In the year 2000 Gladiator won Best Picture. That's a stupid Best Picture winner. But what would have been better? Erin Brockovich? Chocolat? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Even Traffic doesn't really hold up a decade later. 2000 was a pretty stupid film year and the Oscars awarded a stupid film. What else could they have done?
You can see my GABBY winners and nominees HERE
BEST PICTURE
You can see my GABBY winners and nominees HERE
BEST PICTURE
5. Chocolat - Juliette Binoche moves into a small village and opens a chocolate shop during lent. This awakens most but angers some. It's a cute little movie but in no way qualifies as a Best Picture contender. I was mad when Miramax bought themselves a seat in 1999 with The Cider House Rules but I almost understood it. That's a classy film based on a John Irving book that deals with abortion, so it checks a lot of boxes. This is a little ridiculous and delegitimizes the Academy Awards. When Oscars can be bought, what the hell are we doing here? The Weinstein brothers had a way of introducing a movie into the conversation that nobody was talking about. What was your favorite film of 2000, Traffic or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? I liked Chocolat. Chocolat? Dude, nobody was talking about that, but now that you mention it...
4. Erin Brockovich - Julia Roberts stars as a divorcee with 3 kids and no job. She gets a job at a law firm and uncovers a plot to hide the fact that water has been contaminated and is causing a lot of people to get sick. It's a "based on a true story" film which are usually more palatable to me than biopics but still hits the same tropes that I dislike. This movie is directed by Steven Soderbergh and edited by Anne V. Coates though so it is better than it has any right to be. It's a pretty good movie but seems out of place in this category.
3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Usually foreign films end up in the 5th slot but I gotta give credit to the visuals in this film and bump it up a couple slots. It almost feels unfair when a movie gets nominated in this category and Best Foreign Language Film. Like after they started that Best Animated Feature Film category and movies like Toy Story 3 and Up got nominated for Best Picture, you're not gonna vote for them twice, that's why we have those special categories. I know a lot of people love this movie but I find it hard to get into. It's got dazzling fight sequences but the story is just not enough for me. It's incredibly well made but I never thought about watching this a second time.
4. Gladiator - This is a fine and fun movie. It's not quite something I would call a Best Picture winner. I feel like we got duped here. None of the movies that came out at the end of the year took off as Oscar contenders so they had to look back over the summer releases and went, hey, remember Gladiator? This is one of those cases where an Oscar win makes it look legitimate, even if it's not. Gladiator wins Best Picture and now we think, oh, it was much more than just a swords and sandals adventure film, it had deeper meanings and themes. Not really, it's just a well made gladiator movie.
4. Gladiator - This is a fine and fun movie. It's not quite something I would call a Best Picture winner. I feel like we got duped here. None of the movies that came out at the end of the year took off as Oscar contenders so they had to look back over the summer releases and went, hey, remember Gladiator? This is one of those cases where an Oscar win makes it look legitimate, even if it's not. Gladiator wins Best Picture and now we think, oh, it was much more than just a swords and sandals adventure film, it had deeper meanings and themes. Not really, it's just a well made gladiator movie.
1. Traffic - This is an episodic look at drug trafficking, a collection of stories all about the same topic. Michael Douglas is the United States drug czar whose daughter is starting to experiment with drugs, Benicio Del Toro is an undercover cop in Mexico, Catherine Zeta-Jones is the pregnant wife of a big time drug dealer, Don Cheadle is a DEA agent trying to catch a big fish. It's a movie where you keep waiting for it to get to a point but it never really does. It's just a collection of stories but is really well made. All the stories are intercut beautifully and the movie moves at a great pace. It didn't stay with me as much as the other 2000 film about drugs, Requiem For A Dream, though.
A Best Picture winner should be something you want to watch more than once and the only one that fits that mold is Gladiator, so in that respect I condone the win. It shouldn't have been nominated, it shouldn't have won, but neither should any of the other films really, so what are you gonna do? I think it's weird that Gladiator won here as in the Best Director category Ridley Scott never really entered the conversation. He was nominated but that race was between Ang Lee and Steven Soderbergh, so the Academy recognized the artistic quality of Gladiator but wanted to award someone else for Best Director. It was a weak year anyway so it almost makes sense that the Oscar winner was weak too.
