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Oscar
Time!
Best Actress
Picture
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/ Nominations
Updates:
03/24/03
NICOLE
KIDMAN takes the prize in a very tough category.
People say it was the nose but my guess is Moulin Rouge! is still
burning bright in their minds.
Pre Ceremony Thought:
Though it's
always difficult to read AMPAS mind, this does seem to be the most likely-to-surprise
category. Diane Lane's performance has perhaps the most loyal fan base,
Julianne Moore swept the critics awards, Nicole Kidman has last year's momentum
and a much discussed performance, and love for Chicago is undoubtedly aiding
Zellweger. It's anyone's guess. When in doubt, the Golden Globe has the
best track record so I'm going with Nicole Kidman. I'm not the least bit
confident about that prediction though.
|
Salma
Hayek
FRIDA |
Nicole
Kidman
THE HOURS |
Diane
Lane
UNFAITHFUL |
Julianne
Moore
FAR FROM HEAVEN |
Renée
Zellweger CHICAGO
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
first nomination!
|
2 noms /
0 wins
|
first nomination!
|
4 noms
/ 0 wins
|
2 noms /
0 wins
|
|
Precursor Awards:
None. Role: The titular Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo |
Precursor Awards:
BAFTA, GLOBE (Drama) & Las Vegas Winner Role: Virginia Woolf, struggling to write Mrs. Dalloway as a maddening depression returns to sink her. |
Precursor Awards:
NSFC, NYC, & Satellite (Drama) Role: Constance Sumner, an adulterous wife. |
Precursor Awards:
BFCA, Chicago, OFCS, Venice, NBR, LA, DC, Seattle, Vancouver, SEFCA, SanDiego, Cinemarati, & Toronto Role: Cathy Whitaker, an unhappy 50s housewife. |
Precursor Awards:
SAG, GLOBE (Comedy) Role: Infamous jazz cutie Roxie Hart on trial for killing her no-good boyfriend while dreaming of a showbiz career. |
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How'd
They Get Nominated?
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62% Her tenacity and ambition.
She shepherded the picture from pre production to release. It's
her baby, no question.
23 % Stardom, hotness & Glamour in real life. 10 % Playing a real person. They always love that. 3 % Oscar loves movies about longsuffering women and philandering men. Hey, they do. I'm not making this up. 2% The performance. |
39 % Oscar bait galore:
Plays a real person. With and Accent. And a Prosthetic. And a death
scene.
37% "That's Nicole Kidman !?!?! You're joking right?" ('The Nose' hypnotizes the weak-minded.) 16 % Stardom, hotness & Glamour in real life. 6 % the train station scene. 2 % Guilt factor. No offense to Halle Berry but Nicole Kidman was 2001. |
74% The performance. Particulary
that incisively acted train ride that no one could stop talking
about.
14 % Hotness & Glamour. 8 % Relatability of role. Who in Hollywood hasn't cheated on their spouse? 3 % Subtle misogyny of role (unfaithful wife as destroyer of lives) 1 % "Hey, isn't she that teen-ager in that Laurence Olivier flick from the 80s!?" |
55% Flawless, inspired,
transcendent performance.
21% The film was the year's clear critical champ adding lustre to Juli' even though it isn't exactly to AMPAS standard middlebrow taste. 14 % Stardom, hotness, and glamour in real life. 6 % The slowly dawning realization that she's this generation's Meryl Streep. 4 % Guilt. Shouldn't she have won an Oscar by now? |
55% Media blast and last
second release. This frontrunner picture is everywhere.
15 % The performance. Turning her sweetie-pie image into something venal. 13 % Surprise attack! -see a movie star do something they've never done before. (In this case, sing and dance... 10 % Miramax backing. 7 % Stardom, hotness & glamour in real life. |
|
Celebrity
or Critical Endorsements (It goes without saying that their co-stars
and directors are onboard) of some sort.
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Ed Norton
|
Josh Brolin
|
Manohla Dargis, Nicole Kidman
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How'd
I do?
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I scored 5/5
correctly assuming that they'd let one nomination for Meryl Streep
suffice. 10 Months back when I pulled five names out of the hat
in the April Fools predictions I scored 2/5
forseeing only Julianne Moore and Salma Hayek. One of my choices,
Meryl Streep, obviously just missed the list. One was delayed
until 2003 and one, Pfeiffer, ended up transferred to the
Supporting Actress category where she also probably just missed
the list.
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Who Got
Robbed?
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My ballot
includes Isabelle Huppert an amazing screen talent who had
only the tiniest slivers of a chance at recognition with the Academy
because her work was done in a) a foreign language b) in a film
that was often difficult to watch and c) involved a characters who
was difficult to like or understand. Not Oscar's thang, obviously.
I'm sure she was on some ballots, because the quality of
her work in the Haneke film is really hard to deny.
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Which
Film Clips Should Oscar Show? Send
Your Suggestions!
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Screaming for her baby, collapsing
in Diego's arms -Michelle
Telling Diego she slept with Trotsky -Ted |
Explaining the train times to Nelly
-derek
"Doctors who inform me of my own interests" -Teddy Train station. 'It is my voice. It is my choice.' -Jedihan Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself -Nate Kissing her sister ---desperate for her to stay -Dustin |
With friends in the restaurant when her lover enters -Michelle The train ride home. That scene resonates. -Ed |
Cathy's quiet confusion when Frank comes home
from work after the revelation -derek |
"That scummy, crummy, dummy
hubby of mine" -carrie
Fainting (faux pregnancy) -David 'I'm a star. And the audience loves me '-Rachel "To protect my husbands innocent unborn child" -James |
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Who Might
Think About Writing a Speech
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Originally this looked like an
easy get for Nicole Kidman. She has so much hype. Plus, she
was last year's it girl. Plus she plays a real person. Plus she
wears a prosthetic. Plus she's unrecognizable. Plus Plus Plus Plus
Plus. But then there's Renée Zellweger's semi surprise
win at the SAGs, meaning Chicago could be a sweeper and take
home a truckload of trophies from its 13 nominations. But, let's
say Nicole for now.
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Who Should
Win?
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Julianne Moore. No contest.
Her work in Far From Heaven is yet another reminder (as
if we needed another) that she's our single most brilliant working
actor...and one for the pantheon of all time great screen artists.
My second choice in this category is Diane Lane.
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