Archive through February 14, 2002

The ClubHouse: Archives: Oscar Talk: Archive through February 14, 2002

Crazydog

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 12:13 pm Click here to edit this post
I know it's a bit early (nominations won't be announced until next week), but I am hoping there are some here that love to speculate about the Oscars as much as I do. I've found that in my circle of friends and family, no one really seems to care as much as I do! Here are my picks for who I'd like to see win, and who I think will probably win.

Best Supporting Actress:
Although momentum seems to be with Jennifer Connelly in "A Beautiful Mind", I would absolutely love to see MAGGIE SMITH win for her marvelously acidic portrayal of English nobility in "Gosford Park". Rarely have I been so passionate about a performance that I would be willing to campaign for it. Unfortunately, Smith's supporters will likely be divided by support for the equally excellent Helen Mirren in the same movie for her role as the perfectly discrete but tortured servant.

Best Supporting Actor:
Don't really know much about this category... I have never even heard of the winner of the Golden Globe, Jim Broadbent, so I will pass on this one.

Best Actress:
The winner definitely be one of these three women: Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek, or Halle Berry. Personally I would love to see HALLE BERRY win for her courageous role in "Monster's Ball". However, this seems to be Sissy Spacek's year. Everyone is talking about how this is such a comeback triumph for her, but if Halle cannot win, I would be happy to see Nicole Kidman win. She has had a rough year personally, and a personal comeback should merit in my mind just as much praise.

Best Actor:
I hope and think RUSSELL CROWE will win. His portrayal of John Nash was fantastic, even down to his mannerisms, speech patterns and movement. So what if he won last year? Denzel Washington's role is unsympathetic, and Will Smith's movie was a critical bomb. The only way one of these two win is if they ride the wave of support for the African-American actor. All the articles are making much ballyhoo about the potential for a "historical" nomination/award. Personally I think acting (and life) should be judged without reference to race, and Russell Crowe was outstanding. Halle Berry's perspective on this "historical" possibility was great - can't remember the exact words but I thought she said something about how she doesn't think the lack of black nominees has been discrimination, it's the fact that there haven't been that many Oscar-caliber roles.

Best Picture:
I think "A Beautiful Mind" will win. But on a purely entertaining level, THE LORD OF THE RINGS was magnificent. The story was great, the cast was terrific, and the special effects and sets were unbelievable. I also greatly enjoyed GOSFORD PARK, although I don't think it stands a chance.

Car54

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 01:07 pm Click here to edit this post
Crazydog, I thought this when you posted in the Golden Globes thread. You are awesome- you seem to know so much about the movies and you write so well. Are you Roger Ebert? :)

Micknrc

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 02:33 pm Click here to edit this post
Crazy--

I agree with so much here. I haven't seen everything, but all i can say is..

Russell, Russell, and more Russell!

I'm hoping they don't rob him b/c of last year's win.

Jim Broadbent is a great English character actor, (he's one of those who shows up in almost everything--you'd recognize him probably if you saw him without goofy Moulin Rouge makeup. Frankly, I thought that except from an art direction and choreography standpoint, Moulin Rouge is the most overrated movie of the year and the fact that it won so much at the globes has more to do with the lack of quality films to come out this year until just this past month.

I hope Lord of the Rings isn't passed over as puer "entertainment" value...

Labmouse

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 02:54 pm Click here to edit this post
Opie Taylor (Sheriff Taylor's boy)...oops...I meant Ron Howard (Rance Howard's boy)...for Best Director..."A Beautiful Mind".

It ain't easy directing Russell Crowe.

Aussiedeb

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 04:26 pm Click here to edit this post
I have gotta say for Best Actor...Russell Crowe.. and for Best Actress.. Nicole Kidman...now im being partial...i reckon it would be great to see her win the Oscar and stick it to Tommy...i used to like him, but as most aussies in the US now...what he did to her was just plain mean...ohh im hateful tonite lol

Juju2bigdog

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 05:13 pm Click here to edit this post
Hahahahaha, Aussiedeb, we were in Australia just after the Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman break-up was announced. The Aussies take that stuff very seriously it seems.

Crazydog

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 07:20 pm Click here to edit this post
Thanks Car, I appreciate the compliment. LOL I wish I were as knowledgeable as I seem! Should have been a film critic, it certainly would be a fun job!

Labmouse, thanks for reminding me, I forgot about Best Director. I honestly think this one is a complete tossup between Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) and Robert Altman (Gosford Park). I would like to see ROBERT ALTMAN win, but only because I so loved Gosford Park.

