Oscar Nominations for 2002

Thanks, couzz -- I'm wondering if we shouldn't start an "OSCAR Central" discussion and post all these nominations as they come up.
This would mean going back and editing the title but the three guides on this category were discussing an Oscar thread as a featured topic and as you've taken the initiative, I certainly would not mind if you were manning the thread.

Just a suggestions would be "OSCAR Nominations for 2002"

I think it would bring in more activity and keep the Oscar discussions in one place.

Some real competition here but I think the final battle sequence and the CGI character, Gollum is going to win this for "The Two Towers." Sound editing is a little more complex and more difficult for a lay person to select.

Seventeen Films to Compete for Feature Animation Oscar®

Seventeen films are being considered for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar in the 2002 Academy Awards® competition. Under the rules for the category, a maximum of five films could be nominated.

The films under consideration are:
"Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights"
"Alibaba & the Forty Thieves"
"Eden"
"El bosque animado (The Living Forest)"
"Hey Arnold! The Movie"
"Ice Age"
"Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie"
"Lilo & Stitch"
"Mutant Aliens"
"The Powerpuff Girls Movie"
"The Princess and the Pea"
"Return to Never Land"
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"
"Spirited Away"
"Stuart Little 2"
"Treasure Planet"
"The Wild Thornberrys Movie"

Record-Breaking 54 Countries in Competition for Oscar®

A record-breaking 54 countries have submitted films to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Academy Award® consideration in the Foreign Language Film Award category.

It is the largest number of films ever entered in this category, besting last year's record by three films. Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Chad each had films that qualified this year for the first time.

The Foreign Language Film Award Committee will vote to nominate five films from the 54 submitted.

The submissions for 2002 are:

Afghanistan, "FireDancer," Jawed Wassel, director;
Algeria, "Rachida," Yamina Bachir-Chouikh, director;
Argentina, "Kamchatka," Marcelo Piñeyro, director;
Austria, "Gebürtig," Robert Schindel & Lukas Stepanik, directors;
Bangladesh, "The Clay Bird," Tareque Masud, director;
Belgium, "The Son," Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, directors;
Brazil, "City of God," Fernando Meirelles, director;
Bulgaria, "Warming up Yesterday's Lunch," Kostadin Bonev, director;
Canada, "Un Crabe Dans la Tête," André Turpin, director;
Chad, "Abouna," Mahamat Saleh Haroun, director;
Chile, "Ogu y Mampato en Rapa Nui," Alejandro Rojas, director;
China, "Hero," Zhang Yimou, director;
Colombia, "The Invisible Children," Lisandro Duque Naranjo, director;
Croatia, "Fine Dead Girls," Dalibor Matanic, director;
Cuba, "Nothing More," Juan Carlos Cremata, director;
Czech Republic, "Wild Bees," Bohdan Sláma, director;
Denmark, "Open Hearts," Susanne Bier, director;
Egypt, "The Secret of the Young Girl," Magdy Ahmed Aly, director;
Finland, "The Man without a Past," Aki Kaurismaki, director;
France, "8 Women," François Ozon, director;
Germany, "Nowhere in Africa," Caroline Link, director;
Greece, "The Only Journey of His Life," Lakis Papastathis, director;
Hungary, "Hukkle," György Pálfi, director;
Iceland, "The Sea," Baltasar Kormakur, director;
India, "Devdas," Sanjay Leela Bhansail, director;
Indonesia, "Ca-bau-kan," Nia diNata, director;
Iran, "I'm Taraneh, 15," Rassul Sadr-Ameli, director;
Israel, "Broken Wings," Nir Bergman, director;
Italy, "Pinocchio," Roberto Benigni, director;
Japan, "Out," Hideyuki Hirayama, director;
Korea, "Oasis," Lee Chang-dong, director;
Lebanon, "When Maryam Spoke Out," Assad Fouladkar, director;
Luxembourg, "Dead Man's Hand," Laurent Brandenburger & Philippe Boon, directors;
Mexico, "The Crime of Father Amaro," Carlos Carrera, director;
Netherlands, "Zus & Zo," Paula van der Oest, director;
Norway, "Hold My Heart," Trygve Allister Diesen, director;
Philippines, "Small Voices," Gil M. Portes, director;
Poland, "Edi," Piotr Trzaskalski, director;
Portugal, "O Delfim," Fernando Lopes, director;
Romania, "Philanthropy," Nae Caranfil, director;
Russia, "House of Fools," Andrei Konchalovsky, director;
Slovakia, "Cruel Joys," Juraj Nvota, director;
Slovenia, "Head Noise," Andrej Kosak, director;
Spain, "Los Lunes Al Sol," Fernando Leon de Aranoa, director;
Sweden, "Lilja 4-ever," Lukas Moodysson, director;
Switzerland, "Aime Ton Pere," Jacob Berger, director;
Taiwan, "The Best of Times," Chang Tso-Chi, director;
Thailand, "Mon-rak Transistor," Pen-ek Ratanaruang, director;
Tunisia, "The Magic Box," Rida Behi, director;
Turkey, "9," Umit Unal, director;
United Kingdom, "Eldra," Tim Lyn, director;
Uruguay, "Corazon de Fuego," Diego Arsuaga, director;
Venezuela, "The Archangel's Feather," Luis Manzo, director;
Yugoslavia, "Labyrinth," Miroslav Leki, director.


