By Jennifer Clay
Staff Writer
It’s the most exciting time of the year — well, at least for movie and fashion buffs. The 75th annual Academy Awards’ ceremony will commence Sunday evening at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Steve Martin returns this year for his second go as host.
Awards will be presented in 24 categories and millions of viewers from 150 countries around the world will watch it all with bated breath.
A personal favorite is “The Pianist.” The film by renowned Polish director Roman Polanski and starring the up-and-coming actor Adrien Brody documents Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman’s courageous and daring struggle to survive in and out of Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto during World War II. “The Pianist” is up for seven Oscars, including coveted Best Picture, Best Director (Polanski) and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Brody).
While the intense subject matter of “The Pianist” may resonate with Academy voters and apply particularly well to today’s politically charged climate, it is a long shot for Best Picture. To his credit, Polanski has produced his best work in years by successfully counteracting haunting depictions of Nazi violence with understated, character-driven sprinkles of faith and love. If nothing else, Hervé de Luze deserves the film editing Oscar for his no-frills style and ability to add new meaning to any scene by fading out at the right spot.
Other nominees for Best Picture include Martin Scorsese’s grotesque and self-indulgent “Gangs of New York.” Yes, “Gangs” might be realistic, and yes, Daniel Day-Lewis may be the favorite to win Best Actor (and understandably so), but the film fails to engage the audience emotionally and/or intellectually.
Kudos to director Rob Marshall for his courageous drive and creative vision with “Chicago.” It tells the story of the ambitious Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger), performing criminals both struggling to stay afloat in the fickle sea of fame in 1920s Chicago. After winning the Golden Globe for his role as smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn, Richard Gere found himself nomination-less for an Academy Award. Zellweger is nominated in the Best Actress category, Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah (as Mama) in Best Supporting Actress and Mr.-can’t-quite-put-a-face-with-a-name John C. Reilly in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role as the gullible Amos Hart.
The immensely popular “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” functions fantastically as an epic but has no actual chance of winning Best Picture. Nevertheless, “Lord” does deserve to win one of the five technical awards it’s nominated for. The film is visually stunning, and the breathtaking battle scenes alone are worth sitting through the other three hours of footage just to witness.
“The Hours,” the final nominee in the Best Picture category, traces one day in the lives of three women, who have all been in some way affected by Virginia Woolf and her novel “Mrs. Dalloway.” (Woolf is one of the women.) The film has a really good chance of winning the coveted Best Picture honor, and both Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman are up for performance Oscars, although Moore is nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Kidman for Best Actress. Kidman isn’t entirely rid of Moore however, as Moore is also up for Best Actress for “Far From Heaven.” It would be nice to see Kidman’s intelligent and aesthetically altered performance win, and she’s got a good chance. In addition to Moore, Kidman’s up against Salma Hayek’s portrayal of Frida Kahlo in “Frida,” Diane Lane’s Connie Sumner for “Unfaithful” and the aforementioned Zellweger for “Chicago.”
Producers will approach this year’s ceremony with a decidedly more somber tone. With the possibility of war with Iraq on everyone’s minds, show executive producer Gil Cates announced a new broadcast procedure at a televised press conference Tuesday afternoon. The scale-back of the glamorous red-carpet portion means arriving guests will not be stopping for interviews or photos. In other words, the red-carpet is staying rolled-up in the attic this year. More than 300 press outlets will be very disappointed, but more importantly, poor Joan. What ever will she do?
While the network pre-show is still on, it will be “made more appropriate,” Cates said. The Academy, after receiving calls from concerned celebrities, managers and agents regarding Oscar rumors, wants the show to “reflect the reality of where we are (as a nation)” but Cates was quick to add that the red-carpet measure doesn’t reflect security concerns. Attendees may still dress in whatever manner they see fit, and winners may still use their 45 unscripted, acceptance-speech seconds to say anything they wish within the bounds of broadcast regulations. Think Halle Berry’s moving Best Actress speech from last year coupled with war/anti-war sentiments.
Cates and Pierson also reminded the audience that the broadcast is subject to immediate pre-emption or postponement upon the appearance of any breaking news but refused to speculate on a possible Oscars’ cancellation.
“The show’s gonna be on Sunday,” Cates practically promised, after stating his confidence in invited guests and celebrities regarding their attendance at the ceremony. (Here’s a bit of Oscar trivia: The show has only been postponed three times — Once in 1938 due to Los Angeles-area floods, again in 1968 to respect the funeral date of Martin Luther King, Jr. and finally for 24 hours in 1981 after the assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan.)
The disappointing red-carpet decision is nonetheless ensuring that this year’s Oscars will be conducted in a dignified and respectful manner, which is extremely important for sensitive citizens in such a trying time.
And the nominees are…
Best Picture
Chicago
Gangs of New York
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
Best Actor
Adrien Brody, “The Pianist”
Nicolas Cage, “Adaptation”
Michael Caine, “The Quiet American”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Gangs of New York”
Jack Nicholson, “About Schmidt”
Best Actress
Salma Hayek, “Frida”
Nicole Kidman, “The Hours”
Diane Lane, “Unfaithful”
Julianne Moore, “Far From Heaven”
Renee Zellweger, “Chicago”
March 20, 2003
