Aaron and I are now in our 4th annual Oscar battle and things have never been more intense. I currently have the crown; will Aaron have the skills to steal the gold from yours truly this year? Let's find out.
BTW, I do realize I never updated last year's awards page. I hope to finish that some day. You shouldn't hold your breath over it though.
"Chicago" - Martin Richards, Producer
"Gangs of New York" - Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers
"The Hours" - Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers
"The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers" - Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, Producers
"The Pianist" - Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde, Producers
The Academy could give this to "Chicago" but, then again, they didn't reward Moulin Rouge, another attempt to bring back the lavish musical. "Gangs of New York" and "The Two Towers" are suitably epic but they likely cancel each other out. I'm going to say that "The Pianist" will pull an upset.
Aaron: Quite a range of possibilities here. I was a big fan of Moulin Rouge last year and pretty much got screwed over, so I'm wary of a musical again, despite all the hype "Chicago" has received. LOR, while awesome, did not strike me as "best picture" materials. I'm going to go on a limb and say "The Hours" because of my literary interests, and, well, just a guess.
Adrien Brody - "The Pianist"
Nicolas Cage - "Adaptation"
Michael Caine - "The Quiet American"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "Gangs of New York"
Jack Nicholson - "About Schmidt"
I only saw "Gangs of New York" and "Adaptation." Both Lewis and Cage delivered fine performances and certainly could be recognized by the voters this year. On the other hand, as has been pointed out in many articles, everybody loves Jack (well most sane people at least). My pick? Nicholson all the way. He's a crowd pleaser.
Aaron: After Washington winning last year, I surrender in this category. Let's say Cage, because I've always been a fan, and quirky, fun characters can win this award.
Salma Hayek - "Frida"
Nicole Kidman - "The Hours"
Diane Lane - "Unfaithful"
Julianne Moore - "Far From Heaven"
Renee Zellweger - "Chicago"
Julianne Moore is my favorite in this category. Her performance just drew me into the screen. She had such a strong presence that I found myself recalling her scenese for several days afterward. Her character's hopeful sadness infects me.
Aaron: I'm going with Kidman, because she's has been continually ripped off by the academy, and I'm determined to see one of my favorite actresses win the thing.
Kathy Bates - "About Schmidt"
Julianne Moore - "The Hours"
Queen Latifah - "Chicago"
Meryl Streep - "Adaptation"
Catherine Zeta-Jones - "Chicago"
Meryl Streep! "Adaptation" has to be recognized by the Academy. Doesn't it?
I haven't seen any of these, so let's go with Queen Latifah. She's a singer anyway, so it would make sense for her to easily step into the role of a musical.
Chris Cooper - "Adaptation"
Ed Harris - "The Hours"
Paul Newman - "Road to Perdition"
John C. Reilly - "Chicago"
Christopher Walken - "Catch Me If You Can"
Chris Cooper nailed this one in my book. His role effortlessly shifts gears throughout "Adaptation"; he hits notes of humor and tragedy without missing a beat.
Aaron: I would love to see Walken win this. He was great in a fun movie. Although not exactly powerful or moving, it was very entertaining, and isn't that an actor's job?
"About a Boy" - Screenplay by Peter Hedges and Chris & Paul Weitz
"Adaptation" - Screenplay by Charlie and Donald Kaufman
"Chicago" - Screenplay by Bill Condon
"The Hours" - Screenplay by David Hare
"The Pianist" - Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"Adaptation." It's a wonderfully insane method of adapting a screenplay. But I feel it doesn't diminish the source material in the process either.
Aaron: Adaption. I mean, it's about adapting a screenplay! Is there a more natural fit? Seeing the Hours or About a Boy win wouldn't upset me, but I'm going for Kaufman.