Oscar Winner: Gladiator
My Vote: Traffic
GABBY Winner: High Fidelity
BEST ACTOR
5. Russell Crowe - Gladiator - Ok, Crowe is appropriately bad ass and heroic in Gladiator but you can not convince me that this is a performance that deserves an Oscar. Especially after Crowe turned in Oscar worthy performances in L.A. Confidential and The Insider. This decision perplexed me in 2000 and angered me in 2001 when Crowe delivered yet another Oscar worthy performance in A Beautiful Mind but was basically thrown out of contention because they didn't want to give him 2 in a row. If you're gonna give Crowe an Oscar for Gladiator don't mock me when I want to consider someone like Sean Connery for The Rock.
4. Geoffrey Rush - Quills - This is not a film I expected to like but enjoyed very much. Rush plays the Marquis de Sade who is locked away in a mental institution because of his sexual deviancy. He gets tortured because he keeps writing dirty books about penises and vaginas and sex and while in the asylum he tries to sexually liberate the staff and fellow inmates. Rush is having a grand old time reveling in his ribaldry, it almost makes me wish he didn't win for Shine because I like this performance better and I'm searching for someone to vote for. He won too recently to warrant consideration but he is really good here.
3. Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls - Bardem plays Reinaldo Arenas a Cuban poet who was openly gay. The movie is basically the definition of an art house film. Every scene is lovingly shot and crafted but it's basically a biopic of a gay poet who was persecuted. It's an emotionally moving movie, mostly due to Bardem's performance, but the biopic-ness of it all makes me not want to vote for it. This is also Bardem's first nomination and you can definitely see talent and star potential in him but I'm glad they waited to honor him until he delivered a performance you couldn't argue with.
2. Tom Hanks - Cast Away - A FedEx employee boards a plane that crashes in the ocean and he ends up on a deserted island. He has no survival skills at all and has to learn to adapt to his new surroundings. When he first washes up on the island he is clean shaven and a little pudgy and then half way through the movie we hard cut to 4 years later and he has a big long beard and is emaciated. They shot down production for a year so Hanks could lose the weight but his performance is much more than just a physical transformation. After that time jump he is a completely different person, he has learned to survive but has lost a little control of his mind. The really impressive thing here is that this is basically a one man show and there aren't a lot of actors I would like to spend time with alone on a deserted island but Hanks fits that mold. A lot of the film is silent, there's an absence of music too which gives it a lonely and isolated feel, so you are basically just watching Hanks alone for over an hour. He's even able to make us feel for an inanimate object when he loses his only friend, in this case a volleyball. Point is, if Hanks hadn't won twice already, less than 10 years ago, I would have no second thoughts about voting for him. This is 2nd Oscar good, not quite sure about 3rd Oscar good.
1. Ed Harris - Pollock - Ed Harris was walking down the street one day and thought to himself, I'm tired of wearing wigs, what historical figure has the same baldness pattern as me? Oooh, Jackson Pollock looks a lot like me, maybe I can play him. He was also a tortured and bipolar artist? Me thinks I can get me an Oscar for that while I'm at it. I think that's how it went down, anyway, Harris plays Jackson Pollock in a standard biopic. Pollock is eccentric, he was bipolar but this was before they knew what that was, he has violent outbursts, he's also an alcoholic, he pisses in the fireplace and takes all these emotions and puts them on a canvas with splatter paint. Harris is good but I didn't much care for the film, biopics usually bore me, you're taking something as complex as a human life and narrowing it down to a 2 hour highlight reel. This one has no real framing device either it's basically just a re-enactment of his life. So I don't like the film but I'll explain in a second why he gets my vote.
2. Tom Hanks - Cast Away - A FedEx employee boards a plane that crashes in the ocean and he ends up on a deserted island. He has no survival skills at all and has to learn to adapt to his new surroundings. When he first washes up on the island he is clean shaven and a little pudgy and then half way through the movie we hard cut to 4 years later and he has a big long beard and is emaciated. They shot down production for a year so Hanks could lose the weight but his performance is much more than just a physical transformation. After that time jump he is a completely different person, he has learned to survive but has lost a little control of his mind. The really impressive thing here is that this is basically a one man show and there aren't a lot of actors I would like to spend time with alone on a deserted island but Hanks fits that mold. A lot of the film is silent, there's an absence of music too which gives it a lonely and isolated feel, so you are basically just watching Hanks alone for over an hour. He's even able to make us feel for an inanimate object when he loses his only friend, in this case a volleyball. Point is, if Hanks hadn't won twice already, less than 10 years ago, I would have no second thoughts about voting for him. This is 2nd Oscar good, not quite sure about 3rd Oscar good.
