Return of the King Leads Oscar Nominations 412
PurdueGraphicsMan writes "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the final chapter in Peter Jackson's directoral masterpeice is leading the 76 Annual Academy Awards with 11 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Next in line with 10 nominations including Best Picture and Best director is Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Here is a full list of the nominees in all categories."
Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks (Score:5, Interesting)
Jude Law's nod is interesting since I don't remember anyone really talking about his performance (as compared to what Sean Penn, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp did this year). Ebert picked Russell Crowe's in Master and Commander which, likewise, didn't seem to have a big impact.
Strangest one is that City of God got three nominations... although it had its NY/LA debut in December 2003 (Ebert made specific mention of it in his Top of 2004 to explain its absence). But here its getting nods for Cinematography, Direction and Writing. It probably only has a chance in Cinematography where RotK is (strangely) absent.
RotK will probably run away with Makeup, Music(Song), Sound, Writing (Adapted), and Costume Design. Of course those are the second tier ones that end up as consolation prizes for a lot of folks. The interesting thing will see how it does in the big categories (which I guess Adapted Screenplay is one).
Re:Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks (Score:5, Interesting)
Crap! (Score:2)
That should be 2002 as taken from this [suntimes.com]: "So true that City of God was No. 2 on my list for last year. The film played in every major festival in 2002 and was a candidate for year-end awards, and although it did not open in Chicago until January, I didn't see the point in waiting 12 months to put it on a best 10 list when putting it on the timelier list might do it some good."
Re:Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks (Score:2)
Re:Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks (Score:2)
Besides, Theron just won the Golden Globes, at least against Whale Rider, that should cinch it.
All that nodding... (Score:2)
Com'on mods, give this post some nods.
Dan East
City of God is really worth viewing (Score:3, Informative)
It tries to show the life in the favelas in the 70's and 80's. Although it is a fiction story, historical facts are mixed with the narrative, and, well, it could be true. Everyone who knows about the brazilian reality up the favelas, would ever doubt about its veracity (if it was true).
It is amazing to know that all actors (exce
What about FX? (Score:3, Interesting)
And I really think Andy Serkis should get nominated for something. I saw a split-screen of him acting as the body model of Gollum, and the performance just about exactly matched the final CG shot; it almost would've been believable if they'd just used that!
Re:What about FX? (Score:4, Interesting)
For anybody who hasn't seen the Gollum featurette of the TT Extended DVD, I suggest you rent it or whatever to check it out. It's amazing to see how...inadequate all the pre-Serkis Gollum stuff was, but once they basically redesigned his face to actually look like Serkis, it worked much better. Plus it's kinda funny to note that the one true piece of pure Serkis in TT is the spit that flies from Gollum's mouth when he 's talking about Sam's cooking.
Re:Roger Ebert's Preliminary Picks (Score:3)
Is it just me... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Is it just me... (Score:2)
Dunno - did Troy McLure star in that movie?
Re:Is it just me... (Score:2)
OK, Big Fish could have been up for Cinematrograpy, Art Direction, Direction, Adapted Screenplay just off the top of my head, having seen it last weekend, IMHO.
Big Fish is far and above a better film than ROTK. (Score:2, Insightful)
ROTK has perhaps no more than two or three memorable scenes while Big Fish is a beautifully shot, extremely imaginative piece of art.
Perhaps it will indeed take the route of Fight Club and become a cult classic in the years to come.
Re:Smells like fish (Score:2)
Even if you love everything else he's ever done, surely you must agree that he ought to be publicly spanked for Planet of the Apes
Simple vs. Epic (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm glad that the Oscars are nominating directors who are working from such completely different directions, but both achieving such brilliant results.
Lost in translation, WKW redone (Score:3, Interesting)
But I noticed Lost in Translation got nominated for screenplay as well, and so I expect it to win it. Every year a movie I respect for craft, but who's screenplay I think is manipulative cheap toys (yes yes, all movies are manipulative, but I'm not supposed to see the strings DURING the movie...) wins.