The difficulty is that Gosford Park has not been fully well received... I took my parents to see it. Both of them are very intelligent. My mother was completely confused - she thought there were way too many characters and kept losing track of who was who. And while I found the "solution" to be fairly obvious, she was completely clueless and I had to spend ten minutes in the car explaining the whole movie to her. My father was utterly confused and horrifically bored out of his mind, so much so that he fell asleep. I have friends who also did not care for the movie and likewise found it to be a snoozefest. But the beauty of Gosford Park lies not in the actual action but observing the interaction between the upper class themselves, the upper class and their servants, and the servants themselves. It was such a vivid depiction of life in 1930s England. If you haven't seen this movie, give it a chance. Unless Ron Howard rides the wave for "A Beautiful Mind", I think Robert Altman will win, in part because some may view it as a chance to honor him for his lifetime achievements.

Kitty

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 07:32 pm Click here to edit this post
Crazy, I agree with most of your picks. For best supporting actor I would like to see Gordon Pinsent get the nod for The Shipping News. The performances by Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchette, and Judi Dench were great, but Pinsent stole the show. Unfortunately he is an unknown (outside of Canada) actor and won't get nominated... but if I was voting, that's who I would pick.

Knightpatti

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 08:01 pm Click here to edit this post
Did anyone see "A Beautiful Mind? What is it about? Personally, I loved Lord of the Rings.

Labmouse

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 09:35 pm Click here to edit this post
Crazydog, I don't know how true this is, but on the "Regis and Kelly Show" today, their hollywood reporter said that Robert Altman killed any chance he had of winning an Oscar for best director by making "unpatriotic remarks". She was very vehement about this. She sounded like she had the proof to back up her assertions.

Solidsnake

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 10:45 pm Click here to edit this post
Best Actor: Crowe ( as always the academy will deny the black man his oscar.. you should know who im talking about )

Best Actress: Sissy hands down

Best supporting actor: unknown fellow

Best supporting actress: Hottie from Beautifull mind

Best Director: Ron Howard ( Peter Jackson will get snubbed again like he was at the globes )

Best Movie: Lord of Rings ( movie was on top for 4 straight weeks the academy has to recognize that n hand an oscar..wouldnt be suprised if it got snubbed again )

I like to take this moment to say that Denzel Washington should be given an oscar for his role in training day.

He has been nominated for i think if im not mistaken 3 years in a row now for best actor and he gets snubbed all the time.

I think it was plane how he got snubbed again at the Globes and whatever everyone may say... His portrail as Hurricane was the best acting done last year hands down and he should have won...

Denzel will probably get snubbed again this year as usual..If i was him id pull an ODB.. ODB is a rapper who couple of years ago caused a scene at the grammys when he ran up on stage and started cursing cause his group that he raps with got snubbed...

the next year ODB got a grammy.. so it could work for denzel.. who knows.. but those r my picks..

Crazydog

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 09:01 am Click here to edit this post
Solidsnake, I appreciate your contribution to the discussion and your opinions, but I take issue with your "black conspiracy" theory. As mentioned above, in an Entertainment Weekly story Halle Berry herself thinks that it is not discrimination that causes a lack of black nominees but that there have not been many quality roles. I believe Angela Bassett said the same thing some years ago as well.

I do not understand why year in and year out, people complain whenever there are few black nominees. Every year in movies, there are very few performances that are truly Oscar caliber. Of those performances, there are only a handful that are turned in by black actors, simply because there are very few Oscar caliber black actors. I think that four of the greatest actors active in movies today are black - Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Halle Berry. (I don't consider Will Smith a particularly good actor.) Just because one of their performances doesn't win an Oscar doesn't mean that there is a conspiracy.

And why are the conspiracy activists limited to black actors only? Why are there so few Hispanic nominees? Perhaps because there are so few quality Hispanic actors. Does this mean that a horrible actress like Penelope "Beard" Cruz should be nominated every year, just to ensure that there is a Hispanic female among the contenders? Why are there never any Asian nominees? How can movies like The Last Emperor and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon receive Best Picture wins/noms and yet their entire casts are ignored?

I think Denzel Washington is one of the finest actors in the business today. As testament to that, the industry has recognized him for his achievement. Unlike the Asian actors in Emperor and Tiger, he has been nominated at times when his movies are not as well received and are not Best Picture contenders. It is not difficult to do great work when you have great material to begin with... case in point is Jennifer Connelly, who will likely win for a very wooden performance. A truly great actor can turn in an Oscar worthy performance when given material that is not as great. Denzel Washington has proven this time and again, as did Julia Roberts, who turned what could have been a fluff laughingstock white trash character in Erin Brockovich into an Oscar.