1. Ed Harris - Pollock - Ed Harris was walking down the street one day and thought to himself, I'm tired of wearing wigs, what historical figure has the same baldness pattern as me? Oooh, Jackson Pollock looks a lot like me, maybe I can play him. He was also a tortured and bipolar artist? Me thinks I can get me an Oscar for that while I'm at it. I think that's how it went down, anyway, Harris plays Jackson Pollock in a standard biopic. Pollock is eccentric, he was bipolar but this was before they knew what that was, he has violent outbursts, he's also an alcoholic, he pisses in the fireplace and takes all these emotions and puts them on a canvas with splatter paint. Harris is good but I didn't much care for the film, biopics usually bore me, you're taking something as complex as a human life and narrowing it down to a 2 hour highlight reel. This one has no real framing device either it's basically just a re-enactment of his life. So I don't like the film but I'll explain in a second why he gets my vote.
Based on performance alone, Hanks should have won this. This is a performance that wins an Oscar. Problem is, they screwed up and gave him 2. He can't win a 3rd in less than 10 years. Even Daniel Day-Lewis waited over 20 years. With Hanks out you could do a few things. Rush can't win because he won too recently. That leaves Bardem, Crowe and Harris. Bardem is on his first nomination in an art house film so let's remove him. Crowe got slighted last year, true, but do you want to give him an Oscar for Gladiator? Let's go with Harris who has been turning in solid performances for 20 years. Pollock isn't a great movie but Harris is a great actor and this was his passion project.
This was such a bad decision that it set off a number of other bad decisions. Russell Crowe wins here which means when he doesn't win next year for an actual performance worthy of an Oscar. Denzel wins for a performance that, while fun and hammy, can't really be called his best. Now he is out of the running for a few years because, just like Hanks this year, why give someone a 3rd Oscar when you can give someone else their first? So this decision sucks and I'm sure in about 20 years Ed Harris will show up in a respected film for 2 scenes and end up winning a long overdue Oscar that will set off another string of bad Oscar decisions.
Oscar Winner: Russell Crowe
This was such a bad decision that it set off a number of other bad decisions. Russell Crowe wins here which means when he doesn't win next year for an actual performance worthy of an Oscar. Denzel wins for a performance that, while fun and hammy, can't really be called his best. Now he is out of the running for a few years because, just like Hanks this year, why give someone a 3rd Oscar when you can give someone else their first? So this decision sucks and I'm sure in about 20 years Ed Harris will show up in a respected film for 2 scenes and end up winning a long overdue Oscar that will set off another string of bad Oscar decisions.
Oscar Winner: Russell Crowe
My Vote: Ed Harris
GABBY Winner: John Cusack for High Fidelity
BEST ACTRESS
GABBY Winner: John Cusack for High Fidelity
BEST ACTRESS
5. Juliette Binoche - Chocolat - Binoche plays a lady who runs a chocolate shop. She already won an Oscar for a Miramax movie I didn't think should have been nominated so let's move on.
4. Joan Allen - The Contender - I've seen this movie a couple of times and I keep wanting to like it more than I do. It's not a bad film, it's a good film, but it's not a great film, and I think that's my only problem with it. It should be a great film but it's just good and I can't figure out what is holding it back. Anyway, the vice president died suddenly and the president has to appoint someone else. He makes a point to give the job to a woman, Joan Allen, but they find some dirt on her that she was part of a fraternity orgy in college. Several people come forward to say the allegations are true but Allen refuses to admit or deny on the grounds that it is a personal matter and has nothing to do with politics or her job. Allen is very good in the role, she commands respect as a senator but also shows that she is deep down just a human being. She never plays the damsel in distress, she stands up to all of her accusers. It's a fine performance and I want Joan Allen to win an Oscar, this just doesn't feel like the right role or year.
3. Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich - There was no beating Julia Roberts this year, this was the year they decided that she deserved to win and they cemented it by giving Erin Brockovich a few more nominations other than just for her. She's perfectly fine in the role, she plays a divorcee with 3 kids who fights against the big guy when she discovers that there is a conspiracy to cover up water contamination. It's based on a true story and apparently the real Erin dressed provocatively and had big boobs so Julia is wearing push up bras to accentuate her bosom. This is not Julia's fault but once you get to a certain level of fame there are certain roles I find it hard to accept you in. Julia is the highest paid actress ever and she's playing a white trash mom who falls for a biker. Certainly if she was playing a drunk hobo I would have the same issues. I almost feel like she is too beautiful to play this role. The whole time she's complaining about not being able to find a job I keep thinking, why not try your hand at modeling?
2. Laura Linney - You Can Count On Me - This is Kenneth Lonergan's first film about a brother and sister. Their parents died at an early age and while that made Linney focus on family, her brother, played by Mark Ruffalo, started smoking pot and drifting. He comes back in town to borrow money but ends up being a surrogate father to her son. I absolutely adore Laura Linney, from the moment I first noticed her in The Truman Show I have wanted her to win an Oscar. This is her first nomination though, and much like Javier Bardem, you can see the star potential but she doesn't need to win this year, she'll get hers eventually.
1. Ellen Burstyn - Requiem For A Dream - Um, wow, this is just an incredible performance that moves me to tears every time I watch the film. Burstyn plays a lonely widowed woman whose son routinely steals her television for drug money. One day she gets a call saying that she qualified to be a contestant on a game show and that gives her a reason for living. She is depressed because she can't fit in to her favorite red dress anymore so she goes to the doctor and gets a prescription for diet pills. This starts an insane descent into addiction that spirals out of control. Her monologue about being lonely and old but hopeful that she will be on television so everyone can hear her talk about her son is impossible to watch without getting a lump in your throat.
I'm kinda OK with Julia winning because it's a decent performance and now we don't have to consider her for a veteran win that could possibly take away from a deserving actress. It would stink if she won a makeup Oscar for something like Closer or Mona Lisa Smile Burstyn already had a win and Allen and Linney will get better chances. I'm voting for Burstyn simply because she moved the shit out of me.
Oscar Winner: Julia Roberts
I'm kinda OK with Julia winning because it's a decent performance and now we don't have to consider her for a veteran win that could possibly take away from a deserving actress. It would stink if she won a makeup Oscar for something like Closer or Mona Lisa Smile Burstyn already had a win and Allen and Linney will get better chances. I'm voting for Burstyn simply because she moved the shit out of me.
Oscar Winner: Julia Roberts
My Vote: Ellen Burstyn
GABBY Winner: Renee Zellweger for Nurse Betty
I put Ellen Burstyn in the supporting category, otherwise she would have been my winner.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
GABBY Winner: Renee Zellweger for Nurse Betty
I put Ellen Burstyn in the supporting category, otherwise she would have been my winner.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
5. Joaquin Phoenix - Gladiator - While Gladiator was a fun movie, I did not enjoy Phoenix's performance as the emo emperor. He is the emperor's son who murders his father when he learns that he was planning on putting Maximus, Russell Crowe, in charge. I don't like when actors portray these types of characters in grand Shakespearean fashion but I also don't like when they make them too contemporary. The movie seems to exist in a certain time period and Phoenix seems to be in a music video. This was his breakout year, appearing in this, Quills and The Yards so the nomination is a nice little "welcome to the club" type deal but no way should this have won.
4. Benicio Del Toro - Traffic - Del Toro is a fine part in a terrific ensemble but his storyline was the least effective for me. He's a Mexican police officer who ends up trying to take down one cartel for the benefit of another. When he discovers the corruption he goes to the DEA in exchange for electricity in his neighborhood. Del Toro is good here but most of the performance is in Spanish and just like with every other foreign performance that has been nominated, I always connect more to an English language one than one in another language. Del Toro is a terrific actor who deserves an Oscar but this win seems more like a win for the movie than the performance.
