randomness always greets the Oscar nominations with excitement and anticipation. randomness is always disappointed. There are a few interesting twists this year, though.
Best Picture
Seems like the Academy is finally willing to give the geeks their due. LOTR looks like the favorite. I'll be crossing my fingers and swooning, of course, for "Lost in Translation."
Best Actor
Johnny Depp is always a randomness favorite and his Adam Ant impersonation was great. Bill better win this one, though.
Best Supporting Actress/Best Actress
What? No Scarlett Johansson whatsoever? That's absurd. I love Samantha Morton in that role but this is certainly Charlize's year.
Best Director
Kudos to the Academy for recognizing Fernando Meirelles for "City of God," of my favorites of, um, 2002. I'll be rooting for Sofia, naturally.
Documentary
Wow. I've actually seen four of the five. "My Architect" is by far the best. "Friedmans" will undoubtly win. I thought "The Weather Underground" was interesting but not a very good film. "Fog of War" isn't Morris' best work but is a much more accessible subject.
Foreign Film
Not a very inspired list. Only one, "The Barbarian Invasions," has U.S. distribution. Hopefully that will change very shortly. I'd really like to see "The Twilight Samurai" as I've been hearing great things about it for months.
Original Song
randomness ends here and feels rather chuffed. Mr. Elvis Costello is nominated for a song he wrote with T-Bone Burnett for "Cold Mountain." Too bad that incredibly boring song from LOTR seems pre-ordained to win.
The Oscars say they're about artistic achievement, but that's only sometimes how the votes roll.
It's nice to see nods for Johnny Depp and Diane Keaton, but I'd like to see Bill Murray win. Of the actresses, while Charlize Theron probably has it - uglifying herself and playing a hooker serial killer always seems to be a good strategy - Naomi Watts or Samantha Morton would be good choices too. I liked Whale Rider, but it seems unfair to pit adult actors against children.
The final Lord of the Rings wasn't the best film of the trilogy, but it's been nominated and will probably win to recognize the whole series. I'm ok with that. Lost in Translation is charming, but it's not brilliant. Sofia Coppola has better work ahead of her, especially if she comes up with less trite dialogue than what we get in the pivotal scene between the Murray and Johannsson characters.
I'll be watching for the clothes.
Posted by: LadyCrumpet on January 29, 2004 05:29 PMHmm. I think the trite, shallowness of that scene is what makes it work. Would it have made sense to
have a sudden outpouring of emotion when the whole relationship was in a sort of too-cool-for-school mode? Methinks not.
In my opinion it's brilliant filmmaking with a few flaws. The Charlotte character isn't very well developed, maybe it's a bit too snarky in places. However, it's more nuanced than any American film in recent memory. To me that makes it much more than merely "charming."
He could have said similar things without sounding so pat.
And Charlotte - everyone comes in for some critical exposure, but she's way cooler and wiser than everyone else. Her character is a shade too precious and perfect.
Posted by: LadyCrumpet on January 30, 2004 10:29 AM