Oscar Noms... What do you think?

[LibraryGirl]

I just watched the Academy Nomiations and there were a few surprises for me.

1) John C. Reilly (Chicago)-- Hey, GC... this was DEFINITELY a surprise and a wonderful surprise at that! I wanted it to be true after I saw the movie.. and it was made real this morning!!

2) Queen Larifah (Chicago)--oohhhh Mama

3) Chris Cooper (Adaptation)--what can I say... that was good stuff

4)Julianne Moore-- double Nominee for The Hours and Far From Heaven

That is only a few of the surprises that have jarred me awake so early in the morning!!

I am glad that there is going to be a great race this year with so many different movies!

Click here for the full nomination list!!

[LibraryGirl]

After reading the full list of nominees here are a few more gems:

Mike's New Car is nomiated for Best Animated Short Film

Lilo and Stitch, Spirited Away, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron, Ice Age and Treasure Planet are all nominated for Best Animated Feature.

"Lose Yourself" by Eminem is nominated for Best Song... wow.. Eminiem in a tux... will it happen?

[RayChuang]

I was surprised that FIVE animated movies made it for Best Animated Feature!

Even more surprising was that all three Disney-released animated features made the nominations--Lilo & Stitch, Spirited Away, and Treasure Planet (a huge surprise on the last one!).

I think Spirited Away will win hands down because this movie has by far the best storytelling.

[LibraryGirl]

Spirited Away looks like a really good pick fo Oscar!!

[EandCDad]

I don't have any problem with the Daniel Day-Lewis nomination for Gangs of New York. Also its nomintaions in technical categories seem reasonable. Giving it nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay is, while not surprising, wholly undeserved in my opion. It must have been a weaker movie year than I thought.

[Alex S.]

I just put my comments in the other thread, but I can boil it down to one sentence:

Everyone involved in The Hours and Chicago should go home that night having consumed too much alcohol in an attempt to drown their sorrow for having gone 0-for-whatever in a clear recognition from the Academy that they've seen through the shallow and ultimately undeserving nature of these two films.

[lisap]

Well, I really liked The Hours--a ton more than I thought I would. I was just going to see it because I knew it would be nominated for stuff, and ended up really enjoying it. And I can't defend why I liked it. I just did. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Alex .

[RayChuang]

Originally posted by lisap
Well, I really liked The Hours--a ton more than I thought I would. I was just going to see it because I knew it would be nominated for stuff, and ended up really enjoying it. And I can't defend why I liked it. I just did. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Alex .

One thing I've noticed is that The Hours is a very polarizing movie by gender. Female viewers love the movie, but male viewers are puzzled by the film. That polarization is one reason why it won't win Best Picture Oscar.

[Alex S.]

I don't dislike The Hours but I also don't think it is as good as its press.

[Disneyphile]

Ok, I'm totally ticked that The Two Towers didn't make it in for Best Director. I think Peter Jackson totally got shafted.

Also, I unfortunately saw Chicago this weekend. In my blunt personal opinion: it was a total overrated piece of crap. I was waiting for Catherine Zeta Jones to whip out a T-Mobile cellphone during her opening "number", because it was so horrible. The movie was just pathetic, not to mention boring.

-Teresa

[merlinjones]

You know, I liked Chicago okay, but it seemed like a TV movie special for ABC rather than a big movie adaptation. Sort of like the Bette Midler Gypsy.

But after cheesy wins for Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, it looks like the Academy is on the fast track to Grammyville.

Since Hollywood doesn't make many true artful epics anymore, it seems content to reward disposable imitations of glorious past genres.

Too bad they are missing out on the "real thing", a future classic, as it happens: The Lord of the Rings saga. That should be the winner in my mind.

[lisap]

Originally posted by RayChuang
One thing I've noticed is that The Hours is a very polarizing movie by gender. Female viewers love the movie, but male viewers are puzzled by the film. That polarization is one reason why it won't win Best Picture Oscar.

Hmmm...I think you're calling into question the masculinity of the guy I saw the movie with--he really dug it too! What can this mean?

Not that I think The Hours should get best picture hands down. I think for pure epic quality and entertainment, Two Towers deserves it. But like I've said, I have not checked them all off my list.

[Sophie832]

There seem to be two threads going on this, but I'll post in here...

Biggest shock? About Schmidt got snubbed big-time in both the screenplay and picture categories. I guess I'm not too shocked about Best Picture, but screenplay?! The writing was incredible, and it won the Golden Globe, for goodness sakes. I think this hands the award to Charlie Kaufman, though.

Richard Gere...another snub. I just saw Chicago, and I agree with a lot of the critics who say that Gere is really a supporting character. Zellwegger is the only person who has a truly lead role in that film, with Zeta-Jones as a close second. I did enjoy the movie a lot, but I think a lot of its success is due to the fact that the musical is a classic. It's kind of the same way I feel about LOTR...that film already had a built-in fanbase because the books were classics. Either film could've been a flop if made the wrong way, but with all that star-power and some great effects, how could they go wrong?

I'm extremely pleased to see Michael Caine made the list for Best Actor, and John Williams got a Best Score nomination for Catch Me If You Can, his most innovative score in a long time.