Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
This is as close as I’m going to come to writing anything about the Oscars this year. I am shamelessly biased, and just posting these nominations makes me crazy because of my personal feelings about the year’s films. I don’t consider anything not on this list an oversight, because I don’t buy into the near-mystical aura of credibility that people seem to give the Oscars. Especially in recent years, it’s become a battle of spending and shmoozing, and the winners are rarely, if ever, the actual best efforts in a given category.
Having said that, let’s go through and look at the nominations:
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Adrien Brody in THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
Nicolas Cage in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Michael Caine in THE QUIET AMERICAN (Miramax and Intermedia)
Daniel Day-Lewis in GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
Jack Nicholson in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)
No real surprises here. Delighted to see Caine nominated, and every other performance in the category is equally impressive. No matter who wins, the statue’s going home with someone who deserves it.
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Chris Cooper in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Ed Harris in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
Paul Newman in ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)
John C. Reilly in CHICAGO (Miramax)
Christopher Walken in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (DreamWorks)
Yeah, yeah... no Serkis. Let the fanboy riots of ’03 begin in the streets. Just don’t burn down my house, okay? I have work to do today. In the meantime, I’m rooting for Christopher Walken to win. Forget Scorsese... it’s Walken who is most desperately overdue this year, and his work actually deserves the statue.
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Salma Hayek in FRIDA (Miramax)
Nicole Kidman in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
Diane Lane in UNFAITHFUL (20th Century Fox)
Julianne Moore in FAT FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features)
Renée Zellweger in CHICAGO (Miramax)
I’d like to point out that I got this list directly from Oscar.com. According to them, Julianne Moore is the star of FAT FROM HEAVEN. Man, I’d pay to see a trailer for that. Congrats to Salma Hayek, who was great in FRIDA, and who managed to get the film made when so many actresses with more “power” weren’t able to.
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Kathy Bates in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)
Julianne Moore in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
Queen Latifah in CHICAGO (Miramax)
Meryl Streep in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Catherine Zeta-Jones in CHICAGO (Miramax)
Let’s hear it for Latifah. That’s a seriously groovy nomination. I love Meryl in ADAPTATION, though, and having seen the film several times now, I’m convinced it’s one of the finest pieces of work in her entire career. If someone tries to tell you she got overlooked because of the HOURS/Best Actress thing, they’re wrong. She got exactly the nomination she deserved, and my bet is she takes it home.
Best animated feature film of the year
ICE AGE (20th Century Fox) Chris Wedge
LILO & STITCH (Buena Vista) Chris Sanders
SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (DreamWorks) Jeffrey Katzenberg
SPIRITED AWAY (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki
TREASURE PLANET (Buena Vista) Ron Clements
Academy voters, let me implore you to be very careful here. Don’t fuck up and mark SPIRIT when you mean SPIRITED AWAY. You have a chance to give an Oscar to Hayao Miyazaki, one of cinema’s reigning Gods. Don’t blow it.
Achievement in art direction
CHICAGO (Miramax) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gord Sim
FRIDA (Miramax) Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso
Set Decoration: Hannia Robledo
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Dennis Gassner
Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Achievement in cinematography
CHICAGO (Miramax) Dion Beebe
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Edward Lachman
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Michael Ballhaus
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Pawel Edelman
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Conrad L. Hall
Give it to Connie Hall. You know it’s the right thing to do.
Achievement in costume design
CHICAGO (Miramax) Colleen Atwood
FRIDA (Miramax) Julie Weiss
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Sandy Powell
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Ann Roth
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Anna Sheppard
Achievement in directing
CHICAGO (Miramax) Rob Marshall
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Martin Scorsese
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Stephen Daldry
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Roman Polanski
TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics) Pedro Almodóvar
It’s Marty’s to lose at this point. They’ll never give it to Polanski, Almodovar’s already a winner just by being nominated, and Miramax will quietly, carefully make sure that neither Marshall and Daldry end up beating this year’s Annointed One.
Best documentary feature
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (United Artists and Alliance Atlantis)
A Salter Street Films/VIF 2/Dog Eat Dog Films Production
Michael Moore and Michael Donovan
DAUGHTER FROM DANANG (Balcony Releasing in association with Cowboy Pictures)
An Interfaze Educational Production
Gail Dolgin and Vincente Franco
PRISONER OF PARADISE (Alliance Atlantis)
A Média Vérité/Café Production
Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
SPELLBOUND (THINKFilm)
A Blitz/Welch Production
Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch
WINGED MIGRATION (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Galatée Films/France 2 Cinéma/France 3 Cinéma/Les Productions de la Guéville/Bac Films/Pandora Film/Les Productions JMH/Wanda Vision/Eyescreen Production
Jacques Perrin
They actually nominated Michael Moore? Well, hoooooolllllleeeeeee shit.
Achievement in film editing
CHICAGO (Miramax) Martin Walsh
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Thelma Schoonmaker
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Peter Boyle
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Michael Horton
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Hervé de Luze
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they chose to honor Schoonmaker, who is seen by many as a vital part of what makes Marty tick.
