Tuesday, January 27, 2004
E.K. Nation's Academy Award Nomination Prediction Supernova Review
PICTURE:
So what is the reaction here in E.K. Nation? Well, first, we are very happy to see Keisha Castle-Hughes get the Best Actress nomination she thoroughly deserves for Whale Rider. This is E.K. Nation's favorite nomination; we feared she wouldn't get any recognition. But boy, did she ever, getting not the supporting nod her film company promoted her for but the big one. Her tearful speech near the end of the film was absolutely heartbreaking. It was almost as if she was not acting at all, it seemed so real. Oh, and while we haven't seen every film nominated, so far the pick for E.K. Nation's Best Picture of the year is indeed Whale Rider. Trust me when I say you really do want to see a film about a young girl who dreams of becoming chief of her Maori tribe.
We're pleased with the nominations of Johnny Depp, whose truly original performance in Pirates of the Caribbean is the sort of action-film role usually overlooked by the Academy, and of Patricia Clarkson, who deserved one for The Station Agent but got one for the indie film Pieces of April. And now that we have seen House of Sand and Fog, we also like the nomination of Shohreh Aghdashloo, who turned her wife role--normally a throwaway, one-dimensional role--into a genuinely affecting portrayal of an Iranian woman who tries hard to understand the disruptive world around her but still manages to find time to care for the despondent.
Among the surprising leave-offs is Scarlett Johannsen, whom we thought would get at least a supporting nod for Lost In Translation, if not a lead nomination for Girl With A Pearl Earring. We suspect Academy voters split the Johannsen vote between those two films and two two categories, leaving her with not enough votes for either film in either category. Indeed, I have heard of a vote count procedure at the Academy where if one person has votes for two different films, and one tally eventually takes a large lead over the other, they stop counting the votes for the lesser one and count only the remaining votes for the larger one from then on, even if the ensuing votes for the lesser category would have eventually overtaken the larger one and been enough for a nomination. Did that happen here? We don't know. And we will never know.
We are displeased with the Best Picture nomination for Seabiscuit. While not a horrible film, it suffers from lackluster storytelling, which is definitely not the case with Whale Rider or The Station Agent, to name two films that should be there. As we predicted, there was a weak entry into the Best Picture top five and it was indeed Seabiscuit. We appeal to Academy voters: Watch these three films again, and then re-think about which ones really deserved the nomination. But we do like the premise that the Academy did wish to nominate at least one smaller film, Lost In Translation, over a grander-scale epic like Cold Mountain.
Now that the nominations are in, we'll fire up another round of predictions, this one being the Immediately-Post-Nomination stage: PICTURE: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. No question it's the favorite here, and it will win. DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He'll get one, finally. ACTOR: Sean Penn in Mystic River. The guy's been nominated a few times before; this time it's his. ACTRESS: Charlize Theron in Monster. She inhabited her character like few other actors we have ever seen. SUPPORTING ACTOR: The favorite is Tim Robbins, but suddenly we here at E.K. Nation think this is the category where there will be an upset. Right now, the feeling, now that he's been nominated, is Djimon Hounsou in In America. SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain. We're told she hops onto the screen after a while energizes a slow narrative. We'll see it soon, and we'll tell you what we think afterwards.
What We Got: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, Mystic River, SeabiscuitSUPPORTING ACTOR:
What We Missed: Lost In Translation instead of Cold Mountain
What We Got: Alec Baldwin, The Cooler; Benicio del Toro, 21 Grams; Tim Robbins, Mystic River; Ken Watanabe, The Last SamuraiSUPPORTING ACTRESS:
What We Missed: Djimon Hounsou, In America instead of Jeff Bridges, Seabiscuit
What We Got: Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River; Holly Hunter, Thirteen; Renee Zellweger, Cold MountainACTRESS:
What We Missed: Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog and Patricia Clarkson, Pieces Of April instead of Scarlett Johannsen, Lost in Translation and Laura Linney, Mystic River
What We Got: Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give; Charlize Theron, Monster; Naomi Watts, 21 GramsACTOR:
What We Missed: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider and Samantha Morton, In America instead of Patricia Clarkson, The Station Agent and Jennifer Connelly, House of Sand and Fog
What We Got: Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl; Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog; Jude Law, Cold Mountain; Bill Murray, Lost In Translation; Sean Penn, Mystic River.DIRECTOR:
What We Missed: Nothing.
