Robbie Coltrane, _From Hell_. He brought a sense of comic relief, as it were, to an otherwise depressing and creepy movie.[/li][li]Robbie Coltrane, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_. As perfect an actor for the role of Rebeus Hagrid as just about anyone I can think of.[/li][li]Richard Harris, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_. As long as we’re nominating grand old Shakespearean British actors (such as Sir Ian McKellan), we’ll throw in Professor Dumbledore.[/li][li][Nicholas Bentley](http://us.imdb.com/EGallery?source=ss&group=0230600&photo=AU20_1_10.jpg&path=pgallery&path_key=Mann,+Alakina), _The Others_. Another show-stealing performance by a little kid in a movie primarily about ghosts.[/li][/ul] * * * I don’t have any nominations for Best Actor or Best Actress, simply because all of the performances that blew me away this year have been supporting roles. So what are your picks??? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/2 "2002-03-22T19:36:45Z")
**Best Makeup** _Planet of the Apes_. Say what you will about the movie, but the makeup, especially for Tim Roth, was astonishing. _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_ This musical put the “glam” in glamourous. _A.I._ Giving Jude Law the look of a metallicized playboy deserved an Oscar nod. **Best Director** Baz Luhrman. _Moulin Rouge_ didn’t direct itself, you know! **Best Costume Design** _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_ _A.I._ **Best Actor** Guy Pearce for _Memento_ John Cameron Mitchell for _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_ Gene Hackman for _The Royal Tenebaums_ **Best Supporting Actor** Steve Buscemi for _Ghost World_ Martin Landau for _The Majestic_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/3 "2002-03-22T19:49:56Z")
I’ve said it before, but Best Supporting Actor: Alan Rickman as Snape in _Harry Potter_. He did an absolutely perfect job in the role. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/4 "2002-03-22T19:51:16Z")
I second Guy Pierce. As for Harry Potter, I won’t deny it’s loved by millions, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s not that great of a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/5 "2002-03-22T21:03:58Z")
**Best Picture** _Black Hawk Down Memento_ (Take out, _Ali_, and _Gosford Park_) **Best Actor** Guy Pearce, _Memento_ Haley Joel Osment. _A.I._ {Take out Sean Penn and Will Smith) **Best Director** Baz Luhrman (Take out David Lynch) Just my opinions, of course (and based only on movies I have seen). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/6 "2002-03-22T21:07:58Z")
Harry Potter should be nominated for the biggest waste of my time this year. Beyond that, I second any and all nominations for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Mulholland Drive should have swept the awards. And though I’m not overly in love with the movie, if Haley Joel Osment was nominated for Sixth Sense, he should have been nominate TWICE for AI. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/7 "2002-03-22T22:12:13Z")
I would respond to this thread, but I’m still boycotting all Oscars-related information due to their gross negligence in not properly recognizing _Glory_ lo, these many years ago. I imagine that when I die, God and I will sit around in armchairs and marvel that _Boring Miss Daisy_ actually won Best Picture that year. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/8 "2002-03-23T02:15:14Z")
_Shrek_ not getting best picture nomination. If anything, it was better than _Beauty and the Beast_. Oh I get it. It doesn’t have a show-stopping original number. Best Original Song…I’ll never understand this category. There is not a single blade of bluegrass from _O Brother Where Art Thou?_ Yet the Grammy saw fit to give the soundtrack best Album. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/9 "2002-03-23T02:17:46Z")
Was _Hannibal_ nominated for Best Musical Score? If not, then it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/10 "2002-03-23T02:57:24Z")
Best Picture: Memento, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (dump LOTR and In the Bedroom) Best Actor: Guy Pearce for Memento, John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig (dump Russell Crowe and Sean Penn) Best Actress: Naomi Watts for Mulholland Drive (dump Renee Zellwegger) Best Supporting Actress: Miriam Shor for Hedwig (dump Jennifer Connelly or Marissa Tomei) Best Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent for Moulin Rouge! (dump Jim Broadbent) Best Song: “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge! (dump the Academy on its head for ruling it ineligible) Best Director: Baz Luhrmann for Moulin Rouge! (dump Ridley Scott) Best Adapted Screenplay: Memento (adapted from the short story “Memento Mori,” so why it’s nominated in the original category is beyond me) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/11 "2002-03-23T02:58:54Z")