"Far From Heaven" - Written by Todd Haynes
"Gangs of New York" - Screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian
and Kenneth Lonergan, Story by Jack Cocks
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - Written by Nia Vardalos
"Talk to Her" - Written by Pedro Almodovar
"Y Tu Mama Tambien" - Written by Carlos Cuaron and Alfonso Cuaron
I'm going to say "Y Tu Mama Tambien" because it was quite an acclaimed picture and it seems like it has to win something for its lack of nominations elsewhere. Nia Vardalos worked extremely hard to get "Wedding" made, however; so I hope I'm not wrong in this prediction.
Aaron: They should pay homage to an original idea that turned into the huge hit of the year. My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
"Chicago" - Rob Marshall
"Gangs of New York" - Martin Scorsese
"The Hours" - Stephen Daldry
"The Pianist" - Roman Polanski
"Talk to Her" - Pedro Almodovar
Hey YOU! That's right, YOU - the Academy! Please, please, please give Scorsese the awards he's been foolishly denied for so many years now.
Another tough one, though if Peter Jackson were nominated, I would pick LOR for this one. I'm going to have to go with Scorsese with this one, partly because of the "sentimental" value, partly because he managed to pull some actors who seemingly vanished into starring and did a good job with them.
"Ice Age" - Chris Wedge
"Lilo & Stitch" - Chris Sanders
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" - Jeffrey Katzenberg
"Spirited Away" - Hayao Miyazaki
"Treasure Planet" - Ron Clements
It'll be a travesty if "Spirited Away" doesn't win this. It's a masterpiece.
Aaron: I have to go with Lilo & Stitch because it was highly entertaining, and in the style of my all-time favorite Disney movie, The Emperor's New Groove.
"Chicago" - Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gord Sim
"Frida" - Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso, Set Decoration: Hannia Robledo
"Gangs of New York" - Art Direction: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - Art Direction: Grant Major, Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee
"Road to Perdition" - Art Direction: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
"Gangs of New York" had overloaded, multi-tiered dance halls, a Chinese theater, bloody alleyways, and wealthy mansions. It's gonna get this easy.
Aaron: These next few categories are where I always over-think and end up getting screwed. I'm saying Road to Perdition for the graphic-novel aura it tried to create.
"Chicago" - Dion Beebe
"Far From Heaven" - Edward Lachman
"Gangs of New York" - Michael Ballhaus
"The Pianist" - Pawel Edelman
"Road to Perdition" - Conrad L. Hall
Conrad L. Hall will win this because "Perdition" was a beautiful looking film and he recently passed away. It will be a nice tribute.
Aaron: Where's LOR in this one???? Such a rip-off. In its absence, I will go with Gange of New York.
"Chicago" - Colleen Atwood
"Frida" - Julie Weiss
"Gangs of New York" - Sandy Powell
"The Hours" - Ann Roth
"The Pianist" - Anna Sheppard
"Chicago," I guess. It looked flashy in the snippets I've seen.
Aaron: I think Chicago should not win, since they basically just had to borrow the costumes from the Broadway version. I'm going for The Hours since it had to cross over three different time periods.
"Bowling for Columbine" - Michael Moore and Michael Donovan
"Daughter from Danang" - Gail Dolgin and Vincente Franco
"Prisoner of Paradise" - Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
"Spellbound" - Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch
"Winged Migration" - Jacques Perrin
"Bowling for Columbine." Michael Moore once again makes a film that pushes buttons and gets people talking. This documentary is the front runner.
Aaron: I haven't even seen it and I have strong feelings and opinions about the issues Bowling for Columbine brings up. It's got my vote.
"The Collector of Bedford Street" - Alice Elliott
"Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks" - Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston
"Twin Towers" - Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port
"Why Can't We Be a Family Again?" - Roger Weisberg and Murray Nossel
"Twin Towers." If it's about the September 11th attacks, I'd think you'd almost feel guilty not voting for it.
Aaron: Always fun to guess what a film is about from the title. Since Two Towers didn't get nominated for much, I'm guessing Twin Towers won't win much either. I'm going for The Collector of Bedford Street. That way I'll see what he collects.
