First up - There’s no time like the middle of 2002 to bring up my Top Ten films of 2001. Here they are better late than never:
1. Monster’s Ball
2. Memento
3. In The Bedroom
4. Black Hawk Down
5. The Royal Tenenbaums
6. The Man Who Wasn’t There
7. The Others
8. Bridget Jones’ Diary
9. Ocean’s Eleven
10. Spy Game
I’m amazed at how many so-called “Hollywood” movies made it into my Top 10, taking up spots usually reserved for independent, “real” films. But there’s no doubt these films all entertained the shit out of me. Plus, how LAME was summer 2001?! I’ll be reviewing the first big summer movies of 2002 this week, and 3 out of the first 4 were good! (for shame, Obi-Wan). Last year, 0 out of 20 were good. So, here’s hoping the summer brings out some winners. If not, rent the above titles!
On to the Oscars. It’s been forever since they happened, but I still got opinions:
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Russell Crowe
Sean Penn
Will Smith
Denzel Washington
Tom Wilkinson
Won: Denzel
Should Have Won: Denzel
The three best lead actor performances in 2001 were Billy Bob Thornton in “Monster’s Ball”, Billy Bob Thornton in “The Man Who Wasn’t There” and Gene Hackman in “The Royal Tenenbaums”. How these performances were overlooked is beyond me. Of who’s left, Denzel was pretty damn commanding and fierce in his part. Crowe and Penn had the “disease” curse, and Wilkinson was bogged down ever so slightly by the New England dialect. Denzel was just spot-on. But they robbed three GREAT performances from this year’s nominations.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jim Broadbent
Ethan Hawke
Ben Kingsley
Ian McKellen
Jon Voight
Won: Broadbent
Should Have Won: Hawke
Just as solid alongside the Best Actor winner was Hawke in a role that pushed his abilities. He’s never played a cop before, opting instead for mostly dramatic relationship movies, yet he was convincing and mature in his confidence. In fact, I had never seen Hawke so assured in a part before. Worthy of the gold, I thought.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Halle Berry
Judi Dench
Nicole Kidman
Sissy Spacek
Renée Zellweger
Won: Berry
Should Have Won: Berry
What a thrill to have the Best Actree category more full of great performances than the Best Actor category. Spacek and Berry are both deserving this year. But good GOD, the demands of Berry’s role were simply beyond any other actress this year, and she met the demands note for note. I thought Kidman should’ve been nominated for “The Others” over “Moulin Rouge”, where the film’s style overbeared here substance. “The Others” was more of an impressive vehicle for her. Plus, kudos to the Academy for nominating Zellweger, who was more charming than EVER before in “Bridget Jones’ Diary”. She was hilarious.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Connelly
Helen Mirren
Maggie Smith
Marisa Tomei
Kate Winslet
Won: Connelly
Should Have Won: Connelly
“Iris” was just lame, both Winslet and Dench (lord, can the Academy get a BIGGER boner for Dame Judy?) were trapped in a mediocre script at best that was adapted poorly from the novel it’s based on. Mirren and Smith were both insignificant in the surroundings of Altman’s mega-cast in “Gosford Park”. Connelly was very effective as John Nash’s wife as the story almost becomes about her half way through the film. She’s never shown star quality before quite like in “A Beautiful Mind”.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS
MONSTERS, INC.
SHREK
Won: Shrek
Should Have Won: Monsters, Inc.
I’ll probably get many disagreers with this, seeing as how huge a hit “Shrek” was, but I thought “Monsters, Inc.” hit every note it set out for, and “Shrek” was a little too lowbrow at times, which upended it’s high-end satire. Plus, Eddie Murphy’s voice work was exactly the same as it was in “Mulan” a few years ago. Everything about “Monsters, Inc.” was original, and it had a flawless ending. Pixar blends all facets of quality movie-going together - excitement, laughs, tenderness, plus top-notch animation. Well, at least they won Best Animated Short.
ART DIRECTION
AMÉLIE
GOSFORD PARK
HARRY POTTER AND
THE SORCERER'S STONE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MOULIN ROUGE
Won: Moulin Rouge
Should Have Won: Moulin Rouge
And I didn’t even like Moulin Rouge. But you cannot deny that Baz Luhrman created his vision and nobody else’s, and succeeded in doing so. Unfortunately, the movie was out to lunch, and couldn’t bring the reins in from it’s zaniness to be more effective in the romantic parts. But, throughout, the club Moulin Rouge sparkled.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
AMÉLIE
BLACK HAWK DOWN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE
MOULIN ROUGE
Won: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Should Have Won: The Man Who Wasn’t There
Roger Deakins’ superb photography of the Coen Brothers’ latest film was as brilliant as his work for them with “Fargo” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”. Deakins is 75% of the reason the Coens pull off a different style with every film. The noir-ish black and white of “The Man Who Wasn’t There” presents us with memorable shot after memorable shot, making FULL use of lighting and depth of field. I don’t think there’s a bad nominee here, but “The Man Who Wasn’t There” is the winner by far with me.
