The 75th Annual Academy Awards - March 23rd

[sensei]

The nominations have been announced! Here they are (a rather extensive list):

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)

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)

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 FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features)
Renée Zellweger in CHICAGO (Miramax)

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)

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

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

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

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

Best documentary short subject
THE COLLECTOR OF BEDFORD STREET
An Alice Elliott Production
Alice Elliott
MIGHTY TIMES: THE LEGACY OF ROSA PARKS
A Tell the Truth Pictures Production
Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston
TWIN TOWERS
A Wolf Films/Shape Pictures/Universal/Mopo Entertainment Production
Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port
WHY CAN'T WE BE A FAMILY AGAIN?
A Public Policy Production
Roger Weisberg and Murray Nossel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Original screenplay
FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Written by Todd Haynes
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan
Story by Jay Cocks
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (IFC/Gold Circle Films) Written by Nia Vardalos
TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Pedro Almodóvar
Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (IFC Films) Written by Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón

There's only a few things I'm pretty sure of:
1) The Chubbchubbs! will win Animated Short.
2) Jack Nicholson will win Best Actor
3) Meryl Streep will win Best Supporting Actress
4) The Hours will win at least two awards.
5) LOTR will win at least one award.
6) Spiderman will win at least one award.
(ADD-ON) 7) Frida will win makeup.

Post your ideas! I am so psyched... (and I'm gonna be in warm, sunny Maui when they are presented )

[Kiddo]

All I can say is if LOTR does not win some huge awards, I'm gonna be tinkled. It's the only movie I've seen four times (I saw the first one seven), the only movie I'll dress up in costume to see, the only movie that has posters adorning my wall, the only movie I'll buy toys from.... well, you get my drift.

[sensei]

Kiddo said:

All I can say is if LOTR does not win some huge awards, I'm gonna be tinkled. It's the only movie I've seen four times (I saw the first one seven), the only movie I'll dress up in costume to see, the only movie that has posters adorning my wall, the only movie I'll buy toys from.... well, you get my drift.

Trust me, it'll win SOMEthing. Not Best Picture yet... they're saving that for Return of the King... the quality of the other movies that year won't matter. It'll be either Chicago, The Hours, or Gangs of New York this year... I think. Although... The Pianist was suprising... I thought for sure it'd be About Schimdt or Adaptation in its place. Oh well.

[Tdyans]

ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman

I liked About a Boy, but I'll be rooting for Adaptation for adapted screenplay simply because I would get such a kick out of seeing an imaginary character win an Oscar. ;D

LOTR should win in the special effects category, IMHO.

I've heard Spirited Away was very good, but I personally haven't seen it. I've seen all the other animated features and out of them, I'd say Lilo and Stitch.

Of course I don't recognize every movie on those lists, but I saw and enjoyed both Chicago and Adaption, so I'll be rooting for them.

[noremac9]

Tdyans said:

I liked About a Boy, but I'll be rooting for Adaptation for adapted screenplay simply because I would get such a kick out of seeing an imaginary character win an Oscar. ;D

LOTR should win in the special effects category, IMHO.

I've heard Spirited Away was very good, but I personally haven't seen it. I've seen all the other animated features and out of them, I'd say Lilo and Stitch.

Of course I don't recognize every movie on those lists, but I saw and enjoyed both Chicago and Adaption, so I'll be rooting for them.

We've got to hope Adaptation wins. His "brother" was a credited writer, so he HAS TO recive an oscar (if they win, mind you). That could open up endless possibilities of head-scratching, so I'll be rooting.

LOTR should win Special effects, Make-up, and a lot of other stuff, but I don't think it will. They seem to resent it, and my dad told me why (he's a screenwriter). Because they made it in New Zealand, and 89.00% of film people work in america, they feel as if New Zealand "steals" their work. Therefore, since LOTR was made there, they feel as if the people "sold out." It's all very silly...

-Noremac9

[Nekookane]

Waah, Spirited Away didn't even play in my town! I think it was a short opening in a scattering of major Canadian cities. It was the largest grossing animated film ever in Japan. Miyazaki is practically a National Treasure. Thank goodness for Viz Books - I got the color mangas, so I can just drool over his genius daily. The details of his films are so good, and I think (once I see it), I'll agree it's his best film yet.

