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."

Comments

Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks

[sielwolf]

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).

Re:Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks

[fireduck]

the fact that ROTK took the top 2 golden globes probably gives it momentum heading into the Oscars. Sure there's the history of SciFi/Fantasy never winning the big prizes, but this movie is unique among movies. Jackson directed three movies simultaneously, all of which have won critical, popular and financial praise. That achievement alone has to count for something to the voters. Combine that with seriously state of the art special effects, insane costume/prop department, more than adequate acting, and really this movie is the achievement of the past three years.

Simple vs. Epic

[addie]

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.

yeah, great, nominations for the movie...

[garcia]

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?

Note

[cubicledrone]

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.

Puhleaze.

[gosand]

Agreed, I was incredibly disappointed to hear Sean Astin didn't get a nod for his performance as Sam. Easily the most moving performance I've seen in a long time, and he pulled it off perfectly.

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.