AND THE NOMINEES ARE… The nominations for the 72nd Academy Awards have been announced, and the questionable tastes of an aged membership will be further defined on March 26. In a crazy year for film, the Academy alternated between tough, competitive selections and some truly appalling ones that reveal which films they actually saw. “The Limey”, “Three Kings”, and “Fight Club” were basically shut out, while “Being John Malkovich” did not get anywhere near the recognition it deserved. Predictably, some mediocre Oscar-bait made the cut, but not nearly anything as divisive as “Titanic” or “Life is Beautiful”. Still, “The Cider House Rules” qualifies as inoffensive political film of the year, and was probably pushed by Miramax since no one really liked “The Talented Mr. Ripley” all that much. I’m glad to see “The Insider” did well as it’s a difficult film about a seemingly esoteric subject. I have to say, though, 1999 was a great year for film that went largely unreflected by this list of nominees. Years from now, people will look at the following list and largely ask why these were the films nominated.
Here’s the breakdown of nominations and analysis:
Best Picture:
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks)
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax)
THE GREEN MILE (Warner Bros.)
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista)
THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista)
SCREWED:
“Being John Malkovich”
“The Limey”
“Magnolia”
“The Straight Story”
“Sweet and Lowdown”
“Three Kings”
… and God knows how many other worthier films.
“The Insider” deserves to be here while “The Cider House Rules” is more commendable than entertaining. The rest are a bunch of overrated mass-market films that were probably the only actual films the membership actually saw. At least Miramax was unable to shove “The Talented Mr. Ripley” down everyone’s throats.
I’d pick: THE INSIDER
Best Actor:
Russell Crowe in THE INSIDER
Richard Farnsworth in THE STRAIGHT STORY
Sean Penn in SWEET AND LOWDOWN
Kevin Spacey in AMERICAN BEAUTY
Denzel Washington in THE HURRICANE
SCREWED:
Terrence Stamp in “The Limey”
Jim Carrey in “Man on the Moon”
George Clooney in “Three Kings”
Now here’s some real competition. I’d argue that there were several performances superior to Kevin Spacey, but the other four, remarkably, really are the best of the year. Amazingly, Jim Carrey was NOT nominated.
I’d pick: Richard Farnsworth in THE STRAIGHT STORY
Best Actress:
Annette Bening in AMERICAN BEAUTY
Janet McTeer in TUMBLEWEEDS
Julianne Moore in THE END OF THE AFFAIR
Meryl Streep in MUSIC OF THE HEART
Hilary Swank in BOYS DON’T CRY
SCREWED:
Cecilia Roth in “All About My Mother”
Daaaaamn… now we’re having some trouble. I think these nominations were based upon the promotional material sent to voters by the studios. What are you going to do? It was not the year of the woman. Cecilia Roth got screwed, but generally it was slim pickings.
I’d pick: Um… Um… Julianne Moore in THE END OF THE AFFAIR
Best Supporting Actor:
Michæl Caine in THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Tom Cruise in MAGNOLIA
Michæl Clarke Duncan in THE GREEN MILE
Jude Law in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Haley Joel Osment in THE SIXTH SENSE
Well, John Malkovich got screwed, but what are you going to do? This category sucks exactly like the Best Picture category.
I’d pick: Tom Cruise in MAGNOLIA
Best Supporting Actress:
Toni Collette in THE SIXTH SENSE
Angelina Jolie in GIRL, INTERRUPTED
Catherine Keener in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Samantha Morton in SWEET AND LOWDOWN
Chloe Sevigny in BOYS DON’T CRY
OH, COME ON! There’s a whole lot of grasping at straws here and not a whole lot of stretching.
I’d pick: Chloe Sevigny in BOYS DON’T CRY
Best Achievement in Directing:
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Sam Mendes
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Spike Jonze
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Lasse Hallstrom
THE INSIDER
Michæl Mann
THE SIXTH SENSE
M. Night Shyamalan
SCREWED:
Pedro Almodovar for “All About My Mother”
David Fincher for “Fight Club”
Stephen Soderbergh for “The Limey”
Paul Thomas Anderson for “Magnolia”
Andy and Larry Wachowski for “The Matrix”
Mike Leigh for “Topsy-Turvy”
David O. Russell for “Three Kings”
…and any number of others.