I'm surprised how little Lord of the Rings entries there were, but, I guess there were just soooo many good films this year! Go Chris Walken (one of my movie idols), I loved seeing his name up there!

[sara]

I would have seen Spirited Away if it was in my town as well, but it wasn't, which I find odd. I mean, I know one theater in my neighborhood which will have it eventually (the kind of theater which shows Citizen Kane, LOTR in the summer, and indy films), and a video store which will eventually get it (they have a good collection of Miyazaki, even versions of Mononoke, Raputa, Naushika, and other films WITHOUT subtitles or dubbing) but it's not part of the major scheme of film releasing.

From what I've heard, Disney (the American distributor for Spirited Away) is waiting for it to win the oscar so people will want to see it. Then if will be released in a million theaters, and probably make more money than if they gave the movie normal treatment (supposedly Disney kept Spirited Away to art houses for now to catch the attention of the critics). Of course two other Disney films are competing with Spirited Away, but according to a New York Times article, Disney is actually spending more promotion money on SA than Lilo & Stitch or Treasure Planet as far as the Oscars are concerned. And seriously, Disney has the most to gain if SA wins the Oscar as they have a third major market film in a year, whereas it would not have such a profitable impact on Disney's other candidates.

www.nytimes.com/2003/02/07/movies/07FLIC.html?8mu

There's the article, though you need to register to read it (don't worry, it's free and they don't ask for a lot of information)

EDIT : This isn't the first time this kind of strategy has worked well. The general public barely new about Amadeus until it did well at the Oscars - and now it's a classic film.

[Tdyans]

I don't think Spirited Away played here either, although we have a nice little theatre across from campus that plays more artsy, independent, and limited release stuff than your average theater. I believe it was playing about 20 minutes away where some of my friends go to school and we discussed going to see but ended up going to something else instead-- can't even remember what.

[sara]

On all the online searches for "movies in your area" kind of sites, there was one match for Spirited Away in my area. First of all, it was during a bad time for me. Second of all, it wasn't that close - would have taken half an hour by public transportation (assuming that there wasn't any waiting time, which there always is, especially since it would have required one transfer). But what really stopped me was the website for the theater was very vague about details - only had dates (not times), and didn't even have the address for the places.

I can wait however long it will take for it to come onto video, whatever happens at the Oscars. But if it becomes more availible in theaters, there's a good chance I'll watch it at a theatre (especially if my films group will/can get free or discount tickets to see it in the theater with a free lunch tossed in ... nyeheheh!)

[Linnen Malfoy]

Sprited away was just so beautiful. If anyone can see it (even try to download it off the net) do so, it's just brilliant!
It was the best thing I'd ever seen. It gets rather sidetracked and has some loose ends, but it's the type of movie that at the end, it's just perfect.
The nice thing about it is that it's not disney. Disney has just dominated the market for so long that it's nice to see anime get the reginoition it deserves (and I'm not sayving this because I'm a biased anime fan, honest! ^_^)

I'm really pleased with the animation nominations. Lilo and Stitch was a beautiful movie. The animation was wonderful (you rarely see the handdone backgrounds, so it was nice to see it brought back), and it wasen't the usual Disney trash of dragging back some classic only to shake it out of a few more pennies.

In the end, I'm going to root for Sprited Away. IT do hope it wins, it was just brilliant. ^_^
I'm attached to Lilo and Stitch, so that should win Co-Oscar, just because I'm biased. ^__~;

[sara]

Linnen said:

Sprited away was just so beautiful. If anyone can see it (even try to download it off the net) do so, it's just brilliant!
It was the best thing I'd ever seen. It gets rather sidetracked and has some loose ends, but it's the type of movie that at the end, it's just perfect.
The nice thing about it is that it's not disney. Disney has just dominated the market for so long that it's nice to see anime get the reginoition it deserves (and I'm not sayving this because I'm a biased anime fan, honest! ^_^)

I'm really pleased with the animation nominations. Lilo and Stitch was a beautiful movie. The animation was wonderful (you rarely see the handdone backgrounds, so it was nice to see it brought back), and it wasen't the usual Disney trash of dragging back some classic only to shake it out of a few more pennies.

