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Return of the King Leads Oscar Nominations
PurdueGraphicsMan writes "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the final chapter in Peter Jackson's directoral masterpeice is leading the 76 Annual Academy Awards with 11 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Next in line with 10 nominations including Best Picture and Best director is Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Here is a full list of the nominees in all categories."
You can compare the actual nominations to Roger Ebert's predictions. He was pretty on point for Best Picture, Actor, and Supporting Actress. Its surprising to see the well liked but little seen roles getting nods. Alec Baldwin in The Cooler for one. Likewise it's interesting to see Keisha Castle-Hughes for her work in Whale Rider. Many were predicitng Charlize Theron would run away with her work in Monster but Castle-Hughes could pull an Anna Panquin upset. That role was powerful AND beloved. Something that might worka gainst Theron.
Jude Law's nod is interesting since I don't remember anyone really talking about his performance (as compared to what Sean Penn, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp did this year). Ebert picked Russell Crowe's in Master and Commander which, likewise, didn't seem to have a big impact.
Strangest one is that City of God got three nominations... although it had its NY/LA debut in December 2003 (Ebert made specific mention of it in his Top of 2004 to explain its absence). But here its getting nods for Cinematography, Direction and Writing. It probably only has a chance in Cinematography where RotK is (strangely) absent.
RotK will probably run away with Makeup, Music(Song), Sound, Writing (Adapted), and Costume Design. Of course those are the second tier ones that end up as consolation prizes for a lot of folks. The interesting thing will see how it does in the big categories (which I guess Adapted Screenplay is one).
What is music when you despise all sound?
... or did "Big Fish" just get screwed?
I think it's very interesting to see that (IMHO) the two best movies to be nominated for best director are ROTK and Lost in Translation. One is a huge epic with a billion setpieces, thousands of extras, and a weaving storyline; this is an extreme challenge to direct. On the other hand, Lost in Translation features very few actors, very few locations, and some of the best low-key directing I've ever seen.
I'm glad that the Oscars are nominating directors who are working from such completely different directions, but both achieving such brilliant results.
What about nominations from the cast? ZERO.
Granted it's probably because the characters are actually co-dependant and everyone was fantastic but still...
I saw Lost in Translation at a pre-screening and while I thought it was "entertaining" I certainly don't believe Bill Murray was any better in that one than any other movie he has been in.
Depp's character was fantastic and he really led the movie and he probably deserves the award out of the list IMHO.
But why not at least NOMINATE an actor for best supporting from LOTR?
Anyone else surprised that Master and Commander got so many nominations? I mean, the costumes and effects were great, and even the acting was decent, but all the characters felt like stereotypes. By the midpoint of the movie I was bored stiff and just waiting for more stuff to blow up (thank god he made us guys easily amused).
Who would have thought a Jerry Bruckheimer produced Film based on a Disney Ride would have produced a nomination for best actor - but it was a brilliant Keith Richards-esque performance by Depp - well deserved - However I think Bill Murray will win the Oscar he sould have got for Rushmore
It's hard enough to remember my opinions, never mind the reasons for them..
I saw the movie, and I still think PJ did better. Yes, City of God is mostly kid actors, but that doesn't change the facts (IMHO), that
:-)
1) PJ did something on a scale FAR FAR larger than City of God accomplished
2) PJ did it better, even if there are a few blunders in the script
3) That the acting in City of God is not that good
Yes, they are mostly kids, but they aren't that good. Better than me, certainly. A lot better. Not better than say Elijah Wood, who was ALSO a kid when production of LotR started. Not by a long shot.
Also, while City of God tells a powerful story, so does RotK, and RotK is (again IMHO) a much more powerful story, and it is done better. Maybe this is because of the money they could throw at it, but that doesn't change the fact, that PJ has been able to keep more balls in the air than any other director - and that he didn't drop any of them, even if one of them was an at times bad script.
Put that in your hat and smoke it
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
No anime in the best animated picture category. Nemo will win, allowing Disney another "me too" moment at the Oscars.
Meanwhile, anime yawns and breaks the $4 billion mark.
Disney's response? Brother Bear.
That about wraps it up.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
Johnny Depp!! A Keith Richards-inspired glam rocking pirate, going purposefully over the top for every line reading. And he gets the nomination. This is much more monumental than the 13 noms for ROTK.
And where is the love for Peter Sarsgaard for Shattered Glass? Easily the best performance (lead or supporting) of the year.
How could ROTK get 11 nominations and then be passed over for cinematography? You're telling me City of God had better cinematography then ROTK? Maybe I'm just biased, caused I loved the movie, but that seems a little odd?
Hmmm....I thought it was really well made, and Bill Murray's performance was great, just pipped by Sean Penn.
