# Shafted by the Academy: An Oscar©s Poll

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/21 "2002-03-25T08:05:38Z")

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I wondered why Harvey Keitel didn’t even get nominated for his work in the _Piano_ when Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin won best actress and supporting accress respectively for the same film. Granted Oscar is a sucker for a performance involving a portrayal of a disability. But was Keitel basically punished for showing his you know what in that movie? Anyway, I figure he is probably the best actor who has been completely snubbed, was he ever even nominated?.

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**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/22 "2002-03-25T08:07:22Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kallessa \*  
> \*\*_Shrek_ was not eligible to be nominated for Best Picture because animated films now have their own caergory. \*\*

I hope that isn’t true…but I suspect it will become the reality now that they have this award.

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**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/23 "2002-03-25T13:21:25Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Otto \*  
> \*\*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 Adapted Screenplay: Memento (adapted from the short story “Memento Mori,” so why it’s nominated in the original category is beyond me) \*\*

Ditto.

Also, The Royal Tennenbaums should have been nominated for best picture and best screenplay.

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**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/24 "2002-03-25T14:26:25Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by capacitor \*  
> [B  
> 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. \*\*

If _O Brother_ were to win awards for best song, that would’ve been at last year’s Oscars. I remember because it was up for “Best Adapted Screenplay.”

I agree that Memento should’ve been up for best picture, and Haley Joel Osment should’ve gotten a best actor nod. For the scene where his “mother” activates the love program, not to mention the rest of the movie.

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**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shafted-by-the-academy-an-oscar-s-poll/99585/25 "2002-03-25T15:18:11Z")

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I loved _Oh. Brother…_, too, but to qualify for an Academy Award nomination, a candidate for Best Song has to be written for the movie it appears in. The songs in the _Oh, Brother…_ soundtrack are all old bluegrass standards. “Come What May” from _Moulin Rouge_ was originally written for Baz Luhrmann’s _Romeo + Juliet_, thus out of nomination eligibility.

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