the film experience: actor 2004

OSCAR RACE 2004
commentary by Nathaniel R

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Jamie Foxx won. Like everyone in the universe knew he would. I liked that performance but I'm still a teensy bit mystified at people thinking it's one of the greatest ever --the way people carry on.

See Final Predictions 4/5
See My Ballot 0/5 similar
(I don't normally agree with the Academy but I rarely go 0/5 but this year was insanely compettive for this category)

80% of our Best Actor Nominees this year star in a Best Picture candidate and have 2 acting nominations at this point in their career (all but Cheadle). 80% play real people in biopics (all but Eastwood). And finally, 80% of them first gained fame from a televison series (all but Cheadle again). Those television series would be 21 Jump Street, Growing Pains, Rawhide, and In Living Color. A bunch of would-be movie stars, currently on your boob tube, just had their silver screen dreams renewed. How's that last bit of trivia for an Academy that's supposedly biased against TV stars? They range in age from 30 to 74, from character actor to living legend. Here they are...

Don Cheadle H0tel Rwanda	Johnny Depp Finding Neverland	Leonadro DiCaprio The Aviator	Clint Eastwood Million Dollar Baby	Jamie Foxx Ray

first nomination	second nomination	2 noms / 0 wins	2 noms / 0 wins	2 noms / 1 win
Precursor Awards none Role: comments to come	Precursor Awards: none Role: comments to come	Precursor Awards: HFF, Golden Globe Role: Howard Hughes	Precursor Awards NBR (Special Achievement) Role: comments to come	Precursor Awards: BFCA, NBR, Golden Globe, 9 Critics Awards including Boston & DC Role: Ray Charles
How'd They Get Nominated?
35%The Movie. Stories about real life heroes and important stories inspire votes, prestige, noble thoughts and love. 30% The performance: moving, demanding, and w/ a perfect accent. 19% Years of good work as a character actor. "He deserves it. It's time." 10% Release date. He's fresh in the mind. 4% Character actor gets a lead role. Good for him. 2% Has worked with many actors and made them look better.	63% Oh god! Do you rememember how genius he was in that pirate movie last year? He really is a great and we've only just come to this realization. Forgive us. Oh and look, here he is in another movie! And he's totally different. 22% This movie made me cry. Remember that part on the bench with that cute kid? 9% Bask in his beauty. 6% The Performance. It reads as subdued and against type.	30% The Performance quelled most talk about being miscast and reminded people of how potent as an actor he is. 29% In a crowded fielded, it really helps to be in the frontrunner. 26% The Role. He gets beacoup baity-scenes; insanity, interrogations, romantic struggles. 12% Bask in star mojo. 2.5% Sorry about Titanic and Catch Me if You Can .5% OMG, Kate & Leo are both Oscarable the same year! Photo op.	51% He is Clint Eastwood. Legend status. 18% The Performance + guilt. He'd only been nominated once for his acting and he's good. 14% Great chemistry with Hilary & Morgan 9% Release date. Very fresh in the mind. 6% Mystic River was just last year. That old "momentum" trick works wonders. 3% Gratitude. As a director, he gets his actors nominations and sometimes wins.	50% The Role. Everyone loves Ray Charles 26% The performance: Foxx proves a great mimic, he nails the mannerisms, the voice. 10% That great music 10% Discovery. They love anointing the new stars. Collateral --so, Jamie Foxx can act,huh? 2% Well, duh, yeah. Any Given Sunday and Ali. 1% Lead role in best picture contender. 1% Kind of embarassing that we never nominate those black biopics?
Suggested Film Clips From Readers
	To Kate: "One day I'll take you there." -David Doing a 'Jack Sparrow' on the boat -Jack	Unable to reach for the towel -Jack "Show me all the blueprints" -Zimmerman	Baiting the priest -Jack "I just want to keep her with me" -Mike	Hit the Road, Jack -David Bombing in Seattle -Alex Lying to the bus driver -T.R.
Who Should Win / Who Will Win?
Jamie Foxx is so far ahead in this race that it's reminscent of Julia Roberts Erin Brockovich triumph. Unless they suffer a sudden case of sentimentality and want to go with old time legend Clint Eastwood. But that would truly surprise since he isn't really due having won the Director and Picture crowns 14 years back. Does he really need another Oscar when there's a new golden boy appealing to the awards circuit? Should Win: Cheadle, DiCaprio, or Foxx... you know, I don't actually have that much of a preference since none of them compare to Jeff Bridges or Paul Giamatti in my book (More on those two later) Will Win: Foxx
How'd I Do on Predictions?
4/5 for 80% which I'm proud of as it was a difficult category. I correctly foresaw Clint Eastwood's Best Actor nomination but my hunch that it was Paul Giamatti rather than Johnny Depp that would get the snub didn't happen until an hour before the announcement occurred, too late to change and the Depp snub turned out to be wishful thinking only.
Who Got Robbed?
Paul Giamatti this snub makes my best actor list and Oscars in 0% agreement (down from 100% last year -what a sudden divergence of opinion). I was thisclose to predicting this snub. I felt it would be Depp or Giamatti that was the "snub story" but I got it wrong. Should have gone with the one I'd be most upset about. Than I would have predicted 5/5 for Best Actor which was really hard to do this year. Instead I got 4/5 correct. But I already said this. Ah well. Take heart Paul. You join rather esteemed ranks here and will no doubt be listed in nearly every article about the Academy's most embarassing snubs from now until the end of time. Only the absence of Foxx would have caused similar long-lasting outrage. So, at least you got that to show for carrying the top critical champ of the year. The other major snubees this year? Jeff Bridges masterful work in The Door in the Floor went mysteriously unrewarded for the entirety of awards season. Liam Neeson started off the season strong for his titular work in Kinsey but the awards gods weren't turned on. And perennial snubee Jim Carrey has probably given up all Oscar hopes by now. He's tried dramatic comedy (The Truman Show) straight up Oscar Bait (The Majestic) Biopics (Man in the Moon) and now appearing in the most dramatic role in the best motion picture of the year, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Nothing works. The Academy just doesn't like him. Maybe he should try playing a quadraplegic?
But Back to the Nominees....