But if you liked Lost in Translation, I suggest you all go out and rent a Wong Kar-Wai movie, star
Re:Simple vs. Epic (Score:2)
yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:5, Interesting)
Granted it's probably because the characters are actually co-dependant and everyone was fantastic but still...
I saw Lost in Translation at a pre-screening and while I thought it was "entertaining" I certainly don't believe Bill Murray was any better in that one than any other movie he has been in.
Depp's character was fantastic and he really led the movie and he probably deserves the award out of the list IMHO.
But why not at least NOMINATE an actor for best supporting from LOTR?
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:3, Interesting)
Got to agree. The film was very entertaining and Depp really made that character his own. You could see he was really enjoying it too, which makes all the difference. The special effects were excellent too, without being over the top as a lot of films are. For example, the parts where Depp is running in and out of the moonlight and changing from flesh and blood to skeleton are really good, bu
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
My favorite moment in that movie is when Orlando Bloom parodies Depp's character. To let that go into the movie, the crew must have been a) willing to have fun and b) very confident about the character at the same time.
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:4, Interesting)
Agreed, I was incredibly disappointed to hear Sean Astin didn't get a nod for his performance as Sam. Easily the most moving performance I've seen in a long time, and he pulled it off perfectly.
Puhleaze. (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't get it. Really, I don't. I don't understand all the hubub around this movie. It was good. That's it. The acting wasn't all that great folks. Take off your fanboi glasses and look at it for what it really was.
I have never read the books, nor should I to fully appreciate a movie - after all, movies are never as good as books. That being said, here are a few observations about ROTK that you probably haven't heard...
The outcome was pre-determined. I knew what was going to happen, I could tell how it was going to end. It was predictable. Remember, I didn't know the story.
The whole thing where you think that Gollum was killed, then he comes back right at the climax - cheesy.
I found the Hobbits to be very annoying, especially Sam. They were just too corny for me.
Battle scenes - ugh. Sure, they were fantastic, but bordered on cheesy. Oh no, we are about to be defeated AGAIN. Whee, here come some eagles to save us. It just got a little tired.
I know a lot of people hold this story very dear and may take offense at my comments (I am sure I'll be modded appropriately), but I am looking at the MOVIE with no pre-conceptions. If anything, I watched the trilogy to see what all the hype was about. I still really don't know.
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2, Interesting)
I know Hollywood isn't ready to award a digital representation an oscar, but for all the work and effort Andy put in (watch the Gollum documentary in the Special Edition "Two Towers" DVD) he deserved at least a nomination.
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
And even then a lot of the quarkiness of his pirate character was already exhibited by his Raoul character in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [imdb.com]. Pirates was a decent popcorn flick, but it doesn't deserve consideration in terms of awards based on performances... then again, after seeing Russ
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
There's a general consensus that Crowe's award for Gladiator was to make up for not winning anything for L.A. Confidential and The Insider.
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
Well, in that case maybe I was wrong... maybe Depp should get the nod because, I don't know... he gives a lot to charity, or something.
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
I still want Johnny to win though, if only because finally somebody figured out that 1700s sea captains did not have perfect bleached white teeth! It's like that Val Kilmer movie where he's killing crazy zombie-lions in
Bill Murray (Score:2)
"With Bill Murray, this is the first time he's actually gotten arround to playing somebody other than Bill Murray."
You obviously didn't see Rushmore. It was a great film, and Murray was wonderul in a supporting actor role.
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2)
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:3, Informative)
Thought it was the Field Museum in Chicago, no?
Re:yeah, great, nominations for the movie... (Score:2, Insightful)
Because they can't/won't nominate Gollum - there'd be too much uproar if a (even partially) CGI character won an award.
For your consideration... (Score:3, Insightful)
Personally I thought that Sean Astin, Sir Ian McKellen, Bernard Hill and Andy Serkis all did excellent jobs. One problem is that a studio can only put one person from a film forward in each category for consideration.
