Annual Look at Oscars, 2012

2011 was a good year for movies, but it was not a great year for movies.  Last year, I found The Social Network, The King's Speech and Inception to basically be instant classics.  I knew when I was watching them that these were the great movies of not just of last year but they were some of the best movies of our very young millennia.
This year...generally I found movies to be triumphs of style over substance, notably The Artist which has one of the lightest scripts I've ever seen for a serious Best Picture contender. I liked it but did not love it. While many people had mixed feelings about The Help, it was grounded by its performances and by avoiding melodrama. It was a movie I liked even more the second time I saw it. I liked The Descendents very much. Like The Help it had excellent performances and a script that was layered instead of flat. Finally, while Albert Nobbs and A Dangerous Method were overlooked, in many ways they were bookends of late Victorian and early-mid-Edwardian sexual mores in Europe - in short, movies for history-loving adults.
There were two hopeful trends in moviemaking:

• The re-emergence of movies with strong casts of actresses.  Movies with strong, female-dominated casts were more prominent in the '30s, '50s and late '70s, then pretty much died out except for, maybe, one movie a year. This year, we had The Help, Albert Nobbs, Young Adult, Bridesmaids and even, when we want to talk about very strong female characters in a man's world, The Iron Lady and Friends with Benefits. While Bridesmaids ultimately was flawed by humor more suitable for 10 year old boys, it shows there may be hope for more comedies featuring women. Just, please, Hollywood, don't sit there and remake The Hangover or other gross-out buddy-boy movies with women. Listen to Diablo Cody, she generally gets it, and Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo seem to as well. We need more outrageous and committed women both in front of and behind the camera. Make smart flicks about women, not stupid gross-out-flicks and rom-coms.
• The willingness to take risks with different kinds of movies. While I don't think The Artist was the best movie of 2011, it took risks and it looked great. Ditto Hugo for being one of the rare movies to do 3-D correctly.

Unlike most Americans, I actually went to more movies last year. I saw a few junk movies (the Razzie-nominated I Don't Know How She Does It and Abduction, and at least two other bad movies - the most recent Pirates movie and Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud). But I'd really like to see more movies for adults - movies like Albert Nobbs, The Descendents, The Help, A Dangerous Method, Margin Call, even Young Adult - movies that are thoughtful and don't rely on gore and explosions.
In short, I'd go the the theater more often if I got to see more adult movies and less junk. That would include, for example, the reboot of The Muppets that was frequently a sly and subversive exercise.
Things multiplexes could consider - dedicate some of the multiplex for movies and drinks for adults and keep the kid movies, video games, candy and party rooms in another part of the multiplex.  Have a weekday with special screenings for retired folks and for people who might have to attend a movie with a baby.  You have all that space - target its use a little better.
Now, my look at this year's Oscar nominees. I'll be at an Oscar party this year so I won't be online during the Oscars, but I'm sure I'll have some things to say about the show later tonight or tomorrow. [And I was at the party, briefly. It turned out that there was basically no place to sit and watch the Oscars at this Oscar party. So, I flew home, got out of my party dress, but on my pajamas and watched the show from the comfort of my chair.]

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir - A Better Life
• George Clooney - The Descendents (should win)
• Jean Dujardin - The Artist (will win * * WON)
• Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Jean Dujardin has a very expressive face...but Clooney's performance was great and he deserves the Oscar. Kudos to Gary Oldman for playing such a cipher in TTSS. [[Caught a bit of an interview from the Oscar lunch with Demian Bichir and he is very funny and bold. He'd be good working on a movie with Clooney and Pitt - he has that same attitude in real life. Excellent to see a likely future Oscar nominee, Benedict Cumberbatch, in a bit of the Gary Oldman scene. "When you get the answer you're looking for, hang up" - great line from Brad Pitt's scene in Moneyball. I do admire Jean Dujardin's performance, but...I just preferred George Clooney's for 2011. It's amazing how good Dujardin always looks when he much be terribly jet-lagged.]]

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis - The Help (should win, will win)
• Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (WON)
• Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn

I have loved every single performance Meryl Streep has given on film. I think I've seen them all. She could win every award every year because she consistently makes good choices. However, the performance I thought the most about this year was Glenn Close's amazing performance in Albert Nobbs. She's also added a great deal to movie-making for nearly 30 years, and still has never won an Oscar. But...when I rewatched The Help, Viola Davis was even better than I'd remembered. She had a very tricky role, and, like Glenn Close's performance, it was all about being very quiet and very internal, except when you looked at her eyes. Michelle Williams also captured Marilyn Monroe in a way I did not think she'd be able to. This is one of those categories that if any of these women won, I would not be upset. But, I'm rooting for Viola Davis. [[They chose the perfect note from Albert Nobbs for Glenn Close. They chose an odd bit for Viola Davis because people who didn't see The Help had no clue what she was talking about. Lovely comments for Meryl Streep by Colin Firth (well, they've worked together so it sounds somewhat natural). Great scene for Meryl from The Iron Lady, though it could confuse Americans. Sweet comments for Michelle Williams. I'm not sad to see that Meryl won, but I did rather think it might have been Viola's year. Lovely that Meryl remembered to thank her husband first, and then her make-up artist second. ;-> Good speech all around.]]

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
• Jonah Hill - Moneyball
• Nick Nolte - Warrior
• Christopher Plummer - Beginners (should win, will win * * WON)
• Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I do a little extra work, and have can say now that I worked on an Oscar-nominated movie(!) - the Pittsburgh-made Warrior. I was in Nick Nolte's AA meeting at the very beginning of the movie, and if the camera shot had stayed fixed on the church stairs as Nolte drove away for another 3 seconds, I would have stayed in the movie. It was interesting to watch Nolte work, and he wound up giving an incredible performance in Warrior. Neither Branagh nor von Sydow really did that much for me. So as much as I enjoyed Nolte's fine work, I think I'll go along with the crowd and say Plummer will win for Beginners as he's owed for a lifetime of mostly great work. [[Really delighted - he is so owed, especially for The Last Station a few years back. Wonderful speech.]]

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo - The Artist
• Jessica Chastain - The Help
• Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
• Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
• Octavia Spencer - The Help (should win, will win * * WON)

Saw all of these performances and they were all very good. Janet McTeer who was utterly magnificent in Albert Nobbs and Melissa McCarthy was deliciously fearless in Bridesmaids. But I was very drawn in by Octavia Spencer who was so wonderful in The Help [[YAYAYAYAYAAY Octavia!! ]].

Best Animated Feature Film

• A Cat in Paris - Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
• Chico & Rita - Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
• Kung Fu Panda 2 - Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• Puss in Boots - Chris Miller
• Rango - Gore Verbinski (should win, will win * * WON)

I saw none of the Best Animated Feature nominees, but heard good things about both Rango and Puss in Boots so Rango is my guess.

Best Art Direction

• The Artist - Laurence Bennett (Production Design); Robert Gould (Set Decoration) (will win)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Stuart Craig (Production Design); Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
• Hugo - Dante Ferretti (Production Design); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration) (should win * * WON)
• Midnight in Paris - Anne Seibel (Production Design); Hélène Dubreuil (Set Decoration)
• War Horse - Rick Carter (Production Design); Lee Sandales (Set Decoration)

While I can't speak for War Horse, the art direction for each of the other movies was excellent at capturing a specific time and place. Hugo had more interesting Art Direction, but I expect The Artist will win, though that wouldn't be that bad. But this is an example where I wish Harry Potter would get a special Oscar - its Art Direction and Special Effects have been consistently excellent over eight movies. [[Great to see Hugo win the first two awards of the night!!!!!]]

Best Cinematography

• The Artist - Guillaume Schiffman (will win)
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Jeff Cronenweth
• Hugo - Robert Richardson (should win * WON)
• The Tree of Life - Emmanuel Lubezki
• War Horse - Janusz Kaminski

This should be Robert Richard's for Hugo, who, I'm sure with help from director Martin Scorsese figured out the right way to do 3-D. This movie looked absolutely amazing. Instead of using that old and annoying 3D trick of "throwing" things at the audience, the photography in this movie gave the train station great depth. The cinemetography for The Artist was very good, but not ground-breaking. I suspect The Artist will win. [[I'm especially glad that Hugo won this award!!]]

Best Costume Design

• Anonymous - Lisy Christl
• The Artist - Mark Bridges (should win, will win * * WON)
• Hugo - Sandy Powell
• Jane Eyre - Michael O'Connor
• W.E. - Arianne Phillips

I don't have a problem with the likely win of The Artist for its costume, but I would like to observe that Hugo walked a fine line for costuming what had started off as a kid's book and delivered a costume look that was slightly "hyper-real" without being "surreal."

Best Directing

• The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius (will win * * WON)
• The Descendants - Alexander Payne (should win)
• Hugo - Martin Scorsese
• Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen
• The Tree of Life - Terrence Malick

Alexander Payne keeps directing small gems of the human experience. Love his work, wish he'd win an Oscar for The Descendants. My hope is that The Descendants gets Best Director and The Artist gets Best Picture. But, I have the feeling The Artist will get most of the awards it's nominated for, including this one. Hugo is a wonderful movie, with a somewhat more complicated script than The Artist and great performances, especially from the kids. I very much enjoyed Midnight in Paris, but I don't believe it would be in this category if it hadn't shown such a return to form by Woody Allen. It is too bad. Because the other person who deserved to be in this category is Tate Taylor for The Help. I made a point of rewatching The Help this weekend, and it's even better on a second viewing. [[Oh well...well, maybe it'll go the other way, and something like Hugo or The Descendants will win Best Picture? I don't begrudge The Artist winning some awards, but I just didn't think it was great enough to win loads of awards (which, as it's turned out, it did not)]]

Best Documentary Feature

• Hell and Back Again - Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory - Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (should win, will win)
• Pina - Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• Undefeated - TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas (WON)

Haven't seen any, but I'm guessing Paradise Lost because documentaries that point out injustices tend to win. There's a chance for Wim Wenders' artistic experiment Pina to take the prize. [[The producers of The Undefeated gave a funny speech. Ahh, the Undefeated is related to Weinstein. Oh well...]]

Best Documentary Short

• "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" - Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• "God is the Bigger Elvis" - Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• "Incident in New Baghdad" - James Spione
• "Saving Face" - Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (WON)
• "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" - Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen (should win, will win)

Haven't seen any of them, so this is a guess. [[If I'd remembered what "Saving Face" was about, I probably would have thought that one would have won.]]

Best Film Editing

• The Artist - Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius (should win, will win)
• The Descendants - Kevin Tent
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall (WON)
• Hugo - Thelma Schoonmaker
• Moneyball - Christopher Tellefsen

Will give a "but" - Moneyball has many fans, and maybe it'll win this Oscar. [[Well I was completely wrong on this one - but was bound to happen. I also didn't like the editing of The Social Network last year.]]

Best Foreign Language Film

• Belgium - Bullhead - Michael R. Roskam, director
• Canada - Monsieur Lazhar - Philippe Falardeau, director
• Iran - A Separation - Asghar Farhadi, director (should win, will win * * WON)
• Israel - Footnote - Joseph Cedar, director
• Poland - In Darkness - Agnieszka Holland, director

A Separation has great buzz, and In Darkness seems to have some. [[The Iranian director gave a wonderful acceptance speech]]

Best Makeup

• Albert Nobbs - Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
• The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland (should win, will win * * WON)

I think it'll go for a smaller movie, and make-up made Streep look uncannily like Thatcher.

Best Music (Original Score)

• The Adventures of Tintin - John Williams
• The Artist - Ludovic Bource (will win * * WON)
• Hugo - Howard Shore (should win)
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Alberto Iglesias
• War Horse - John Williams

Not sure...wonder if the interesting Hugo score has a chance?

Best Music (Original Song)

• "Man or Muppet" - The Muppets - Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie (should win, will win * * WON)
• “Real in Rio” - Rio - Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Haven't heard "Real in Rio" but "Man or Muppet" worked perfectly. [[At least they showed a little of "Man or Muppet," but not the part with Jim Parsons. Yay Bret McKenzie!!!!]]

Best Picture

• The Artist - Thomas Langmann, Producer (will win * * WON)
• The Descendants - Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers (should win)
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Scott Rudin, Producer
• The Help - Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• Hugo - Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• Midnight in Paris - Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• Moneyball - Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• The Tree of Life - Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers
• War Horse - Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

I expect The Artist to win, but I really preferred The Descendents, The Help and Hugo to it. The Artist is a nice, inventive movie, but it isn't great. [[Nice blend of Best Picture nominated scenes just before the award was announced. ]]

Best Short Film (Animated)

• "Dimanche/Sunday: - Patrick Doyon
• "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" - William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg (should win, will win * * WON)
• "La Luna" - Enrico Casarosa
• "A Morning Stroll" - Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• "Wild Life" - Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

A guess - haven't seen anything in this category. [[The winner looks so cool. "Wild Life" also looked very good.]]

Best Short Film (Live Action)

• "Pentecost" - Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
• "Raju" - Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• "The Shore" - Terry George and Oorlagh George (WON)
• "Time Freak" - Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey (should win, will win)
• "Tuba Atlantic" - Hallvar Witzø

A guess - haven't seen anything in this category. [["The Shore" was made by a friend of Michael Moore's]]

Best Sound Editing

• Drive - Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis (should win, will win)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Ren Klyce
• Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty (WON)
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• War Horse - Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Like Moneyball, I expect Drive to win something, somewhere...

Best Sound Mixing

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• Hugo - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley (WON)
• Moneyball - Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco and Ed Novick (should win, will win)
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• War Horse - Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

20-time Oscar nominee (and no wins) Kevin O'Connell managed to not be nominated (he worked on The Muppets this year). Maybe this will be Moneyball's Oscar?

Best Visual Effects

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
• Hugo - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning (WON)
• Real Steel - Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett (should win, will win)
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

I keep going back between Harry Potter and Planet of the Apes. Hugo's effects were fine, but Real Steel and Transformers were so-so. I think I'm going with Planet of the Apes for its excellent integration of San Francisco and apes.

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• The Descendants - Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (should win, will win * * WON)
• Hugo - Screenplay by John Logan
• The Ides of March - Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• Moneyball - Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

A tough category. The Ides of March had two great first act and a great scene in the third act, but a horrible, horrible, horrible third act. I found Tinker Tailor... very engrossing despite my strong dislike of spy movies. Really caught that mid-70s angst very well. Hugo was about the only movie I had a slight "instant classic" vibe about this year. Ultimately, I have to go with The Descendants for its excellent characters and for the sense that life is always a little off-kilter. Because often it is.

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

• The Artist - Written by Michel Hazanavicius (will win)
• Bridesmaids - Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• Margin Call - Written by J.C. Chandor (should win)
• Midnight in Paris - Written by Woody Allen (WON)
• A Separation - Written by Asghar Farhadi

And, actually, this category isn't so tough, but it'll probably go to The Artist anyway even though the script is very cliched throughout. There was much to admire about Bridesmaids and it's nice to see a comedy be nominated, but there were too many scenes that were, frankly, juvenile. Midnight in Paris was a sweet ode to 1920s Paris intellectual life, and it has a chance. However, Margin Call was the sharpest script of last year, and that's the script that deserves to win. [[Nice to see they showed a very good scene from Bridesmaids. At least The Artist didn't win - Midnight in Paris was a lovely flick.]]

Governor's Awards/Honorary Oscars

• James Earl Jones
• Dick Smith
• Oprah Winfrey (Gene Hershalt Award)

---

Comments on the Show

Two tech awards were given out in the first 20 minutes. They could have saved another five minutes by dropping the Billy's Oscar song which was pretty awful this year. Liked the small clusters of musicians on the balconies.

I liked Sandra Bullock's presentation, but didn't she speak German as a joke during a presentation a few years back?

Liked the acknowledgement of the love of movie-going, and the popcorn girls were amusing.

The JC Penny ads with Ellen were all very amusing.

Enjoyed the short inserts with actors talking about movies they loved.

Sad to see there are still so few women who work in the technical end of movies.

Good to see Michael Douglas looking better!

Award Counts

• The Artist - 5
• Beginners - 1
• The Descendants - 1
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 1
• The Help - 1
• Hugo - 5
• The Iron Lady - 2
• Midnight in Paris -1
• The Muppets - 1
• The Separation - 1

My guesses - 12 out of 24 - 50%

Annual Look at the Oscars 2011

I saw and liked most of the movies nominated for Oscars for last year (of the major flicks, haven't seen True Grit, 127 Hours or Black Swan). If anything, last year was a better year for movies in a few years. It seemed like there were a few more movies for grown-ups out there.

I liked Social Network very much, but I liked The King's Speech a little bit more. Both are classics.

Best Picture: The King's Speech [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Actor: Colin Firth [so owed, especially for last year] [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale [Geoffrey Rush is a definite possibility; he and Firth were terrific together] [[[WON!!! - I was so surprised when he wasn't nominated years ago for Empire of the Sun]]]
Best Actress: Natalie Portman [the so-owed Annette Benning could win for a terrific performance in The Kids Are Alright] [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo [though she may be hit by some backlash due to some badly-timed promotional advertising, so Hailee Steinfeld is still a possibility] [[[WON! - I'm sure the producers are reminding potential winners not to swear onstage]]]
Best Animated Feature: The Illusionist [I know, it's not Toy Story 3 - it's so much better!] [[[Toy story 3 won]]]
Best Art Direction: Inception [[[Alice in Wonderland won - thought it was a bit too weird]]]
Best Cinemetography: Inception [[[WON!]]]
Best Costume Design: The King's Speech [[[Alice in Wonderland won - still think Alice was too over-the-top in its costume design, too]]]
Best Directing: Tom Hooper [The King's Speech] [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Documentary Feature: Gasland [[[Inside Job won]]]
Best Documentary Short Subject: Strangers No More [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Film Editing: 127 Hours [I found the editing for Social Network sloppy] [The Social Network won]
Best Foreign Language Film: Outside the Law [Algeria] [[[In a Better World - Denmark - won]]]
Best Makeup: The Wolfman [[[WON!!! - always nice to see Rick Baker win an award]]]
Best Original Score: The Social Network [though I didn't really care for any of the music this year - loved the scoare for Up last year] [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Original Song: If I Rise [haven't heard that one, but the other songs were pretty bad] [Whatever Randy Newman wrote for Toy Story won...]
Best Short Film (Animated): The Lost Thing [go Shaun Tan! 2nd year in a row, I'll get to cheer an Oscar nominee I've met!] [[[WON!!! - Absolutely delighted about this one]]]
Best Short Film (Live Action): The Crush [[[God of Love won]]]
Best Sound Editing: Inception [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Sound Mixing: The Social Network [Inception won (so that's fine - it had amazing sound work all the way around)]
Best Visual Effects: Inception [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Writing (Adapted): The Social Network [[[WON!!!]]]
Best Writing (Original): The King's Speech [[[WON!!!]]]

Annual Oscar Predictions - 2010

Stop on by; I'll be updating this during the Oscars.
2010 Oscars (comments on movies made in 2009).

2009 Oscars - What Should Win, What Will Win

My annual thoughts on the Oscars.

I'll probably be Facebooking/Twittering during the Oscars.

Milk: The Best Movie of 2008

It's possible I might see a better movie in the next two weeks, but I doubt it.

When history is known (like, say, with the upcoming WWII movie Valkyrie about a plot to assassinate Hitler), a movie can loose its dramatic tension since "we know what happens." A good director, screenwriter and cast can compensate by dynamic direction, an intelligent script and spot-on acting. Milk succeeds on all points. Director Gus Van Sant and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black have created a compelling movie. And Sean Penn gives the most joyful, winning performance I've ever seen from him.

Milk is the story of an unlikely political activist. Harvey Milk was a closeted gay guy in New York City until his very late 30s. The early scenes of Milk remind you what a bad old time the '50s and '60s were for gay men, with old footage of police raids on gay bars.

By the early '70s, Harvey had met Scott, a much younger man. They ran off to San Francisco together where they opened a camera store. They had a very affectionate relationship. If this movie had been about a heterosexual couple and not a homosexual couple, it would have been rated PG-13 instead of R. Still, I've heard reports of some audience members leaving during the early kissing scenes (there are some sex scenes, but they are extremely discreet). Why would you go to a movie about a gay man coming out of the closet if watching two men kissing was going to upset you? I didn't leave when the hate-mongers in the movie spewed homophobia; this is truly disgusting compared to two men (or two women) kissing.

As a business owner, Harvey understood the importance of being out and being organized. He became a frequently unsuccessful candidate for local office, while becoming more politically able and building a network of young men to support neighborhood causes. In these scenes, some of the actors are actually old friends of Harvey's from the '70s. In at least five different scenes, you see the writer Frank Robinson, a man who was Harvey's contemporary. While I wish they'd mentioned who Frank was, it was nice to see he was involved in the movie.

Harvey became an expert at working the crowd and working the press. While Scott had served as Harvey's campaign manager, he was disillusioned by politics and the pair split up. Harvey went on to win the 1977 election for city supervisor. Harvey became involved with a volatile Hispanic man named Jack, and became close friends with Cleve Jones.

Even though Harvey had a local victory, he got very involved fighting California's Proposition 6, a measure to fire gay teachers and their supporters. It was promoted by Anita Bryant (who only appears in this movie in old clips - a nice touch to reinforce how passe she should be) and John Briggs, a California state senator. After months of pushing, Harvey got to debate John several times. In the run-up to the statewide vote on Prop 6, Jack committed suicide which left Harvey fairly depressed. However, after pollsters and early results made it look like Prop 6 would pass, it wound up failing by a large margin.

While he was fighting against Prop 6, Harvey tried to cultivate positive relationships with the other city supervisors. The relationship between he and newly-elected conservative supervisor Dan White was fairly contentious. After months of not getting any legislation passed, Dan resigned from the city supervisors and tried to get his job back. When he didn't get it, he smuggled himself in the city office building, and assassinated both Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk.

The movie certainly captured the grief of San Francisco following these assassinations. But these impact of these murders went way beyond San Francisco. I was 21, married, and living in Pittsburgh when I heard about them. To this day, I can't watch that famous tape of Diane Feinstein informing the public of the murders without weeping. And I had the same reaction today, at the beginning and ending of Milk. But most of Milk is one of the most vivid recreations of the '70s I've ever seen, with a performance that should win Sean Penn his second Oscar (and, maybe an supporting actor Oscar nomination for James Franco's fine performance as Scott). Emile Hirsch was good as Cleve Jones, who later went on to be an AIDS activist and create the Names Project (the AIDS Quilt).

This movie must be seen by the people least likely to see it - the people who think things like Proposition 8 are a good idea. Consenting adults deserve to live their lives as they choose, without fear of retribution.

Oscars 2007: Predictions & Commentary

While there were a few good movies in 2006, the overall quality of theatrical movies continues to sink. I've been finding television (with things like Rome and Battlestar Galactica) to be much more interesting and challenging than movies.

For the first time in many years, I've only seen two of the nominees for Best Picture: Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen. I liked both of these movies very much, but The Queen is way too subtle and quiet to win a Best Picture award and Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy, which means it has almost no chance to take Best Picture. I don't like graphic violence so I haven't seen Babel or The Departed. I'm usually not overly fond of war movies, so I haven't seen Letters from Iwo Jima. I regret not having seen Dreamgirls or Venus. The movie that impressed me the most last year, Children of Men only got some technical nominations.

I will note what I haven't seen and will go ahead with my predictions anyway. For the last few years, I've been hedging my bets with a "will win" (WW) and "should win" (SW) before each predicted winner.

Best Picture

• Babel
• The Departed
• (WW) Letters From Iwo Jima
• (SW) Little Miss Sunshine
• The Queen

A really uninspiring year. Of the five, I liked The Queen the best, but it's way too quiet and subtle for
a Best Picture win. Little Miss Sunshine was probably the quirkiest and most original in the bunch, so
that's the movie I'll support.

Best Director

• Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima
• Stephen Frears, The Queen
• Paul Greengrass, United 93
• Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
• (SW, WW) Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Scorsese is so owed... I'd rather see Stephen Frears win this year because The Departed doesn't sound
like Scorsese's best work and The Queen is a quiet little masterpiece. Still, I'm a realist, and I can't
complain too much if Scorsese wins.

Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
• Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
• (SW) Peter O'Toole, Venus
• Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
• (WW) Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

I have always had a soft spot for Peter O'Toole, another person who is so owed. But I would certainly have no objection is Forest Whitaker wins, who probably gave the strongest performance of the year. Still...O'Toole's of an age
where he may have given one of his last performances.

Best Actress

• Penelope Cruz, Volver
• Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
• (SW, WW) Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
• Kate Winslet, Little Children

There usually aren't too many locks, but this is certainly one of them. Helen Mirren has had such a brilliant
year. She is completely magnificent in The Queen. Judi Dench appears to give a great performance in
Notes on a Scandal, but the movie just seems oh so stupid - I hate it when the trailer gives away
every twist of the movie. Meryl Streep was terrific in The Devil Wears Prada, too.

Best Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza, Babel
• Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
• Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
• (SW, WW) Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
• Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

This isn't quite the lock it appeared to be a few weeks ago. I think Abigail Breslin could win. But the other
newcomer, Jennifer Hudson, is more likely.

Best Supporting Actor

• (SW) Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
• Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
• (WW) Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
• Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

This is another category that might not be quite the lock it once appeared to be. Alan Arkin has had a great career, and, like Peter O'Toole, never won an Oscar. Eddie Murphy is a wildly erratic actor, who keeps keeps making brain-dead movies for the money. It's of course a wonderful thing that Eddie apparently has given a fine performance in Dreamgirls. But, for the Oscar voters to be voting at the same time that they're seeing constant ads for Norbit, one of the most awful movies I've ever seen ads for...gaak. So I hope Murphy might have gotten enough backlash for the award to go to Arkin.

Best Foreign Language Film

• Efter Brylluppet (aka After the Wedding), Denmark
• Indigenes (aka Days of Glory), Algeria
• (SW, WW) El Laberinto del Fauno (aka Pan's Labyrinth), Mexico
• Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others), Germany
• Water, Canada

While a bit too violent for my taste, Pan's Labyrinth was an incredible visual feast of a movie, with great performances
all the way around (especially from the young Ivana Baquero as Ofelia). There might be a chance that The Lives of Others could sneak in, but I doubt it.

Best Animated Feature Film

• (SW, WW) Cars
• Happy Feet
• Monster House

I don't have really strong feelings about any of these movies. I've only seen Happy Feet, and while it
was a charming little movie, it didn't quite work for me. Cars looks silly, but it keeps winning awards, so it will
probably take the award.

Best Adapted Screenplay

• (WW) Borat
• (SW) Children of Men
• The Departed
• Little Children
• Notes on a Scandal

Children of Men was the best movie of last year. Clive Owen deserved an Oscar nomination. I'd like to see
it win this Oscar, but I have the bad feeling that Borat (which was simultaneously clever and stupid) will win.

Best Original Screenplay

• Babel
• Letters From Iwo Jima
• (WW) Little Miss Sunshine
• (SW) The Queen
• Pan's Labyrinth

This may be the trickiest category of them all. While last year was a rather weak year for movies, the scripts for Sunshine, Queen and Pan were all quite good, and I've heard interesting things about Iwo Jima.
So while I think Sunshine was a little more original (and gleefully subversive), the script for The Queen was
an amazingly restrained exercise in showing and not telling.

Best Music (Score)

• Babel
• The Good German
• Notes on a Scandal
• (SW, WW) Pan's Labyrinth
• The Queen

Best Music (Song)

• "I Need to Wake Up" - An Inconvenient Truth (performed by Melissa Etheridge)
• "Listen" - Dreamgirls (performed by Beyonce Knowles)
• (SW, WW) "Love You I Do" - Dreamgirls (performed by Jennifer Hudson)
• "Our Town" - Cars (performed by James Taylor)
• "Patience" - Dreamgirls (performed by Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, Anika Noni Rose)

I haven't even heard any of these songs, except for, maybe, Love You I Do. So I'll select that one.

Best Documentary Feature

• Deliver Us From Evil
• (SW, WW) An Inconvenient Truth
• Iraq In Fragments
• Jesus Camp
• My Country, My Country

So what will Al Gore do with his minute on international television?

Best Documentary Short Subject

• The Blood of Yingzhou District
• (SW, WW) Recycled Life
• Rehearsing A Dream
• Two Hands

I also have no idea about this one.

Best Visual Effects

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Poseidon
• (SW, WW) Superman Returns

It's rather appalling that Pan's Labyrinth is not in this category. The effects in Pirates, like the rest of
that movie - are a bit of a joke. Superman Returns is probably a less objectionable choice.

Best Cinematography

• The Black Dahlia
• (SW, WW) Children of Men
• The Illusionist
• Pan's Labyrinth
• The Prestige

People are still talking about some of the amazing shots in Children of Men. Pan's Labyrinth probably had
a little more "stylish" photography, but it just wasn't quite as interesting as the photography in Children of Men.

Best Art Direction

• Dreamgirls
• The Good Shepherd
• (SW, WW) Pan's Labyrinth
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• The Prestige

I'm sorry to see that The Illusionist, which I felt had a better look than The Prestige wasn't up
for Best Art Direction. However, this award should go to Pan's Labyrinth.

Best Animated Short Film

• The Danish Poet
• Lifted
• The Little Matchgirl
• Maestro
• (SW, WW) No Time for Nuts

No Time for Nuts is the only one of these I've seen, and it's quite clever.

Best Short Film

• Binta and the Great Idea
• Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)
• Helmer & Son
• The Saviour
• (SW, WW)West Bank Story

Best Costume Design

• Curse of the Golden Flower
• The Devil Wears Prada
• (SW, WW) Dreamgirls
• Marie Antoinette
• The Queen

Dreamgirls did the best job at showing the fashions of the time.

Best Make-up

• (SW, WW) Apocalypto
• Click
• Pan's Labyrinth

Apocalypto's make-up is so good that it's painful to watch and convinced me not to see the movie.

Best Sound Mixing

• (SW, WW) Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• Dreamgirls
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Sound Engineer Kevin O'Connell is the Susan Lucci of the Oscars. He has now been nominated for the Best Sound Mixing Oscar an incredible 19 times over the last 23 years. He was part of the Sound Mixing team for Apocalypto, and I think his team may walk away with one this year.

Sound Editing

• Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• (SW, WW) Letters From Iwo Jima
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

War movies or big action/adventure movies tend to take the sound awards. I expect one of Clint Eastwood's two war
movies to win this one.

Best Film Editing

• Babel
• Blood Diamond
• (SW) Children of Men
• The Departed
• (WW) United 93

People consistently praised the editing and direction of United 93, which was probably one of the most claustrophobic
movies of last year. Since Greenglass is unlikely to win Best Director, perhaps the movie will take Film Editing. Still,
I think I'd rather see Children of Men win.

I'm Going to the Oscars!....Well, Almost...

Before I became a Hugo or Nebula fan, I was (and am) an Oscar fan. Despite the fact I have wildly mixed feelings about popular awards (don't get me started on Oscar failures, like Titanic or The Last Emporer), I have been a devoted follower of Oscar politics and the awards for many years. I can't completely blame my Dad on this, but he bought a copy of a book that had photos from Oscar winners when it was first published in the mid-'60s. I almost memorized that book; whenever I saw that an Oscar-winner was to be on TV, I made a point of watching it.

I thought going to Hollywood at Oscar time would be a way cool thing. But I'm just a movie fan - would it be worth it?

About two years ago, I heard that Lord of the Rings fans threw themselves an Oscar party. In Hollywood. What a way cool idea. So, being an ardent Tolkein and Jackson fan, I started hanging out more frequently on The One Ring.Net, where I adopted the pseudo-Tolkeinish name of "JRandomRohirrim." Due to being both early and persistent, I got tickets to Trilogy Tuesday (just two days away now!) and to the TORN Oscar Party! The TORN Oscar Party sold out about 15 minutes after the tickets went on sale, so I know how lucky I was to buy tickets for my co-worker Laura and me.

So over the next ten weeks, I'll get to do two very movie fannish and geeky things with Lord of the Rings fans. I already have a fabulous dress for the Oscar party (I wore it last year to the Nebulas and will probably bring it to Worldcon next year) and plan to take loads of photos while I'm there. Even if Return of the King doesn't win every Oscar it deserves (it already has a clear lock on Best Special Effects), it'll be really neat to share Oscar night with 700 psyched LOTR fen. And the site of this Oscar party is about two blocks from the Kodak Theater, where the Oscars will be held - close enough for an early Sunday morning stroll and some more pictures.

Who knows, maybe I'll even meet Sean Astin and Sala Baker again!

Oscar 2003 Predictions and Commentary

OK, for the second time in 34 years, I'm missing part of the Oscars on Sunday. Thank goodness for recorders! But, it will be weird to walk in late (for the second year in a row).

I've seen most of the major movies, will note what I haven't seen and will go ahead with my predictions anyway. For the last few years, I've been hedging my bets with a "will win (WW)" and "should win (SW)."

I'm an avid LOTR fan, though I liked Fellowship a little more than Two Towers, TTT is still a wonderful flick. And it did get somewhat robbed already - it did have the best score, costuming, cinemetography, and make-up of last year. However, in their "infinite wisdom," Oscar people who apparently didn't see both movies decided that these categories were "too similar" to LOTR. I'm not convinced that Peter Jackson himself was robbed, however, at least not for this year.

The acting categories have been quite strong over the last few years. There's only one mild embarassment in the bunch.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Adrien Brody in THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
Nicolas Cage in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
(SW) Michael Caine in THE QUIET AMERICAN (Miramax and Intermedia)
(WW) Daniel Day-Lewis in GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
Jack Nicholson in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)

I haven't seen The Pianist, but I suspect I might be giving Adrien Brody a "may win" if I had. Cage's performance was the one "mild embarassment" - Adaptation is a wildly erratic flick and Cage's performance is part of the problem. Nicholson's performance in About Schmidt was certainly different but it bordered on posturing rather than performing. Michael Caine's performance in The Quiet American was quite extraordinary and very moving. Few people have seen this movie, which was supposed to have been released in the fall of '01 but was held back as it was perceived as being "anti-patriotic." The Americans, then as, unfortunately, right now, were not "the good guys." I would like to see Caine win, but it will probably be Daniel Day-Lewis for his bravura performance in the flawed Gangs of New York.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
(WON,WW) Chris Cooper in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
(SW)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)

I avoid ties, but, gee, this is a really tough category. Anyone could win here and I'd be happy (kind of like last year when Broadbent won). Reilly was the Broadbent of this year, giving very good performances in several different movies. Newman and Walken were also wonderful. But Cooper and Harris both went well beyond wonderful. Harris's performance was heartbreaking and Cooper's was just plain hysterical. (As much as I would like to have seen Viggo Mortensen in this category, he was probably not quite up to the rest of the supporting actors.)

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)
(SW, WW) Renée Zellweger in CHICAGO (Miramax)

Another tough, tough category. I've gone back and forth on the
issue "should Nicole win best actress for a supporting role?"
because she absolutely should have walked away with that Oscar.
Her Virginia Woolf was magnificent. I didn't see Diane Lane,
but have the impression she was good. Julianne Moore was subtly
different in her two '50s housewife roles. Salma Hayek was quite
good in Frida. But I have to go with Renee because she's grown
so much as an actress over the last few years and was perfect
in Chicago.


Performance by an actress in a supporting role
(SW,WW) 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)

Another tough category, but I'd give the edge to Bates
(and not just because of the hot tub scene).


Best animated feature film of the year
ICE AGE (20th Century Fox) Chris Wedge
(WW) LILO & STITCH (Buena Vista) Chris Sanders
SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (DreamWorks) Jeffrey Katzenberg
(SW) SPIRITED AWAY (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki
TREASURE PLANET (Buena Vista) Ron Clements

Sprited Away is the best animated feature I've ever seen. If there
was any justice, it would win. But Disney has gone out of its way
to not distribute this flick, and probably isn't promoting for an
Osacar, either. Lilo & Stitch, while fun, wasn't special.
Ditto Ice Age. Treasure Planet stole ruthlessly from the
artist Dean Morrissey without giving him any credit (yes, even
worse than Lucas stole from Jim Gurney for some of the
Alderan city scenes). And Spirit looked dumb. So while
Spirited Away deserves to win, it probably won't.
(on the other hand, I said the same about Halle Berry
and Denzel Washington last year and I was wrong, so maybe...)


Achievement in costume design
CHICAGO (Miramax) Colleen Atwood
FRIDA (Miramax) Julie Weiss
(SW,WW) GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Sandy Powell
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Ann Roth
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Anna Sheppard

Achievement in art direction
CHICAGO (Miramax) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
FRIDA (Miramax) Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso
Set Decoration: Hania Robledo
(WW)GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
(SW)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

These are the two Oscars that Gangs could legitimately win, and
it probably will. Frida has a slight chance because it becomes
very operatic in design in places. But TTT continues with its
fascinating world building, and ought to win the art direction award.


Achievement in cinematography
(WW) CHICAGO (Miramax) Dion Beebe
(SW)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

The photography in Far From Heaven was an amazing tribute to the
Technicolor domestic flicks of the '50s and early '60s. However,
I suspect Chicago will sweep a bunch of tech and major awards,
and this may be one of them.


Achievement in directing
(SW, WW) 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

Yes, Scorsese is owed. But he keeps getting overwhelmed by
a lucky first-timer. Rob Marshall probably can't loose. Gangs
is too flawed, the Hours and the Pianist too dark and Almodovar
too non-English. Marshall may be the only lock, though I sometimes
wonder if Polanski might win for the career he almost had.


Best documentary feature
(SW, WW) 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

Michael Moore will probably win...


Achievement in film editing
(WW) CHICAGO (Miramax) Martin Walsh
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Thelma Schoonmaker
THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Peter Boyle
(SW) THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Michael Horton
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Hervé de Luze

The extraordinary thing about TTT is how well-constructed it is.
I hate war movies, and nearly 1/3rd of the movie is one long battle
scene that I can't take my eyes off of. But Chicago will probably win.


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

No Award. The make-up in Time Machine sucked and while it was
certainly good in Frida, it was too subtle to be particularly
award-worthy.

Oh, right, these are the Oscars. Give something to Frida!

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
(SW, WW) THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Philip Glass
ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Thomas Newman

The nominated music was pretty unmemorable last year, but since Howard
Shore wasn't nominated, probably Philip Glass should win for
his interesting score.

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
(SW, WW) 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

This one is pretty much of a no-brainer.


Best motion picture of the year
(WW)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
(SW)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

I'm nothing if not a realist. I liked Chicago, it was fun,
well-cast and it was great to see a real musical on the big screen
again (I don't think Moulin Rouge quite counted). But The Hours
was a very well-cast, well directed and it would be nice if it
got some notice.


Achievement in sound
CHICAGO (Miramax) Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty and Ivan Sharrock
(SW,WW) 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
(SW, WW) 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
(SW,WW) 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

If Gollum was the only effect in the movie, it still should win.


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
(SW,WW) THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Screenplay by David Hare
THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

This may go to Chicago, but...
Adaptation was certainly interesting, but it was just such a departure
from The Orchid Thief that it really isn't much of a adaptation.


Original screenplay
(SW,WW) 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

I enjoyed My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it was a fun movie, but seeing it
nominated just because it made a pile of money unexpectedly was silly.
But Far from Heaven was an interesting, adult movie, and I hope it wins.