[QUOTE] Best Director: Baz Luhrmann for Moulin Rouge! (dump Ridley Scott) [QUOTE] Oh, and add John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig and dump Ron Howard. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/12 "2002-03-23T04:39:59Z")
**Best Picture** _Memento_. **Best Actor** Another vote for Guy Pearce. Billy Bob Thornton in _The Man Who Wasn’t There_. Or at least for best narrator. **Best Actress** Thora Birch in _Ghost World_. **Best Director** Again, Baz Luhrmann. Ron Howard couldn’t direct monkeys picking nits out of each other’s fur. Also, Todd Field for _In The Bedroom_. **Best Song** “Directions” by Josh Rouse, from _Vanilla Sky_ . An amazing melody perfectly fitting the song’s slacker theme, though it’s probably ineligible for some obscure reason. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/13 "2002-03-24T19:47:53Z")
Billy Bob Thornton was wonderful in THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE and in MONSTER’S BALL. He was even pretty good in BANDITS. So why does the Academy ignore him? MEMENTO deserved to be in the Best Picture category. So did SHREK. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/14 "2002-03-24T19:58:06Z")
I’m not trying to start a flamewar here, but do you people really think “Shrek” is Best Picture material? I liked it okay, but Best Picture? I think any movie with a Matrix-reference joke automatically disqualifies itself from best picture. But more than that, Shrek, while entertianing and well-animated wasn’t overly special to me. It was the same old guy fights dragon, gets princess, marries her, and along the way we learn two valuable lessons: (1) you shouldn’t judge people by their outward appearance unless they are short, and (2) it’s what’s inside that counts, but pretty people don’t marry ugly people - one must be converted into the other first. I dunno, for all the people saying how irreverent and non-traditional it was, I found it to be pretty by-the-numbers fantasy. As I said, I thought it was a good, fun movie, but way overrated otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bad\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Hat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/15 "2002-03-24T20:09:05Z")
Another vote for Billy Bob… for either **Monsters Ball** or **TMWWT** , and I’ve also heard from SO that **Bandits** was a good turn from him as well. Unfortunately I’ve heard rumours that Thornton didn’t make the cut because his votes were split between these movies. IOW, he’s being sort of penalized for being too good. or too consistant anyway… I’d also thro in a best score and best director nod for **Monsters Ball**. I agree with the travesty of overlooking **Black Hawk Down** and **Memento** , and **A.I.** in any number of categories. **BHD** for best score and best sound, possibly best director or film… **Memento** for actor, screen play, director, film and **A.I.** for best film, best score (a rarity fo Williams IMHO) and GASP… if there was a better supporting actor in a film this year than Jude law in **A.I.** , i didn’t see it. CJ ---
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/16 "2002-03-24T21:15:27Z")
Definitley think Memento was overlooked. probably since it didn’t have any real big stars or something like that… what a shame, that’s probably the one that should win too! ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/17 "2002-03-24T23:55:33Z")
_Memento_ definitely deserved a best pic nomination and _Waking Life_, the best animated movie of last year, wasn’t nominated for best animated movie. This was a criminal oversight as far as I’m concerned. I liked _Shrek_ but think it’s over-rated. Ditto what **Legomancer** said. BTW, I thought _Harry Potter_ was a turgid mess and nobody who had anything to do with the movie deserves Oscar recognition. Alan Rickman should have had a mustache to twirl like Snidely Whiplash and John Williams’ score was overly intrusive and manipulative. Full disclosure: I wasn’t very impressed with the book either. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/18 "2002-03-25T02:18:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Best Adapted Screenplay: Memento (adapted from the short story “Memento Mori,” so why it’s nominated in the original category is beyond me) \*\* Jonah Nolan’s _Memento Mori_ was actually published _after_ the film _Memento_ was made. Ergo, no adapted screenplay Oscar nomination for the film. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/19 "2002-03-25T06:51:49Z")
_Shrek_ was not eligible to be nominated for Best Picture because animated films now have their own caergory. _Shrek, Monsters, Inc., and Neutron Boy_ were the nominees–\*Shrek \* won. And Randy Newman won for Best Song ( **finally** ) for his song from _Monsters, Inc._ ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/20 "2002-03-25T07:44:39Z")
And **Monsters Inc.** should’ve won, not **Shrek.** 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585.md?page=2)