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This is going to be 2002 Oscar themed:
The Hours is truly one of the worst movies to be so highly rewarded. I thought all three actresses were far from their best there, and the movie was just so heavy-handed and dull. It was a pure Miramax/Weinstein Oscar bait movie following that Awards formula. No real soul or reason behind it other than to win Oscars.
I think Toni Collette (The Hours tie-in) overacts in almost everything I’ve seen her in. She has like two modes…banal and then batshit reaction. That said, I quite liked her in About a Boy. Speaking of About a Boy, I don’t think Rachel Weisz had ever looked better than she did in that film. She really glowed in that movie and brought fresh energy to the second half when Hugh Grant’s character meets her.
Adaptation is an incredibly underrated movie and I think most people don’t even know just how meta it was. I still wonder what Susan Orlean’s initial reaction was when she found out how The Orchid Thief was actually going to be adapted. Should have definitely won Best Adapted Screenplay since it was about the adaptation process and taking a piss out of it. Streep should have won the Oscar for this and it was by far her least self-conscious and mannered performance in a long time. She just let loose and had fun. I think if the Academy knew what kind of performances from her were to follow, they would have awarded her for this.
About a Boy surprise nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay is still one of my fave surprise nominations.
Given the rest of the nominees, I see why Chicago won, but as much as I appreciated Marshall’s idea of making the musical numbers in Roxie’s head, I still think a more skilled director would have done something amazing with the material. Bob Fosse would have made it a masterpiece, IMO.
The Two Towers is the best of the LOTR films.
My personal Best Pic nominees of 2002 were:
About a Boy
Adaptation
Far From Heaven
Spirited Away
Y Tu Mama TambienBest Actress should have been between Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven; Diane Lane in Unfaithful; Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary; and Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher. As for the fifth nominee…I guess Maribel Verdu in Y Tu Mama Tambien or Catherine Keener in Lovely and Amazing.
I would have given Best Supporting Actress to Emily Mortimer in Lovely and Amazing, but among the actual nominees, Streep followed by Kathy Bates (though I think Hope Davis gave a superior performance in the same film). I wish the three leads in Personal Velocity were in contention.
Chris Cooper deserved his Oscar for Adaptation but Christopher Walken was seriously good in Catch Me if You Can. I think my fave John C. Rielly performance that year for like the 5 Oscar contender films he did that year was for The Good Girl.
I would have given the Oscar for Best Actor to Hugh Grant for About a Boy just because that would have been wild and I felt he was deserving, though I think Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt was seriously one of his best performances of his career and should have been rewarded. Nicholas Cage in Adaptation was superior to his Oscar-winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas and he doesn’t get enough credit for it. Adrian Brody did a good job, but given the competition, I don’t think he was on the same level as those two. I think Day Lewis overacted and was self-indulgent, but I love him in other things.
Biggest robbery was Far From Heaven losing Best Cinematography.
ReplyCopy URLHere are some of my very unpopular opinions: – Jennifer Lawrence’s nomination for American Hustle was an embarrassment and her performance is possibly the worst to be nominated this century (and this is coming from someone who liked her in Winter’s Bone and SLP) – Joaquin Phoenix really shouldn’t have won for Joker (should have won for The Master instead). – Octavia Spencer did nothing in Hidden Figures, and it was a shame that she was the only actress from it to be nominated when Taraji did so much better. – Octavia Spencer was great in The Shape of Water and deserved her nomination. – Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out was far from the best performance in the film. – Sandra Bullock in Gravity is underrated and was one of the best acting performances this decade and it’s unfortunate that Bullock won for her nothing performance in Blind Side instead of this (Blanchett still deserved her win though). – Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich didn’t deserve to win but her performance is still better than 75% of the best actress winners of this century. Also, Laura Linney deserved to win that year, Ellen Burstyn did the most acting but not the best acting. – Halle Berry shouldn’t have even been nominated for Monster’s Ball. – The 1998 best supporting actress category is the weakest field of any acting category in recent memory.
American Hustle was an extended SNL clip with some questionable wigs. To this day no one can convince otherwise. Lawrence was Razzie worthy.
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This post was found to be inappropriate by the moderators and has been removed.Bullshit. Just say you were unmoved by the nominee slates of the 71st ceremony.
I genuinely can’t think of a weaker field. It came down to Kim Basinger who didn’t do much in LA Confidential and in a normal year would be at best a coattail nominee of a BP film, and Gloria Stuart who barely even acted in Titanic. Julianne Moore was pretty good but I wouldn’t even call Boogie Nights one of her top 3 performances.
ReplyCopy URLI genuinely can’t think of a weaker field. It came down to Kim Basinger who didn’t do much in LA Confidential and in a normal year would be at best a coattail nominee of a BP film, and Gloria Stuart who barely even acted in Titanic. Julianne Moore was pretty good but I wouldn’t even call Boogie Nights one of her top 3 performances.
M probably thought you were talking about the 1998-99 lineup with Bates, which was a fair bit more competitive than the previous year with Redgrave and Griffiths in the mix.
Moore was the only performance in that category worth a damn in the 1997-98 category, followed distantly by Cusack. I already consider the Supporting Actor and Lead Actress categories that year a fair bit weaker though.
ReplyCopy URL2014 Best Supporting Actress lineup was the weakest lineup of all the acting categories last decade.
Margot Robbie was robbed a nomination that year for Wolf of Wall Street. She and Lawrence played similar characters, but Robbie was actually good. Lupita and June Squibb were the only deserving actresses in that lineup.
ReplyCopy URLFYC Oscars 2022:
Picture: Passing
Actress: Ruth Negga, Tessa Thompson
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