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Academy nominees revealed Award season is now truly upon us as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced this year’s Oscar nominees on Tuesday morning. With less than 40 days left until the envelopes are opened, be rest assured critics and movie buffs alike are debating this year’s nominations faster than you can say, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" Award season is now truly upon us as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced this year’s Oscar nominees on Tuesday morning. With less than 40 days left until the envelopes are opened, be rest assured critics and movie buffs alike are debating this year’s nominations faster than you can say, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" The Academy, with a reputation for "surprising" results, seems to be returning to its Hollywood, "big studio" roots after a few years of poking its nose in indie fare the last few times at the podium. Miramax studio, Bob and Harvey Weinstein’s indie dream factory, is left with only one Best Picture nominee, the under powering "Cider House Rules." Expect a large marketing blitz as usual from the Weinstein camp aimed at swaying Academy voters to the Miramax side (or even buying an Oscar as some have suggested—say what you will, "Shakespeare in Love" winning Best Picture last year was a miracle of marketing, not filmmaking). Nostalgia did nothing to garner a nod for
the late Stanley Kubrick or his final film, "Eyes Wide
Shut," and Martin Scorsese ("Bringing Out The
Dead") will probably never win an Oscar that isn’t a
lifetime achievement award. Another small surprise this year, though, was Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s vulgar cartoon epic "South Park" scoring a nomination in the Best Song category (Note to South Park Fans: You won’t see Celine Dion belting the film’s title track "Uncle F---a’" come awards night. "Blame Canada" won the nomination.) But even in a truly strange year with nominations all over the board, what would the Oscars be without a few friendly predictions, a few insider opinions and a few not so friendly omissions in some of the major categories? Best Picture: "American Beauty," "The Cider House Rules," "The Green Mile," "The Insider," and "The Sixth Sense." Notably missing from the group of nominees was Anthony Minghella’s "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and Norman Jewison’s "The Hurricane," but "The Green Mile" did earn a nomination even after being virtually shut out at the Golden Globes. In a race too close to call, expect three films to duke it out for the gold. "American Beauty" has the edge, but may be a little bit too edgy for older voters. "The Green Mile" is a strong Tom Hanks movie directed by Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption"), but may suffer from a "been there, done that" attitude despite "Mile’s" box office staying power. "The Insider," a true-life epic about ordinary men thrust into the extraordinary (tobacco takes a back seat in this film to character development), has a sluggish box office record and suffers from an overly long running-time. Predicted Winner: "American Beauty" Best Actor: Russell Crowe, "The Insider;" Richard Farnsworth, "The Straight Story;" Sean Penn, "Sweet and Lowdown;" Kevin Spacey, "American Beauty;" Denzel Washington, "The Hurricane." Leave it again to the academy to snub Jim Carrey whose unbelievable performance as Andy Kaufman in "Man on the Moon" proved that he not only can talk out of his behind, but can handle a dramatic role with depth and charisma. Without Carrey’s nod, the category still has two nominated actors who portrayed real-life people, and it is those two performers who have the edge in this category. While Spacey’s Lester Burnham in "American Beauty" proved to be a beautiful performance of middle-classed angst, it’s the fury of Washington and the transformation of Crowe that really stand out as powerhouse contenders. Washington’s portrayal of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter not only delivered the raw power of a once invincible boxer filled with hate and anger, but also a man who has become a stoic, quietly distancing himself from everything he cares about due to his wronged incarceration. Crowe’s quiet, subdued performance as tobacco scientist Jeffrey Wigand is the best of the actor’s already distinguished career (yes, I know he starred in "Mystery Alaska") and succeeds in giving us the vulnerability of an ordinary man who