News Feature by Emma Matthews
With the BAFTA’s over, Hollywood has turned its attention to the highlight of the awards season – the Oscars. Considered by many to be the pinnacle of awards ceremonies, over the years the golden statuette has lost a little of its gleam; losing audiences by the bucket-load, criticised for being afraid of controversy and out of touch with the public; the Academy has been forced to take a long, hard look at itself. The result is a group of nominees that reflect the politics and concerns of Bush’s America, and a ceremony that may be more in tune with the audience they so desperately need. Starting with a less garish than usual design, mimicking the sets of Oscars from long ago, the 78th Academy Awards has a slightly classier feel than usual - more Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s than Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. Even the choice of host, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, a smart, politically aware comedian, puts Oscar’s new direction front and centre. Famous for his irreverence in the face of political stupidity, and voted one of America’s most influential people in 2005, Stewart is an excellent choice for host, as evident when asked about the comedic opportunities this year’s crop of nominations may bring: “Crash and Munich are a comedians dream. I’ve always said if I can’t make fun of the Holocaust, at least I can make fun of the Olympics massacre.”
Critics favourite Brokeback Mountain may have the most nominations – eight including Best Picture, Director and Actor – but in all those categories the competition is fierce. Heath Ledger, nominated for his portrayal of a man torn, is up against the likes of Phillip Seymour Hoffman for his stunning performance in Capote, and Joaquin Phoenix’s electric recreation of the late Johnny Cash in Walk the Line; in the Best Picture and Director stakes, the gay shepherd movie is up against Spielberg’s harrowing take on the 1972 Olympics massacre, Munich; George Clooney’s recreation of McCarthyism in Good Night, and Good Luck, the aforementioned Capote, and surprise nominee Crash. The story of racial prejudice and vehicular mishaps in LA has been the sleeper of the year, nominated in a very respectable six categories, including a Supporting Actor nod for Matt Dillon. Having already won two BAFTAs, there is a very good chance that Crash will be an Oscar winner come Sunday.
Serious, issue-led films covering themes as diverse as racism, homosexuality and terrorism have left their mark on the Academy voters, if not the box office. All five of the Best Picture nominees will have trouble breaking the magical $100 million mark; even Spielberg’s Munich, one of the most costly of all the films nominated, has yet to make box office gold. So, the academy has not only nominated serious, politically aware movies, it has also eschewed box office success in favour of passionate story telling. Can this really be the same Academy that gave Tom Hanks two Oscars?
The choice of underachievers may not have anything to do with taste, however – box office takings in the States have been falling dramatically over the last year, with even the mighty Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake underperforming in terms of ticket sales. The usual big hitters, overblown actioners with enormous budgets, large and numerous explosions and little or no story have been largely ignored by audiences, and it seems both the Academy and the major studios have been forced to take notice, albeit, very slowly. Persuading studios to make small movies with niche audiences is hard enough. Persuading studios to make issue movies is a different thing altogether. Spielberg, Clooney and Lee all had problems financing their films; all three are generally considered to be guaranteed money-makers, but the subject matter of their projects – the Middle East conflict, the role of the media in a democracy, and homosexuality in the 50’s, respectively - made studios nervous. Lucky, then, that Oscar is about to thank them for their generosity, or we may never see another set of such deserving nominees.
Yes, Oscar is known for getting it very wrong. Scorsese doesn’t have one, Kevin Costner does; Titanic was nominated a massive 14 times, and won eleven Oscars, The Colour Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars, but didn’t win any. This year though, there were plenty of worthy films to choose from, perhaps too many. Those unfortunate not to make it into the big categories were recognised elsewhere; King Kong, Harry Potter, and The Chronicles of Narnia have nominations for their effects work; Memoirs of a Geisha and The New World are nominated for their breathtaking cinematography; even the Brits have a decent showing – Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents) and Keira Knightley(Pride and Prejudice) are both up for Best Actress, the very English Nick Park may be about to receive his fourth Oscar for The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, nominated in the Best Animated Film Category, and The National Film and Television School has a nomination for Best Animated Short.
With so many excellent films in the running, two things are certain; many deserving talents will leave empty handed, while some not-so deserving will go home 81/2lbs heavier; such is the life of an Academy Nominee. Whatever the outcome, this year’s Oscar Nominations have shown that Hollywood hasn’t forgotten how to make serious, well crafted, thoughtful films. Now, if only they could persuade people to go and see them…
For your reading pleasure, here is the full list of Academy Awards 2006 Nominees – let us bask in the fact that Russell Crowe is not nominated:
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Terrence Howard in “Hustle & Flow” (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
Joaquin Phoenix in “Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)
David Strathairn in “Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
George Clooney in “Syriana” (Warner Bros.)