3. Jeff Bridges - The Contender - What if The Dude was president? That's how Bridges plays this role and it works. Bridges is the president who needs to appoint a new vice president, he picks Joan Allen but some sexual indiscretions from her past surface. Gary Oldman plays the Republican senator who is leading the charge against Allen and has the showier part, you'd think he would get the nomination but instead they went with Bridges and after watching the movie again I tend to agree. Bridges never seems like he's acting, he just exists in movies, which is why he's so damn good all the time. He has a running joke about ordering food in the White House, he's been told that the chef will make anything he wants so he keep trying to stump them at one point coming in with a shark steak sandwich. He also gets the inspiring speech at the end of the film where he calls for both political parties to get together in a spirit of unity. It's a nice performance and Bridges definitely deserved an Oscar at this point in his career and I like this performance more than his Oscar winning one in Crazy Heart.
2. Albert Finney - Erin Brockovich - Speaking of people who deserve an Oscar. Tom Jones, Two For The Road, Scrooge, Murder On The Orient Express, Shoot The Moon, The Dresser, Under The Volcano, Miller's Crossing... these are just some of the films Finney was either nominated for and didn't win or wasn't nominated for but gave a performance worthy of recognition. This was his 5th nomination and he again walked away empty handed. Finney is always great and here he plays Ed Masry, the lawyer who hires Erin Brockovich after he fails to get her a settlement from a car accident. He's great at playing a befuddled man who is also incredibly smart. At first he doesn't believe Erin but then comes to see her as an equal. It's a good performance that, considering Finney's age, would not look bad as a career achievement win but there's one performance on this list that I can't not vote for.
1. Willem Dafoe - Shadow Of The Vampire - This is a meta horror film that presents an alternate history. It tells the story of the making of Nosferatu but in this movie the guy who played the vampire was indeed a vampire. Dafoe plays Max Shreck who is hired by director F. W. Murnau to play the vampire so they can get a sense of realism in the film. All the other actors and film crew think that he is a dedicated method actor who never breaks character but during breaks in filming he starts to feed on their blood. Dafoe disappears into the role to the point where the reenactments of the film looks like the actual footage. A lot of that work is done by the impressive makeup job but this is more than a stunt as Dafoe does an incredible job of getting to the heart of the character and making us feel sympathy for an ageless and lonely vampire.
Sometimes you vote for the actor, sometimes you vote for the performance. When Benicio Del Toro gets nominated for Traffic it feels right to vote for him. He's a good actor in a good movie. The movie has a great cast and he's the sole representative. I don't mind that he won but I gotta vote for an actor I love who gave a performance I love too.
Oscar Winner: Benicio Del Toro
My Vote: Willem Dafoe
GABBY Winner: Willem Dafoe
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
My Vote: Willem Dafoe
GABBY Winner: Willem Dafoe
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
5. Judi Dench - Chocolat - No matter how good Judi Dench is, and she's good, she's Dame Judi God Damn Dench, I can't vote for her because she didn't deserve the first Oscar they gave her. Maybe in 20 years I will reconsider but I can't give you a 2nd if you didn't earn the 1st. She won in 1998 for 7 minutes of screen time in Shakespeare In Love which was a make up for losing the year before. It's like they gave her a career achievement Oscar before her career really started, which is a shame because she's much better here as a the owner of Binoche's building and the old wise woman in the film than she was as Queen Elizabeth.
4. Kate Hudson - Almost Famous - Hudson plays Penny Lane, a rock groupie but she's not really a groupie, she's a "band-aid", she doesn't have sex with musicians, she inspires them. She seems to be stoned all the time and follows a band around but has a romantic subplot with the lead guitarist. Hudson seemed to be the front runner going into Oscar night but I never understood that. She's good in the film and you can see some star potential but this performance and this role isn't necessarily Oscar worthy.
3. Marcia Gay Harden - Pollock - Harden plays Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock's manager and then wife. She has some nice moments in the film. He wants a baby but she refuses because of his mental issues, he cheats on her but she refuses to grant him a divorce. She basically plays the supportive wife role for most of the movie but she's a strong character.
2. Frances McDormand - Almost Famous - McDormand is consistently terrific. In Almost Famous she plays an overprotective mother and she was also good this year in Wonder Boys. This is a real supporting performance, the movie is about a young kid following his dreams of being a reporter and he goes on the road with a rock band. McDormand is his mother who is afraid that he'll take drugs and her presence is felt throughout the movie. He keeps calling his mom and she keeps worrying about him but not in an overbearing way, she is a real human being who is worried about her son.
