2001. FiLM BiTCH AWARDS

Just when you thought it was safe to make your Lord of the Rings Vs. A Beautiful Mind predictions -along comes the Producers Guild Awards to remind us that this race has been anything but safe for those making public predictions. But thank the cinematic heavens that the Producers found it in their greedy hearts to reward the most deserving (but least lucrative) of their nominees. I personally didn't see this coming. At all. But I guess it's not unprecedented. They did after all reward The Crying Game (not a blockbuster but a hit, just like MR!) in 1992. But, considering that their nominations were far less respectable than the actual Academy lineup this year, was I wrong to assume that their winner would be equally unimpressive? I've said it so many times this Oscar season but "I'm glad I was wrong"...

Now, however predicting becomes even trickier. The major precursors are all going to different films. The various critics circles and societies tended to favor In the Bedroom and primarily Mulholland Drive which wasn't nominated for the picture Oscar. The NBR, Globes and PGA chose Moulin Rouge!, The BAFTAs and the AFI chose Lord of the Rings, and the Broadcast Critics and Globes chose A Beautiful Mind which up until the PGA announcement yesterday seemed to be the leader. It still might be if Ron Howard can manage a second DGA win in a few days. But rather than rack our brains trying to figure out how this will work itself out (Hell, even the deliciously witty and sophisticated Gosford Park could surprise at this point) come Oscar night -it's time to enjoy the moment. Just kick back and bask in the spectacular spectacular glow coming off of Moulin Rouge! It's the film that keeps on ticking. It's still sitting pretty after 10 months soaking in the limelight. But my what a strange journey it's been to get us here. Let's look back at the film that defied all odds to end up where it is today.

1994-95. Yes, Baz was supposedly working on MR! before Romeo + Juliet. Somewhere in this time period, he and his production team, Bazmark, decided to keep the glorious "Come What May" ballad for Moulin Rouge! instead of using it in their visionary youthquake Shakespeare film.

1998-99. Lots o' actors are considered including 'I-want-to-be-in-a-musical' Heath Ledger but Baz convinces Aussie transplant and Hollywood superstar-in-the-making Nicole Kidman to take the scrumptious Satine role (he had to convince her since it was clearly a make-it-or-break-it career move) and then selects the astounding, adorable, luscious, delicious, edible, sensational (I'm piling it on I know) and über talented Ewan MacGregor for her duet partner. The fates were clearly smiling on the casting director as the chemistry could not have been better in the final product. To top it all off other luminaries like Aussie singing star Kylie Minogue, musical theater/cabaret star Caroline O Connor, American comic star John Leguizamo, and the ever incredible Jim Broadbent sign on as well. Rehearsals last forever. So does filming. When you think about it it's rather amazing that Nicole found time to do Moulin Rouge!, Birthday Girl, and The Others back to back to back after the legendarily lengthy Eyes Wide Shut shoot that took her and then hubby Cruise out of commission for two years. One assumes that Kidman hasn't slept in approximately4 years. Well, she may have slept after breaking a rib onset. The "What's his type? wilting flower? bright and bubbly?" quick-change scene in the middle of the Diamonds number was filmed with Nicole sitting in a wheelchair. Production shut down for Nicole to recuperate.

2000. In what will come to be known as a dark day in cinematic history the breakthtakingly genius Moulin Rouge! set is destroyed rather than preserved after the last day of shooting (the production went over schedule) to make way for the Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones production on the soundstage. Ewan, star of both films, was none too pleased that the SW team wouldn't wait. In post production MR! is rumored to be a Christmas release for Oscar contention but gets delayed. Naturally the reports that it's a disaster begin to surface...

2001 Feb. ...but then it's announced as a Cannes opening night treat. So, clearly, delays don't necessarily spell d-o-o-m. (Take heart all you Gangs of New York enthusiasts -notice a similar pattern here?)

2001 May. Moulin Rouge! premieres at Cannes to immediately divisive hoopla...and scores no awards there at the world's most famous festival. Then by the end of the month the Bazmark film inspires similar kudos and derision when it premiers in LA and New York City. Yours truly sat dumbfounded and über exhilarated, smack dab in the middle of the one-of-a-kind, cavernous Ziegfeld theater as a thousand or so screaming and cheering MR! fanatics were born.

2001 June. Baz's musical whirlwind opens all around the country and inspires both (you guessed it) total devotion and/or walkouts. At this point, being a majorly divisive film, no one expects it to be a major Oscar player come the end of the year.

2001 July -November Rouge! continues its slow but sturdy box office and hope begins to mount that it will catch fire. The Others opens in August and cements Nicole Kidman's status as the "it" girl/movie star of 2001. At this point no one expects Moulin to be a major Oscar player but Nicole's growing legion of fans begin waiting for her first Oscar nomination for the Others... and many begin to argue as to which film features her acting at its best -A fun game that's inherently meaningless since she's Oscar caliber in both. During these months the Cruise/Kidman media battle rages on an on and Nicole's star keeps on rising. By the holidays Moulin Rouge! is a worldwide hit, its detractors are fewer and fewer and Fox (the most confident and loyal studio of the year) rereleases it for Thanskgiving in the major markets.

2001 Dec. The insta-classic musical wins Best Picture at the NBR and then gets showered with Golden Globe nominations and top ten critics mentions at months end. Damn them! Moulin debuts on DVD for Christmas (all wrapped up under my tree thankyouverymuch) to the delight of millions of the obsessed. Fans around the world cancel holiday plans to play with the DVD's hours of extra----oh, wait. maybe that was just me.

2002 Jan. Nominations from nearly every awards group bring MR! from darkhorse status to frontrunner in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately the Academy throws in a wrench when it announces that both its AFI nominated and Globe winning score and it's original song will be considered ineligible for the Oscars. At the inaugaral AFI awards, our beloved film wins best editing. Then it goes on to win the Globe for a musical/comedy and Kidman the corresponding actress crown as well as best score -take that AMPAS. However the joy is momentarily interrupted as an end-of-the-month SAG shutout for Kidman prompts fans (myself included) to fret that Nicole will also be shut out of her first Oscar nomination by splitting her own vote with her excellent work in The Others. Nail biting begins as the Oscar nominations approach.

2002 Feb. Voila. Nominations all around ('cept for the shocker of Baz's Best Director snub and the expected but still highly unpleasant omission of McGregor from the Actor lineup.) At this point fans breathe a huge sigh of relief as the best film in any given year rarely gets this much acclaim. The second soundtrack is released (yay!!!). Fans concede that the nominations are enough...since film's without Best Director nominees rarely end up as winners. Aussie Baz seems to throw some thwarted campaign weight behind Kiwi Peter Jackson's fantasy epic as they start publicly fawning over each other's films in interviews. Peter calls them "sibling" films and Baz refers to MR! and LOTR as "twins" They both revive, reinvent, and rethink dead genres. And they're both well... spectacular. LOTR wins Best Picture at the BAFTAS.

2002 March 4th. And then to add another shock to a very unpredictable awards season, Oscar hopes are suddenly revived as the PGA selects Moulin Rouge! as their best film of 2001 -beating out the expected frontrunners The Lord of the Rings and the Oscar baiting A Beautiful Mind.

..................................................................And here we are now.

What's next, you ask? Ah, it doesn't really matter. Bazmark, the actors, etc... they've already won our hearts. They've won the true prize: artistic achievement. Viva la vie bohéme.

-Nathaniel