Matt Dillon in “Crash” (Lions Gate)
Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax)
Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
William Hurt in “A History of Violence” (New Line)
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Judi Dench in “Mrs. Henderson Presents” (The Weinstein Company)
Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica” (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Keira Knightley in " Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features)
Charlize Theron in “North Country” (Warner Bros.)
Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “Junebug” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Catherine Keener in “Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Frances McDormand in “North Country” (Warner Bros.)
Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features)
Michelle Williams in “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
“Howl’s Moving Castle” (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki
“Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” (Warner Bros.)Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
“Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (DreamWorks Animation SKG) Nick Park and
Steve Box
Achievement in Art Direction
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) Art Direction: Jim Bissell Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Warner Bros.)Art Direction: Stuart Craig Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“King Kong” (Universal) Art Direction: Grant Major Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Art Direction: John Myhre Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
“Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
Achievement in Cinematography
“Batman Begins” (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) Rodrigo Prieto
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) Robert Elswit “Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dion Beebe
“The New World” (New Line) Emmanuel Lubezki
Achievement in Costume Design
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Warner Bros.) Gabriella Pescucci
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Colleen Atwood
“Mrs. Henderson Presents” (The Weinstein Company) Sandy Powell
“Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox) Arianne Phillips
Achievement in Directing
“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) Ang Lee
“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics) Bennett Miller
“Crash” (Lions Gate) Paul Haggis
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) George Clooney “Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) Steven Spielberg
Best Documentary Feature
“Darwin’s Nightmare” (International Film Circuit) A Mille et Une Production Hubert Sauper
“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” (Magnolia Pictures) An HDNet Films Production Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
“March of the Penguins” (Warner Independent Pictures) A Bonne Pioche Production Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
“Murderball” (THINKFilm) An Eat Films Production Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
“Street Fight” A Marshall Curry Production Marshall Curry
Best Documentary Short Subject
“The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club” A Dan Krauss Production Dan Krauss
“God Sleeps in Rwanda” An Acquaro/Sherman Production Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
“The Mushroom Club” A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
“A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin” A NomaFilms ProductionCorinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson
Achievement in Film Editing
“Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Claire Simpson
“Crash” (Lions Gate) Hughes Winborne
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) Michael Kahn
“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox) Michael McCusker
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
“Don’t Tell” A Cattleya/Rai Cinema Production Italy
“Joyeux Noël” A Nord-Ouest Production France
“Paradise Now” An Augustus Film Production Palestine
“Sophie Scholl - The Final Days” A Goldkind Filmproduktion and Broth Film Production Germany
“Tsotsi” A Moviworld Production South Africa
Achievement in Makeup
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (Buena Vista) Howard Berger and Tami Lane
“Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax) David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
“Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” (20th Century Fox) Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) Gustavo Santaolalla
“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Williams
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) John Williams
“Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
“In the Deep” from “Crash” (Lions Gate) Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York
“It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle & Flow” (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment) Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
“Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica” (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton
Best Motion Picture of the Year
“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) A River Road Entertainment Production
Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers
“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics) An A-Line Pictures/Cooper’s Town/ Infinity Media Production Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers
“Crash” (Lions Gate) A Bob Yari/DEJ/Blackfriar’s Bridge/ Harris Company/ApolloProscreen GmbH & Co./Bull’s Eye Entertainment Production
Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producers
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) A Good Night Good Luck LLC Production Grant Heslov, Producer
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) A Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures Production Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers
Best Animated Short Film
“Badgered” A National Film and Television School Production Sharon Colman
“The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation” A John Canemaker Production John Canemaker and Peggy Stern
“The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello” (Monster Distributes) A 3D Films Production Anthony Lucas
“9” A Shane Acker Production Shane Acker
“One Man Band” A Pixar Animation Studios Production Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews
Best Live Action Short Film
“Ausreisser (The Runaway)” A Hamburg Media School, Filmwerkstatt Production
Ulrike Grote
“Cashback” (The British Film Institute) A Left Turn Films Production Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
“The Last Farm” A Zik Zak Filmworks Production Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson
“Our Time Is Up” A Station B Production Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
“Six Shooter” (Sundance Film Channel) A Missing in Action Films and Funny Farm Films Production Martin McDonagh
Achievement in Sound Editing
“King Kong” (Universal) Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Wylie Stateman
“War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks) Richard King
Achievement in Sound Mixing
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (Buena Vista) Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
“King Kong” (Universal) Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox) Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
“War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks) Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins
Achievement in Visual Effects
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (Buena Vista) Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
“King Kong” (Universal) Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
“War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks) Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick
Adapted Screenplay
“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Dan Futterman
“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
“A History of Violence” (New Line) Screenplay by Josh Olson
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth
Original Screenplay
“Crash” (Lions Gate) Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco Story by Paul Haggis
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures) Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
“Match Point” (DreamWorks) Written by Woody Allen
“The Squid and the Whale” (Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Noah Baumbach
“Syriana” (Warner Bros.) Written by Stephen Gaghan
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