Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews
Movie Resources
Concert Reviews
Book Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

It is unusual to have my desk covered with movie material so early in the year, but in 2004, the Academy Awards were moved back in the calendar year to February 29.  This meant Hollywood had to jet-start their advertising campaigns and flood theaters with film contenders early in the fall instead of the usual holiday season.  Therefore, immediately upon choosing the best and worst films of 2003, it is time to look at individual performances.  This reviewer is delving into nine categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Documentary.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is the leading contender for Best Picture.  For anyone following this series of three films, the last one (and longest) is the best of the trilogy.  Even for non-Tolkien fans, the logistics of doing three films in a row is shattering.  Not only that, but there is good story-telling here with acting and characters the audience can care for, plus heroics and friendships that last.  Lost in Translation never did make it for me.  It must have looked good on paper is what I figure.  Master and Commander: Far Side of the World got me interested in Captain Jack Aubrey novels by Patrick O’Brien and the film depicts life at sea as noble, indeed.  Mystic River is a deep story of murder and revenge within the city.  Seabiscuit gave us the horse that wouldn’t give up and perhaps this film won’t either. Movies that didn’t make it according to Hollywood are the dramatic House of Sand and Fog; Finding Nemo, but Nemo has his own animated category to swim in; and Big Fish.   My choice? Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Along with Lord of the Rings as Best Picture, could come Peter Jackson’s turn as Best Director for spending four years of his life putting together three epics.  Come on, Hollywood, it’s his time.  Clint Eastwood did a good job with Mystic River, and so has Peter Weir with Master and Commander.   Sophia Coppola has a nomination for directing actors in a story that some can’t comprehend.  Fernando Meirelles told a harrowing story of the rise of crime among the poor in City of God.  Forgotten are Tim Burton for Big Fish and Vadim Perelman for House of Sand and Fog. I’m ignoring The Missing (Ron Howard),  Quentin Tarantino's  Kill Bill Vol. 1, and even Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai because their photographers did as much as the director.  My choice? Peter Jackson for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.  It is his turn in the sun.

In the Best Actor category, Sean Penn leads the race so far for Mystic River and his characterization of a man dealing with the murder of his daughter.  Ben Kingsley is a standout, though, for House of Sand and Fog.  His Iranian immigrant, who was a former military leader, is riveting.  Bill Murray may have played against type, but Lost in Translation was lost on many. Johnny Depp’s pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean was a study in mannerisms. Jude Law slogged his way across America to reach his true love, surely an endurance test, also for the audience.  Forgotten in this Oscar race is Russell Crowe as Lucky Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander and the a long shot in Hayden Christiansen for Shattered Glass.  My choice? It was difficult, but Ill go with Ben Kingsley and House of Sand and Fog.

 For Best Supporting Actor, there is Ken Watanabe of The Last Samurai who gave the film nobility. Alec Baldwin was a rough casino boss in The Cooler, while Benicio Del Toro was rough, period, in 21 Grams. Djimon Hounsou showed sensitivity in In America, while Tim Robbins in Mystic River plays a troubled man with a horror past.  Missing in this elite line-up is Sean Astin as Sam in Lord of the Rings, Chris Cooper in Seabiscuit, Bobby Caravel in The Station Agent and Peter Sarsgaard for Shattered Glass. My choice is clearly Tim Robbins for Mystic River.

 Best Actress has three main contenders, but the standout is Charlize Theron in Monster as she portrays serial killer Aileen Wuornos.  I dare you to recognize her. Keisha Castle-Hughes has the distinction of being a first-time actress with an Oscar nomination for Whale Rider. Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give does a mid-life crisis like no other. Naomi Watts for 21 Grams and Samantha Morton for In America both played women with enormous problems to deal with.  Missing in this category are Jennifer Connelly (a previous winner for A Beautiful Mind) in House of Sand and Fog, Hope Davis as the dentist wife in Secret Lives of Dentists and Cate Blanchett in Veronica Guerin. My choice? Charlize Theron in Monster.

Best Supporting Actress race is a close one.  There is Patricia Clarkson for Pieces of April, as the woman with a serious illness.  Marcia Gay Harden in Mystic River portrays a wife under doubt and stress.  Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo in House of Sand and Fog shows us the frustration of living in a new country.  Renee Zellweger takes the Civil War by storm in Cold Mountain.  Holly Hunter gives motherhood new meaning in Thirteen.  Not mentioned in nominations are Jessica Lange for Big Fish or Laura Linney for Mystic River.    My choice is Shohreh Aghdashloo for House of Sand and Fog.

Best Foreign Language Film is a difficult one, as usual, since 75 percent of the films have not been screened for critics in my city yet, in fact, none of the films listed for nominations this year. The Barbarian Invasions, The Twilight Samurai, Twin Sisters, Zelary or Evil have not screened here. Therefore, I will have to skip this category.  However, I was hoping Respiro (Italy) a story of mental illness or The Cuckoo (Finland) a story of World War II love would have made the cut.   

Best Animated Film? Well, that was easy, is there anything other than Finding Nemo?  Brother Bear and Tripletts of Belleville can retire now.

Last, in my categories is Best Documentary.  This category just keeps getting better and better each year.  We have Capturing the Friedmans, a study of possible sexual abuse, The Fog of War in which Robert McNamara speaks to the camera. Also captivating are Balseros, My Architect and The Weather Underground about the supposedly revolutionary moment.  Forgotten at nomination time are Ghosts of the Abyss with James Cameron going underwater to view the lost things,  Winged Migration with only a few words of narration, and Russian Ark. My choice? Capturing the Friedmans.

Here come the over-hyped films and each year the list gets longer. Sometimes the Oscar nomination committee agrees with me, sometimes not Lost in Translation with Bill Murray has to be one of the boring films of the year, though I seem to stand alone with my opinion.  Have to give the director, Sophia Coppola, credit for pulling the film together, but I quibble with her choice of actors. Cold Mountain was cold for this viewer and The Last Samurai was another Tom Cruise film, period.   American Splendor did nothing for me, but count the minutes away.  Love Actually, was, well, actually, boring, though Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson did try.  21 Grams about a heart transplant patient, allowed Sean Penn to emote again, but we saw this in Mystic River.  Scarlett Johansson is touted as a good actress, and there are times it shows through, but most of the time, staring at the camera does not a performance make.  This goes for Samantha Morton (In America), also.  Pieces of April was pieces of a film that didn’t gel.  I quibble with Seabiscuit as Best Picture because it is impossible for jockeys to carry on a conversation while riding a horse during a race and this is something this reviewer felt should have been dealt with. The Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday evening, February 29, 2004.
 

Copyright 2004 Marie Asner
Submitted 2/3/2004           
 

                                                           # # # # #