Denzel to the best of my knowledge has not been nominated every year for the past three years, as you say. He was nominated for, and won, Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for his magnificent role as a defiant soldier in Glory. He was then nominated for Best Actor about five years later for Malcolm X. And two years ago he was nominated for the Hurricane. I thought he was great in the Hurricane, and he lost to Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. The problem there was that criticism of the historical inaccuracies in his movie began building between the time he won the Golden Globe and the Oscar voting. Momentum is everything in the Oscar race. Cate Blanchett was superb as Elizabeth and won the Golden Globe. Many thought she would go on to win the Oscar, but Gwyneth Paltrow was everywhere in the media in those two months and ended up with the Oscar for a far less commanding role in Shakespeare in Love.

I think it is an honor to be nominated, and just because Denzel doesn't win everytime is in no sense a snub. Plenty of actors and actresses of all races get snubbed every year, and to even be considered for a nomination (even if he doesn't ultimately get one) almost every year is an indication of how much respect he has in Hollywood. If there truly is a conspiracy, there are plenty of classification groups that should be screaming right now about how they get ignored just about every year, including Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, fat actors, gay actors, and generally, young males under the age of 30 (young female ingenues seem to have no problem - witness in recent times Angelina Jolie, Anna Paquin, Mira Sorvino and Oscar punchline Marisa Tomei).

As far as pulling an "ODB", personally I think any actor who pulls a stunt like that would never work in Hollywood again. Absolutely classless.

Pcakes2

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 09:19 am Click here to edit this post
"simply because there are very few Oscar caliber black actors." and "Perhaps because there are so few quality Hispanic actors. "

CrazyDog, I am hoping that you really didn't mean to say this. And as for "there are plenty of classification groups that should be screaming right now about how they get ignored just about every year, including Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, fat actors, gay actors, and generally, young males under the age of 30...they do!

Whowhere

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 09:29 am Click here to edit this post
Wow! I hope she didn't mean that either.

Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett etc. etc. etc.

Totally Oscar caliber IMO.

Crazydog

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 10:08 am Click here to edit this post
Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. When I said "few" I didn't mean "few" as in "none", I meant "few" as in "not as many as one would hope". I also didn't mean to offend anyone with my post above in general... I just dislike the politicalness of all the awards shows and the campaigning that goes on by each interest group. I think that people, and actors, should be judged based on merit and talent, and not on race, age, or any other classification. Oscars should be awarded on the basis of the best performance, and not about worrying whether or not they are being PC. That's all I meant to try to impart above.

Solidsnake

Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 11:17 am Click here to edit this post
I respectfully disagree Crazydog.

the best picture category is a totally diff. topic. My issue is with the best actor field.

So denzel has been nominated a couple of times but thats just to please everyone and keep the minority factions quiet.

I think Halle is just saying what she did so she can continue to work in Hollywood and get the big roles. Its plain and simple fact that the Oscars do not prefer minority.

Denzel won his Oscar 22 years ago and that is justified and he should be happy with it? come on... Denzel is a far better actor than any clowns that are out today.

The grammys did the same thing a couple of years ago too snubbing minority artists until there was an uproar and they were forced to recognize minority..

Like you say crazy... actors should be judged on merit and talent well to me Deznel has plenty of merit and talent and needs to be given an award.. being recognized is BS and doesnt mean a thing.

Crazydog

Monday, February 11, 2002 - 09:27 am Click here to edit this post
Bumping this up as nominations will be announced tomorrow.

I really didn't intend for this discussion to degenerate into an examination of racial (and other) discrimination.... I just wanted to talk about the Oscars with someone and I didn't intend to set out to offend anyone.

Inevitably, however, some people will get snubbed tomorrow. Already many are saying that Will Smith is an almost certain lock for a "snub". On the other hand, many say that Jon Voight's chances for Supporting Actor for the same, widely disliked movie are fairly decent. This is sure to bring cries from the camp of the two-bit, no-talent sitcom star/bad rapper.

I also have to disagree that being nominated doesn't mean anything. To be recognized as one of the top five performances of the year out of the hundreds of actors out there should certainly count for something. If I was named as one of the top 5 employees of the year in a company of thousands, even if I didn't win I'd still feel pretty good. Unfortunately everyone is focused on the winning and not the recognition - there's a reason why the Oscars changed the line from "and the winner is" to "and the Oscar goes to" some years ago.

There are plenty of actors and directors that go their entire careers without getting an Oscar. Denzel Washington has an Oscar for 1989's Glory. He is a great actor, and his peers recognized him by granting him an award that many have never even come close to. Just because he hasn't gotten one since, or that he doesn't win the Oscar every other year in no way diminishes him as an actor.