Serkis got t
But the New York Times... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:But the New York Times... (Score:2)
- side note: When you have a word like "story" how do you properly signal that it might be multiple. "story(s)" or "story(ies)". I know as tempted as it is to all of you, please avoid diving into RegEx.
Oscars are all that matters when judging movies... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oscars are all that matters when judging movies (Score:4, Funny)
Best director? Hmmm... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Best director? Hmmm... (Score:2)
That said, City of God is a movie from a long time ago that suffered from bad support. Ah, the vagaries of the near meaningless oscars...
Anyway, I think it was visually stunning and strong, but City of God wasn't as impressive a feat of as RotK, let alone the trilogy (which is what they would be rewarding Jackson for with an oscar, rather than just this one film). If you thought City of God w
Re:Best director? Hmmm... (Score:3, Interesting)
1) PJ did something on a scale FAR FAR larger than City of God accomplished
2) PJ did it better, even if there are a few blunders in the script
3) That the acting in City of God is not that good
Yes, they are mostly kids, but they aren't that good. Better than me, certainly. A lot better. Not better than say Elijah Wood, who was ALSO a kid when production of LotR started. Not
Re:Best director? Hmmm... (Score:2)
Angry/Sad
Sad/Annoyed
Re:Best director? Hmmm... (Score:2, Insightful)
now WHAT in the HELL!! (Score:5, Funny)
i have NO idea what the academy is SMOKING here!! god!! return of the king was about the WORST movie i saw all year!! for starters we got to the movie about ten minutes LATE because it took my god damn wife so LONG to shovel the snow out of the driveway and then when we FINALLY got there the idiot at the ticket booth did not accept the tickets i printed out from fan dango because he said that the effing NUMBER was INVALID!! god!!
so then we get to the concession stand and this MORON puts too much butter on my popcorn which gives me gas, but that didn't matter because then my wife spilled the WHOLE god damn BAG as she was carrying it into the theater, also she spilled our sodas, god!! how can i sit for THREE HOURS without soda!! and then during the whole movie this slut in front of us was talking on her CELL PHONE about how her next door neighbor's shit zoo had just given birth to puppies, now what in the hell, PUPPIES, who effing cares!! turn off your god damn phone you hippy
then there was this baby next to us that kept CRYING, now if you have a loud baby take some advice from me (george) and leave the god damn thing at HOME now do you got that!! have a little bit of courtesy for your fellow man now do you got that, all in all it was the worst moviegoing experience of the year and i cannot understand these nominations
your buddy
Give your wife a little credit (Score:2)
"I find I can save a lot of money if I have the wife bring drinks and snacks into the theater under her skirt or dress."
Maybe I don't want to know, or maybe it's a personal question, given that we're talking about your wife, but, if this stuff is under her skirt, umm, what's holding it up?
Re:now WHAT in the HELL!! (Score:2, Insightful)
Master & Commander? (Score:2, Interesting)
i agree (Score:2)
the cinematography was gorgeous, the cat and mouse game had potential, but the plot was flaccid... in the theatre i was in, people were sleeping through it on the opening weekend
that's not good
no matter what you thought of the rest of the movie, they really could have spruced up the plot, a lot
hollywood should pay screenwriters tens of millions of dollars and spend hundreds of thousands on special effects
unfortunately it is the reverse, and it shows in so many movies
Re:i agree (Score:2)
I will be adding ROTK and MC to my DVD collection
--Joey
Re:Master & Commander? (Score:2)
However, I think it does deserve the editing award, because it was well put-together.
Curse of the Black Pearl (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Curse of the Black Pearl (Score:2)
That said, Bill Murray will probably win, also well deserved. If Depp had gotten the supporting actor nom, he might have won.
-Sean
Master and Commander (Score:5, Insightful)
While I gave high marks to Master and Commander for their coverage of the tiniest technical details of period naval warfare, and while I thought the foley work of the battle scenes was truly visceral, and while I enjoyed the basic setting and premise in which the characters found themselves, I was really let down by the movie.