“Heavy-handed Directing” is more like it. Mann and Jonze deserve to be here, but the others need to be beaten with the subtlety stick. Shyamalan gets nominated for a vastly overrated genre flick while the Wachowski brothers stunning work gets ignored? Am I supposed to believe that Lasse Hallstrom actually did better work than Anderson, Russell or Almodovar? COME ON.
Best Screenplay based on material previously produced or published:
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Screenplay by John Irving
ELECTION
Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
THE GREEN MILE
Written for the screen by Frank Darabont
THE INSIDER
Written by Eric Roth & Michæl Mann
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Screenplay by Anthony Minghella
“Election” was well written if a little clunky in execution. John Irving did a decent job adapting his own book so that the film wouldn’t turn out like “Simon Birch”. HOWEVER, Darabont did sub-par work for his abilities and Minghella should not be rewarded for essentially destroying the main character of a series of books. “Oh, I like Tom Ripley, but… could he not be a sociopath?” That’s like saying, ‘I like “Romeo and Juliet”, but could they not die at the end? I’d like something a little more upbeat.”
I’d pick: THE INSIDER
Best Screenplay written directly for the screen:
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Written by Alan Ball
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Written by Charlie Kaufman
MAGNOLIA
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
THE SIXTH SENSE
Written by M. Night Shyamalan
TOPSY-TURVY
Written by Mike Leigh
OK, I will agree that Alan Ball’s script more than deserves to be here, Sam Mendes just over-directed it. Again, f**k “The Sixth Sense”. The other three are keepers.
I’d pick: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Best Achievement in Cinematography:
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Conrad L. Hall
THE END OF THE AFFAIR
Roger Pratt
THE INSIDER
Dante Spinotti
SLEEPY HOLLOW
Emmanuel Lubezki
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS
Robert Richardson
SCREWED:
Lajos Koltai for “The Legend of 1900”
Bill Pope for “The Matrix”
I’d pick: SLEEPY HOLLOW
Art Direction:
ANNA AND THE KING
Art Direction: Luciana Arrighi; Set Decoration: Ian Whittaker
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Art Direction: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Beth Rubino
SLEEPY HOLLOW
Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs; Set Decoration: Peter Young
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Art Direction: Roy Walker; Set Decoration: Bruno Cesari
TOPSY-TURVY
Art Direction: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: John Bush
Again with “The Cider House Rules”? Was the art direction really the great? There’s too many sympathy votes in this category.
I’d pick: SLEEPY HOLLOW or TOPSY-TURVY
Best Achievement in Film Editing:
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Tariq Anwar
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Lisa Zeno Churgin
THE INSIDER
William Goldenberg, Paul Rubell and David Rosenbloom
THE MATRIX
Zach Stænberg
THE SIXTH SENSE
Andrew Mondshein
“The Cider House Rules”?
I’d pick: THE MATRIX
Best Achievement in Costume Design:
ANNA AND THE KING
Jenny Beavan
SLEEPY HOLLOW
Colleen Atwood
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Ann Roth and Gary Jones
TITUS
Milena Canonero
TOPSY-TURVY
Lindy Hemming
“Anna and the King” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley”? I quess bustles and green speedos are really innovative. Whatever.
I’d pick: TOPSY-TURVY
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Spain)
An El Deseo S.A./Renn/France 2 Cinema Production; Spain
CARAVAN (Nepal)
A Galate Films – France 2 Cinema – Les Productions de la Gueville/Les
Productions JMH/Antelope (UK)
Limited/National Studio Limited/Bac Films Production; Nepal
EAST-WEST A UGC (France)
YM Production; France
SOLOMON AND GæNOR (U.K., in Gælic)
An Apt Film and Television Company Production; United Kingdom
UNDER THE SUN (Sweden)
A Sweetwater AB Production; Sweden
SCREWED:
“I Stand Alone”, like it had any chance.
How many of these have you actually seen?
I’d pick: ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, because it’s a brilliant film and I haven’t actually seen any of the other ones.
Best Original Score:
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Thomas Newman
ANGELA’S ASHES
John Williams
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
Rachel Portman
THE RED VIOLIN
John Corigliano
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Gabriel Yared
SCREWED:
Ennio Morricone for “The Legend of 1900”
Angelo Badalamenti for “The Straight Story”
I’d pick: Mmmmm… I guess THE RED VIOLIN is least offensive.
