THE 76TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
The More Things Change …. ©

by: Jim Caswell

Eight years ago, John Born and Jim Caswell spent a long night in a windowless office compiling a complete Oscar Picks Preview for the Lewis University Flyer. We were young, we were foolish, we were up until 4 AM and we had nothing to loose. In the years that have followed, we have both pursued careers away from the newspaper business, but have not lost our passion for writing or movies. While this was initially going to be a two-man job, real life has dealt an unpleasant hand to John's family. Hopefully, next year things will be right with the world once more and my friend can join me in taking this opportunity to recapture a piece of our youth and revisit a pleasant, if not long, memory.

As I have an adult-like life at this point, I will be reasonable this time out, avoiding such excruciatingly long hours, no sleep and needless categories that I know nothing about. I will be limiting myself to only the big six, Best Screenplay (both original and adapted), and Best Animated Film. All of this being said, allow me now to live the old adage, "The more things change; the more they stay the same."

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In 2001, the Academy of Arts and Sciences added its twenty-fifth category for awards after the influx of quality animated films. As such, the category of Best Animated Film was created: Brother Bear, Finding Nemo, and The Triplets of Belleville.

While many people saw the creation of this category as a way to feed another Oscar to Disney each year, it quickly became apparent that The Mouse no longer had a monopoly on the animated film business. Previous winners Shrek and Spirited Away beat out Monsters, Inc., Lilo and Stitch, and Treasure Planet. That being said, though, Disney stepped up to the plate this year through their digital branch, Pixar, with Finding Nemo, a multimillion-earning computer-animated bonanza. Not only did this film bring in big bucks, but it also got high critical acclaim. The quality and entertainment of watching that little fish is far more enjoyable than the entire forest depicted in Brother Bear. The biggest drawback that Nemo may face is the pending legal dispute with French author Franck Le Calvez over the alleged plagiarism of his book Pierrot. I do not believe, however, that the Academy will hold a pending case against the film and will give the little fish the big award.

The beginning stage of every movie is the transformation of an idea into a screenplay. In some cases, that means crafting an original idea. Other times, it is taking an already-established story from another medium and converting it into a film. The movies nominated for Best Original Screenplay are: The Barbarian Invasions by Denys Arcand, Dirty Pretty Things by Steven Knight, Finding Nemo by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, In America by Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan, and Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola.

While I still hold to what I said above about the Academy not holding the lawsuit against Disney for the best animated film award, I also believe that they will not award this one to them for the same reason. Copywrite issues can be a problem when you are addressing originality. That being said, Coppola's Lost In Translation seems to have become the underdog hit of the season. Between this category and the best actor category, it will allow Francis's little girl to walk away with a golden statue without having to surrender the best picture prize.

The Best Adapted Screenplay nominees are: American Splendor by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, City of God by Braulio Mantovani, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, Mystic River by Brian Helgeland, and Seabiscuit by Gary Ross.

LotR are going to win, I will simply say that, no matter how well any of these stories were adapted, I sincerely doubt that they got the thunderous approval of the original author's grandchildren. Tolkien's grandson came out, talking about how he was initially afraid of what Hollywood would do to his grandfather's epic. After seeing Jackson's vision, however, his fears were destroyed. He stated that the film captured the imagery and passion of the story better than he had ever hoped possible. That is a strong enough endorsement for me. And to think, I haven't even started gushing yet.

The right piece of music can transform a scene from doldrums to delight. It can also add millions to the gross take for a film through soundtrack distribution. The nominees for Music - Best Original Song are: "Into the West" - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" - A Mighty Wind by Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole, "Scarlet Tide" - Cold Mountain by T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello, "The Triplets of Belleville" - The Triplets of Belleville by Benoit Charest and Sylvain Chomet, and "You Will Be My Ain True Love" - Cold Mountain by Sting.

While I found A Mighty Wind an entertaining return to the minds of the creators of Spinal Tap, and am desperately hoping to see McKean and O'Toole perform this heart-tugging song at the Oscars, I know that it will not receive the award. Likewise, Sting has had a great deal of success of late with the Academy, but I think that the Rings juggernaut will roll right over him. Lennox will not only perform at the Oscars, but also walk away with a golden escort.

A lot sooner than last time, we get to enter into the big six of the Academy. Performing backup is Best Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo in House of Sand and Fog, Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April, Marcia Gay Harden in Mystic River, Holly Hunter in Thirteen, and Renée Zellweger in Cold Mountain.

This is probably the closest race of the evening. Harden has already proven her Academy creds in 2000 with Pollock, but her role in River was less impressive. Hunter is the Academy's Susan Lucci, and while the soap star recently got her payoff, I don't think this is going to be Holly's year. Zellweger, on the other hand, has been nominated the past two years and went home empty handed, much to the shock of the industry. For her third year in a row, Renée will hear her name, but this year it will be twice: once for the nomination and once for the win.

The right hand man also gets his day in the limelight. The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are: Alec Baldwin in The Cooler, Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams, Djimon Hounsou in In America, Tim Robbins in Mystic River, and Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai.

Well, it was bound to happen. Every year, there is one category that I find myself violently opposed to a candidate being nominated, and they are always the one to win the prize. Back in 1995, Nicolas Cage won best actor for Leaving Las Vegas despite the fact that the film made both John's and my worst film list. The following year, Frances McDormand won for Fargo, which again made the worst list. This year, we have two actors that I despise nominated. While a majority of Robbins films have bordered between semi-decent and downright atrocious, few actors have consistently disappointed me like Baldwin. Add onto this the fact that his wife won best supporting actress back in 1997 for L. A. Confidential, and it makes Alec a prime candidate to disappoint me by winning. Given my track record, that makes him my prime candidate to win.

The Best Actress award is the accessory that will go with any outfit: Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider, Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give, Samantha Morton in In America, Charlize Theron in Monster, and Naomi Watts in 21 Grams.

While Keaton is another one of the Academy's golden children, they don't often look fondly on comedies, even semi-dramatic ones like Something's Gotta Give. The last time they favored an actress for such a performance was (again) back in 1997, when Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson (a commonality that could be drawn) won for As Good As It Gets. This being said, the Oscar has a greater tendency to go home with the actress who really steps out of the expected norms, especially when a glamorous actress like Theron gets ugly for the part. Cases in point, last year's Nicole Kidman win for The Hours and Halle Berry's Monster's Ball the year before. Playing a psychopathic stalker will allow Theron to take the Oscar home.

While the man often gets the top billing, only one star can walk away with the most coveted prize of Best Actor: Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Ben Kingsley in House of Sand and Fog, Jude Law in Cold Mountain, Bill Murray in Lost in Translation, and Sean Penn in Mystic River.

The overwhelming response that PofC has received is a bit overwhelming, especially for the self-imposed exile Depp. Normally very happy avoiding the limelight and performing in oddball pictures, Depp stumbled into stardom this time, whether he likes it or not. All of this being said, though, I don't believe that his drunken swagger will earn him the golden boy (even though I said that back in 1995 about Cage). Penn has also come a long way from his Ridgemont High days, even garnering a nomination back in 1995 with Dead Man Walking, 1999 in Sweet and Lowdown, and 2001's I Am Sam. This puts him in good contention for the win, but there is one actor on this list that is even more deserving of it. Not since Dan Aykroyd was nominated for Driving Miss Daisy has an actor come so far. Of course, Ayckroyd didn't win that year, so the theory isn't a sound one. But hope springs eternal.

We are entering into the home stretch. The director is the brains, the heart, and the soul of the filming process. As such, it is the highest honor to be chosen Best Director by the Academy: Fernando Meirelles for City of God, Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, Peter Weir for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Clint Eastwood for Mystic River.

Eight years ago, the idea of the best director and best picture not being the same was as rare as a comet. Strangely enough, it has also happened three times since then, every other year for the past six years. Fortunately, it this trend will continue, this is the off year, so we can stick with a match. In addition, when those oddities have occurred, it has never matched the other trend: nominating a director whose movie was not nominated. This being said, we can rule out Meirelles. Also looking back, the two previous Rings movies were both nominated, but lost out to Howard's A Beautiful Mind and Chicago. The common belief is that, because it is well known that all three movies were coming out back to back, the Academy was holding off on honoring Jackson and his film until the last one, awarding him for the entire trilogy. If this isn't the fact, then it should have been. Jackson has earned his precious.

This is it. The Grande Burrito with all the trimmings. Despite all of the other award ceremonies that have been established over time, none have been able to gain the same weight and majesty of this one, and none of their Best Picture awards are as treasured. The nominees are: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, and Seabiscuit.

What is it with us doing the Oscar picks on years where animal films get the big nod? Back in 1995, we spent a majority of out time ripping into the fact that Babe was up for best picture. Thankfully, our hopes were met and the pig was turned to bacon. Because of this, however, I cannot bring myself to even consider Seabiscuit as a contender. Add on to this the fact that it is the director-less nominee, and we can write the horse off to place, but not show. As I explained above, there is no reason why Return of the King shouldn't win best picture. While some people initially thought that the competition would be stiff this year, I don't see any film that matches the impact or general appeal that Rings obtained.

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Let it be said, let it be done. Thank you for joining me on this trip down memory lane while I also put forth my two cents worth on the 76th Annual Academy Award winners. It's been a blast, and I hope that it won't take another eight years to do this again.

To check our results, go to The 76th Annual Academy Awards Database

© Copyright 2004 - James Caswell, John Born