The Return of Oscar Picks by Someone who has no Business Making Oscar Picks
Mar 18 '03
The Bottom Line I'm not really knowledgeable but why should that stop me?
I’m back and even less informed! Two years ago, I made my predictions under the pretenses that I don’t really have any expert knowledge or anything but I still like to have my say (http://www.epinions.com/content_1007329412). This year, I have decided to once again to take up the torch and make my predictions. I have only seen one of the movies nominated for Best Picture this year (Chicago), but will that mean my comments are going to be biased? Of course it does!
Best Picture
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
Okay, so I’ve only seen Chicago. I still thought it was great. It had all the makings of a classic movie and was innovative at the same time.
Bet on it: Chicago
What I want: Chicago
Keep Dreaming: The Pianist
Best Director
Pedro Almodóvar, ''Talk to Her''
Stephen Daldry, ''The Hours''
Rob Marshall, ''Chicago''
Roman Polanski, ''The Pianist''
Martin Scorsese, ''Gangs of New York''
Where is Peter Jackson on this list? I’m not a big LOTR fan but it certainly looked like good directing from the clips I saw. Anyway, Rob Marshall did a good job and his direction of where the film should go on the whole was a great idea.
Bet on it: Rob Marshall, Chicago
What I want: Rob Marshall, Chicago
Keep Dreaming: Pedro Almodóvar, Talk to Her
Best Actor
Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation
Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
I do not like Jack Nicholson. I think he is overrated yet every time he is in a half decent movie, the Academy decides to give him an award. I would choose Daniel Day-Lewis for this because I feel that he is the best actor overall in this category (plus who ever heard of Michael Caine’s movie).
Bet on it: Jack Nicholson (grrr…)
What I want: Daniel Day-Lewis
Keep Dreaming: Michael Caine
Best Actress
Salma Hayek, Frida
Nicole Kidman, The Hours
Diane Lane, Unfaithful
Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven
Renée Zellweger, Chicago
Take a look at the Best Actor and Best Actress categories and you can really see the age disparities. Despite my love of Chicago, I do not want Renee Zellweger to win. I thought she was decent in the role but really didn’t have the singing or dancing chops to really pull it off (they really should have cast Kristin Chenoweth as Roxy, I guess I’m a little bitter). Anyway, I’m going to pick Julianne Moore for this because I thought Nicole Kidman was too hammy in the clips that I saw and Moore is really overdue.
Bet on it: Renee Zellweger
What I want: Julianne Moore
Keep Dreaming: Salma Hayek
Best Supporting Actor
Chris Cooper, Adaptation
Ed Harris, The Hours
Paul Newman, Road to Perdition
John C. Reilly, Chicago
Christopher Walken, Catch Me if You Can
Wow, I know nothing about this category. A lot of people seem to like Chris Cooper, but I know nothing about him or his movie. But I do think John C. Reilly was really good, plus the guy is just cool.
Bet on it: Chris Cooper
What I want: John C. Reilly
Keep Dreaming: Ed Harris
Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, About Schmidt
Julianne Moore, The Hours
Queen Latifah, Chicago
Meryl Streep, Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
I am not a big Catherine Zeta-Jones fan. The woman just annoys me. Nonetheless, her performance really won me over and she proved to be a Velma Kelly on the same level as Bebe Neuwirth.
Bet on it: Catherine Zeta-Jones
What I want: Catherine Zeta-Jones
Keep Dreaming: Queen Latifah
Animated Feature
Ice Age
Lilo & Stitch
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Spirited Away
Treasure Planet
Wow, what a cr@ppy year for animation. Well, I think my sister liked Lilo & Stitch.
Bet on it: Ice Age
What I want: Lilo & Stitch
Keep Dreaming: Treasure Planet
Best Original Score
Catch Me if You Can, John Williams
Far From Heaven, Elmer Bernstein
Frida, Elliot Goldenthal
The Hours, Philip Glass
Road to Perdition, Thomas Newman
They really need to change these rules, it shouldn’t have to be written specifically for the film but as long as it is the only time the score has been used in a film. In the year of the “Comeback for the Movie Musical”, it is wrong that Chicago is not even nominated. If I have to choose I’ll go with Thomas Newman because he wrote an awesome score for Little Women a few years ago.
Bet on it: eenie, meenie, miney, … The Hours
What I want: Road to Perdition
Keep Dreaming: Frida
Best Original Song
“Burn It Blue” (Frida) music by Elliot Goldenthal, lyric by Julie Taymor
“Father and Daughter” (The Wild Thornberrys) music and lyric by Paul Simon
“The Hands That Built America” (Gangs of New York) music and lyric by Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen
“I Move On” (Chicago) music by John Kander, lyric by Fred Ebb
“Lose Yourself” (8 Mile) music by Eminem, Jeff Bass, and Luis Resto, lyric by Eminem
This basically comes down to the weakest song in a great movie (Chicago) or a rap anthem (8 Mile). While I love Chicago and really dislike Eminem, his song is pretty good. But no way he gets the Oscar, the Academy is not that progressive.
Bet on it: ”I Move On”
What I want: ”Lose Yourself”
Keep Dreaming: ”Burn It Blue”
Documentary Feature
Bowling for Columbine
Daughter From Danang
Prisoner of Paradise
Spellbound
Winged Migration
I only included this category because I just wanted to point out how awesome it would be if Michael Moore won and went on a long-winded political tirade. You have to root for him just for that.
Bet on it: Bowling for Columbine
What I want: Bowling for Columbine
Keep Dreaming: Winged Migration (?)
I would keep going but that would be REALLY useless. I know even less about those categories so the picks would be even more random. Anyway, have fun and I really wouldn’t make any bets based on my predictions.
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