Best Original Song:
“Blame Canada” from SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT
Music and Lyric by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman
“Music Of My Heart” from MUSIC OF THE HEART
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Save Me” from MAGNOLIA
Music and Lyric by Aimee Mann
“When She Loved Me” from TOY STORY 2
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“You’ll Be In My Heart” from TARZAN
Music and Lyric by Phil Collins
SCREWED:
All the other songs from “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut”
Unbelievably, not even the Academy could completely deny Parker and Shaiman a nomination. Happily, Aimee Mann was recognized, but we could do without the “Tarzan” and “Music of the Heart” numbers, and should Randy Newman really be nominated for another case of sonic recycling?
I’d pick: “Blame Canada” would squeek over “Save Me”, just so I could watch Trey Parker’s acceptance speech.
Best Achievement in Makeup:
AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME
Michele Burke and Mike Smithson
BICENTENNIAL MAN
Greg Cannom
LIFE
Rick Baker
TOPSY-TURVY
Christine Blundell and Trefor Proud
You’ve got to admit, that fat bastard getup was mighty impressive.
I’d pick: AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME
Best Achievement in Documentary Features:
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
A Road Movies Production; Wim Wenders and Ulrich Felsberg
GENGHIS BLUES
A Wadi Rum Production; Roko Belic and Adrian Belic
ON THE ROPES
A Highway Films Production; Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen
ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER
An Arthur Cohn Production; Arthur Cohn and Kevin Macdonald
SPEAKING IN STRINGS
A CounterPoint Films Production; Paola di Florio and Lilibet Foster
SCREWED, SCREWED, SCREWED:
“Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr. by Errol Morris
Morris’ “Mr. Death…” was one of the best films of last year, period.
I’d pick: BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
Best Achievement in Documentary Short Subjects:
EYEWITNESS
A Marbert Art Foundation Production; Bert Van Bork
KING GIMP
A Whiteford-Hadary/University of Maryland/Tapestry International Production;
Susan Hannah Hadary and William A. Whiteford
THE WILDEST SHOW IN THE SOUTH: THE ANGOLA PRISON RODEO
A Gabriel Films Production; Simeon Soffer and Jonathan Stack
Nope, I haven’t seen any of them, either.
Best Animated Short Film:
HUMDRUM
An Aardman Animations Limited Production; Peter Peake
MY GRANDMOTHER IRONED THE KING’S SHIRTS
A National Film Board of Canada & Studio Magica a.s. Production; Torill Kove
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
A Productions Pascal Blais/Imagica Corp./ Dentsu Tech./NHK Enterprise 21/
Panorama Studio of Yaroslavl Production; Alexandre Petrov
3 MISSES
A Cin‚T‚ Film Production; Paul Driessen
WHEN THE DAY BREAKS
A National Film Board of Canada Production; Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis
Best Live Action Short Film:
BROR, MIN BROR (Teis and Nico)
A Nimbus Film & Dansk Novellefilm Production;
Henrik Ruben Genz and Michæl W. Horsten
KILLING JOE
A Joy Films and Chelsea Pictures Production;
Mehdi Norowzian and Wax
KLEINGELD (Small Change)
A Production of Die Hochschule for Film und Fernsehen “Konrad Wolf” Potsdam-Babelsberg;
Marc-Andreas Bochert and Gabriele Lins
MAJOR AND MINOR MIRACLES A
Dramatiska Institutet Production; Marcus Olsson
MY MOTHER DREAMS THE SATAN’S DISCIPLES IN NEW YORK (American Film Institute)
A Kickstart Production; Barbara Schock and Tammy Tiehel
You got me.
Best Achievement in Sound:
THE GREEN MILE
Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michæl Herbick and Willie D. Burton
THE INSIDER
Andy Nelson, Doug Hemphill and Lee Orloff
THE MATRIX
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David Campbell and David Lee
THE MUMMY
Leslie Shatz, Chris Carpenter, Rick Kline and Chris Munro
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE
Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy and John Midgley
I’d pick: THE MATRIX
Best Sound Effects Editing:
FIGHT CLUB
Ren Klyce and Richard Hymns
THE MATRIX
Dane A. Davis
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE
Ben Burtt and Tom Bellfort
I’d pick: THE MATRIX
Best Visual Effects:
THE MATRIX
John Gæta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley and Jon Thum
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE
John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires and Rob Coleman
STUART LITTLE
John Dykstra, Jerome Chen, Henry F. Anderson III and Eric Allard
