2002-02-11
The Oscars, posted at 10:17 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Just for fun... since Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow morning at like 5am, I figured I'd offer a little prediction. Below are what I wish would be nominated, if I ran the Oscars:Best Picture
Memento (Mind-blowing and bending)
Ali (Spellbinding filmmaking and performances)
A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard's best film ever, with a fantastic lead performance)
The Royal Tenenbaums (the best film of 2001, with a pitch-perfect tone and an incredible mix of comedy and pathos)
Ocean's 11 (most entertaining film of the year)
Note:
I'm predicting that out of my list, only A Beautiful Mind will be nominated. I'm okay with Lord of the Rings getting a nomination (a literary adaptation that lived up to its hype... a bloated budget and lots of special effects couldn't ruin a good story). I'm sort of okay with Moulin Rouge, as well... as it was a good effort (but was spotty and erratic at best.) I haven't seen Black Hawk Down. And I really didn't like In the Bedroom. Those four, plus, A Beautiful Mind, will probably be the five nominees.
Best Actor:
My picks -
RUSSELL CROWE (This guy is the most versatile actor working right now... he was just as phenomenal in A Beautiful Mind as he was in Gladiator and The Insider)
GENE HACKMAN (He was so perfect in The Royal Tenenbaums, that you forgot it was him)
WILL SMITH (I hope he wins. He had the difficult task of playing a well-known sports figure that he doesn't even resemble that much, and he pulled it off. The voice was the best.)
GUY PEARCE (His droll performance in Memento was excellent.)
TOM CRUISE (Vanilla Sky was a great mind-fuck of a movie, and a characertistically charismatic Cruise showed great range)
Note: Smith, Hackman, and Crowe will be nominated, but I'm predicting the other two spots will go to Tom Wilkinson from the spectacularly overrated In the Bedroom and a overrated performance from Denzel Washington in Training Day (it was the type of role that screamed "Look at me! I can play a villian! I'm so showy!").
Best Actress:
NICOLE KIDMAN (She was luminous in Moulin Rouge, and never had any of the voice problems as McGregor had)
KIRSTEN DUNST (The best young actress working in Hollywood today was incredible in the underrated crazy/beautiful)
HALLE BERRY (Okay, okay, so I haven't seen Gods and Monsters yet. But the clips look amazing, and I'm really rooting for her to get a nom.)
ANGELICA HUSTON (This perhaps is more of a supporting role, but this spot needed more names. Besides, she was amazing in The Royal Tenenbaums... loved the breakdown scene on the street)
PENELOPE CRUZ (Never before has she seemed as subtly sexy as she did in Vanilla Sky. She was mystifying. "I'll tell you in our next life, when we are both cats.")
Note: Out of this group, probably only Barry and Kidman will be nominated. We'll definitely see Sissy Spacek's overrated turn in In the Bedroom nominated, as well as Naomi Watts (from Mulholland Drive, which I didn't see) and Judy Dench for Iris (she gets nominated every year for something).
Best Supporting Actor:
JOE PANTOLONIO (He was great in Memento. Can we trust him or not?)
LUKE WILSON (His was another great performance in a host of great performances in The Royal Tenenbaums)
SIR IAN MCKELLAN (He was very powerful in Lord of the Rings. I loved the old man fight scene.)
JAMES GANDOLFINI (I liked The Mexican, and he was the best part of it. A very unconventional character and a great performance.)
JON VOIGHT (He was Howard Cosell in Ali. Unrecognizably good.)
Note: Out of this group, it's sort of a crapshoot as to who will get nominated. I'm guessing on at least two out of McKellan, Pantolonio, and Voight will be nominated. After that, there's a bunch of performances garnering Academy support, most notably Jim Broadbent from Iris and Ben Kingsley from Sexy Beast. I haven't seen either, so I can't really comment.
Best Supporting Actress:
JENNIFER CONNELLY (I hope she wins, too. The little girl from Labyrinth has grown all up, and she turned in a phenomenal performance in A Beautiful Mind)
MAGGIE SMITH (not from the snoozefest Gosford Park, but from Harry Potter. Just to be difficult, I guess. This woman plays a staunch old women better than anyone. And her eyes speak volumes.)
MARISA TOMEI (Because even though I didn't much like In the Bedroom, I've always liked Tomei - and she was very good in the movie)
GWYNETH PALTROW (her performance in The Royal Tenenbaums was just as good as her Oscar-winning turn in Shakespeare in Love)
FIONULLA FLANAGAN (She's the housekeeper from The Others. This was a terrific performance - is she a sweet old woman caretaker or... something else...?)
Note: Connelly will get a nomination, for sure. Out of Smith and Tomei, at least one of them will, and probably both will. Other than that, it's tough to say. Kate Winslet in Iris was supposed to be really good (haven't seen it). There will probably be a left-field choice or two that no one is predicting. I'd love to see Paltrow or Flanagan get a nom.