2003 Oscar Awards

Best Picture
by Stepanie Morgan, Columbus Wired Columnist (3/18/03)

This is the one. The whole shebang and the award everyone tries to stay up for while grumbling, “what the heck are those special awards about anyway? We could have cut half an hour from the program!”

Remember, if you want to see if I was right, you’ll have to stay up until 12:30 in the morning.

Technical Details (who is really nominated): The individual(s) who shall be credited for Academy Award purposes shall be the person(s) having screen credit as producer or produced by. Persons with screen credits of executive producer, co-producer, associate producer, line producer, produced in association with, or any other credit, shall not receive nominations or Academy Statuettes. Studio executives and personal managers with producer credit are likewise ineligible for Best Picture nominations and statuettes unless they have fully functioned as producers on the picture. No more than three producers may be nominated or receive statuettes; if more than three producers are credited on a nominated picture, the Academy Award recipients shall be those three or fewer who have performed the major portion of the producing functions. The Producers Branch Executive Committee shall resolve any questions of eligibility.

Lesson for the day: Co-Producing credits don’t mean jack.

Nominees:

“Chicago”

“Gangs of New York”

“The Hours”

“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”

“The Pianist”

Chicago	Marty Richards
Past Oscar Nominations	None.
Past Wins	Marty Richards 2003 – PGA Golden Laurel Award “Motion Picture Producer of the Year” – “Chicago” Best Picture Awards for “Chicago” 2003 – BFCA Award “Best Picture” 2003 – DFWFCA Award “Best Picture” 2003 – Golden Globes “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy”
Pass-Overs	None (this is his 2^nd producing credit).
Miramax Factor	ABSOLUTELY
Hip Factor	Resurgence of the musical!
# of Nominations	13
Intangibles	Miramax is doing everything it can to make this Best Picture of the year.

Gangs of New York	Alberto Grimaldi Harvey Wesinstein
Past Oscar Nominations	Alberto Grimaldi None. Harvey Wesinstein 1999 – “Best Picture” – “Shakespeare In Love”
Past Wins	Alberto Grimaldi None. Harvey Wesinstein 1999 – Oscar Award “Best Picture” – “Shakespeare In Love” 1999 – BAFTA Award “Best Picture” – “Shakespeare In Love” 1999 – Golden Satellite “Best Picture” – “Shakespeare In Love” Best Picture Awards for “Gangs of New York” None.
Pass-Overs	Don’t even get me started on the whole “Shakespeare In Love” v. “Saving Private Ryan” ordeal…
Miramax Factor	Yes.
Hip Factor	Leo,Leo,Leo…okay, it’s a historical drama (about history we usually don’t learn), but Leo does help.
# of Nominations	10
Intangibles	The Vanity Factor. Harvey can’t get up himself to accept if “Chicago” wins, but he could have a speech ready for “Gangs of New York…”

