Wednesday, February 12, 2003
On the road to the Oscars - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER – Yesterday morning, Hollywood, and the rest of the world, woke up to news as to whom the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded nominations to for their 75th Annual Academy Awards. In this space yesterday, I set forth my predictions in the major categories: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. Of a possible 30 out of 30 score, I nailed down 26 correct nominees (an 87% average).
To wit: For Best Picture, I predicted four of the five films that eventually took nominations. I had said, instead of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, My Big Fat Greek Wedding could score a nomination for the big award. Alas, at the end of the morning, only one nomination was given to the biggest indie hit in history. Nia Vardalos only got a writing nomination for her screenplay. I suppose that My Big Fat Greek Wedding, lost its momentum after it did not score many nominations at the Independent Film Awards (the Spirit Awards), nor did it win any Golden Globes.
For Best Director, I was four out of five. I mistakenly tapped Peter Jackson for The Lord of The Rings, whilst it was Pedro Almodovar – a total surprise – who took a nod for his Spanish film, Talk To Her. Martin Scorsese receives his sixth nomination for Gangs of New York, as Roman Polanski nabs his fifth. Both have not won Oscars in their equally brilliant, yet dissimilar careers in film. If Rob Marshall, who helmed Chicago, wins, he will join recent Best Director winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty) in the special group of directors who've won the Oscar for their first films.
For the Best Actor and Best Actress awards, I was dead on with five out of five in each. I knew Richard Gere did not have the moxie with Academy members to score a nomination. It's regrettable, but the Academy too, can get very political. Those who did get nominations make for an interesting bunch. Sans The Pianist's Adrien Brody, all the other nominees for Best Actor this year have at least one Oscar to their name. Daniel Day-Lewis won this award in 1990 for My Left Foot, Nicolas Cage did the same in 1996 with Leaving Las Vegas, and Michael Caine has two Best Supporting Actor trophies under his belt for 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters and 1999's Cider House Rules. And of course Jack. Jack Nicholson won this very award in 1997 for As Good As It Gets, and in 1975 with his turn in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. In 1984, he scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar statue for his work in Terms of Endearment. For About Schmidt, Nicholson receives his 12th Academy Award nomination, tying him with Katherine Hepburn. He adds one more nod to his record as the most honoured male actor in Academy history, when it comes to nominations. (If he wins, he'll tie The Great Kate, who won four Oscar statuettes herself.)
For Best Actress, Nicole Kidman (The Hours) and Renee Zellweger (Chicago) make return appearances in this category. They were here last year for Moulin Rouge and Bridget Jones' Diary, respectively. Julianne Moore makes her second appearance in this category for her performance in Far From Heaven. This is Miss Moore's third overall nomination. Salma Hayek is a newcomer, scoring her first ever nomination, as did Diane Lane.
For Best Supporting Actor, I was four out of five. Dennis Quaid did not get the nomination I thought he would for Far From Heaven. Like Richard Gere, though both did turn in decent performances, their past acting fluff has not served them in good stead in the eyes of the Academy. Chris Cooper (Adaptation) and John C. Reilly (Chicago) got their first Oscar nods, while Christopher Walken gets his second, winning this very award in 1977 for The Deer Hunter. Paul Newman is nominated as well, for his chilling role in Road To Perdition. This is Newman's 10th nomination putting him on par with Lord Lawrence Olivier and Bette Davis. Newman's got an acting Oscar of his own, winning the Best Actor award in 1986 for The Color of Money, as well as two other statuettes: the Honorary Oscar he got in 1985 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award he received in 1993.
Speaking of the Honorary Oscar, Peter O'Toole, the fine British thespian, is tapped to get the said Honorary Oscar this year for his admirable body of work. O'Toole has seven Oscar nominations and no wins under his belt, partly the reason why he was given the award by the Academy's Board of Governors. The colourful O'Toole however, has since written the Academy informing them he wishes to get the award in ten years, as he'd like the chance to win "the bugger" outright, himself. I guess O'Toole thinks that if he gets this lifetime achievement award, it'll be lights out for his career. Alas, Mr. Newman proves him wrong. Newman got the Honorary Oscar in 1985, and went on to win the Best Actor award a year later. Plus, he came back in 1994 scoring another nod, and of course this 10th career nomination this year. I wonder if Mr. O'Toole will indeed show up. If not, Gil Cates can be thankful. At least his show will be lighter, time wise.
For Best Supporting Actress, like its male counterpart, I was four out of five. I thought Michelle Pfeiffer would get a nod, and that Catherine Zeta-Jones would get nothing. The same thing happened to Mrs. Douglas in 2000 with her well-done turn in Traffic. She was touted to get the nod, but she didn't. She's proved that theory wrong with her nomination for Chicago this year. I suppose though that she and Queen Latifah will cancel each other out, as they're from the same film. And even though it's all politics, Meryl Streep must be just a little bit honoured as she's scored her 13th overall nomination for her supporting turn in Adaptation. Even if she doesn't win, she's already got two Oscars, winning in this category in 1979 for Kramer Vs. Kramer, and in the big one (Best Actress) for 1982's Sophie's Choice. With 13 nods, she's passed Katherine Hepburn's record of 12 remarkable nominations.
- 30 -
Questions and comments may be sent to: editor@thecommentary.ca
An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .