The Oscar Quest: Best Picture & Best Director – 2005
And here we go. The category that caused a thousand scandals. I remember this race fondly. I had seen almost all the films (except Munich, which was released like three days before the ceremony, essentially), and knew the race was essentially between Brokeback and Crash. Now, I had enjoyed Crash. Didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it. And Brokeback — I had seen right around the time all the hoopla had just started to begin.
Now, let me say this now — I never understand why people get so fucking crazy about films like this. Brokeback and The Kids are All Right are two films that deal with gay characters and do so in a casual way. For the most part. They’re gay, and that’s it. They’re obviously wildly different films, but for some reason, just because they’re dealing with gay characters, everyone seems to think that makes the films incredibly better. In the case of The Kids are All Right, I didn’t get it at all. That, to me, was a marginally decent film where the main characters just happened to be gay. Other people saw that and were like, “Oh my God, they’re gay and they’re normal!” And were heralding it the best movie of the decade just because someone treated a gay character the way they’re supposed to treat them — like everyone else. Brokeback, though, is the better film, and I can actually see why it should have been nominated for Best Picture. But seriously, winning? Are you serious? Nothing happens! They go into the woods, do nothing for an hour — there are random little episodes like running into a bear and maybe they say like ten words here or there — and then randomly, they fuck. Dude spits on his hand though, and that’s awesome. But still, they fuck, and then they become lovers, and then they go home. And they marry women. And we see them marrying women. Then their lives are miserable except when they see each other, and we see their lives fall apart. In a way this is kind of like Blue Valentine with an extra half hour of run time. And cowboys. I see why this was good from a “genre” perspective — though it’s really not a western. I mean, it kind of is, but also isn’t. It’s a marginal western at best. I really don’t get why this should have won Best Picture, at all. And to be fair, Crash shouldn’t have won either.
I will say, before I tell you what I think should have won instead (though it should be woefully obvious when you see what the five nominees are and what I’ve already said about them), going into Oscar night, people weren’t entirely sure what was going to happen between these two, and it went right down to the wire. I had been rooting hard for Crash at this point — not because I loved the film but because I hate rooting for the huge favorite, especially since I didn’t even love the film all that much. Whatever love I had for it went right out the window once everyone went ape shit over it. But, when Best Picture was going to be announced, and they had Jack Nicholson come out with the envelope, I knew then and there that Crash was going to win. I even remember saying, the second that happened, “I would lay all the money in the world in Crash winning right now — because there is no way Jack Nicholson would ever announce that a gay cowboy movie had just won Best Picture.” It just didn’t fit. Plus now, I have that image in my head of Nicholson saying, “Crash,” in that Nicholson way of his. I just wanted to relay that story. It’s very memorable for me. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor & Best Actress – 2005
Come Oscar night, these were two “no-brainer” wins, even though, in hindsight, they seem — well, one of them, anyway — like upsets. It’s strange how one’s allegiances can change based on time, other nominations, and lack of death.
Anyway, let’s check these out…
Best Actor – 2005
And the nominees were…
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night & Good Luck
Philip Seymour Hoffman — One of my favorite things to do when looking at awards — because I’m all about random patterns and useless data — is see, when each person wins, where their name fell within the alphabetical order of nominees. It’s like when they rank the winning percentages of the post positions in the Kentucky Derby. And they tell you that a certain post position has only won once, while another one has won the most times. Well, I haven’t done anything like that — yet — but I do find it interesting that his last name begins with H and he’s the first nominee alphabetically. I am curious though where he fits into the pantheon of alphabetized actors, and whether him being first helped or hurt his theoretical chances, and whether or not I could turn this into a thing, and use it to further predict awards races that are pretty much decided come Oscar night anyway. Yes, these are the things I think about. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress – 2005
Ah, 2005, the year of the controversy. Everything changed after this. Even the Academy had to lay low for a few years (5, to be exact) before returning to their babies. This year was like when Michael Corleone killed McCluskey and Sollozo and had to duck out to Sicily for a while. Personally — and we’ll get to this when I go over the categories — I agree with the sentiment, but not with the film. But, they definitely fucked up. It was a strange time in their lives. You know, they were drunk, and were feeling fat that day, and had just talked to their mother, and just weren’t ready to make the commitment. Anyway, let’s start from the support. Then we can get to the lead dogs and the big picture. Actually, this is kind of like second base. Take out the support towers, infiltrate the facility then get in, do your thing and get out. I totally just compared the Oscars to sex vis a vis the analogy of a spy mission. I also just used vis a vis. That’s a keeper.
Best Supporting Actor – 2005
And the nominees were…
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture & Best Director – 2004
If there were ever a corollary year for Best Picture to this one, in the last decade (because 1998 is obviously the best) 2004 is it. Obviously 1998 fits better, as the film that won is a big, lush period piece campaigned for hard by Harvey Weinstein that beat a film that was regarded at the time, and still is regarded, as a modern classic. The jury is still out on whether the film that got beat is a modern classic, so, that’s why I go with 2004. A film that plays right into the Academy’s sensibilities, using emotion to mask a general blandness, instead of brilliant filmmaking. That much can’t be denied. As it stands, the film that is going to lose Best Picture, despite being the critical and social (based more on the pun than the actuality. I really don’t know what the idiots like or don’t like) choice, will be great filmmaking losing to a film that’s meant to be “emotional” (which, it didn’t make me cry, which, I cry at Speed Racer — love that movie).
Makes no goddamn sense. But, the only thing that matters is personal opinion, and that’s theirs. Now I get to have mine.
Best Picture – 2004
And the nominees were…
The Aviator (Warner Bros., Miramax)
Finding Neverland (Miramax)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner Bros.)