is losing everything he holds dear. Predicted Winner: Russell Crowe Best Actress: Annette Bening, "American Beauty;" Janet McTeer, "Tumbleweeds;" Julianne Moore, "The End of the Affair;" Meryl Streep, "Music of the Heart;" Hilary Swank, "Boys Don’t Cry." It wouldn’t be the Oscars if Streep wasn’t nominated for Oscar gold (this is her 12th nomination), but she has nothing on this category’s clear-cut winner, Swank. While Moore and Bening turned in worthy performances, Swank gives us a strong performance that crosses gender lines. Her portrayal of Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon is what the Academy goes for: strong yet vulnerable in a category that always seems to award first-time nominees. The best thing going for Swank, however, is her relative unknown status, another Academy plus. (She’s still unknown even if you count her forgotten performance in the "Next Karate Kid.") Predicted Winner: Hilary Swank Best Supporting Actor: Michael Caine, "The Cider House Rules;" Tom Cruise, "Magnolia;" Michael Clarke Duncan, "The Green Mile;" Jude Law, "The Talented Mr. Ripley;" Haley Joel Osment, "The Sixth Sense." Probably the best category because of the diverse talent it has honored: Robin Williams, Joe Pesci, Martin Landau and Denzel Washington are all supporting actor winners. So it comes as no surprise to see another eclectic batch of talent assembled in this year’s group of nominees. As with most categories this year, it’s easy to narrow it down to three: Cruise, Osment and Duncan. Osment gave a remarkably mature performance in "Sense" and "Mile’s" Duncan gave a gentle performance that transcended his incredible physical size, but these two performers will probably suffer from "Academy fixing" on awards night. Cruise—always a nominee, never a winner—will probably walk off with the title due to his history of snubs. The most notable on the list is his Best Actor miss for "Jerry Maguire," that will most likely be "righted" with a win for "Magnolia." Cruise’s performance is top-notch, but in a category filled with so many great performances, it’s hard to single out just one. Predicted Winner: Tom Cruise Best Supporting Actress: Toni Collette, "The Sixth Sense;" Angelina Jolie "Girl, Interrupted;" Catherine Keener, "Being John Malkovich;" Samantha Morton, "Sweet and Lowdown;" Chloë Sevigny, "Boys Don’t Cry." A category that can definitely go in two directions: comedy or drama. If the Academy chooses to honor the latter, expect Sevigny to win for her performance in "Boys Don’t Cry" or Jolie for "Girl, Interrupted." If the Academy voters feel compelled to vote for comedy (they rarely ever do), Keener is a definite winner for "Being John Malkovich." Best Supporting Actress is another category that seems to transcend the academy norms and award what they feel is the "unique" performance. If that’s the case, expect "Malkovich" star Keener to get inside Oscar’s head on awards night. Predicted Winner: Catherine Keener Best Director: Sam Mendes, "American Beauty;" Spike Jonze, "Being John Malkovich;" Lasse Hallstrom, "The Cider House Rules;" Michael Mann, "The Insider;" M. Night Shyamalan, "The Sixth Sense." Unfortunately, the most deserving winner in this category has been omitted due to the academy’s belief that "if your movie might not be typical Oscar material, we’re going to ignore the direction as well." This year’s recipient of "the most deserving director who can’t win" award is Tim Burton ("Batman," "Ed Wood"). Granted "Sleepy Hollow" is basically a fun horror/action B movie, but it has style, substance and overall beauty courtesy of Tim Burton’s visionary direction. "Hollow" scored nominations in both the cinematography and production design categories that are always used as indicators to the Best Director Award, but Burton will instead have to be content with "Hollow’s" large box office take. Since the Academy doesn’t normally split the vote between Best Picture and Director (Spielberg’s win last year being one of the few exceptions), expect theatre alum and first time nominee Mendes’ simple, elegant direction for "American Beauty" to take home the golden boy. Predicted Winner: Sam Mendes The envelopes are slated to be opened March 26 in a newly redesigned award show that is reportedly being directed by MTV award show alums. Billy Crystal is slated to take over this year’s hosting duties. (Here’s hoping that he performs a little song and dance titled "I see dead people.") Until then, your guess is as good as mine. For a short list of the nominees click here |
