diane takes on the oscars. after babbling a bit.
What was the surprising announcement regarding the state of George W. Bush's campaign finances? (He's raised the most money ever for a campaign -- $70 million.)
(Don't send me your answers. This is just a little way to expand your horizons. Honest.)
Random notes:
- "Blame Canada" performed at the Oscars: what will ABC bleep? Will they ask themselves what Brian Boitano would do in a situation like this?
- Jesus. A year at Stanford is now $32,400.
- Of course, my sister informs me that a year at our high school now costs more than my freshman year at Stanford did.
- Now that I think about it, that year at Stanford is roughly what I made my first year at Apple. Which was (admittedly) a few years ago.
- Hey, my counter rolled over 200,000. That's so cool. I realize it doesn't mean anything -- hey, I could be editing my own counts file -- but it tickles my funny bone.
- It's weird to put my hand on my stomach and feel someone's foot or knee or whatever body part just sort of permanently propped up against my abdominal wall.
- I suspect that the media's infatuation with John McCain is going to last until he quits the race or gets the nomination, in which case they will go after him like a pack of wolves. Because that's what they do.
- Ditto the media and Al Gore. The media's had so much fun being all over the Republicans like Michael Douglas on Catherine Zeta-Jones they've totally let the Democrats go easy.
- I admit I choose the candidate I will vote for primarily on the fact that they choose Supreme Court nominees. The next President will choose 3 to 5 SC judges. McCain and Bush are both crowing about being right-to-life; 'nuff said.
- One of the joys of pregnancy is realizing the wisdom behind the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
- The Mayor of LA wants to use money from the tobacco lawsuit settlement to pay off lawsuits from the giant (and widening) LAPD scandal. How charming. Why am I not surprised?
- Last night's Law and Order: the Patricia Cornwall story.
From the UK Daily Mirror, a while back:
PREGNANT Catherine Zeta Jones is embroiled in an emotional dispute with fiance Michael Douglas over where their baby should be born.
The Entrapment star wants to give birth in Wales so she can be surrounded by her family.
But Douglas has told her he thinks British medical care is not good enough and is insisting the child is born in an American private clinic.
...
"He's a wealthy man and America offers some brilliant facilities if you can pay for them."
Douglas wants the child delivered at the famous Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.
Yeah, Darin was the same way...
Yeah, I know, Stee's already done this, but I wanted to do it too, and we have totally different paths of reasoning, and he's going to be famous a lot sooner than I am, so who cares.
Best Picture
- AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks)
- THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax)
- THE GREEN MILE (Warner Bros.)
- THE INSIDER (Buena Vista)
- THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista Pictures Distribution/Spyglass Entertainment)
Who will win: The Insider
Who should win: Three Kings, but that got totally dissed this year. I can't give it to American Beauty (which I think has been horrifying overrated). I guess I would have to go with The Insider.
Comments: I think The Insider will win not because it was the best picture of the year, but because there's a lot of anti-American Beauty sentiment out there. I know the voting for one prestigious critics award was thrown into chaos by American Beauty and Being John Malkovich factions, with The Insider benefitting. What The Green Mile is doing on this list is totally beyond me -- run out of ideas, guys? I've heard a lot of critics say that the reason The Cider House Rules did as well as it did with nominations is because it plays very well on video, and most Academy members see the movies on video.
Directing
- AMERICAN BEAUTY Sam Mendes
- BEING JOHN MALKOVICH Spike Jonze
- THE CIDER HOUSE RULES Lasse Hallstrom
- THE INSIDER Michael Mann
- THE SIXTH SENSE M. Night Shyamalan
Who will win: Sam Mendes
Who should win: Um...you know, I'm really no judge of directing. Isn't that sad? But even after film school, I'm still not sure what a director brings to things. I'll go with Shyamalan, since that was totally his pic.
Comments: David O. Russell, anyone? Interesting that Frank Darabont didn't get nominated here, although he was nominated for the DGA Directing Award. Lasse Hallstrom wasn't nominated by the DGA, which indicates to me a lack of enthusiasm for him here.
Best Actor
- Russell Crowe in THE INSIDER
- Richard Farnsworth in THE STRAIGHT STORY
- Sean Penn in SWEET AND LOWDOWN
- Kevin Spacey in AMERICAN BEAUTY
- Denzel Washington in THE HURRICANE
Who will win: Wow. Toss-up. Either Russell Crowe or Denzel Washington.
Who should win: Richard Farnsworth. But that's because I'm a sentimental old coot. Actually, I think Russell Crowe should win, because he was the one thing about The Insider that really made me sit up and take notice.
Comments: No one remembers Denzel Washington already has an Oscar, so there is sentiment to give it to him for that. I haven't heard anyone seriously postulate Penn or Farnsworth, and Penn has the whole anti-Allen thing working against him anyhow.
