03-23-03 - Jamey Hughton predicts all 24 categories for the 75th annual Academy Awards. After the awards, look for a commentary on the winners and his accuracy in predicting them. Which, of course, is bound to be sky-high.

03-24-03 - As promised, my reaction to the Awards... (my projection is listed above and the actual winner below it in BOLD.

Best Picture: Chicago
Winner: Chicago
I thought Kirk and Michael Douglas were going to say “The Pianist”, with its gathering momentum as seen below. In the end, certainly no surprise.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York
Winner: Adrien Brody in The Pianist
The first real shocker of the evening. People were so torn over the tug-of-war between Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson that they overlooked this underdog. Brody was incredible and I’m delighted that he won; his heartfelt speech in a state of surprise was possibly the highlight of the night, with the most stirring comment on the situation in Iraq (“Whether you believe in God or Allah, may he watch over you, and lets pray for a peaceful and swift resolution”).

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman in The Hours
Winner: Nicole Kidman
No shocker here. Nice touch by presenter Denzel Washington as he added “by a nose...” before announcing Kidman’s win. Smooth, Denzel.

Director: Martin Scorsese for Gangs of New York
Winner: Roman Polanski for The Pianist
My jaw just about hit the floor. With Polanski’s scandalous past, and the fact that he cannot even risk entering the United States, I thought too many voters would opt for someone else; IE Scorsese, who has (miraculously) never won an Oscar, or Rob Marshall with the snowballing support for “Chicago” through the night. A huge surprise - the biggest of the ceremonies. I guess they’ve have to ship ol’ Roman the statue through Fed-Ex.

Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can
Winner: Chris Cooper in Adaptation
I’m glad that Cooper won. Walken was a longshot that I had etched in on my scorecard because the Academy favors longshots in the supporting categories. But here I misstepped. Lovely speech, concluded with a call for peace during “troubled times” that was understated and genuine while others were not (see Documentary winner).

Supporting Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago
Winner: Catherine Zeta-Jones
I’m glad Meryl Streep didn’t take it just because she is Meryl Streep. Zeta-Jones performed like a true Broadway star and deserved the trophy.

Adapted Screenplay: The Hours
Winner: The Pianist
What? Another “Pianist” upset for the evening. I had a place in my heart for “Adaptation”, but as Best Picture nominees are usually given the benefit of the doubt here, I had “The Hours” pegged. While it is an outstanding picture, “The Pianist” just isn’t a dialogue film. A curious choice.

Original Screenplay: Talk to Her
Winner: Talk to Her

Art Direction: Chicago
Winner: Chicago

Cinematography: Road to Perdition
Winner: Road to Perdition
The late, great Conrad L. Hall is deservedly honored for one of the most beautifully shot films I have seen. Wonderful tribute/speech by his son, Conrad Jr.

Foreign Language Film: The Man Without A Past
Winner: Nowhere in Africa (Germany)

Original Score: Far From Heaven
Winner: Frida
Another small surprise. If not Elmer Bernstein’s score for “Heaven” I would have predicted John Williams for “Catch Me If You Can”.

Original Song: Chicago
Winner: 8 Mile
Wowsers. I had ruled out Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” from “8 Mile” because, well, the Academy is mostly composed of older folks who probably don’t care for rap, and Eminem was a no-show to perform the song. I guess I was wrong. Fine by me; it’s a solid tune. And perhaps the Academy is more “hip” than we give them due credit for.

Costume Design: Gangs Of New York
Winner: Chicago

Best Animated Feature: Ice Age
Winner: Spirited Away
First off, I love the fact that “Ice Age” didn’t win. It was another surprise (but yes, a nice surprise) to see Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed Japanese film take the honor. Good for the Academy for straying from the mundane mainstream options.

Film Editing: Chicago
Winner: Chicago

Visual Effects: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Winner: The Two Towers
A no-brainer, really. They should award a special Oscar for the groundbreaking realism of Gollum, in my opinion.

Makeup: Frida
Winner: Frida
Well, what did you think was going to win? “The Time Machine”?

Sound: Chicago
Winner: Chicago

Sound Editing: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Winner: The Two Towers

21. Documentary Feature: Bowling for Columbine
Winner: Bowling for Columbine
Moore invited his fellow nominated documentarians up on stage, and went on to say “we are non-fiction filmmakers who live in fictitious times, with fictitious elections and a fictitious president.” He then added, “we are against this war. Shame on you Mr. Bush, shame on you.” Admittedly, I do not disagree with Mr. Moore’s statement. I am against the current war as well. But to use his brief moments at the podium to scream a political declaration at the top of his lungs is wrong. In using his acceptance speech as a showboating protest of war, Moore received a mixture of booing and applause from the audience (and in the end, I think the boos silenced the applause). A statement from Moore about the Iraq situation was expected, but this was explosively harsh. In the end, I think it is clear that Michael Moore is a jackass. A jackass that I still have much respect for because of his sheer guts. After all, we need ballsy people like this unshaven, unkempt political crusader. Host Steve Martin had a funny follow-up along the lines of “teamsters are now shoving Michael Moore into the trunk of a car” (which received enthusiastic applause).

By the way, the movie is amazing - you should see it if haven’t already.

22. Documentary Short: Twin Towers
Winner: Twin Towers

23. Animated Short Film: The ChubbChubbs!
Winner: The ChubbChubbs!

24. Live Action Short Film: Inja
Winner: This Charming Man

OTHER OBSERVATIONS:

I was 14 for 24 in the predictions department (or 58% accurate) - not too shabby, considering the huge upsets and surprise victories.

“Chicago” won 6 of 13. “The Pianist” (now officially “the little film that could”) took 3 of 7. “The Two Towers” 2 of 6. The other major nominees were bulldozed: “The Hours” had but a single trophy in Nicole Kidman’s Best Actress victory (out of nine nominations), while “Gangs of New York” went zero for ten. OUCH.

Steve Martin got off to a shaky start, but eased into the comfort zone and delivered consistent laughs throughout the ceremonies (the funniest of which included cracks about Kathy Bates in a hot tub, Richard Gere’s snub for “Chicago”, Jack Nicholson being gay, and a video montage of women he insists he has slept with). In addition, the show clocked in at a mercifully spare 3:30. Despite a few quips of the cruel and disparaging kind (“There’s Roman Polanski! Get him!”), I will look forward to any future Oscar telecast with Martin as host.

Getting 60 Oscar winners together on stage was a nice idea; introducing each one individually takes a really long time. Nice, brief video montages of past winners before all the acting categories. Best musical performance: a pregnant Zeta-Jones and nominated co-star Queen Latifah belting out “I Move On” from “Chicago” with gusto. Worst acceptance speech: Nicole Kidman, oddly. But it’s nice that she finally won.

See you next year, Oscar.