For reasons unknown to "the little people," John Travolta and Nicole Kidman were denied nominations, despite receiving Golden Globe Awards last month. The epic Braveheart received a whopping ten nominations, and Mel Gibson garnered a Best Director, but not a Best Actor nod. On the bright side, a foreign film, Il Postino (The Postman), was nominated for Best Picture. It's the first time in more than twenty years that a foreign production has invaded the mainstream categories and its director and male lead were also nominated.
Toy Story, Disney's computer-animated smash hit, was not on the list of nominations in major categories. Talk about the ultimate shaft - John Lassater will receive a "special achievement" award for the film. For those with a short-term memory, Walt Disney received a similar booby prize for his first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the 1937 awards; Shirley Temple presented him with seven little statues and one full-sized one. In the true Disney musical tradition, however, Toy Story will compete with Pocahontas for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Song. Randy Newman's "You've Got a Friend" will most likely bow to "Colors of the Wind," by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz and the award for score will probably also go to Pocahontas.
Nominees for Best Director include Chris Noonan (Babe), Mel Gibson (Braveheart), Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking), Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas), and Michael Radford (The Postman). Gibson is a shoe-in for the award, but Ron Howard (Apollo 13) and Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility) were left out of the running. It's no real contest this year, but it could have been... Did I mention that Gibson deserves the award?
This year, it was the women who led the pack, and competition for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress is pretty stiff. Joan Allen (Nixon), Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13), and Kate Winslet (Sense and Sensibility) are all good contenders for their supporting roles, but the statue will most likely go to Allen for her portrayal of Pat Nixon. Quinlan's performance as astronaut Jim Lovell's wife Marilyn was top notch, but she'll probably get left in the dust with Winslet - that's how these things go.
Best Actress is a tough call this year. Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) lost the Golden Globe in an upset to Nicole Kidman (To Die For), but since Tom Cruise's wife already has a statue on her mantle, she wasn't nominated. Shue's competition includes Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking), Sharon Stone (Casino), Meryl Streep (The Bridges of Madison County), and Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility). The Academy is expected to give Shue the award, but watch out for the dark horse: Meryl Streep. Thompson's performance was good, but she's also up for the Best Adapted Screenplay booby prize. My pick: Streep.
Best Supporting Actor will be an interesting race amongst James Cromwell (Babe), Ed Harris (Apollo 13), Brad Pitt (12 Monkeys), Tim Roth (Rob Roy), and Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects). Why Harris got in the running and left co-supporters Kevin Bacon and Gary Sinese in the wings baffles me, since he doesn't have a chance here. I predict that Pitt will get the award, but Spacey's performance as the limping crook in Suspects was incredible - he should win.
As if Ed Harris' nomination for Apollo 13 wasn't already surprising enough given the surpassing performances of his pals, Tom Hanks did NOT receive a nomination for the Golden Globes, much less the Oscars. Why? Probably because he's won two years in a row now (Philadelphia, Forrest Gump) and the Academy wants to spread the wealth. The least they could do was give him a nomination or one of those special achievement awards...
At any rate, the field is full: Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas), Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus), Anthony Hopkins (Nixon), Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking), Massimo Troisi (The Postman). Cage, the media's favorite, lost the Golden Globe in another upset to John Travolta (Get Shorty), so the Oscar would look nice in the empty space on his mantle. However, I see the Academy nodding to Dreyfuss or Hopkins. It's a tough call, but a tie is not unheard of either. If I had to pick, I'd go for Hopkins, but my favorite for the award would be Mel Gibson, if he'd been nominated...
The major reason I was so shocked and disappointed that Toy Story was not nominated for Best Picture was Babe, which took the Golden Globe in the category. Others in the running include Apollo 13, Braveheart, The Postman, and Sense and Sensibility. Who will win? If it's the pig, I'll puke, but I think it's going to be Braveheart, and rightly so. The epic film, nearly three hours long, showcases Mel Gibson in a kilt and blue war paint as the legendary William Wallace, who fights for freedom and vengeance. (Incidentally, Braveheart will be shown on campus on March 15th at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. by Lens and Lights - only $2.00.)
In the more minor categories, Kevin Costner's $180 million flop, Waterworld received a nomination for Best Achievement in Sound. Batman Forever is up for sound awards and cinematography, but it will lose the latter to Sense and Sensibility). I'm surprised that no one remembered Jim Carrey's flashing suit when writing up nominees for Best Costuming which, again, will go to Sense and Sensibility or perhaps one of the other period films like Richard III or Restoration. Crimson Tide, the naval action film which starred Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, was also nominated for sound and editing awards. Finally, there are only two nominees for Best Effects which went to Forrest Gump last year: Apollo 13 and Babe. While talking animals are cute, and probably no simple trick, director Ron Howard chose to reshoot all of the footage for Apollo 13, and that's got to be worth an Oscar.
Every year, it seems that the Academy, in its infinite wisdom, overlooks more and more talent. To compensate for the overcrowded playing field, they've begun dividing up the categories again. Last year, they separated Best Screenplay into Best Original Screenplay (Pulp Fiction) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Forrest Gump). This year, they've created Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Original Musical or Dramatic Score, most likely to allow films like Apollo 13 and Braveheart, both of which have excellent scores, to have a fighting chance, since Disney has ruled the category since 1991's Beauty and the Beast. Perhaps next year, the remainder of the categories will be divided into comedy and drama so as to spread the wealth of those little gold statues.
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