Entertainment
February 5, 2004
Surprises (good ones) are among the nominees, with Charlize Theron and
Sean Penn leading the pack.
Chris Vognar: If anyone says they predicted the Keisha
Castle-Hughes nomination, don't believe 'em. That's as big a surprise in
a major category as I can remember. (Also makes for a great year for New
Zealanders, what with Peter Jackson's nom and likely win). But if you
believe what you read, Charlize Theron has this thing wrapped up, and
it's tough to argue against her. Among the actors, I just don't think
Jude Law belongs here. I liked Cold Mountain, but Russell Crowe
could act circles around Law in his sleep. I get the feeling both Crowe
and Jennifer Connelly got snubbed because of their recent successes.
Philip Wuntch: I agree with you, Chris, that for now at least it
looks like Charlize has best actress wrapped up, unless so many voters
are grateful to see a 50-plus actress get a good, sexy role that they
vote for Diane Keaton. And while it looks like a tight race between Sean
Penn and Bill Murray for best actor, I don't think we should entirely
discount Johnny Depp. He was the reason Pirates was such a huge
hit. After all, last year, who would have predicted Adrien Brody?
Jane Sumner: I didn't want to see one more film about a serial
killer, but I knew Theron, whose Afrikaan name is pronouned Te-ron,
would be in contention, so I braced myself, went to Monster and
was glad I did. What an amazing, sustained, tough performance! Watching
the onetime Joffrey Ballet dancer at the Globes, we remembered how
lovely she is and how she let go of that petal-fresh beauty to play
killer Aileen Wuornos. Comedy is hard to do and Keaton was delightful,
but Theron should get the nod from actors, the academy's biggest voting
block.
Vognar: Nice to see both Watts and Morton recognized. They've
been two of my faves for a while. I thought Watts should have been
nominated for Mulholland Drive, and Morton was the best thing
about In America (which I still think was overrated). Penn and
Murray are both due, but I think Penn is more due. He has been great for
so long, and he may even show up at the awards this year.
Wuntch: Sean Penn's publicist sent word that he will definitely
attend the Oscars because he wants to show up in behalf of Mystic
River. This would be the first Oscars he's attended. I'm already
projecting a hilarious scene of Joan Rivers doing her red-carpet schtick
and trying desperately to get him and Robin Wright Penn to come over
while they keep ignoring her. Mr. Vognar, I always suspected you are a
heartless reprobate, and your not being moved by In America
proves it. Charlize definitely deserves the Oscar. If by some chance,
Keaton would sneak in, she'd be known as The Woman Who Won An Oscar She
Didn't Deserve, and she's too good an actress to have that happen.
Sumner: Hey, guys, don't fight. Play nice. In America had
several boffo turns, but it certainly didn't make my Top 10. Some new
blood must be transfusing the staid old academy. How else do you explain
the nom for Depp's freewheeling wacky turn in a family comedy such as
Pirates? Didn't you love that fedora he wore to the Globes? I
haven't seen a hat like that since the great old black-and-white film
noirs. But then Depp has always been his own man. My heart is with
Murray, another first-timer, but a Depp win would signal a new day in
the dream factory.
Vognar: I'm a lover, not a fighter. It is nice to see Depp get
some props; he deserved a hit. You know it's a deep category when one of
Ben Kingsley's best performances is the fourth option. He's shown he can
do it all, from the pacifist of all pacisfists to a cockney thug and
everything in between. Next to Penn, I think he's the best actor of the
bunch.
Wuntch: I can't argue with you about Kingsley. He could so easily
have been typecast after Gandhi, but he refused to fall into that
trap. Jane, you are right (for once) about there seeming to be new blood
in the academy. All the nominations show an awareness of the complete
film scene in America. And it's fun to predict what the three leading
contenders for best actor – Penn, Murray and Depp – might say in an
acceptance speech. Feb. 29 could be a very interesting evening.
Sumner: This is in the Nobody Asked Me Dept., guys, but besides
jet-lagged, culturally disoriented Murray, my own personal faves for
best actor were Paul Giamatti for his Everyman comic book hero Harvey
Pekar in American Splendor, Chiwetel Ejiofor for his kind-hearted
Nigerian doc on the lam in London in Dirty, Pretty Things and, of
course, Russell Crowe, for his appealing Capt. Aubrey in Master and
Commander. But then we have to remember that Cary Grant, Charlie
Chaplin, John Garfield, Boris Karloff, James Mason, Alan Bates and Orson
Welles, for starters, never got best acting gold.
Best Actress
Charlize Theron, Monster
Born: Benoni, South Africa, on Aug. 7, 1975
Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Born: Los Angeles, on Jan. 5, 1946
Naomi Watts, 21 Grams
Born: Shoreham, Kent, England on Sept. 28, 1968
Samantha Morton, In America
Born: Nottingham, England on May 13, 1977
Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider
Born: In New Zealand on March 24, 1990
Best Actor
Sean Penn, Mystic River
Born: Santa Monica, Calif., on Aug. 17, 1960
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Born: Wilmette, Ill., on Sept. 21, 1950
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean
Born: Owensboro, Ky., on June 9, 1963
Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Born: Scarborough, Yorkshire, England on Dec. 31, 1943
Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Born: London, England on Dec. 29, 1972
Nominated:
She pulls no punches as Monster's emotionally shattered serial killer,
being both sympathetic and horrific.