I hope we can leave it at that. If we can't, maybe this thread isn't such a good idea.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Julieboo

Monday, February 11, 2002 - 10:01 am Click here to edit this post
Crazydog

I agree with your posts. People get a little too sensitive I think. I have red hair. So should I complain that there are not enough redheads winning oscars? Come on.

Grooch

Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 07:02 am Click here to edit this post
The complete list of nominees:

Best picture: "A Beautiful Mind," "Gosford Park," "In the Bedroom," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

Actor: Russell Crowe, "A Beautiful Mind"; Sean Penn, "I Am Sam"; Will Smith, "Ali"; Denzel Washington, "Training Day"; Tom Wilkinson, "In the Bedroom."

Actress: Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball"; Judi Dench, "Iris"; Nicole Kidman, "Moulin Rouge"; Sissy Spacek, "In the Bedroom"; Renee Zellweger, "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Supporting actor: Jim Broadbent, "Iris"; Ethan Hawke, "Training Day"; Ben Kingsley, "Sexy Beast"; Ian McKellen, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; Jon Voight, "Ali."

Supporting actress: Jennifer Connelly, "A Beautiful Mind"; Helen Mirren, "Gosford Park"; Maggie Smith, "Gosford Park"; Marisa Tomei, "In the Bedroom"; Kate Winslet, "Iris."

Director: Ron Howard, "A Beautiful Mind"; Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down"; Robert Altman, "Gosford Park"; Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; David Lynch, "Mulholland Drive."

Animated film: "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius"; "Monsters, Inc."; "Shrek."

Foreign film: "Amelie," France; "Elling," Norway; "Lagaan," India; "No Man's Land," Bosnia and Herzegovina; "Son of the Bride," Argentina.

Screenplay (written based on material previously produced or published): Akiva Goldsman, "A Beautiful Mind"; Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, "Ghost World"; Rob Festinger and Todd Field, "In the Bedroom"; Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman, "Shrek."

Screenplay (written directly for the screen): Guillaume Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, "Amelie"; Julian Fellowes, "Gosford Park"; Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, "Memento"; Milo Addica and Will Rokos, "Monster's Ball"; Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, "The Royal Tenenbaums."

Art Direction: "Amelie," "Gosford Park," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

Cinematography: "Amelie," "Black Hawk Down," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "Moulin Rouge."

Sound: "Amelie," "Black Hawk Down," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge," "Pearl Harbor."

Sound editing: "Monsters, Inc.," "Pearl Harbor."

Original score: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," John Williams; "A Beautiful Mind," James Horner; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," John Williams; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Howard Shore; "Monsters, Inc.," Randy Newman.

Original song: "If I Didn't Have You" from "Monsters, Inc.," Randy Newman; "May It Be" from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan; "There You'll Be" from "Pearl Harbor," Diane Warren; "Until" from "Kate & Leopold," Sting; "Vanilla Sky" from "Vanilla Sky," Paul McCartney.

Costume: "The Affair of the Necklace," "Gosford Park," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

Documentary feature: "Children Underground," "LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton," "Murder on a Sunday Morning," "Promises," "War Photographer."

Documentary (short subject): "Artists and Orphans: A True Drama," "Sing!," "Thoth."

Film editing: "A Beautiful Mind," "Black Hawk Down," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Memento," "Moulin Rouge."

Makeup: "A Beautiful Mind," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

Animated short film: "Fifty Percent Grey," "For the Birds," "Give Up Yer Aul Sins," "Strange Invaders," "Stubble Trouble."

Live action short film: "the accountant," "Copy Shop," "Gregor's Greatest Invention," "A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa)," "Speed for Thespians."

Visual effects: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Pearl Harbor."

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

Gordon E. Sawyer Award (Oscar statuette): Edmund M. Di Giulio.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar statuette): Arthur Hiller.

Honorary awards (Oscar statuettes): Sidney Poitier and Robert Redford.

Moondance

Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 09:16 am Click here to edit this post
Thanks G for the list!

Juju2bigdog

Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 10:04 am Click here to edit this post
Thanks, Grooch. Looks like I've got a lot of movies to see pretty darn quick.

Solidsnake

Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 12:22 pm Click here to edit this post
i hope the indian movie wins.. that would rock..

i gota catch up on some films too ju.. im right with ya my dawg

crazydog i hope u dont think i turned this thread into what u didnt set out to do in the first place.. i stated my thoughts as did you...

Soeur

Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 04:07 pm Click here to edit this post
Thanks Grooch. Excellent research.

sequels

Moondance

Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 07:27 pm Click here to edit this post
Hey Juju... G's list is in here! :)

Juju2bigdog

Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 08:03 pm Click here to edit this post
Thanks, Moon!

Okay, I saw A Beautiful Mind today. Looks like In the Bedroom, Gosford Park and Moulin Rouge yet to see.