Personal comment from Couzz:
Sorry to read that Spain did not submit Pedro Almodóvar's
"Talk To Her" as their official submission to the Academy. Fortunately "Talk To Her" won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes on 1-19-03.

Nominations are in for Best Costume Design from the Costume Designers Guild. Some of these nominations will be duplicated in the Academy Award nominations which will be announced on Feb. 11, 2003. (See list below)

2002 - The 5th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards

Best Costume Design - Feature Film Period/Fantasy
Chicago, designed by Colleen Atwood
Frida, designed by Julie Weiss
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, designed by Ngila Dickson
Road to Perdition, designed by Albert Wolsky

Best Costume Design - Feature Film Contemporary
About a Boy, designed by Joanna Johnston
About Schmidt, designed by Wendy Chuck
Igby Goes Down, designed by Sarah Edwards
Unfaithful, designed by Ellen Mirojnick
White Oleander, designed by Susie DeSanto

There is an inherent fairness to the division of period and fantasy films from contemporary. Contemporary films rarely get awards that are deserved when pitted against the usually elaborate costumes of a period/fantasy film. It's a toss-up between "Chicago" and "The Two Towers" but I have seen all the films in the contemporary category.

The nominees for the 55th annual Directors Guild of America awards for 2002 were announced January 21st, 2003. Of the five directors announced by the DGA, at least three generally make it to the Academy Award nominations:

DGA-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film:

Nominees:
Stephen Daldry--The Hours (Paramount)
Peter Jackson--LOTR: The Two Towers (New Line)
Rob Marshall--Chicago (Miramax)
Roman Polanski--The Pianist (Focus Features)
Martin Scorsese--Gangs Of New York (Miramax)

I see a split this year with the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director and I think the Academy will follow the Golden Globe voters in voting for Scorcese and not just for "Gangs," but for the body of his work (and the past neglect of awarding him the prize).
Best pic? "Chicago."

Look to the British Academy for clues to the Best Film Oscar nominations here in the USA.

British Academy announced their nominations for outstanding film
of the year on 1/27/03 and they are a follows:

CHICAGO Martin Richards
GANGS OF NEW YORK Alberto Grimaldi/Harvey Weinstein
THE HOURS Scott Rudin/Robert Fox
LOTR: THE TWO TOWERS Osborne/Walsh/Jackson
THE PIANIST Roman Polanski/Robert Benmussa/Alain Sarde

The SAG acting nominations generally predict the majority of the Academy "Oscar" acting nominations.

