Academy Award Nominations are in. It’s been a thin year for me so a lot of my picks are for political and overall vibe reasons. And here we go’¦..

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Johnny Depp – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Ben Kingsley – HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Jude Law – COLD MOUNTAIN
Bill Murray – LOST IN TRANSLATION
Sean Penn – MYSTIC RIVER

If one man ever owned a film…it was Johnny Depp. But Murray will probably slide into this one.
Missed: Sir Ian McKellen

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alec Baldwin – THE COOLER
Benicio Del Toro – 21 GRAMS
Djimon Hounsou – IN AMERICA
Tim Robbins – MYSTIC RIVER
Ken Watanabe – THE LAST SAMURAI

Del Toro has the inside track’¦..and since I only saw THE LAST SAMURAI from this group I will go out on a limb and give it to Ken.
Missed: Sean Astin

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Keisha Castle-Hughes – WHALE RIDER
Diane Keaton – SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
Samantha Morton – IN AMERICA
Charlize Theron – MONSTER
Naomi Watts – 21 GRAMS

Hmmm, Charlize will get it for the makeup alone’¦. (P.S. didn’t see even one of these)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Shohreh Aghdashloo – HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Patricia Clarkson – PIECES OF APRIL
Marcia Gay Harden – MYSTIC RIVER
Holly Hunter – THIRTEEN
Ren̩e Zellweger РCOLD MOUNTAIN

Roll the dice’¦(as usual with ‘˜Supporting Chick’™ award) but Renee’s clips looked the most dynamic.
Missed: Ellen DeGeneres (how dare they missed the most refreshing character this year)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BROTHER BEAR
FINDING NEMO
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

Triplets is getting a following’¦but Nemo is and will always be a Classic. Bother bear is there because 2 wouldn’t be a fair race.
Missed: Sinbad (choosing Bear over Sinbad’¦was just stupid)

ART DIRECTION
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
THE LAST SAMURAI
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

Most of these were amazing’¦..but Rings took an extra step’¦and should be rewarded.
Missed: Big Fish

CINEMATOGRAPHY
CITY OF GOD
COLD MOUNTAIN
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

Aussies had this category this year, and since Lord was left out Russell Boyd will take it. I still think Phar Lap was a better mover than Seabusicut overall.
Missed: Lord of the Rings

COSTUME DESIGN
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
THE LAST SAMURAI
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

Tuxs, and Uniforms and complex Samurai garb’¦.easy pick: SAMURAI

DIRECTING
Fernando Meirelles – CITY OF GOD
Peter Jackson – THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
Sofia Coppola – LOST IN TRANSLATION
Peter Weir – MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Clint Eastwood – MYSTIC RIVER

If Peter doesn’t win for all his hard, emotional work’¦something is wrong’¦and I would think that Harvey Weinstein has something to do with it. Go Peter!!

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BALSEROS
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
THE FOG OF WAR
MY ARCHITECT
THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND

I hear Fog of War is pretty good’¦. who pays to see these things?

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
ASYLUM
CHERNOBYL HEART
FERRY TALES

Hmmmmm’¦Chernobyl Heart wins the name game.

FILM EDITING
CITY OF GOD
COLD MOUNTAIN
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
SEABISCUIT

SEABISCUIT’s William Goldenberg will win this one’¦telling a story within a race is tough and he pulled it off

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS – Canada
EVIL – Sweden
THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI – Japan
TWIN SISTERS – The Netherlands
?ELARY – Czech Republic

Hmmmm’¦year of the Samurai’¦go with japan.

MAKEUP
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Never really noticed or liked any of the makeup in LORD, but I think they meant to do that. Pirates stood out the most (teeth alone)’¦.So Pirates it is

MUSIC (SCORE)
Danny Elfman – BIG FISH
Gabriel Yared – COLD MOUNTAIN
Thomas Newman – FINDING NEMO
James Horner – HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
Howard Shore – THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING

Shores power was right on’¦and he even figured out a way to make the theme sound different in each film.
Missed: Kill Bill Vol 1: Music made it all work.

MUSIC (SONG)
“Into the West” – THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING – Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, Annie Lennox
“A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” – A MIGHTY WIND – Michael McKean & Annette O’Toole
“Scarlet Tide” – COLD MOUNTAIN – T Bone Burnett & Elvis Costello
“The Triplets of Belleville” – THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE – Benoit Charest, Sylvain Chomet
“You Will Be My Ain True Love” – COLD MOUNTAIN – Sting

When ‘˜Uncle Fucka’™ wasn’t even nominated a few years back, this category lost all of it’s luster for me. But, “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” really worked within the film.

BEST PICTURE
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
LOST IN TRANSLATION
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
MYSTIC RIVER
SEABISCUIT

LORD’¦all the way!

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
BOUNDIN’
DESTINO
GONE NUTTY
HARVIE KRUMPET
NIBBLES

Ok this is for political reasons only: DESTINO. The upheaval and dismantling of the Disney animation studios need to be brought to light. And by winning here it may just give the last of the Disney namesakes to say something about it. Eiser you brought the company back to power over the last 20 years, but your ego has been killing the ART part of the Disney world.

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
DIE ROTE JACKE (The Red Jacket)
MOST (The Bridge)
SQUASH
(A) TORZIJA ([A] Torsion)
TWO SOLDIERS

Two Soldiers’¦I like war flicks’¦..’snicker’™

SOUND
THE LAST SAMURAI
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
SEABISCUIT

Aussie’s have it ‘¦.but which one is tough’¦flip’¦’¦Master and Commander.

SOUND EDITING
FINDING NEMO
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Nemo’s constant action made this harder than most.

VISUAL EFFECTS
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

2 Weta’s – 1 ILM’¦’¦’¦..Legolas’s defeat of the Oliphant wins this for LORD

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman – AMERICAN SPLENDOR
Braulio Mantovani – CITY OF GOD
Fran Walsh & Peter Jackson – THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Brian Helgeland – MYSTIC RIVER
Gary Ross – SEABISCUIT

American splendor gets a nod’¦.that is cool, But LORD was a much harder book to visualize’¦so LORD takes it.

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Denys Arcand – THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
Steven Knight – DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson & David Reynolds – FINDING NEMO
Jim Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan -IN AMERICA
Sofia Coppola – LOST IN TRANSLATION

While I love Nemo, and Andrew as the sea turtle’¦..I think the award already has the Coppola name on it

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