But I noticed Lost in Translation got nominated for screenplay as well, and so I expect it to win it. Every year a movie I respect for craft, but who's screenplay I think is manipulative cheap toys (yes yes, all movies are manipulative, but I'm not supposed to see the strings DURING the movie...) wins.
But if you liked Lost in Translation, I suggest you all go out and rent a Wong Kar-Wai movie, start with Chungking Express. Very similar, with a greater sense of fun- a different kind of cool though. More leather jackets and sunglasses, than NY east village a la Lost in translation.
usually I could care less about award shows like this, but I am sincerely outraged that a masterpiece of a documentary like Spellbound doesn't even get NOMINATED for an award. I found that movie to be the most dramatic, suspenseful, and real movie I saw in ALL of 2003 - and it didn't get a nod for best documentary.
absolutely ridiculous.
if i recall, songs nominated for best song have to be created specifically for a film.
'triplets of belleville' is stretching that. i love the song, but it's a really heavy rip of an old Django Reinhardt song. it's plainly obvious.
so in other words, if you're making a song for a film, we'll reward you if you 'borrow' a tune cleverly. (and i would think his song was still under copyright, too.) but if you want to paint disney figures on a nursery wall, forget it.
i realize i'm comparing apples and oranges, but hopefully, you see the point. hypocrisy lives, here as elsewhere...
stored on computers from birth to the grave
I almost submitted this the other day, when the preview trailer showed up at Pixar.
Obviously, it's showed up on screen sometime in LA before the end of last year- but does anybody have any information on where/when it's going to be used next?
Hopefully, we don't have to wait until the Incredibles to see it.
stored on computers from birth to the grave
Gollum was the first CG character I've ever been convinced of. RotK would deserve the best FX award even if the whole movie was of him.
And I really think Andy Serkis should get nominated for something. I saw a split-screen of him acting as the body model of Gollum, and the performance just about exactly matched the final CG shot; it almost would've been believable if they'd just used that!
c-hack.com |
I don't get it. Really, I don't. I don't understand all the hubub around this movie. It was good. That's it. The acting wasn't all that great folks. Take off your fanboi glasses and look at it for what it really was.
I have never read the books, nor should I to fully appreciate a movie - after all, movies are never as good as books. That being said, here are a few observations about ROTK that you probably haven't heard...
The outcome was pre-determined. I knew what was going to happen, I could tell how it was going to end. It was predictable. Remember, I didn't know the story.
The whole thing where you think that Gollum was killed, then he comes back right at the climax - cheesy.
I found the Hobbits to be very annoying, especially Sam. They were just too corny for me.
Battle scenes - ugh. Sure, they were fantastic, but bordered on cheesy. Oh no, we are about to be defeated AGAIN. Whee, here come some eagles to save us. It just got a little tired.
I know a lot of people hold this story very dear and may take offense at my comments (I am sure I'll be modded appropriately), but I am looking at the MOVIE with no pre-conceptions. If anything, I watched the trilogy to see what all the hype was about. I still really don't know.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the Academy usually likes people to pay their dues before winning their Oscars. I mean, Spielberg had to wait until Schindler's List before he won: no Jaws, no CE3K, no E.T., no 1942 :).
Coppola isn't likely to win until she makes her next great movie. IMO.
"This? I can make a hat, I can make a brooch, I can make a pterodactyl..."
Look again at what ROTK got nominated for:
Art Direction - THROWAWAY #1
Costume Design - THROWAWAY #2
Directing
Film Editing
Makeup - THROWAWAY #3
Music (Score) >
Music (Song) > Between them, ONE counts as THROWAWAY #4
Best Picture
Sound - THROWAWAY #5
Visual Effects - THROWAWAY #7
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - THROWAWAY #8
Of the list of 11 nominations, only THREE are not in throwaway categories - that is to say, the crap categories the Academy came up with after the Star Wars debacle so that in the future, much-beloved films could be pointed to with a "but it won an Oscar for visual effects, we're being nice by letting you have that".
COMPLETELY FUCKING IGNORING THAT WITHOUT THE ACTORS, ROTK AND LOTR IN GENERAL WOULD HAVE SUCKED.
Come on. Sean Astin's Samwise Gamgee was BRILLIANT. Ian McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf, an incredibly difficult role to hold up to the scrutiny of those who have read the books inside and out and KNOW Gandalf, and yet he pulled it off.
Andy Serkis's Smeagol/Gollum. Three times now they have dissed him.
I would like to FUCK the ACADEMY, for being COMPLETELY FUCKING WORTHLESS AND IRRELEVANT.
Congratulations to the "winners" in the actor categories. Your "award" is only worth the chocolate that's wrapped up inside that gold foil.