In the end, I'm going to root for Sprited Away. IT do hope it wins, it was just brilliant. ^_^
I'm attached to Lilo and Stitch, so that should win Co-Oscar, just because I'm biased. ^__~;

While SA is not made by Disney, it's distribution rights in the U.S. and Canada do belong to Disney (I think they did get the British rights as well, but someone else bought it off them - I don't know the details).

I'll see Lilo & Stitch as soon as it's off the blasted "1 Day Rental Only" list at my local video store - probably in the summer. But I have the feeling that Disney's days as a great maker of cartoons are done. However they have the best-selling label as far as animated movies, and the mass-marketing complex. If they shift to just being a distributor of other studio's movies (Pixar, Studio Ghibli, etc.) and try to have some good standards as far as what movies they distribute (both of the Toy Story movies are great, but I don't care for anything else I've seen from Pixar) then they could get even more prestige, as well as raise the bar for animated movies. I think this would be a fine direction for Disney to move towards.

[Nekookane]

Sarachrinedale said:

From what I've heard, Disney (the American distributor for Spirited Away) is waiting for it to win the oscar so people will want to see it. Then if will be released in a million theaters, and probably make more money than if they gave the movie normal treatment (supposedly Disney kept Spirited Away to art houses for now to catch the attention of the critics). Of course two other Disney films are competing with Spirited Away, but according to a New York Times article, Disney is actually spending more promotion money on SA than Lilo & Stitch or Treasure Planet as far as the Oscars are concerned. And seriously, Disney has the most to gain if SA wins the Oscar as they have a third major market film in a year, whereas it would not have such a profitable impact on Disney's other candidates.

Oh, this news has me stoked! I don't care how they do it, just do it! lol
I would go see it in the theatres - 10x, haha, just based on clips and the movie books. I'm horribly obsessed with Miyazaki, ever since I bought my first Nausicca comic.

I don't get to a lot of movies - but I do want to see "Catch Me If You Can" soon, first, I liked the book - he's so rotten! And I would love to see Chris Walken, too.

Chicago's another one. 8 hours worth of film I'd like to see.... *theatre dread*

[sara]

I'm also rooting for The Hours. To be honest, Meyrl Streep was the best actress in the film, but she's got plenty awards and she's already recieving a nomination for another movie. However, I think Nicole Kidman did better than Moore - Moore was just always on the same note all the time. The small role with the 1950's woman who visited Moore and was going to the hopsital to (most likely) die had more variation in delivery than Moore's entire role throughout the film!

I have not see Spiderman or Episode II, but if Episode II is like Episode I, LOTR will kick Star Wars neck (unless the New Zealand bias comes in). But Spiderman, I have no clue.

[Tdyans]

Sarachrinedale said:

I have not see Spiderman or Episode II, but if Episode II is like Episode I, LOTR will kick Star Wars neck (unless the New Zealand bias comes in). But Spiderman, I have no clue.

Spiderman wasn't bad for a superhero movie-- I suppose it helps that I didn't go in with high expectations so as long as it kept me entertained, I was happy. As far as special effects go, though, I think it would be LOTR hands down. Its special effects just felt more natural to me than those in either of the other two movies.

[noremac9]

Tdyans said:

Spiderman wasn't bad for a superhero movie-- I suppose it helps that I didn't go in with high expectations so as long as it kept me entertained, I was happy. As far as special effects go, though, I think it would be LOTR hands down. Its special effects just felt more natural to me than those in either of the other two movies.

Too bad I went into Spiderman with extremely high expectations. Mainly because everyone I'd talked to said, "Oh, it's the coolest movie! It was SOOO awesome!" so I expected a lot. Big mistake. I was severely disappointed, and thought it was a piece of junk. However, after renting it recently, after my expectations were subdued, I really enjoyed it. It's no great movie, but it's not bad ofr entertainment.

LOTR will win the special effects hands down...

-Norenac9