COSTUME DESIGN
THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE
GOSFORD PARK
HARRY POTTER AND
THE SORCERER'S STONE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MOULIN ROUGE
Won: Moulin Rouge
Should Have Won: Moulin Rouge
Followed closely by “The Fellowship of the Ring”. The clothes in worn by the Middle-Earth characters really looked LIVED-IN. But for all the reasons mentioned in the art direction comments, Luhrman succeeded here. Damned fine eye candy.
DIRECTING
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
BLACK HAWK DOWN
GOSFORD PARK
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS
MULHOLLAND DRIVE
Won: Ron Howard, “A Beautiful Mind”
Should Have Won: Scott
So close, I’m reluctant to pick a “should have” in this category. This category is much like the actor category in that the finest direction of the year (Christopher Nolan, “Memento”, Todd Field, “In the Bedroom”, Marc Forster, “Monster’s Ball”) wasn’t nominated. I still agree with Rob Reiner who said that they should do away with this category and just give an Oscar to the director and producer when a movie wins Best Picture. Naturally, the DGA would never hear of it. But how could Field be overlooked this year? His direction and choices were impeccable. Scott’s work on “Black Hawk Down” was a marvel in you-are-there war chaos. The breakneck pace and blood-n-guts approach were departures from his normally methodical, operatic style. And Howard’s been making solid movies for years. He can put together any story and make the images and characters memorable. But I don’t think “Mind” is a better film than “Black Hawk Down”. They’re both directors working at the top of their game. Howard may just be a bit too polite, and as a result, doesn’t get as visceral a response out of me as “BHD” did.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CHILDREN UNDERGROUND
LALEE'S KIN: THE LEGACY OF COTTON
MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING
PROMISES
WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
ARTISTS AND ORPHANS: A TRUE DRAMA
SING!
THOTH
Won: Murder on a Sunday Morning and Thoth
Should Have Won: Oh, sure, those are good.
I’m not too proud. I’ll admit I’ve never seen any of the above nominated documentaries. But “Murder” just aired on Showtime, and I taped it. I look forward to seeing what garners an Oscar these days in this oft-maligned category. Just please don’t ever let me see that fiddle-playing goof on TV anymore...
FILM EDITING
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
BLACK HAWK DOWN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MEMENTO
MOULIN ROUGE
Won: Black Hawk Down
Should Have Won: Memento
“Black Hawk Down” winning Oscars is a good thing. But not in this category. What a fucking CHORE it must’ve been to edit “Memento”. UNBELIEVABLE! There is no doubt “Memento” should’ve won here. As soon as I left the theater, I knew it should win for editing. It still should. This film broke new ground in it’s storytelling, and editing was a CRUCIAL part of that. Making a story as risky as “Memento” coherent deserves a damn award dammit all to damn!
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
AMÉLIE
ELLING
LAGAAN
NO MAN'S LAND
SON OF THE BRIDE
Won: No Man’s Land
Should Have Won: Amelie
I am weak. I have not seen “No Man’s Land”, but I am told (beyond the Academy’s good graces) that it is excellent and very surprising. I DO know this, though. “Amelie” absolutely ROCKED. “No Man’s Land” is going to have to be superb to beat it. I look forward to checking it out.
MAKEUP
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MOULIN ROUGE
Won: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Should Have Won: The Fellowship of the Ring
Any gay musical can do with makeup what “Moulin Rouge” accomplished, and Russell Crowe’s makeup looked FANTASTIC in “A Beautiful Mind”. However, Jennifer Connelly’s was another story... “Rings” gave us believable fantasy creatures, a usually sure-fire path to award-dom. They made guys like John Rhys-Davies unrecognizable. I was impressed.
MUSIC (SCORE)
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
HARRY POTTER AND
THE SORCERER'S STONE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MONSTERS, INC.
Won: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Should Have Won: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
I’ll admit I’m a sucker for the heart-on-your-sleeve emotion of a good John Williams score. But his music for “Harry Potter” had what I thought was SORELY missing from “Rings” - a theme. Williams put together a light, fun, rollicking score and theme for “Harry”, and I can’t remember any music from “Rings”. Although Williams toned it WAY down for “A.I.”, the movie just blew. So I guess second place goes to Randy New man, who finally got his own (read on)
MUSIC (SONG)
KATE & LEOPOLD
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MONSTERS, INC.
PEARL HARBOR
VANILLA SKY
Won: Randy Newman, “Monsters, Inc.”
Should Have Won: Randy Newman
The only time all night I shot up out of my chair and cheered during the Oscar broadcast, Newman finally took home a statue. He probably should’ve won for the score of “Avalon” and DEFINITELY for the heartbreaking “When She Loved Me” from “Toy Story 2”, but “If I Didn’t Have You” from “Monsters, Inc.” has all the Newman qualities - light as air lyrics with jazzy pop piano-led music to back it up. As far as the other nominees goes - can anyone understand anything Enya says? Might as well bring back Bjork. And the Bruckheimer-infused pop ballads of all his movies are getting tired, “Pearl Harbor”’s included. And McCartney and Sting have written better. But I think Sting will win soon, this is his second nomination, and this song was better than the last.