Ray (Universal)
Sideways (Fox Searchlight) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor & Best Actress – 2004
These two were pretty much a foregone conclusion. Everyone in the world knew that Jamie Foxx couldn’t lose. His Ray Charles was astounding, so he deserved this all the way. There really wasn’t anyone who could have beaten him. And in Actress, someone thought it was a good idea to make the race about Hilary vs. Annette Round Two instead of about the actress who was actually the most deserving in the race — so, that was pretty clear cut as well (Annette was not winning).
I really don’t have all too much to say here, since the Academy got one of them right, and one of them wrong. But the one they got wrong is one they’d normally get wrong, and it’s only made worse by the fact that she’s won one already and isn’t that good of an actress to have two.
Best Actor – 2004
And the nominees were…
Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Jamie Foxx, Ray (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress- 2004
2004 was a weird year. In fact, it may be the closest approximation to 2010 that we have from the past decade. In 2004, a veteran beat an electric supporting performance by a younger man in Supporting (which may or may not happen later this month), a female so inhabited her character that people had no choice to vote for her over the young “up-and-comer” who was astounding in her film (which, Natalie Portman was a veteran by this point, having been acting for a decade, but to the Academy she was essentially an up-and-comer), and the Best Picture went to a film that was an “in-the-moment” film that no one even remembers 6 years out, despite the fact that a brilliant piece of filmmaking went completely overlooked.
I remember being back in 2004, being swept up, like the Academy, by Million Dollar Baby, thinking it was a great and emotional film. Now, I look back and think, “What the fuck was I thinking? The Aviator is a brilliant movie.” I remember even rooting for Eastwood over Scorsese that year just because Scorsese was the huge favorite to win. How stupid was I? Granted, I was only 16, but still, that was so stupid of me. Anyway, let’s get supportive.
Best Supporting Actor – 2004
And the nominees were…
Alan Alda, The Aviator
Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Jamie Foxx, Collateral
Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
Clive Owen, Closer (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture & Best Director – 2003
Was there really any surprise here?
Best Picture – 2003
And the nominees were…
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line Cinema)
Lost in Translation (Focus Features)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Fox, Miramax, Universal)
Mystic River (Warner Bros.)
Seabiscuit (Universal, DreamWorks)
Return of the King — Clearly worth it. The entire trilogy gets one big Oscar. That’s absolutely fine, because it is a brilliant piece(s) of filmmaking. Sure, the CG is dated, but it’s still a great feat that deserved some recognition. No one can really disagree with this one.
Lost in Translation — A great, great film, but not one anyone can vote for knowing Rings is also involved. It deserved the Screenplay win and all the good will people have toward it. It is a great movie, but never a Best Picture winner. This is exactly how it should have ended up. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor & Best Actress – 2003
These were fun. The Best Actress race was over from the second they announced the nominees. But the Best Actor race was essentially between two people, even though people like myself were voting for the “never gonna happen” nominee.
Best Actor – 2003
And the nominees were…
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Ben Kingsley, The House of Sand and Fog
Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Sean Penn, Mystic River (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress – 2003
Ah, 2003…the year where everything was obvious but the acting categories…and even those were pretty clear cut (and boring).
This was my first real “Oscar” year. I remember having people i was rooting for, even though going in, there were clear cut favorites that everyone expected to win. And pretty much all of them did, which made the whole ceremony pretty clear cut (much like I’m expecting this year’s ceremony to be).
In fact, looking at it, 3 out of the 4 acting wins were by veterans/overdue actors, and the fourth was — well, Charlize Theron.
Let’s just get into it, before I lament their decisions any further before I start talking about them.
Best Supporting Actor – 2003
And the nominees were…
Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Benicio del Toro, 21 Grams
Djimon Hounsou, In America
Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture & Best Director – 2002
2002 was a pretty good year for American film. I know that’s not necessarily represented in the Best Picture nominations (well, it is, kind of) — but there were certainly a very fair share of good and even great films that came out — some of which still get very repeated play in my house.
I will say though — this was kind of a dead year for Best Picture. It was clear they were waiting for the end of the trilogy to award Rings — to the point where Peter Jackson didn’t even get a Best Director nod. That and, with the amount of campaigning Harvey did for Gangs, it pretty much led everyone away from voting for it. Not that they’d have voted it Best Picture — it’s great and all, but it’s kind of an unwieldy mess. But to go against Marty for Best Director — ooh, that hurts. And it’ll hurt again in 2004. But, without those two, it’s really a dead year. Those other three really aren’t Best Picture material.
But, it’s important to note that Miramax had three of the five nominees here for Best Picture. Three. And John C. Reilly is in all three of ’em. Add that to the fact that Two Towers was clearly not winning, and Harvey and Bob had a 75% chance of winning Best Picture. So, they can say all they want about him campaigning too had for Gangs, but essentially come Oscar night, the fight was between his two other pictures. He was all but assured this one no matter what he campaigned for. He even got a Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress out of the deal. That man’s a fucking genius. (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor & Best Actress – 2002
These two categories annoy me. In one, a completely undeserving person won, and in the other, I can’t see why that person outperformed everyone else. And I’m trying to. It’s really annoying. You can seriously watch all five of the performances back to back, and at best, maybe rank the winning performance third. At best. And the other one, well, we all know about The Nose. Well, actually, they’re both noses. That’s funny.
Best Actor – 2002
And the nominees were…
Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation.
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress – 2002
These are an interesting set of nominations. I remember this being my first real Oscar race. 2001 I watched as merely a viewer. 2002 was when I started drawing party lines. I had my favorites, decided who I liked, had very definite ideas of who I thought should win each category. Supporting actor specifically made me very happy. Because, to me, it was who I picked. Apparently, to everyone else, it was an upset. Now I get to go back and look and analyze this from a more objective point of view. I’m excited. (more…)
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