It's a thirty minute plot, at most. It can be summed up as "whups, I guess we fucked THAT up, but let's not let that happen again..." about five times in a row. That's it. We blundered, let's move on. Oops, again. Ouch, let's try to avoid that. And oops, we didn't think of that.
It's like the premise behind Moby Dick. Have you read it? Incredible details, no plot. But a movie can't capture these details to a tenth of the degree that print can. You need story. You need arc. You need something to advance and change.
Re:Master and Commander (Score:2)
Such nonsense. Of course Moby Dick has a plot; it even has several. Most superficially; Ahab, maimed in body and spiritually scarred, seeks to find in the vast expanse of ocean the great beast that took his leg and his pride and kill it. But it is about much more than that to a carefull reader. Do you think movies and books have to feature battling aliens, monsters and machine guns to have plot?
Re:Master and Commander (Score:4, Funny)
Okay, if we take out all the unneccessary blah, that's "man seeks revenge on whale"?
That's not a plot. It's an interesting idea, but it's not a plot. A plot would be something like:
1. Man seeks revenge on whale.
2. So he assembles an elite team of whalers to help him.
3. One of this elite team is an old rival of his, to whom he has not spoken since they fell out over a girl or something.
4. Meanwhile, a bunch of evil English guys is also after this big whale.
5. The girl whom the two main characters fell out over turns up in a tavern the day before the ship is about to leave and tells them about the dastardly English plot.
6. She agrees to infiltrate the English bad guys by dressing up as a man and joining the crew.
7. She can then communicate with her ex boyfriends whilst at sea, by carrier pigeon, giving them the edge in finding the elusive white whale.
8. Unfortunately, she is found out, and the two heroes have to abandon their hunt to go rescue her. In doing so, they realise that revenge is not as important as friendship or whatever, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Now THAT'S a plot. Unfortunately, I don't think Moby Dick went like that.
Re:Master and Commander (Score:4, Insightful)
Arc is not soley provided by plot; Someone missed the interplay of the 2 main characters in the film (played by Crowe and Bettany), which is central to both the books and the film.
As for the actual plot summary, it's a painfully simple excercise to cut down most any movie in this way.
For example, ROTK's plot can be summed up as "bunch of people try to get rid of an item that makes people turn bad. whoops, someone almost turned bad! whoops, someone did turn bad! whoops, someone almost turned bad! [repeat]."
Re:Master and Commander (Score:2)
Upset (Score:3, Insightful)
On the bright side, RoTK got the Golden Globe for best picture, so maybe the oscars will take not and follow suit?
Theoden (Score:2)
Actually, I thought the best performance in RotK was Bernard What's-His-Name, the guy who played Theoden. That scene where the Rohirrim line up pat the edge of the battlefield, and you just know it's gonna be brutal and deadly, and he gives his pre-battle speech...
Damn, I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it.
Irony is... (Score:5, Funny)
And truthfully, while it was another exceptional movie for Pixar, I didn't find it all that entertaining. Give me Monsters Inc. or a Miyazaki movie any day.
Re:Irony is... (Score:2)
No cinematography? (Score:5, Insightful)
Announcing the Eddies! (Score:3, Funny)
I propose: The Eddies!
Which editor is most in need of a spell checker? Which one obviously doesn't read the front page? Whom would you most like sent to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison?
Post your nominations here!
No ROtK nomination for Cinematography? (Score:3, Insightful)
Top 10 ROTK Nominations (Score:5, Funny)
9. Best performance by mountain beacons
8. Biggest elephants
7. Best Evil Lighthouse in any movie in all of 2003.
6. The National Cherry Tomato Board would like to make sure that John Noble is nominated for best actor for his work as Denethor.
5. "Most Costumed Geeks in Theatre since Star Trek 6"
4. Best use of recycled pointed ears left over from collapsed "Star Trek" franchise.
3 rings for the elven kings
2. Best title ripped off from that of 3rd "Star Wars" film.
1. Those cheesy green ghosts didn't get nominated for "Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion". Let's nominate them for their ROTK cameo instead.
Samwise (Score:4, Insightful)
The greatest crime here... (Score:4, Insightful)
Note (Score:5, Interesting)
Meanwhile, anime yawns and breaks the $4 billion mark.
Disney's response? Brother Bear.
That about wraps it up.
Re:Best animated film (Score:2, Funny)
nominations no one is talking about (Score:2, Interesting)
And where is the love for Peter Sarsgaard for Shattered Glass? Easily the best performance (lead or supporting) of the year.
Re:nominations no one is talking about (Score:2)
Yeah, I was kind of surprised Saarsgard didn't get a Supporting Actor nomination, too. Especially since he won the Village Voice Critics Poll by a long shot.
FYI, for those who don't know, the Village Voice is a New York weekly, founded by Norman Mailer back in the 60's. It's one of the largest critic's polls around, and is mostly composed of critics from alternative/indie newpapers and magazines.
No actor/supporting actor nomination... (Score:2)
oh well, the Oscars are full of sh*t anyway.
Attention RotK fans... (Score:5, Funny)
The Far Side of the World (Score:4, Funny)
Cold Mountain (Score:5, Insightful)
Non-Traditional Split Expected (Score:5, Insightful)
Then in 1948, they split for the first time with the Best Director Oscar going to John Huston for "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and Best Picture going to "Hamlet".
Since 1948 the two Oscars have split only 11 more times in the 75 years of Oscar's history. The past 20 years have seen only 4 splits.
This year I suspect there will again be a split with Peter Jackson being awarded the Best Director Oscar and "Lost in Translation" getting Best Picture. There's no way they will allow Jackson's achievement on his 3 fabulous LOTR movies to go unrecognized, but I think it's generally thought that "Lost in Translation" is the better film. So it would seem reasonable they'll split the awards in an effort to recognize both films.
Only time will tell.
spellbound?! (Score:2, Interesting)
absolutely ridiculous.
it was nominated- last year. (Score:2)
No Kill Bill Pt1 whatsoever? (Score:2)
fair use: just for us, not for you. (Score:3, Interesting)
'triplets of belleville' is stretching that. i love the song, but it's a really heavy rip of an old Django Reinhardt song. it's plainly obvious.
so in other words, if you're making a song for a film, we'll reward you if you 'borrow' a tune cleverly. (and i would think his song was still under copyright, too.) but if you want to paint disney figures on a nursery wall, forget it.
i realize i'm comparing apples and oranges, but hopefully, you see the point. hypocrisy lives, here as elsewhere...
Boundin' - the next Pixar short. (Score:3, Interesting)
Obviously, it's showed up on screen sometime in LA before the end of last year- but does anybody have any information on where/when it's going to be used next?
Hopefully, we don't have to wait until the Incredibles to see it.
Sean Astin? (Score:3, Insightful)
OT: No Scarlett Johansson nominations? (Score:2)
Re:nominated for ...... (Score:4, Funny)
shurely the matrix reloaded wins that one hands down?
Re:nominated for ...... (Score:3, Insightful)
Hey, you have to be nominated to win. No Matrix nominations at all. Not even for effects.
Re:all I've got to say (Score:3, Insightful)
But yeah - with no "Chicago" style frontrunner, ROTK has a better than average chance.
For all three (Score:5, Informative)
Undeniably the success of Jackson's epic has left Hollywood with a slight case of egg-on-face. This was a trilogy shot right outside the establishment orbit; filmed in Jackson's native New Zealand and funded by the independent New Line Cinema after original backers Miramax demanded that the entire story be condensed into a single two-hour movie.
In the view of many experts, The Lord of the Rings was shaping up to be the biggest disaster in cinema history. Now it has gone down as one of its greatest triumphs. Evidence suggests that February 29 will be the date of Hollywood's official mea culpa. Assuming that Return of the King wins best picture (and you'd be a fool to bet against it), it will in effect be an award for all three films. The same goes for Jackson's probable nod as best director.
Considering the competition, they have a shot (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Considering the competition, they have a shot (Score:4, Informative)
Trivia: did you know Sofia Coppola would not have made Lost in Translation without Bill Murray? Take that as a tribute to Murray, or a sign of weakness in the script. I can't believe it won best screenplay at the Golden Globes :/ I think the judges have difficulty seeing the difference between a great idea and a great final draft. I see LiT is also up for WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) (why all the block capitals guys?) Oscar. Please God no lol. But we all know the Oscars are not to be taken as the final word on artistic merit.
RotK vs. Lost in Translation (Score:5, Insightful)
It's possible that RotK could win Best Film and Best Director. Best Director seem almost obvious, until you consider that no woman has ever won the Best Director award before. In fact, only two women have previously been nominated, Lina Wertmuller and Jane Campion.
This raise the question of whether women in the Academy will vote for Coppola, to see a woman get the award for once and set a precedent. It's not as if Coppola doesn't deserve it either, she made a delightful and semi-profiund film on a 3 million dollar budget.
Of course, Jackson's achievement with The Lord Of The Rings is amazing and probably the largest single project a director has ever taken on, so he deserves it too.
All I'm saying is don't be too surprised if there's an surprise upset, for Coppola, in these two categories. Coppola has a strong chance, especially since RotK may be considered a "boy" film by female members of the Academy.
Re:RotK vs. Lost in Translation (Score:2)
Re:RotK vs. Lost in Translation (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:RotK vs. Lost in Translation (Score:5, Insightful)
"It's possible that RotK could win Best Film and Best Director. Best Director seem almost obvious..."
I think Peter Jackson's effort was a mixed bag of good and bad.
Technically, it was a huge achievement. This is obvious if you look at the trilogy as a series of still images: Hobbits in the Shire. The Ents gathering in the forest. Armies of orcs marching. Shelob's lair. That's great fantasy.
The battle scenes had a powerful setup, but when they actually got rolling, it was boring. It was well rendered, but the fights were blunt and obvious. Any decent martial arts film has more entertaining fights, with crazy footwork, interesting character interaction, etc.
Jackson's work is like a huge industrial skyscraper. It's a big accomplishment, but it's not pretty like a cathedral.
Lord of the Rings didn't develop relationships between characters properly. Where is the romance between Aragorn and his elf bride? Where is the friendship between Sam and Frodo? Jackson needed some better dialog to establish that friendship, and he did not deliver. Consequently, you see comments about those two hobbits being "gay". Jackson needed to give people a reason to believe that they were friends. Without that reason, they are just "gay".
What Jackson did is standard movie fare: the characters give dramatic looks, but all they say is: "Sam!" or "Gandalf!"
Contrast that to Lost in Translation or In America, two movies with dialog and human interaction that is actually worth remembering. They were emotional and enjoyable in ways that Peter Jackson was insensitive to.
Re:Creative Writing Award (Score:2)
Legolos didn't kill an elephant in the movies, either... Legolas killed an oliphant. :)
And may Bob have mercy on my soul if I've made any grammatical or spelling errors in this post!
Re:Creative Writing Award (Score:2)
Re:Didn't suck, but still... (Score:2)
Still, its the way of he Oscars, they often like to reward people after they've missed their best chance.
Re:Master and Commander (Score:2)
Yeah it is a sleeper, I saw this movie on New Year's Eve (never watched a movie transitioning between years) and loved it. I think it is coming on DVD March 16.
I don't understand people that said it was boring. If you liked Gladiator, you should like this (not just the Russell Crowe connection, but it is similar in that there are 2 major fights in each movie with little skirmishes along the way, and when the action pauses it is to develop the rel
Re:Master and Commander (Score:2)
No love interest? What about Maturin?
Re:How many seconds... (Score:2)