Factoids, Trivia, and Did-You-Know?s...
age: 40 height: 5' 8" sign: Saggitarius from: Missouri (born) & Colorado (high school) status: attached with children pets? unknown typical role: supporting. other kudos: awards for TV work. bonus points: An accomplished stage actor and directing, now, too. trivia: He considers Rwanda to have been his most difficult film role. favorites: Gary Oldman, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman & Robert DeNiro possible supporters in the Academy? Julianne Moore, Steven Soderbergh, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts asking price: unknown next Oscar bid? Trying to get Tishomingo Blues made currently. Elmore Leonard wrote the part with Cheadle in mind, a first for the writer.	age: 41 height: 5' 10" sign: Gemini from: Kentucky (born) and Florida (raised) status: attached with 2 children. pets? unknown. typical role: Gorgeous eccentric outcast. other kudos: ... bonus points: Very active environmentalist trivia: Chain smoker. Has 11 tattoos, 4 of which are/were names; His mother's, his children's names, and the famous "Winona Forever" tattoo. Now it reads as "Wino Forever" favorites: Robert Mitchum, Alan Arkin, Marlon Brando, Buster Keaton, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Vincent Price & Robert DeNiro. possible supporters in the Academy? Al Pacino, Faye Dunaway, Barbra Streisand, Lasse Halström asking price: 15-20 next Oscar bids? The Libertine, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, The Rum Diary	age: 30 height: 6' 1" sign: Scorpio from: Hollywood California (born and raised) status: single but perpetually dating, much to the delight of the tabloids. pets? A lizard named Blizz. typical role: other kudos: bonus points: Very active environmentalist trivia: loves pasta and lemonade. Said to be a great mimic. favorites: Robert DeNiro, Meg Ryan, and Jack Nicholson possible supporters in the Academy? Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Kate Winslet, Martin Scorsese, Daniel Day Lewis, Lasse Halström asking price: 25 next Oscar bid? The Departed, which is an American remake of the twisty Tony Leung Hong Kong flick, Infernal Affairs.	age: 74 height: 6' 4" sign: Gemini from: San Francisco status: twice divorced. Has 7 children ranging in age from 8 to 40 pets? unknown. But he sure got a lot of press out of that pairing with an Orangutan. typical role: aloof cowboy other kudos: Directing prizes as well as his legendary movie-star work. bonus points: Finishes his movies on time and budget. Likes to use the first take. trivia: He sings --there's several recordings. favorites: ... possible supporters in the Academy? Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Sean Penn, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney asking price: unknown next Oscar bid? unknown	age: 37 height: 5' 10" sign: Saggitarius from: Texas status: single with 1 daughter. pets? ... typical role: too early in his career to know other kudos: ... bonus points: Classically trained pianist at Juilliard trivia: Quarterback for his high school football team. His real name is Eric. Got famous through a TV series, just like Clint and Johnny. favorites: Richard Pryor, Denzel Washington, Laurence Fisburne, Morgan Freeman & Steve Hardin possible supporters in the Academy? Oliver Stone, Michael Mann, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith asking price: unknown next Oscar bid? Part of the ensemble in Sam Mendes War flick, Jarhead. Also said to be eyeing a Mike Tyson biopic.