"Chicago" - Martin Walsh
"Gangs of New York" - Thelma Schoonmaker
"The Hours" - Peter Boyle
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - Michael Horton
"The Pianist" - Herve de Luze
You know what...I'm going to say Chicago. I'm divided on this category and nothing's really jumping out at me over the others.
Aaron: LOR! I can only image how long it took them to edit that last battle scene to make such a coherent, thrilling, and even entertaining piece of art.
"El Crimen del Padre Amaro" - Mexico
"Hero" - People's Republic of China
"The Man Without a Past" - Finland
"Nowhere in Africa" - Germany
"Zus & Zo" - Netherlands
Like Enrique Eglesias says, I can be your "Hero" baby.
The Man Without a Past sounds like an interesting title.
"Frida" - John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba
"The Time Machine" - John M. Elliott, Jr. and Barbara Lorenz
Morlocks versus facial hair. Hmm...I'm gonna have to go with "Time Machine". You rule Jeremy Irons! Yeah! Beat that time traveller down. Raise the roof!
Aaron: Frida. I have a hard time seeing Time Machine winning many awards.
"Catch Me If You Can" - John Williams
"Far From Heaven" - Elmer Bernstein
"Frida" - Elliot Goldenthal
"The Hours" - Philip Glass
"Road to Perdition" - Thomas Newman
"Far From Heaven" had a sweeping orchestral score that evoked memories of classic 50's cinema.
Aaron: I have to confess, Catch Me If You Can's score stuck in my head for days.
"Burn It Blue" from "Frida" (Music-Elliot Goldenthal, Lyric-Julie Taymor)
"Father and Daughter" from "The Wild Thornberrys" (Paul Simon)
"The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York" (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen)
"I Move On" from "Chicago" (Music-John Kander, Lyric-Fred Ebb)
"Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile" (Music-Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto, Lyric-Eminem)
I bet Chicago will win here. It is a musical after all.
Aaron: Tough to pick between U2 and Eminem. I really like both songs. I'm going with 8 Mile to grab the first rap oscar ever.
"The Cathedral" - Tomek Baginski
"The ChubbChubbs!" - Eric Armstrong
"Das Rad" - Chris Stenner and Heidi Wittlinger
"Mike's New Car" - Pete Docter and Roger Gould
"Mt. Head" - Koji Yamamura
Mike's New Car.
Aaron: The Cathedral. Because....it's first alphabetically.
"Fait D'Hiver" - Dirk Belien and Anja Daelemans
"I'll Wait for the Next One" - Philippe Orreindy and Thomas Gaudin
"Inja" - Steven Pasvolsky and Joe Weatherstone
"Johnny Flynton" - Lexi Alexander and Alexander Buono
"This Charming Man" - Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen
"Johnny Flynton." Why? WHY? You dare to question THE GREAT OZ?
Aaron: I'll Wait for the Next One.
"Chicago" - Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
"Gangs of New York" - Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty and Ivan Sharrock
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
"Spider-Man" - Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick
Clash the swords, bang the drums, and flood the keep! One film to rule them all: LOTR.
Aaron: I never know what they're looking for here. I"m going with my guy again and saying LOR.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins
"Minority Report" - Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
"Road to Perdition" - Scott A. Hecker
Minority Report has to win somewhere. It also should have gotten a best picture nomination, btw. Screw the Academy for hating genre films.
Aaron: Minority Report was a good movie and I think should have received more nominations. I'm going to say LOR, though, because Minority Report's sound didn't strike that much.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke
"Spider-Man" - John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier
"Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" - Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
Orcs, ents, and Gollum triumph over their opponents. Although Episode II was quite impressive visually, it's lost its luster.
Aaron: HAS to be LOR. Spider-man, while fun, was so clearly the product of computers. same for Star Wars, although the final battle scene was impressive. LOR, though, for the second year in a row impressed by the way a world you know doesn't exist became so real and so possible.