I'm not going to get into a full category-by-category breakdown of this year's Oscar nominations until I do my official predictions column a few weeks from now, but I will share some of my thoughts on the nominees. I always find it amazing how people try to predict the winners right after the nominations come out without giving them time to resonate, as well as interpret how the studio spin and press reaction will affect the final voting.

Without question, I was most excited to see CITY OF GOD -- a film I've been begging people to give a chance for well over a year now -- receive nominations in four major categories, including Best Director, Editing, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay. From what I understand, it wasn't eligible for Best Foreign Film because Brazil didn't officially submit it, which is a shame, but the nominations it ended up with more than make up for it. In fact, seeing that SEABISCUIT landed a Best Picture nomination without Gary Ross receiving a nod for Best Director means CITY OF GOD couldn't have been far from ending up in its place. What a thrill that would have been, although I think anyone who admires this wonderful film has to be quite pleased that it was nominated at all.

While it's a foregone conclusion that every batch of nominations is going to annoy some select group of people, I think overall it would be difficult to criticize the Academy for their choices this year. They basically gave Harvey Weinstein a big middle finger by denying COLD MOUNTAIN any major nominations in non-acting categories, while also demonstrating a willingness to acknowledge a wide range of films both large and small. I was pleasantly surprised to see Johnny Depp receive a Best Actor nomination for his truly memorable comedic performance in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, but before you say that was only because the film made a boat-load of money (pun intended), they also selected Samantha Morton and Djimon Hounsou for IN AMERICA, not to mention Alec Baldwin for THE COOLER.

The headlines will naturally focus on THE RETURN OF THE KING's eleven nominations, but as impressive as that tally is, many of them are in the technical categories so the reality isn't nearly as dominant as it might appear. To put things in perspective, MYSTIC RIVER "only" received six nominations, but they were all in major categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress).

If I had to find one thing to complain about I'd say BIG FISH deserved a lot more than it got, particularly in the Cinematography and Art Direction categories. That said, not every film can always receive the attention it deserves.

By far the biggest snub was the lack of a nomination for Scarlett Johansson for her performance in LOST IN TRANSLATION, especially because Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola were recognized. On the other hand, it was nice to see Keisha Castle-Hughes from WHALE RIDER land a surprise nomination for Best Actress (the youngest ever nominated in that category), but something tells me if she were the same age as Johansson she would've been left out as well. If we could see a breakdown of how the Academy voted, I'd be willing to bet that far more women voted for the younger and less-threatening Castle-Hughes, while more men voted for Johansson. Decipher what you will from that statement.

Posted February 1, 2004 | link