The Hours	Scott Rudin Robert Fox
Past Oscar Nominations	Scott Rudin None. Robert Fox None.
Past Wins	Scott Rudin 1997 – Christopher Award “Motion Pictures” – “Marvin’s Room” 1995 – Wise Owl Award – Honorable Mention “Television and Theatrical Film Fiction” – “Nobody’s Fool” Robert Fox None. Best Picture Awards for “The Hours” 2003 – Golden Globe Award “Best Picture – Drama” 2003 – VFCC Award “Best Film” 2002 – NBR Award “Best Picture” 2002 – SEFCA Award “Best Picture”
Pass-Overs	Meryl Streep’s nomination for an acting award was sacrificed.
Miramax Factor	No.
Hip Factor	It’s a literary movie!
# of Nominations	9
Intangibles	It’s about time for Oscar to go serious again – and not fake serious, but serious-serious.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	Barrie M. Osborne Frances Walsh Peter Jackson
Past Oscar Nominations	Barrie M. Osborne 2002 – “Best Picture” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” Frances Walsh 2002 – “Best Picture” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – “Best Screenplay – Adapted” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 1995 – “Best Screenplay – Original” – “Heavenly Creatures” Peter Jackson 2002 – “Best Picture” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – “Best Screenplay – Adapted” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 1995 – “Best Screenplay – Original” – “Heavenly Creatures”
Past Wins	Barrie M. Osborne 2002 – AFI Film Award “AFI Movie of the Year” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – BAFTA Award “Best Film” - “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” Frances Walsh 2002 – AFI Film Award “AFI Movie of the Year” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2001 – SEFCA Award “Best Screenplay – Adapted” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 1993 – New Zealand Film & TV Awards “Best Screenplay” – “Braindead” Peter Jackson 2003 – KCFCC Award “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” 2003 – Sierra Award “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” 2002 – AFI Film Award “AFI Movie of the Year” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – Saturn Award “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – BAFTA Award “Best Film” - “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – BAFTA Award “David Lean Award for Directing” - “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – Bodil Award “Best American Film” - “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – FFCC Award “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – KCFCC Award “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 2002 – Sierra Award “Best Director” – “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” 1997 – Fantasporto “Audience Jury Award” – “Forgotten Silver” 1996 – ALFS Award “Best Director” – “Heavenly Creatures” 1995 – Gerardmer Film Festival “Grand Prize” – “Heavenly Creatures” 1993 – Silver Scream Award – “Braindead” 1993 – Fantasporto “International Fantasy Film Award” – “Braindead” 1991 – Fantafestival Award “Best Direction” – “Meet the Feebles” 1989 – Fantafestival Award “Audience Award” – “Bad Taste” and countless others… Best Picture Awards for “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” 2003 – Empire Award “Best Film” 2003 – OFCS Award “Best Picture”
Pass-Overs	Last year – next year, I’ll say the sam thing (see intangible for further explanation).
Miramax Factor	No.
Hip Factor	Uber-geek is now mainstream in the corn belt, which means that it is officially “out” on either coast.
# of Nominations	6
Intangibles	Oscar appears to be viewing this trilogy as one film. It could be that the big Oscar year for LOTR will be 2004.

The Pianist	Roman Polanski Robert Benmussa Alain Sardre
Past Oscar Nominations	Roman Polanski See award list under “Best Director” Robert Benmussa None. Alain Sardre None.
Past Wins	Roman Polanski See award list under “Best Director” Robert Benmussa 2003 – BAFTA Award “Best Film” – “The Pianist” Alain Sardre 2003 – BAFTA Award “Best Film” – “The Pianist” Best Picture Awards for “The Pianist” 2003 – BAFTA Award “Best Film” 2003 – Cesar Award “Best Film” 2003 – Goya Award “Best European Film” 2003 – NSFC Award “Best Film” 2002 – Golden Palm (Palm D’or) 2002 – BSFC Award “Best Picture” 2002 – SFFCC Award “Best Picture”
Pass-Overs	See intangibles as justification for any pass-over films.
Miramax Factor	No.
Hip Factor	Holocaust films are always popular with the Academy.
# of Nominations	7
Intangibles	In a year with four high-profile entertainment arrests for child pornography AND the Michael Jackson interviews, Roman Polanski’s inability to enter the US for fear of immediate incarceration on his own statutory-rape conviction will not be a help.

The Bottom Line:

Last year’s award went to “A Beautiful Mind.” The year before, it went to “Gladiator.” We did have “American Beauty” the year before that, but prior years saw “Shakespeare In Love” and “Titanic” taking home the big trophy.

I think Oscar has pandered enough. This is the year for the truly great film to come out on top. I’m going with “The Hours.” It has everything that a film should want – terrific cast, perfect sets, terrific costuming and a storyline completely driven by the characters. It is an incredibly moving film that stays with you long after you leave the theater. It sparks discussion and asks difficult questions. This is what excellence in filmmaking is all about.

The one spoiler is “Chicago.” And while “Chicago” was a great deal of fun, it’s not Best Picture material. Unlike “Moulin Rouge,” it does nothing but do a great and faithful adaptation of its Broadway counterpart. At least “Moulin Rouge” took the anachronistic song to new heights. Nearly every advertisement for this film takes note of its “Film of the Year!” status to push this as “the people’s choice.”

Best Picture by Stepanie Morgan, Columbus Wired Columnist (3/18/03)

Marty Richards

Best Picture Awards for “Chicago”

Best Picture
by Stepanie Morgan, Columbus Wired Columnist (3/18/03)