2003 Oscars Revisited

For anyone who is wondering, I am not pulling these movies from memory. As with most things I’m a compulsive collector of information. I have a list of every movie I’ve ever seen along with the director, year of release, a rating (similar to what you’d find on Scott’s blog), genre, etc. I started this movie list in 1992 which was pre-computer for me. I have since created a database for this information along with other things that I keep track of. There are a myriad of free software downloads and web-based programs to aid in these things now but I stick with what I created.

A note on the tables: If you are viewing this page in Internet Explorer, the tables probably look a bit off. If you are using Firefox, they should appear as desired. If you are using another web browser, well, you could be seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls for all I know.

BEST PICTURE
MINE	THEIRS
American Splendor	Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Capturing the Friedmans	Lost in Translation
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	Master and Commander
Lost in Translation	Mystic River
Shattered Glass	Seabiscuit

Two matches here: LotR and Lost in Translation. I’ve included Capturing the Friedmans because I think it’s really strong and also because I’m not doing a documentary category. And by the way, Seabiscuit? Seriously?

BEST DIRECTOR
MINE	THEIRS
Shari Berman & Robert Pulcini,	Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
American Splendor	Clint Eastwood, Mystic River
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation	Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: The
Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: ROTK	Return of the King
Wayne Kramer, The Cooler	Fernando Meirelles, City of God
Gus Van Sant, Elephant	Peter Weir, Master and Commander

I should point out that although City of God is nominated here by the Academy, I’m moving it back a year because in preparing these posts I had 2002 as the release date for that movie. You’ll see it show up in my 2002 post.

BEST ACTOR
MINE	THEIRS
Jack Black, Shool of Rock	Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean
Hayden Christensen, Shattered Glass	Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean	Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Paul Giamatti, American Splendor	Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation	Sean Penn, Mystic River

I couldn’t resist the Johnny Depp performance in Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s been widely reported he based part of his character on Keith Richards. I think it’s the first positive contribution to society by Keith in a long time. Thanks for the pirate inspiration, Keith…and for “You Got the Silver” as well.

BEST ACTRESS
MINE	THEIRS
Zooey Deschanel, All the Real Girls	Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider
Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation	Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Tilda Swinton, Young Adam	Samanta Morton, In America
Uma Thurman, Kill Bill, Vol. 1	Charlize Theron, Monster
Evan Rachel Wood, Thirteen	Naomi Watts, 21 Grams

If you haven't seen All the Real Girls, do so. I don't have a single match here. I should admit that I never saw Whale Rider though.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
MINE	THEIRS
Alec Baldwin, The Cooler	Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Tony Cox, Bad Santa	Benicio Del Toro, 21 Grams
Tim Robbins, Mystic River	Djimon Hounsou, In America
Sam Rockwell, Matchstick Men	Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass	Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai

Yeah, you read that correctly: Tony Cox in Bad Santa.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
MINE	THEIRS
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand	Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand
and Fog	and Fog
Maria Bello, The Cooler	Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April
Hope Davis, American Splendor	Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
Nikki Reed, Thirteen	Holly Hunter, Thirteen
Frances McDormand, Laurel Canyon	Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain

It was really refreshing to see Shohreh Aghdashloo in House of Sand and Fog. When she was in 24, she had it turned up to 11 in every scene. It was nice to see her a little more emotionally restrained. American Splendor is a great movie and Hope Davis gives a great performance.

2004 Oscars Revisited

Let’s start off with some reference notes. (1) The year in the title of these posts will be the year the movies came out, not the year the awards were given. So this first post is actually the 2005 Academy Awards, but it’s for the movies released in 2004. (2) I’ve used colored text for the winners in each category: blue text for my pick and red for the Academy’s. (3) Formatting these tables has been an experience. Please let me know how they look in whatever browser you are using. Thanks.

Let’s get started

BEST PICTURE
MINE	THEIRS
Before Sunset	The Aviator
Collateral	Finding Neverland
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	Million Dollar Baby
Mean Creek	Ray
Sideways	Sideways

Only one match, Sideways. More than these five picks being great movies they are the five that I think will stand up over time, much more so than the five movies nominated for Oscars.

BEST DIRECTOR
MINE	THEIRS
Alfonso Cuarón, Harry Potter	Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
& the Prisoner of Azkaban
Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine	Taylor Hackford, Ray
of the Spotless Mind
Michael Mann, Collateral	Mike Leigh, Vera Drake
Mike Nichols, Closer	Alexander Payne, Sideways
Alexander Payne, Sideways	Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

Only one match here too. Again it’s Sideways. I’ve always found it odd that the Best Picture nominations didn’t always match exactly with Best Director nominations, but mine didn’t come close either.

BEST ACTOR
MINE	THEIRS
Jeff Bridges, The Door in the Floor	Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda	Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
Will Ferrell, Anchorman	Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator
Jamie Foxx, Ray	Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Paul Giamatti, Sideways	Jamie Foxx, Ray

I was torn between Jamie Foxx and Paul Giamatti. Paul Giamatti had to completely create his character where Jamie Foxx had a very solid template to work with. I went with Jamie Foxx though because of the physicality of his performance. It seems fairly easy to sound like Ray Charles all the time. The wardrobe and makeup people will help you look like Ray Charles all the time, but Jamie Foxx really moved like Ray Charles. To completely change your own body’s rhythms of movement and expression on top of keeping the voice and the look down is very impressive.

BEST ACTRESS
MINE	THEIRS
Catalina Sandino, Maria Full of Grace	Annette Bening, Being Julia
Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby	Catalina Sandino, Maria Full of Grace
Uma Thurman, Kill Bill, Vol. 2	Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
Sigourney Weaver, Imaginary Heroes	Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of	Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of
the Spotless Mind	the Spotless Mind

To explain why I didn’t agree with Hilary Swank’s win in this category, let me use a quote from the movie Soapdish, “Actors don’t like to play comas. They feel it limits their range.” Indeed it does. I hate to harp on it but it is that last 30 minutes of Million Dollar Baby that takes Hilary Swank’s performance down a peg for me.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
MINE	THEIRS
Thomas Haden Church, Sideways	Alan Alda, The Aviator
Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby	Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Clive Owen, Closer	Jamie Foxx, Collateral
Josh Peck, Mean Creek	Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
Peter Sarsgaard, Kinsey	Clive Owen, Closer

I have to freely admit that I’d award Morgan Freeman’s performance in even his worst movies so this one is a cinch pick for me. Note Josh Peck of Mean Creek. All the kids in that movie give great performances.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
MINE	THEIRS
Laura Linney, Kinsey	Cate Blanchett, The Aviator
Virginia Madsen, Sideways	Laura Linney, Kinsey
Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda	Virginia Madsen, Sideways
Natalie Portman, Closer	Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda
Yenny Paola Vega, Maria Full of Grace	Natalie Portman, Closer

As fun as Cate Blanchett’ portrayal of Katherine Hepburn is, it isn’t an amazing performance. This was a tough category. I went with Virginia Madsen because she has an almost thankless yet important role and makes it stand out. Her performance is just as memorable as Paul Giamatti’s. Their scene together where they talk about wine is the emotional core of the movie.

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description,Part 10 Below and Falling

It reminds me of a cherry bomb and a clown.

This is the last Tom Waits voice description. It's been fun. Look back over these 10 entries and see if you can figure out which one is...

(1) Tom Waits describing his own voice and
(2) A voice description from a little girl in a fan letter

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description, Part 9th & Hennepin

Like it came out of the belly of a wounded animal

If Crash had a hammer...

Last week I was writing a never-used pre-Oscar post when I thought to myself, “Oh shit, Crash really is going to win best picture.” Now I don’t consider myself a psychic or anything (although that admission will probably ruin my lucrative psychic hotline business). Roger Ebert has been saying Crash would win best picture for a long time now, partly because he really, really likes the movie and partly because he’s a smart guy and knows how things usually go down with these awards. It turns out that Roger and I were correct. It did win best picture. The difference is that Ebert thought it was great and wanted it to win, where I thought it was competent at best and I didn’t want to see it receive the Academy’s top honor.

I'd like to make it clear that I love reading and listening to Roger Ebert. I agree with him a lot of the time. I’d like to think it is because we share similar views when it comes to film, but it’s probably because he shaped the way I think about movies in the first place. Shortly after I started becoming a full-fledged film buff I received a CD-ROM called Cinemania ’95. Roger Ebert was on the cover and it was his reviews on that disc that I devotedly read over and over again. I still read his reviews today, but if it’s a movie I plan on seeing I wait until after I see it before reading his take.

Even though Ebert and I disagree on Crash, it was because of his allegiance to the movie that I originally had reason to believe Crash might win. After all I really liked the movie myself right after I saw it and it stayed with me. That’s usually the mark of a good movie but Crash is one of the exceptions. The more I thought about the movie the more I realized it was just bland. My initial goodwill toward the movie was not because of the racial themes, direction, or performances. I just loved the story structure. I enjoy it when there are lots of characters in multiple story lines that all end up coming together at the end. It seems to me that it’s a storytelling technique that is easy to start but very difficult to pull together. Crash succeeds in this aspect, but the more I thought about the other elements at play, the more Crash slipped down the quality chart. You see, for as strong as the story structure is, the story itself is rather weak. I won’t completely discount the points that are made about race, but the method of making those points seem false to me. It seems very self-congratulatory as in, “Look at what I have to say about this touchy subject. Look at how I have enlightened you. Assign me to a task force for I truly understand race relations in America…or at least in Los Angeles.” It reminds me of the President saying we are addicted to foreign oil. Really, George? We’re already there, man; it’s you that needs to catch up. That’s what I feel like saying to Paul Haggis, writer and director of Crash. Most people I know already have a very firm grasp on their own prejudices, how they are formed, and how other people might have formed prejudices against them. We don’t need a two-hour road map drawn for us by a guy who used to write for The Love Boat. It turns out that my thoughts about the movie’s self importance were validated Sunday night when Haggis said the following, “Art is not a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it." Wow. I don’t even know where to begin with that quote. The only thing I can agree with is that movies can be art...but a hammer with which to shape society? Good Lord! If Crash is a hammer then it still has a floor-room shine on because there’s nothing in society it even comes close to shaping.

I’m probably being a bit too harsh on Mr. Haggis because Crash isn’t a horrible movie; it’s just not a great movie. I already indirectly dug into him before when I reviewed Million Dollar Baby last year. If you read my qualms with that movie they are all directly traceable to the writer, Paul Haggis. Still, I didn’t hate Million Dollar Baby either. I was just frustrated because I hate it when movies get so close to being great but a few obvious, stupid mistakes get in the way. The difference between Million Dollar Baby and Crash is that Million Dollar Baby seemed fixable. Crash is what it is, a mediocre racial parable with no sense of subtlety…albeit an Academy Award winning mediocre racial parable with no sense of subtlety.

Now let me get back to my realization that Crash would be awarded best picture.

For as much as I know the Academy Awards don’t mean anything, I still get excited when a movie I really love gets nominated for an Oscar. This year I saw two movies that were nominated for Best Picture that were not only masterfully executed, but I also felt an extra connection to them: Brokeback Mountain and Capote. They were great stories that were presented well and had something original to say. Neither one of them are message movies, although both have what Fox News refers to as “dark themes”…you know, homosexuality. Either film would have been a nice representation for the movie business as a whole in the year 2005, but that rarely happens. That’s what made me realize Crash would win, because it’s not the best picture of the year. Take a look at this list and see how many of these movies you think of as a masterpiece. Forget masterpiece; just try to find the movies you love. Found many? Found any?

Starting with 2004 and working backwards, I plan on giving you my picks for the best movies of each year and comparing them with what was actually nominated and honored by the Academy. I’m starting with 2004 because there are still a handful of 2005 movies I’d like to see before making a final judgment on the year in film.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your indulgence.

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description,Part Eights Go East and Fives Go North

A gin-soaked croak with nightmarish qualities

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description,Part 7th of December, 1949

A deep, phlegmy bellow or a hungover whisper,

with phrasing that shambles around the beat.

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description,Part Six in the Morning, Gave Me No Warning

A barking dog at best

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description,Part Five O'Clock Shadow Boxing

A raspy bumping-along-the-bottom voice that’s haunted a million hangovers

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description, Part Four Bullet Holes in the Side

That voice -- here marinating a tender ballad, there howling through a circle of hell, finally settling into a familiarly phlegmatic, lung-crunching groove.

Your Daily Tom Waits Voice Description, Part 3-for-a-dollar

A scabrous rasp with a wide range of color and feeling