What We Got: Sofia Coppola, Lost In Translation; Clint Eastwood, Mystic River; Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingNot a bad day for E.K. Nation's predictions. 22 of 30 for the six categories? We'll settle for that, including 90% on the actors.
What We Missed: Fernando Meirelles, City of God and Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World instead of Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, 21 Grams and Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain
So what is the reaction here in E.K. Nation? Well, first, we are very happy to see Keisha Castle-Hughes get the Best Actress nomination she thoroughly deserves for Whale Rider. This is E.K. Nation's favorite nomination; we feared she wouldn't get any recognition. But boy, did she ever, getting not the supporting nod her film company promoted her for but the big one. Her tearful speech near the end of the film was absolutely heartbreaking. It was almost as if she was not acting at all, it seemed so real. Oh, and while we haven't seen every film nominated, so far the pick for E.K. Nation's Best Picture of the year is indeed Whale Rider. Trust me when I say you really do want to see a film about a young girl who dreams of becoming chief of her Maori tribe.
We're pleased with the nominations of Johnny Depp, whose truly original performance in Pirates of the Caribbean is the sort of action-film role usually overlooked by the Academy, and of Patricia Clarkson, who deserved one for The Station Agent but got one for the indie film Pieces of April. And now that we have seen House of Sand and Fog, we also like the nomination of Shohreh Aghdashloo, who turned her wife role--normally a throwaway, one-dimensional role--into a genuinely affecting portrayal of an Iranian woman who tries hard to understand the disruptive world around her but still manages to find time to care for the despondent.
Among the surprising leave-offs is Scarlett Johannsen, whom we thought would get at least a supporting nod for Lost In Translation, if not a lead nomination for Girl With A Pearl Earring. We suspect Academy voters split the Johannsen vote between those two films and two two categories, leaving her with not enough votes for either film in either category. Indeed, I have heard of a vote count procedure at the Academy where if one person has votes for two different films, and one tally eventually takes a large lead over the other, they stop counting the votes for the lesser one and count only the remaining votes for the larger one from then on, even if the ensuing votes for the lesser category would have eventually overtaken the larger one and been enough for a nomination. Did that happen here? We don't know. And we will never know.
We are displeased with the Best Picture nomination for Seabiscuit. While not a horrible film, it suffers from lackluster storytelling, which is definitely not the case with Whale Rider or The Station Agent, to name two films that should be there. As we predicted, there was a weak entry into the Best Picture top five and it was indeed Seabiscuit. We appeal to Academy voters: Watch these three films again, and then re-think about which ones really deserved the nomination. But we do like the premise that the Academy did wish to nominate at least one smaller film, Lost In Translation, over a grander-scale epic like Cold Mountain.
Now that the nominations are in, we'll fire up another round of predictions, this one being the Immediately-Post-Nomination stage: PICTURE: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. No question it's the favorite here, and it will win. DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He'll get one, finally. ACTOR: Sean Penn in Mystic River. The guy's been nominated a few times before; this time it's his. ACTRESS: Charlize Theron in Monster. She inhabited her character like few other actors we have ever seen. SUPPORTING ACTOR: The favorite is Tim Robbins, but suddenly we here at E.K. Nation think this is the category where there will be an upset. Right now, the feeling, now that he's been nominated, is Djimon Hounsou in In America. SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain. We're told she hops onto the screen after a while energizes a slow narrative. We'll see it soon, and we'll tell you what we think afterwards.