1. Julie Walters - Billy Elliot - Billy Elliot is one of those cute British films where normal people do things to either raise money or better themselves, like Kinky Boots, The Full Monty, Calendar Girls or Saving Grace. In this movie a young boy is taking boxing lessons when he gets enamored by a ballet class that is going on in the same room. He takes ballet lessons much to the chagrin of his stern father who thinks ballet isn't for boys. Walters plays the chain smoking ballet instructor who takes a shine to Billy and encourages him. It's a fun and funny performance, Billy is also not the brightest child so she has some very funny moments trying to talk to him on his level. She's like a female Mickey from Rocky and handles the part well.
Hudson was poised to follow in the footsteps of Mira Sorvino, Angelina Jolie and to a lesser extent her mother, Goldie Hawn, the young ingenue who breaks out in a well liked film and wins an Oscar. Instead Marcia Gay Harden won which is kind of weird. Pollock was Ed Harris's passion project so instead of giving an Oscar to Harris they give one to Harden. It would be like if Mare Winningham won an Oscar for Georgia, Jennifer Jason Leigh produces and acts her heart out and they give an Oscar to her sister. Harden is good in the film, not great but that's because the movie is forgettable, but she's good. I'm voting for Julie Walters for the same reason I voted for Harris, she's a good actress who deserves an Oscar. She could have won in 1983 for Educating Rita but that was the year of Terms Of Endearment and nobody was beating Shirley MacLaine. If I was voting strictly on performance I would pick McDormand but she just won an Oscar so I'll spread the wealth and pick Walters. I'm not upset that Harden won, it's a much better choice than the one we all thought was going to happen. Kate Hudson is fine in Almost Famous but her later work hasn't lived up to an Oscar level status.
Oscar Winner: Marcia Gay Harden
Hudson was poised to follow in the footsteps of Mira Sorvino, Angelina Jolie and to a lesser extent her mother, Goldie Hawn, the young ingenue who breaks out in a well liked film and wins an Oscar. Instead Marcia Gay Harden won which is kind of weird. Pollock was Ed Harris's passion project so instead of giving an Oscar to Harris they give one to Harden. It would be like if Mare Winningham won an Oscar for Georgia, Jennifer Jason Leigh produces and acts her heart out and they give an Oscar to her sister. Harden is good in the film, not great but that's because the movie is forgettable, but she's good. I'm voting for Julie Walters for the same reason I voted for Harris, she's a good actress who deserves an Oscar. She could have won in 1983 for Educating Rita but that was the year of Terms Of Endearment and nobody was beating Shirley MacLaine. If I was voting strictly on performance I would pick McDormand but she just won an Oscar so I'll spread the wealth and pick Walters. I'm not upset that Harden won, it's a much better choice than the one we all thought was going to happen. Kate Hudson is fine in Almost Famous but her later work hasn't lived up to an Oscar level status.
Oscar Winner: Marcia Gay Harden
My Vote: Julie Walters
GABBY Winner: Ellen Burstyn for Requiem For A Dream
Best Director
Steven Soderbergh not only beat out Ang Lee, Ridley Scott and Stephen Daldry but also himself. He won for Traffic and was also nominated for Erin Brockovich, the first director to get nominated twice in the same year since 1938. It's a good thing Erin Brockovich isn't really an Oscar worthy film because it might have caused a vote split. Soderbergh would have been my choice too as he not only orchestrated all the story lines in Traffic well but should have been nominated 2 years earlier for Out Of Sight.
Best Original Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay
Cameron Crowe wins Original Screenplay for Almost Famous, he's never won before and this is his autobiographical love letter to rick music so I condone the win even if I would have voted for You Can Count On Me. What the hell is Gladiator doing here? Traffic wins for Adapted Screenplay which is a good choice as it was up against Chocolat and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. I like the Coen Brothers's dust bowl comedy but calling it an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey is a bit of a stretch.
Best Foreign Language Film
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wins. Anything else winning would make absolutely no sense. If a movie is good enough to be nominated for Best Picture it damn sure better be good enough to win in this category against movies not nominated for Best Picture.
Best Original Score/Song
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wins Score in an extremely weak category, up against Gladiator, The Patriot, Malena and Chocolat. Bob Dylan wins Best Song for Things Have Changed from Wonder Boys in another weak category, quick hum the tunes from Meet The Parents, Dancer In The Dark, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or The Emperor's New Groove.