Best Supporting Actor
- Michael Caine in THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
- Tom Cruise in MAGNOLIA
- Michael Clarke Duncan in THE GREEN MILE
- Jude Law in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
- Haley Joel Osment in THE SIXTH SENSE
Who will win: I think Stee's right -- Tom Cruise will win.
Who should win: John Malkovich as John Horatio Malkovich in Being John Malkovich. Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich! Actually, the one who deserves this is Christopher Plummer in The Insider -- he won every critics award; ou est-il? He was great.
Comments: Enough with Oscars and child actors, okay? I loved Osment, everyone loved Osment, let's see if he can do his next role without whispering.
Best Actress
- Annette Bening in AMERICAN BEAUTY
- Janet McTeer in TUMBLEWEEDS
- Julianne Moore in THE END OF THE AFFAIR
- Meryl Streep in MUSIC OF THE HEART
- Hilary Swank in BOYS DON'T CRY
Who will win: Hilary Swank.
Who should win: I've actually only seen one of those performances (Annette Bening), and I'll still go with Swank.
Comments: I hated Annette Bening's character, so I can't give it to her, no matter how good she was. Meryl Streep makes everybody's eyes glaze over. No one's heard of Janet McTeer or her movie. Julianne Moore is everyone's choice for Saturday night, not for an Oscar, no matter how much she probably deserves it. Reese Witherspoon doesn't even get a nom.
Best Supporting Actress
- Toni Collette in THE SIXTH SENSE
- Angelina Jolie in GIRL, INTERRUPTED
- Catherine Keener in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
- Samantha Morton in SWEET AND LOWDOWN
- Chlo‘ Sevigny in BOYS DON'T CRY
Who will win: Toni Collette.
Who should win: Ehhh.
Comments: Wow, the "put it up on the dartboard" category. (Of course, isn't it always.) Toni Collette will win, because she was good, because people saw the movie, no one's going to vote for Angelina Jolie, Catherine Keener -- are they kidding? and no one's seen the last two.
Best Adapted Screenplay
- THE CIDER HOUSE RULES Screenplay by John Irving
- ELECTION Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
- THE GREEN MILE Written for the screen by Frank Darabont
- THE INSIDER Written by Eric Roth & Michael Mann
- THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY Screenplay by Anthony Minghella
Who will win: The Cider House Rules. The Academy just loves them some serious novelists.
Who should win: Election. I dug that movie and want it to win something.
Comments: The Writers Guild of American had the same nominations except they had October Sky instead of The Green Mile. I guess we can assume The Green Mile is the "throw-away" entry -- it was good but nothing spectacular (along the lines of Shawshank).
Best Original Screenplay
- AMERICAN BEAUTY Written by Alan Ball
- BEING JOHN MALKOVICH Written by Charlie Kaufman
- MAGNOLIA Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
- THE SIXTH SENSE Written by M. Night Shyamalan
- TOPSY-TURVY Written by Mike Leigh
Who will win: American Beauty. Although we could have a surprise here, as American Beauty and Being John Malkovich might cancel one another out, as I know they have done for other awards, in which case I say The Sixth Sense, because most Academy voters will have seen it or at least heard of it.
Who should win: The Sixth Sense. Wow, I surprise myself there -- I almost went with Being John Malkovich, despite the fact that it had no third act. I think The Sixth Sense was a beautifully put together story that did not simply hang on a twist at the end. There were a lot of layers to the movie.
Comments: Topsy-Turvy??? I think not. Once again, the Writer's Guild nominated the same films, save they had Three Kings instead of Topsy-Turvy. Hmmm. Well, I probably wouldn't give Three Kings the Oscar for its screenplay anyhow.
Len (my mentor from USC) hated the Writer's Guild awards and had much more respect for the scripts nominated by the Academy (though not necessarily the scripts actually feted). Why? Because the Writer's Guild is dominated by TV writers -- an inferior lifeform -- whereas the Academy is all movie writers. However, the Oscars are voted on by everyone in the Academy, and the Academy is dominated by actors, who are generally pretty stupid. (Sorry, Stee. That's just the general perception.)
Which is why whenever actors are nominated for non-acting categories they win. You know, Affleck and Damon for Good Will Hunting (didn't deserve it, no way, no how), any actor nominated for Best Director, etc. I happen to think Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility was a good screenplay, but it didn't hurt that she was also an actress.
Discuss the Oscars. (Oh, by the way -- "Blame Canada" hasn't got a chance to win Best Song. It's up against the song "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2 by Randy Newman and "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan by Phil Collins, both of which are much, much more acceptable choices.) |
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Copyright 2000 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com