BEST PICTURE
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
GOSFORD PARK
IN THE BEDROOM
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MOULIN ROUGE
Won: A Beautiful Mind
Should Have Won: In the Bedroom
Although it didn’t have a chance. Again, withouth nominating “Memento” or “Monster’s Ball”, you go with what’s nominated, and out of this group, “In the Bedroom” is certainly the film that illicited the most feeling out of me. I could care less about anything going on at “Gosford Park”, and “Moulin Rouge” was a mess. “The Lord of the Rings” was choppy and poorly paced, and “A Beautiful Mind” was good and all, but, you know, it just didn’t GRAB me. “In the Bedroom” was challenging, moody, smart, surprising, adult, sad, complex and brilliant.
SHORT FILM -- ANIMATED
FIFTY PERCENT GREY
FOR THE BIRDS
GIVE UP YER AUL SINS
STRANGE INVADERS
STUBBLE TROUBLE
Won: For the Birds
Should Have Won: For the Birds
Go, Pixar, Go! Roger Ebert once said that instead of boring arrival specials where celebrities have nothing interesting to say, spend the two hours before the Oscars showing all the shorts no one will have a chance otherwise to see. I would love that.
SHORT FILM -- LIVE ACTION
THE ACCOUNTANT
COPY SHOP
GREGOR'S GREATEST INVENTION
A MAN THING (Meska Sprawa)
SPEED FOR THESPIANS
Again, the Ebert thing would help here...
SOUND
AMÉLIE
BLACK HAWK DOWN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
MOULIN ROUGE
PEARL HARBOR
Won: Black Hawk Down
Should Have Won: Black Hawk Down
I’ve mentioned the you-are-there feel of this film many times. It achieves this feat in many ways thanks to sound. It was loud, pulverizing, and never let up. Loved it.
SOUND EDITING
MONSTERS, INC.
PEARL HARBOR
Won: Pearl Harbor
Should Have Won: Monsters, Inc.
The natural (and correct) response is to say that I want “Monsters, Inc.” to win so no one can EVER say that “Pearl Harbor” is an ‘Oscar-winning film’. UGH. But, alas, it is. The best response, however, is to say that “Monsters, Inc.” should’ve won because you’re starting with NOTHING. NOTHING! ALL sound was an effect. And half the time you’ve got nothing to go by. In “Pearl Harbor”, you can simulate a plane engine. How does a gelatinous monster slime across the floor, though? Give ‘em the damn Oscar.
VISUAL EFFECTS
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
PEARL HARBOR
Won: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Should Have Won: Pearl Harbor
Alright, so I would’ve made “Pearl Harbor” Oscar-winning if I had my way, anyway. But I continue to maintain that you can’t create BELIEVABLE people with CGI. “Pearl Harbor” has the task of creating planes, boats and locations, and succeeds greatly. People, however, just look rubbery, smooth and non-organic, and that’s the result of some of the people created with CGI in “Rings” (not to mention “Harry Potter”, “The Mummy Returns” and more).
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
GHOST WORLD
IN THE BEDROOM
THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
SHREK
Won: A Beautiful Mind
Should Have Won: In the Bedroom
“A Beautiful Mind” was created with excellent proficiency, but, again, we’re talking about a story that’s just missing the grab-you-by-the-balls nature of “In the Bedroom”’s more heavy-duty drama. Plus, the way “In the Bedroom”’s storyline SLOWLY revealed information was a lesson in pace and deliberateness. “Mind”’s screenplay, though an interesting story, was by-the-books on the page.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
AMÉLIE
GOSFORD PARK
MEMENTO
MONSTER'S BALL
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
Won: Gosford Park
Should Have Won: Easily - Memento
Why the Academy didn’t give any praise to Christopher Nolan’s mesmerizing, can’t stop watching it backwards thriller is beyond me. It was original, exciting, and more risky than anything else this year. Give it up, ya bastards. Instead, we get “Gosford Park”? Folks, the whole lives-of-the-servants-is-more-interesting-than-the-people-they-serve thing isn’t new! And the film’s sound is so lousy, I couldn’t even hear half the lines. I think the idea of a murder taking place in the film was uneccesary. Runner up goes to every other movie nominated - “Amelie” was fast, fun and charming, “Monster’s Ball” was hardcore, and “The Royal Tenebaums” was a fascinating character study of the failed dreams of child geniuses. So, of all those great stories, the Oscar went to “Gosford Park”. YICK.
As far as other comments go:
- Whoopi Goldberg isn’t particularly funny. She was even PUSHING it at the end, when we were all falling asleep. Bring back Steve Martin or Dave Letterman soon.
- “Special” Oscars went to Poitier and Redford - two guys who ALREADY HAVE OSCARS. Can we spread the love a little bit? How’s ‘bout Peter O’Toole, eh?
- Jennifer Connelly used to be one of my dream hotties...until Oscar night. She looked gaunt and UNINTERESTED. At least be gracious. Thank God for Halle Berry.
- Speaking of her and Denzel, I hope the fact that they’re black actors doesn’t overshadow the fact that they truly were the best actors in film this year.
- How funny was Woody Allen? Hit the clubs again, man!
Anyone else up for a rant, send it, please! It’s never too late!
- Paul