Even though his Oscar has nothing whatever to do with acting?
The language, although period, is completely accessible - remember, Shakespeare’s plays were mostly written in verse and elevated prose: real people didn’t actually talk like Hamlet. The film itself is beautifully layered: you can watch it not knowing much more about about Shakespeare than having seen DiCaprio in Romeo and Juliet, or you can come to it knowing about Jacobean drama and why the in-jokes about John Webster’s gore-hungry urchin {“I like the bit where she stabbed herself. That were alright.”} are so funny, but you’re guaranteed to get something out of it. I even didn’t mind Gwyneth Poultry in it, which is saying something. Definitely deserved the win over SPR, which would have had its plot rejected by the editors of Commando comic as being ridiculously far-fetched.
(slight hijack) Someone brought this up earlier, but I was wondering, do they have Academy Awards for casting cirectors, like the technical awards, art direction, film editing etc? Or do casting directors have their own association awards?
Marisa Tomei and Mira Sovino always come to mind when these discussions pop up. Neither performance to me was nomination-worthy so when they actually won it was a jaw dropper.
And I think their needs to be some award-swapping among actors. For example, Denzel should trade his “Training Day” Oscar with Russel Crowe’s “Gladiator” award. Denzel’s Oscar should have been for “The Hurricane”, and Crowe’s for “Beautiful Mind” (great performance, so-so movie).
Thanks, **Yooker **and Case Sensitive. I’m not an expert on Shakespeare by any means but I’ve retained a good bit of what I learned in high school so I should do well enough.
Actually, yeah. Because I believe that Damon did most of the writing for that movie, and Affleck just wrote his own lines (which he didn’t even manage to deliver convincingly). I’ve read and watched interviews with both guys, and I don’t believe that Ben Affleck can even write a complete sentence in English, let alone (half) an entire screenplay.
However, in retrospect, I am willing to add Matt Damon to the Oscar Revocation Watch List® for the travesty and waste of talent that was Stuck on You.
I agree wholeheartedly on both counts. It grieves me that a choice had to be made between RotK and Master and Commander, though. It’s not fair that two amazingly well realized adaptations of full-bodied fictional universes had to vie for the same trophy. Rings would have unquestionably been Best Picture another year, and it was to M&C’s misfortune that Jackson et al had three years’ momentum behind them.
Good idea, but “Hurricane” was 1999. How about this instead?
Art Carney gives his to Al Pacino for “Godfather II” (1974). Denzel gets his for Malcolm X (1992), Crowe gets his for “A Beautiful Mind” (2001). Kevin Spacey keeps his for “American Beauty” (1999).
Not sure what to do about 2000. Ed Harris for “Pollock,” Tom Hanks for 'Castaway," or let Crowe keep the one for “Gadiator”
Yeesh, I must be the only one here that liked it. 
OHOH, I would gladly take away the Oscar for Gladiator. Yeech.
Ah, just remembered one:
The decent-but-forgettable Mediterraneo winning the Best Foreign Language Oscar over Raise the Red Lantern in 1991. :rolleyes:
Make that Best Foreign Language Film. :smack:
Have you seen the real Erin Brockovitch? Julia was very, very, very restrained compared to the real her. Bravo.
You beat me to it, stegon66. I loved The English Patient. Knew nothing about it before seeing it, and was hooked from the opening shot.
Can’t agree with you on Gladiator, though. I loved that one, too. I’m a sucker for sword and sandal epics, though.
I agree completely with Juniper200 regarding ROTK and M&C. Had Master & Commander been released in 2004, it would be a shoe-in for best picture. The Return of the King certainly earned the Oscar in its own right, but, let’s face it, the award was for the entire trilogy. The Academy passed over the first two chapters knowing that they hadn’t yet seen the entire work.
Count two more positive votes for The English Patient and Gladiator.