Best Sound/Sound Editing
Gladiator wins Best Sound which is a win I can get behind. The Best Sound Effects Editing category only had 2 nominees, Space Cowboys and the winner U-571, not sure why movies like Gladiator or The Perfect Storm or The Patriot or especially Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon couldn't get a nomination.
Best Art Direction/Cinematography
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wins both categories fairly. It had no competition in the Art Direction category, O Brother, Where Art Thou? probably should have won Best Cinematography but it's cooler to have Roger Deakins keep losing. At a certain point, once you've lost so many Oscars for exceptional work you probably want to keep your streak alive.
Best Makeup
Rick Baker wins his 1,245th Oscar for turning Jim Carrey into the Grinch in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. It's a worthy winner but given the choice I would pick the better movie and pick Shadow Of The Vampire, unless the Oscar was for most makeup, but now thinking about it the whos looked horrifying in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, but I didn't like much of anything in that film.
Best Costume Design
Gladiator wins. That seems silly until you look at the competition, How The Grinch Stole Christmas? 102 Dalmatians?
Best Film Editing
Traffic wins for weaving all the story lines together into a tense narrative.
Best Visual Effects
Gladiator is the classy choice but the special effects in Hollow Man and The Perfect Storm were a little more impressive. Although Gladiator did resurrect Oliver Reed from the dead.
Up Next
GABBY Winner: Ellen Burstyn for Requiem For A Dream
Best Director
Steven Soderbergh not only beat out Ang Lee, Ridley Scott and Stephen Daldry but also himself. He won for Traffic and was also nominated for Erin Brockovich, the first director to get nominated twice in the same year since 1938. It's a good thing Erin Brockovich isn't really an Oscar worthy film because it might have caused a vote split. Soderbergh would have been my choice too as he not only orchestrated all the story lines in Traffic well but should have been nominated 2 years earlier for Out Of Sight.
Best Original Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay
Cameron Crowe wins Original Screenplay for Almost Famous, he's never won before and this is his autobiographical love letter to rick music so I condone the win even if I would have voted for You Can Count On Me. What the hell is Gladiator doing here? Traffic wins for Adapted Screenplay which is a good choice as it was up against Chocolat and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. I like the Coen Brothers's dust bowl comedy but calling it an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey is a bit of a stretch.
Best Foreign Language Film
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wins. Anything else winning would make absolutely no sense. If a movie is good enough to be nominated for Best Picture it damn sure better be good enough to win in this category against movies not nominated for Best Picture.
Best Original Score/Song
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wins Score in an extremely weak category, up against Gladiator, The Patriot, Malena and Chocolat. Bob Dylan wins Best Song for Things Have Changed from Wonder Boys in another weak category, quick hum the tunes from Meet The Parents, Dancer In The Dark, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or The Emperor's New Groove.
Best Sound/Sound Editing
Gladiator wins Best Sound which is a win I can get behind. The Best Sound Effects Editing category only had 2 nominees, Space Cowboys and the winner U-571, not sure why movies like Gladiator or The Perfect Storm or The Patriot or especially Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon couldn't get a nomination.
Best Art Direction/Cinematography
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wins both categories fairly. It had no competition in the Art Direction category, O Brother, Where Art Thou? probably should have won Best Cinematography but it's cooler to have Roger Deakins keep losing. At a certain point, once you've lost so many Oscars for exceptional work you probably want to keep your streak alive.
Best Makeup
Rick Baker wins his 1,245th Oscar for turning Jim Carrey into the Grinch in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. It's a worthy winner but given the choice I would pick the better movie and pick Shadow Of The Vampire, unless the Oscar was for most makeup, but now thinking about it the whos looked horrifying in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, but I didn't like much of anything in that film.
Best Costume Design
Gladiator wins. That seems silly until you look at the competition, How The Grinch Stole Christmas? 102 Dalmatians?
Best Film Editing
Traffic wins for weaving all the story lines together into a tense narrative.
Best Visual Effects
Gladiator is the classy choice but the special effects in Hollow Man and The Perfect Storm were a little more impressive. Although Gladiator did resurrect Oliver Reed from the dead.
Up Next
2007
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