On January 28, 2003 the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced the nominations for its 9th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards:

For lead actor the nominees are Adrien Brody ("The Pianist"), Nicolas Cage ("Adaptation"), Daniel Day-Lewis ("Gangs of New York"), Richard Gere ("Chicago") and Jack Nicholson ("About Schmidt").

For lead actress the nominees are Salma Hayek ("Frida"), Nicole Kidman ("The Hours"), Diane Lane ("Unfaithful"), Julianne Moore ("Far From Heaven") and Renee Zellweger ("Chicago")

For supporting actor, the nominees are Chris Cooper ("Adaptation"), Ed Harris ("The Hours"), Alfred Molina ("Frida"), Christopher Walken ("Catch Me If You Can") and Dennis Quaid ("Far From Heaven")

Supporting actress nominees include Kathy Bates ("About Schmidt") Michelle Pfeiffer ("White Oleander"), Queen Latifah ("Chicago"), Julianne Moore ("The Hours") and Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Chicago")

Films nominated for best cast are "Adaptation", "Chicago", "The Hours", "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Looks to me like it's shaping up.

ACADEMY AWARDS--NOMINATIONS--February 11, 2003

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Adrien Brody in "The Pianist" (Focus Features)
Nicolas Cage in "Adaptation" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Michael Caine in "The Quiet American" (Miramax and Intermedia)
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Gangs of New York" (Miramax)
Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt" (New Line)


Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Chris Cooper in "Adaptation" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Ed Harris in "The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax)
Paul Newman in "Road to Perdition" (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)
John C. Reilly in "Chicago" (Miramax)
Christopher Walken in "Catch Me If You Can" (DreamWorks)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Salma Hayek in "Frida" (Miramax)
Nicole Kidman in "The Hours " (Paramount and Miramax)
Diane Lane in "Unfaithful" (20th Century Fox)
Julianne Moore in "Far From Heaven" (Focus Features)
Renee Zellweger in "Chicago" (Miramax)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Kathy Bates in "About Schmidt" (New Line)
Julianne Moore in "The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax)
Queen Latifah in "Chicago" (Miramax)
Meryl Streep in "Adaptation" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Catherine Zeta-Jones in "Chicago" (Miramax)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Ice Age" (20th Century Fox)
"Lilo & Stitch" (Buena Vista)
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" (DreamWorks)
"Spirited Away" (Buena Vista)
"Treasure Planet" (Buena Vista)

Achievement in art direction
"Chicago" (Miramax) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gord Sim
"Frida" (Miramax) Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso
Set Decoration: Hannia Robledo
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Art Direction: Grant Major
(New Line) Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee
"Road to Perdition" Art Direction: Dennis Gassner
(DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Achievement in cinematography
"Chicago" (Miramax) Dion Beebe
"Far from Heaven" (Focus Features) Edward Lachman
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Michael Ballhaus
"The Pianist" (Focus Features) Pawel Edelman
"Road to Perdition" Conrad L. Hall
(DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)

Achievement in costume design
"Chicago" (Miramax) Colleen Atwood
"Frida" (Miramax) Julie Weiss
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Sandy Powell
"The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax) Ann Roth
"The Pianist" (Focus Features) Anna Sheppard

Achievement in directing
"Chicago" (Miramax) Rob Marshall
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Martin Scorsese
"The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax) Stephen Daldry
"The Pianist" (Focus Features) Roman Polanski
"Talk to Her" (Sony Pictures Classics) Pedro Almodóvar

Best documentary feature
"Bowling for Columbine" (United Artists and Alliance Atlantis)
Michael Moore and Michael Donovan
"Daughter from Danang" (Balcony Releasing in association with Cowboy Pictures)
Gail Dolgin and Vincente Franco
"Prisoner of Paradise" (Alliance Atlantis)
Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
"Spellbound" (THINKFilm)
Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
"Winged Migration" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jacques Perrin