Best foreign language film of the year
EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO An Alameda Films/BluFilms/Foprocine/Gob. del Estado de Veracruz-Llave Production
Mexico
HERO
A Beijing New Picture Film Company/Elite Group Enterprises Production
People's Republic of China
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST
A Sputnik Oy/Pandora Film/Pyramide Prods. Production
Finland
NOWHERE IN AFRICA
An MTM Medien & Television München Production
Germany
ZUS & ZO
A Filmprodukties de Luwte Production
The Netherlands
Achievement in makeup
FRIDA (Miramax) John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba
THE TIME MACHINE (DreamWorks and Warner Bros.) John M. Elliott, Jr. and Barbara Lorenz
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (DreamWorks) John Williams
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Elmer Bernstein
FRIDA (Miramax) Elliot Goldenthal
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Philip Glass
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Thomas Newman
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and FAR FROM HEAVEN are two of my favorite pieces of film music last year, so I’m thrilled to see them nominated. But where the fuck is Howard Shore?
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Burn It Blue from FRIDA (Miramax)
Music by Elliot Goldenthal
Lyric by Julie Taymor
Father and Daughter from THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE (Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies)
Music and Lyric by Paul Simon
The Hands That Built America from GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
Music and Lyric by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
I Move On from CHICAGO (Miramax)
Music by John Kander
Lyric by Fred Ebb
Lose Yourself from 8 MILE (Universal)
Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto
Lyric by Eminem
”Academy Award nominee Eminem.” Try saying that out loud a few times. The funny part is, even though he’s up against artists I really love like U2 and Paul Simon, I think it’s the Eminem song that really deserves the award. It seems the most integral to the film it came from.
Best motion picture of the year
CHICAGO (Miramax)
A Producer Circle Co., Zadan/Meron Production
Martin Richards, Producer
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
An Alberto Grimaldi Production
Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
A Scott Rudin/Robert Fox Production
Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line)
A New Line Cinema and Wingnut Films Production
Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, Producers
THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
An R.P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runtime LTD. Production
Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde, Producers
Next year. Next year belongs to Jackson & Co. RETURN OF THE KING will dominate a year from now, and all the fanboy rage that you’re feeling will finally be assuaged. In the meantime, CHICAGO’s got this one sewn up tight.
Best animated short film
THE CATHEDRAL
A Platige Image Production
Tomek Baginski
THE CHUBBCHUBBS! (Columbia)
A Sony Pictures Imageworks Production
Eric Armstrong
DAS RAD
A Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH Production
Chris Stenner and Heidi Wittlinger
MIKE'S NEW CAR (Buena Vista)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Pete Docter and Roger Gould
MT. HEAD
A Yamamura Animation Production
Koji Yamamura
Pixar. Pixar. Pixar. Do not deny the power of Pixar.
Best live action short film
FAIT D'HIVER
An Another Dimension of an Idea Production
Dirk Beliën and Anja Daelemans
I'LL WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE … (J'ATTENDRAI LE SUIVANT …)
A La Boîte Production
Philippe Orreindy and Thomas Gaudin
INJA (DOG)
An Australian Film TV & Radio School (AFTRS) Production
Steven Pasvolsky and Joe Weatherstone
JOHNNY FLYNTON
A Red Corner Production
Lexi Alexander and Alexander Buono
THIS CHARMING MAN (DER ER EN YNDIG MAND)
An M&M Productions for Novellefilm Production
Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen
Achievement in sound
CHICAGO (Miramax) Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty and Ivan Sharrock
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott Millan, Bob Beemer and John Patrick Pritchett
SPIDER-MAN (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick
Achievement in sound editing
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins
MINORITY REPORT (20th Century Fox and DreamWorks) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott A. Hecker
Achievement in visual effects
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke
SPIDER-MAN (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier
STAR WARS EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES (20th Century Fox) Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
I’m afraid to even look at the TalkBacks because of this category. Please... no guns, no knives. If you have to brawl, just use bare knuckles.
Original screenplay
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Written by Todd Haynes
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (IFC/Gold Circle Films) Written by Nia Vardalos
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan
Story by Jay Cocks
TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Pedro Almodóvar
Y TU MAMà TAMBIÉN (IFC Films) Written by Carlos Cuaron and Alfonso Cuaron
Probably the most surprising category overall. I love the nomination for Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, and I’m sure there are many people cheering for Nia Vardalos for her surprise nomination. If I had to give this one from this list, I’d send the Cuaron boys home happy.
Adapted screenplay
ABOUT A BOY (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman
CHICAGO (Miramax) Screenplay by Bill Condon
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Screenplay by David Hare
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
I want to congratulate Bill Condon, whose enormous love of the material he was adapting is the reason I think this film ultimately took wing. He deserves that nomination. Having said that, I’m still rooting for the Kaufman boys, who wrote my favorite script of the year.
So that’s it. Let the speculation begin, and let the arguments rage from now until the inevitable disappointments of Oscar night next month.
Viva La Self-Congratulation!!
"Moriarty" out.