Career highlights:
Nothing prepared us for Monster, but she gave solid
performances in The Cider House Rules (1999), Reindeer
Games (2000), The Yards (2000) and The Italian Job
(2003).
What Oscar would mean: As a beauty with brains, she'd
remain Hollywood royalty for at least a few good years.
Oscar Quotient: 9.5
Nominated: As
Erica Barry, the articulate playwright in Something's Gotta Give
, she's pursued by both Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves and gives both of
them as good as she gets.
Career highlights: One of our
most appealing and intelligent actresses, she won a 1977 Oscar for
Annie Hall.
What Oscar would mean: It would be a warm salute,
but Ms. Keaton's smart enough to know there aren't many great
roles for post-50 women.
Oscar Quotient: 7
Nominated: As 21 Grams' upscale suburbanite whose life
is shattered by a freak accident, she becomes involved in a
passionate, ironic affair with Sean Penn.
Career highlights:
She's been around a long time, but it took the one-two punch of Mulholland
Drive (2001) and The Ring (2002) to make her a real
name. Good buzz surrounds I Heart Huckabee's later this
year, and she's signed to do Peter Jackson's King Kong
remake.
What Oscar would mean: This versatile, talented
actress definitely has the makings of a Hollywood belle.
Oscar Quotient: 5
Nominated:
As the mother of an Irish family, mourning a personal tragedy, she starts
life anew in In America.
Career highlights: She
won praise as the mute girl who tries to bring out the best in
Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and as the seer who
tries to warn Tom Cruise in Minority Report (2002). But her
best work was in Morvern Callar (2002) as a grocery clerk
who steals her dead boyfriend's identity.
What Oscar would
mean: An intelligent and offbeat actress, she'd be on the
first-call list for intelligent and offbeat roles.
Oscar
Quotient: 2.5
Nominated:
As Whale Rider's 11-year-old heroine, she fights her
chauvinistic grandfather to lead her patriarchal tribe.
Career highlights: The youngest actress ever to be nominated
for a leading role, she got the part after filmmakers interviewed
hundreds of girls. When her mother woke her with news of the
nomination, she said, "Let me get back to sleep. I'll be happy
when I wake up."
What Oscar would mean: She'd be a
"hot property" for several years, but the business can be cruel to
child actors.
Oscar Quotient: 1.5
Nominated: As Mystic River's bereft father avenging the
murder of his cherished daughter, he embodies the phrase "inner
demons" with horrifying force.
Career highlights:
He's also splendid in 21 Grams and has never been less than
outstanding, with Oscar-nominated work in Dead Man Walking
(1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and I Am Sam (2001).
What Oscar would mean: It would represent official acceptance by the
Hollywood establishment, not that Mr. Penn cares anything about
the Hollywood establishment.
Oscar Quotient: 9
Nominated:
As Lost in Translation's world-weary action hero Bob
Harris, he nobly reflects innate decency, professional boredom and
personal quests.
Career highlights: He won fans on
Saturday Night Live and in movies such as Tootsie
(1982), Ghost Busters (1984) and Groundhog Day
(1993) and took admirable risks in Rushmore (1998) and
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
What Oscar would mean:
Often taken for granted, this guy would get the respect he
deserves and an even wider choice of roles.
Oscar Quotient:
7
Nominated:
In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,
he's the most irreverent, outrageous and hilarious buckaroo ever
to sail the Spanish Main, and he patterned the role after the
Rolling Stones' Keith Richards.
Career highlights: After
television's 21 Jump Street, he went on to a risk-taking
movie career under the auspices of daring filmmakers.
What
Oscar would mean: It would give him the aura of
"respectability" that he doesn't have at the moment, and let's
hope that aura doesn't cramp his style.
Oscar Quotient:
4.5
Nominated: As a hard-working, proud Iranian immigrant in House of Sand
and Fog, he becomes involved in a battle over a house that
represents the American dream but destroys his family.
Career highlights: His Gandhi won best actor for 1982,
and he's also been great in far-from-pacifist roles in Bugsy
(1991), Death and the Maiden (1994) and Sexy Beast
(2000).
What Oscar would mean: This prestigious actor
would get even more prestige. His name already gives a film the
sheen of a quality project.
Oscar Quotient: 3
Nominated:
As Cold Mountain's war-weary, lovesick soldier, he embarks
on a dangerous journey to return to Nicole Kidman.
Career
highlights: He's always tried to prove himself as something
other than a pretty boy, with credits that include Wilde
(1997), Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) The Talented
Mr. Ripley (1999) and Road to Perdition (2002).
What Oscar would mean: It would ensure his reputation as
Hollywood's most sensitive hunk.
Oscar Quotient: 2.5
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