Best documentary short subject
"The Collector of Bedford Street"
An Alice Elliott Production
Alice Elliott
"Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks"
A Tell the Truth Pictures Production
Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston
"Twin Towers"
A Wolf Films/Shape Pictures/Universal/Mopo Entertainment Production
Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port
"Why Can't We Be a Family Again?"
A Public Policy Production
Roger Weisberg and Murray Nossel

Achievement in film editing
"Chicago" (Miramax) Martin Walsh
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Thelma Schoonmaker
"The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax) Peter Boyle
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (New Line) Michael Horton
"The Pianist" (Focus Features) Hervé de Luze

Best foreign language film of the year
"El Crimen del Padre Amaro"
An Alameda Films/BluFilms/Foprocine/Gob. del Estado de Veracruz-Llave Production
Mexico
"Hero"
A Beijing New Picture Film Company/Elite Group Enterprises Production
People's Republic of China
"The Man without a Past"
A Sputnik Oy/Pandora Film/Pyramide Prods. Production
Finland
"Nowhere in Africa"
An MTM Medien & Television München Production
Germany
"Zus & Zo"
A Filmprodukties de Luwte Production
The Netherlands

Achievement in makeup
"Frida" (Miramax) John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba
"The Time Machine" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros.) John M. Elliott, Jr. and Barbara Lorenz

Achievement in music in connection with motion pictures (Original score)
"Catch Me If You Can" (DreamWorks) John Williams
"Far from Heaven" (Focus Features) Elmer Bernstein
"Frida" (Miramax) Elliot Goldenthal
"The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax) Philip Glass
"Road to Perdition" Thomas Newman
(DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)

Achievement in music in connection with motion pictures (Original song)
"Burn It Blue" from "Frida" (Miramax)
Music by Elliot Goldenthal
Lyric by Julie Taymor
"Father and Daughter" from "The Wild Thornberrys Movie"
(Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies)
Music and Lyric by Paul Simon
"The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York" (Miramax)
Music and Lyric by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
"I Move On" from "Chicago" (Miramax)
Music by John Kander
Lyric by Fred Ebb
"Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile" (Universal)
Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto
Lyric by Eminem

Best motion picture of the year
"Chicago" (Miramax)
A Producer Circle Co., Zadan/Meron Production
Martin Richards, Producer
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax)
An Alberto Grimaldi Production
Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers
"The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax)
A Scott Rudin/Robert Fox Production
Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (New Line)
A New Line Cinema and Wingnut Films
Production
Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, Producers
"The Pianist" (Focus Features)
An R.P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runtime LTD. Production


Best animated short film
"The Cathedral"
A Platige Image Production
Tomek Baginski
"The ChubbChubbs!" (Columbia)
A Sony Pictures Imageworks Production
Eric Armstrong
"Das Rad"
A Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH Production
Chris Stenner and Heidi Wittlinger
"Mike's New Car" (Buena Vista)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Pete Docter and Roger Gould
"Mt. Head"
A Yamamura Animation Production
Koji Yamamura

Best live action short film
"Fait D'Hiver"
An Another Dimension of an Idea Production
Dirk Beliën and Anja Daelemans
"I'll Wait for the Next One… (J'Attendrai Le Suivant…)"
A La Boîte Production
Philippe Orreindy and Thomas Gaudin
"Inja (Dog)"
An Australian Film TV & Radio School (AFTRS) Production
Steven Pasvolsky and Joe Weatherstone
"Johnny Flynton"
A Red Corner Production
Lexi Alexander and Alexander Buono
"This Charming Man (Der Er En Yndig Mand)"
An M&M Productions for Novellefilm Production
Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen

Achievement in sound
"Chicago" (Miramax) Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty and Ivan Sharrock
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick,
(New Line) Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
"Road to Perdition" Scott Millan, Bob Beemer and
(DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) John Patrick Pritchet
"Spider-Man" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick

Achievement in sound editing
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins
(New Line)
"Minority Report" (20th Century Fox and DreamWorks) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
"Road to Perdition" Scott A. Hecker
(DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)

Achievement in visual effects
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook
(New Line) and Alex Funke
"Spider-Man" (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier
"Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones" Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and
(20th Century Fox) Ben Snow

Screenplay based on material previously produced or published
"About a Boy" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
"Adaptation" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman
"Chicago" (Miramax) Screenplay by Bill Condon
"The Hours" (Paramount and Miramax) Screenplay by David Hare
"The Pianist" (Focus Features) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

Screenplay written directly for the screen
"Far from Heaven" (Focus Features) Written by Todd Haynes
"Gangs of New York" (Miramax) Screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (IFC/Gold Circle Films) Written by Nia Vardalos
"Talk to Her" (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Pedro Almodóvar
"Y Tu Mamá También" (IFC Films) Written by Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón

Here's a link that will give you more information about the films and people nominated:

75th Annual Academy Awards Official Website

Thanks for the post, couzz. Adrian Brody deserves the Oscar but Daniel Day Lewis will undoubtedly get the award. I think they'll split in best picture as "Chicago" and best director as Martin Scorcese as a career Oscar. "The Two Towers" may sweep the technical and artistic awards but it does have some competition this year. It found itself as a best picture nomination but no director nomination, a situation share by few films ("Star Wars" being one of them, I believe). It should win solely for the incredible CGI character, Gollum (Andy Cherkis, actually) and the final battle at Helm's Deep sequence for special effects. The script for "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is certainly a surprise as it is a 2001 release but perhaps not technically release in the U.S. until 2002. Unfortunate that is was not submitted as best foreign film.

A few inconsistencies:

LOTRTTW, nominated for best picture; Peter Jackson, not being nominated for best director.

Pedro Almodóvar nominated for best director; Talk to Her, not nominated for best foreign language picture.

I also think Richard Gere got cancelled out by getting a split vote in nominating him for lead and supporting actor. I know most everyone is aware that the nominations are made within the field of endeavor and then the entire Academy votes which makes for some strange inconcistencies other than what you've noted, fbaezer. "Star Wars" was nominated but no nomination for the director which leads one to believe the Academy is still reticent in giving fantasy or sci-fi a nod for anything more than technical. That's probably not unfair as the genre has yet to prove itself -- hopefully by growing out of the space opera, evil aliens thematic material. "The Two Towers" is nominated in technical and artistic and after seeing what was created for the film in artistic on the bonus DVD material on FOTR's extended version, the film should sweep those awards. "Chicago" could trump on costume design.
Look to next year to for "The Return of the King" as the film to beat.

Lightwizard:
If Peter Jackson (LOTR) gives us more character development or character interest in the final film ("The Return of the King"), he will be on top. "The Two Towers" gave too much screen time to figures moving across terrains and those endless tree walking shots. Saving grace--"Gollum"...I really enjoyed his "to be or not to be" thoughts about life and events.

Peter Jackson is a monumental director. He has proven he can direct small sensitive films ("Heavenly Creatures") to visual blockbusters ("The Lord of the Rings" series). He is going to be a hard act to follow. Look out, George Lucas

fbaezer:
Spain did not submit "Talk To Her" to the Academy for the foreign language film category.

Spain submitted "Los Lunes Al Sol" (aka "Mondays in the Sun")instead. "Talk To Her" is not eligable for that award. I don't know the reason behind Spain's decision not to submit "Talk To Her"...if anyone knows, please let us know.

I have not seen "Mondays in the Sun". This film was directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and it is supposed to be his best film to date. It is about unemployed dockyard workers who spend their days in the sun.

It took Tolkien, in my opinion, the entire cycle of the three volumes to really delineate his characters. This was by their actions and deeds, not any philisophical or psychological profiling in the narrative. Although he's left Shelob for the final film (the last chapter in "The Two Towers"), the test of the character of Frodo, Sam and Aragorn form the complete picture. I'm confident he'll pull it off as there was a lot of exposition and action in TTT that propelled the plot forward but didn't come to grips with what the whole thing means.