---

BY ABIGAIL GRABER

In print | Published February 24, 2005

January fell on the 2004 movie season, as January so often does, with all the grace and pizzazz of boiled asparagus. Films started out so badly (Exhibit A: “Chasing Liberty”) that intrepid reviewers dared to hope they could only get better. One “Eurotrip” later, the suicide rate of film reviewers had mysteriously tripled, and I was considering retiring to the Alps to herd sheep for the rest of my life.

It took until October to boot “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” out of my 2004 top five list. That’s nine months that went by without five movies better than a flick about two stoners with the munchies that starred a cheetah, a character named Freakshow and a dancing bag of pot.

Which is why this weekend, Hollywood will attempt to deny that January through September ever, in fact, happened at all. The cream of the movie crop this year is actually as creamy as it’s ever been (though the crop itself may stink like day-old gym socks). At the Oscars, all anyone cares about is that shiny, shiny silver lining.

All Academy Awards ceremonies have themes. Last year, it was “hobbits,” real (Peter Jackson) and imagined (Frodo). This year, in a proud homage to Jewish mothers everywhere, it’s “guilt.” The lack of a clear front-runner for Best Everything gives the Academy the chance to catch up on some awards they should have handed out long ago. Don’t expect the best to win — in fact, know that it won’t, considering that “Kinsey,” which the nominations barely touched, is the truly standout film of 2004. Instead, on Sunday, a stream of people will waltz smugly to the podium to collect statuettes for their long-ago achievements.

Perhaps this perverse desire to settle old grudges explains the dismal state of the nominations this year. The Best Movie category is surpassingly disappointing, not because the nominees themselves are terrible (which they aren’t), but because so much better was available. With two inferior Miramax nominations, the Oscars seem to be making up for the laudable Miramax snub last year. What happened to “Hotel Rwanda,” the year’s most moving piece? The Academy bought it off with a couple of acting nominations and gave its slot to the candy-coated, faux-emotive “Finding Neverland.” Miramax also has a lot to answer for pushing “The Aviator” past “Closer,” a wrenching character study of implosive human behavior. Sure, “The Aviator” had characters, but the study got dropped somewhere between the special effects and Leonardo DiCaprio’s paycheck. “Ray” was a good movie. “Kinsey” was better.

In fact, “Kinsey” was the best. Films that introduce thought-provoking questions about still-taboo subjects are scarce (and, aside from this one exception, entirely absent this year). “Kinsey” had the gall to ask those questions and the cheeky nerve to not answer them. That it didn’t even get a screenplay nomination denies meaning to my life and to this ceremony.

But on to films that were actually, you know, nominated. “Million Dollar Baby’s” inclusion just means the Academy will owe Clint Eastwood even more in the future, since his melancholy movies keep getting topped by bigger blockbusters (“Mystic River,” anyone?). Still, this was a fine film and worthy of its acclaim. “Sideways” is the best movie nominated this year, despite not being “Kinsey,” but unfortunately it’s also filling the “Look, we support indie films, too!” niche, which means that it can’t win.

If the Academy were serious about “Sideways,” Paul Giamatti (not nominated) would be preparing his acceptance speech. Alas, they seem more concerned with falling over backward to worship Leonardo DiCaprio for his portrayal of Howard Hughes in “The Aviator.” But playing a mentally ill character (the only thing DiCaprio can get a nomination for) is one of an actor’s easiest jobs. Both DiCaprio and Johnny Depp’s (“Finding Neverland”) nominations, though they fit nicely into my “guilt-alleviation” theory (DiCaprio considers himself snubbed over “Titanic,” and Depp lost last year), are consolation prizes. Jamie Foxx has swept every major award for “Ray,” and he’ll be taking the Oscar home as well. All of these actors, however, have something in common, and that is that none of them was in “Kinsey.” Therefore, I cannot accept the validity of any of their nominations.

Old nominees not in “Kinsey” are also present in the Best Female Actress category. Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby”) and Annette Bening (“Being Julia”) last went head-to-head in 1999. Swank came out on top, but the Academy isn’t ready to double the haul of an actress who most recently headlined “The Core.” I may love “The Next Karate Kid” as much as the next psychotic, but the Oscars will stick with an apologetic tone: Round two of the Swank-Bening battle goes to Bening.

Eastwood isn’t even going to see “Million Dollar Baby” win for directing because “The Aviator” has a prior claim on the Academy’s conscience. Scorsese wants his first Oscar, and he’s sold his soul to Miramax to get it. Okay, maybe it was a crime to give Robert Redford the Best Director award for “Ordinary People” over Scorsese for “Raging Bull,” or award Kevin Costner and “Dances with Wolves” instead of Scorsese for “Good Fellas.” I’ve moved on. The Academy hasn’t. They’ll alleviate their guilt over Eastwood and “Mystic River” another year — this time around, Scorsese’s got it in the bag. Directing and Best Picture honors (oh the pain, oh the humanity): “The Aviator.”

But what should win? Need you ask? “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” Just kidding.

And the nominess are…

Best Picture

“The Aviator”
“Finding Neverland”
“Million Dollar Baby”
“Ray”
“Sideways”

Best Actor

Don Cheadle — “Hotel Rwanda”
Johnny Depp — “Finding Neverland”
Leonardo DiCaprio — “The Aviator”
Clint Eastwood — “Million Dollar Baby”
Jamie Foxx — “Ray”

Best Actress

Annette Bening — “Being Julia”
Catalina Sandino Moreno — “Maria Full of Grace”
Imelda Staunton — “Vera Drake”
Hilary Swank — “Million Dollar Baby”
Kate Winslet — “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Alda — “The Aviator”
Thomas Haden Church — “Sideways”
Jamie Foxx — “Collateral”
Morgan Freeman — “Million Dollar Baby”
Clive Owen — “Closer”

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett — “The Aviator”
Laura Linney - “Kinsey”
Virginia Madsen -“Sideways”
Sophie Okonedo — “Hotel Rwanda”
Natalie Portman — “Closer”

---

« RETURN TO LIVING & ARTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »