Awards Page Index * OSCAR coverage here
'02 FiLM BiTCH Awards

Winners are in Gold. (Silver and Bronze medals also indicated)
Honoring favorite cinematic achievements of 2002. 5 nominees in most categories. Semi Finalists and Finalists refer to achievements that were considered and are well regarded. The choice is often difficult. Contenders I only think it's fair to show what I've seen. If you're disappointed in my choices you can't just assume I didn't see something. That's what I always assume about the Academy voters! I don't think they see as many movies as devotees. So if you want a complete list of the 90 or so movies I saw in 2002 you can click here.

Adrien Brody Wladislaw Spilman The Pianist	Daniel Day-Lewis Bill the Butcher Gangs of New York	Hugh Grant Will Freeman About a Boy	Jack Nicholson Warren Schmidt About Schmidt	Campbell Scott Roger Roger Dodger
For incisively detailing one proud man's descent into fear and survival mode. Bonus Points: Does more with his eyes than most actors can with their entire faces.	By risking caricature he ends up with true character -in the process he creates one of the screen's great villians. Bonus Points: Unforgettably tap-tap tapping his glass eye.	For imbuing the entire film with the character's essence. This Boy trades in shallow sentiment for true depth and wit. Bonus Points: "I really am this shallow!"	By submerging "Jack" he lets the glory of Schmidt emerge, reminding us why he became "Jack" in the first place. Brilliant. Bonus Points: He even makes voiceover sing -not an easy task.	For finding every shade and layer when Roger could have been a one note boor. Bonus Points: A performance as quick and nimble as the protagonist's mind.
Finalist: Nicolas Cage -Adaptation His dual turn is both a fine comic performance (Donald) and a strong dramatic one (Charlie). Too bad theree are only five slots. I will be perfectly happy if he makes Oscar's shortlist * Tobey MacGuire Spider-Man -Tobey gave Spider-Man the perfect Peter Parker ---which is, of course, what Spidey needed all along. Semi-Finalists: Lior Ashkenazi -Late Marriage Heartbreaking and brave performance of a coward in love * Javier Camara & Dario Grandinetti Talk To Her a moving and complex duo * Gregg Kinnear -AutoFocus - He can't save the dreadful movie. But he'll go down trying.
OSCAR Race

% Best Actress in a Supporting Role %
the amazing women are

Patricia Clarkson Elle Far From Heaven	Bebe Neuwirth Diane Tadpole	Michelle Pfeiffer Ingrid Magnusson White Oleander	Meryl Streep Susan Orlean Adaptation	Catherine Zeta-Jones Velma Kelly Chicago
For mimicking the archetypal wisecracking best friend to perfection. On top of that triumph, a full characterization. Bonus Points: Her last scene. Yowza, she's set us up.	For daring the shaky film to rise up to her sexy comic level. She's as sly as her jaded witty character. Bonus Points: That wicked self-amused grin.	By embracing her icy persona -not softening Ingrid a bit, she does her best work in a decade. Bonus Points: When she circles her prey, you can't look away.	For surprising us . This legendary actress found a way to reignite her formidable dramatic skill within an expert comic turn. Bonus Points: The dial tone.	Letting her musical skills loose, she proves herself a born musical star and eats up her plum 'killer diller' role. Bonus Points: "I Can't Do It Alone" Oh, the irony! She can.
Finalists: Samantha Morton -Minority Report * Isabelle Huppert-8 Women * Edie Falco -Sunshine State * In a lesser year these three might have placed. Samantha Morton as the precog Agatha in Minority Report gave that film much of its eery weight. And Huppert was superbly high strung and comic in the French musical. Falco's hungover and weary motelier gave Sunshine State soul. But this year this category was overstuffed with valid competitors. I didn't have room. And this is even removing Nicole Kidman from the mix due to her "lead" campaign although that's still a debatable categorization. Semi-Finalists: Parker Posey -Personal Velocity * Toni Collette -About a Boy * Viola Davis -Solaris * Shefali Shetty -Monsoon Wedding * Kathleen McDermott -Morvern Callar * Kristen Dunst -Spider-Man * Fanny Ardant -8 Women * All of them super in their respective films.
OSCAR Race

^ Best Supporting Actor ^
the reliable guys are

Chris Cooper John LaRoche Adaptation	Barry Pepper Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour	Dennis Quaid Frank Whitaker Far From Heaven	Andy Serkis Smeagull / Gollum LotR: The Two Towers	Naseeruddin Shah Lalit Monsoon Wedding
For a three dimensional, continually unfolding star turn where a caricature could have easily been. Bonus Points: "That's how much 'fuck fish' "	For surface impenetrable cool with a well modulated turmoil bubbling up to a boil underneath as the film progresses. Bonus Points: Cocky bachelor theories.	Intense and moving as a self -loathing philandering husband. Bonus Points: Flipping his star persona on its head in the service of a great great film.	Underneath the CGI is the film's best turn. Like Cooper he starts out annoying but goes straight to your gut after awhile. Bonus Points: 02's best Jekyll & Hyde.	By exuding warmth and paternal befuddlement, he gives the bustling chaotic film a feeling of "home" Bonus Points: Brings the audience to tears with his own.
Finalists: Jesse Eisenberg -Roger Dodger. One of the year's most promising debuts. Lots of heart and range for this young kid * Paul Newman & Jude Law -Road to Perdition : I found it impossible to choose between them. Newman owns the film and Law gives it its most indelible moments. It's a toss up. Semi Finalists: Ed Harris -The Hours. Moving as the dying poet * Allan Corduner -The Grey Zone -Like a soul in shock. Still, functioning, and seemingly accepting of his horrific amoral fate.
OSCAR Race

* Performance of the Year (any category) *

Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven
runners up:
Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher & Campbell Scott in Roger Dodger

( Best Director )
the wizard auteurs are

Pedro Almodovar Talk to Her	P.T. Anderson Punch-Drunk Love	Todd Haynes Far From Heaven	Alfonso Cuaron Y Tu Mama Tambien	Spike Lee 25th Hour
For humanist compassion, cinematic magic, and black comedy compellingly masked as melodrama.	For complete control of the chaos. For true daring and lyricism. Performance art? Stunt? Who cares. It's cinema !	For paying homage while fashioning a thing beautifully his own. A film for the eyes, intellect, and heart.	For delicately balancing and blending the sexual, political, and emotional into an instant coming of age classic.	For a provocative and bold look at personal responsibility fused with a bracing portrait of a grieving city.
Finalists: * Peter Jackson -LoTR: The Two Towers - I'll get flak for this but I didn't have room for six -I probably should've just declared a six person category... but I'm opposed to that. I deeply love Peter Jackson... Heavenly Creatures is one of the greatest films of the past two decades and in their entirety I'm sure that LotR will be a trilogy for the history of the cinema. He'll be back next year no doubt when it all wraps up / comes together * Hayao Mizayaki -Spirited Away -I'll probably love this more over time (I already love it) but I need to see it again before comitting to it fully. Semi Finalists: Mira Nair -Monsoon Wedding -beautiful control of the crowd and the clash of class and culture. * Sam Raimi -Spider-Man -This wouldn't have worked without his commitment to the material (see also Peter Jackson) * Dover Koshashvili -Late Marriage -The year's most impressive debut. If all of his films are this intense he'll be regarded internationally very quickly.
OSCAR Race