Practicalmadness

I don't know if it's the shorter nomination period or the screener ban or just that the crop of elderly voters all managed to die or go blind this year, but this year's Oscar nominations -- to be blunt -- kick ass.

Apart from the inevitable multitude of nominations for Return of the King and Mystic River (both more-satisfying-than-usual picks for Best Picture), I was pleased to see Master and Commander wasn't totally overlooked, and some very surprising nominations going to some gems from overseas: the Portugese film City of God (nominated for last year's Foreign Film Oscar, but not officially released in the U.S. until this year), as well as the animated The Triplets of Belleville.

I try not to finalize my Oscar picks until the last weekend of the Oscars Game (more on this in a second), but I can tell you some winners I would love to see, that wouldn't be all that far-fetched.

Acting

I have seen neither Johnny Depp's performance in Pirates of the Caribbean, nor Bill Murray's in Lost in Translation, but I applaud their nominations. Conventional Oscar wisdom would have told me that because of these actors' tempraments, as well as recent statements that were "un-American" and dismissive of the Academy, respectively, that the sentimental Oscar voters would stay away.

The Supporting nominees are less interesting, which isn't as important since Tim Robbins will be a very deserving winner.

I sort of wish that Naomi Watts, not Charlize Theron, was the front-runner for the Best Actress trophy, although my reasons for and against that are the same: what is the likelihood that Theron will ever do work this good again? Watts is one of the better actresses working today, just starting what will be an undoubtedly brilliant career. Theron's performance is brilliant, but why should she actually get the Oscar she deserves when actors like Watts, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe have to wait until they've been skipped twice, then get one for no reason at all?

Put another way: what is the likelihood that, in fifty years, anyone will remember any of Theron's roles, even this one? Okay, what about Watts/Crowe/Kidman?

Just a nit-pick though -- most years, I would kill to have even one nominated performance this good to talk about.

Documentary

I only just saw The Fog of War last night -- knowing it was an Oscar nominee, although that had no bearing on my decision to hike out to Southport and see it -- and if it doesn't win the Oscar, there is no justice in this life. I agree with some critics that it's not the most hard-hitting documentary in the bunch, but it's definitely the most artful. On reflection, it seems like the movie Chris Marker would have made if he were doing segments for Dateline NBC -- treading ground between reportage and poetry.

Editing

For Mac idolatry reasons, I want to see Walter Murch's editing of Cold Mountain recognized with an Oscar, because it was the first time a major motion picture, with a major (nay, legendary) editor, was cut using a Final Cut Pro system.

I have problems with the nomination for Return of the King's Jamie Selkirk, by simple virtue of the "six endings" problem. I think it's an editorial decision that didn't work, that takes viewers out of the movie when they really need to be into it, and one that I hope is reconsidered when they're making the DVD edition of the film -- not rewarded with an Oscar nomination.

Writing

Like Fernando Meirelles, I too wonder how the Portugese-language City of God managed a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Perhaps the subtitle translators should be up there as co-nominees.

The Overlooked

I'm not as upset about this as some people, but it's weird that Kill Bill: Vol. 1 was totally shut out -- either the Academy was put off by its violence, or have finally had enough of Miramax's crap.

I'd love to know if Peter Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures -- just released and full of dirt on the Weinstein empire -- had anything to do with that company's relatively poor showing in this year's Oscar nominations. Bob and Harvey won't be hurting -- Miramax is one of the three studios involved in Master and Commander, co-financed House of Sand and Fog with archrivals DreamWorks, and the Weinsteins have an executive producer credit on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But the movie they've been flogging as their Oscar horse, Cold Mountain, was shut out of the three categories they reportedly wanted most, Picture, Director (for Anthony Minghella) and Actress (for Nicole Kidman).

Having still not seen Love Actually, I can't speak from personal taste, but it would have seemed an obvious pick for at least a screenplay nod. Perhaps the Academy's Anglophiles are becoming, or being replaced by, the film school generation's Francophiles.

The Oscars Game

I'm doing the last bit of data entry at this hour, with an eye to building the game database and scripts to let all you wild people make and edit your picks tonight or tomorrow.

There will be some new functionality (mobile phone access, maybe, and definitely a deadline alert that can be sent to your phone or pager), and for the first time ever, a Grand Prize for the highest scorer, even if nobody beats me. (The Grand, Grand Prize is still only awarded if someone beats my score, however.) Prizes, rules and scoring will be announced relatively soon.