Oscars 2004

Gold Standard

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

The nominations yielded very few surprises, except for one knockout: Alan Alda for The Aviator. Otherwise, we have the usual batch of a few very good movies, too many mediocre movies and several glaring omissions.

I made my predictions in the heat of the moment on Tuesday morning, and some of them are subject to change in the coming week. The Oscars will be broadcast on Sunday, February 27, 2005.

February 28: The Aviator took home five awards, but Million Dollar Baby snatched four top prizes, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. For the most part, movies that deserved to win actually won. My own predictions came in at 12 out of 21, about usual for me. So, until next year!

Please also see my past interviews with the nominees: Johnny Depp, Mike Leigh Hilary Swank, Laura Linney, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry, Terry George and Alexander Payne (coming soon).

And check out my contribution to an Oscar-related story in the Las Vegas Weekly.

Nominees	Jeff's Take
Best Picture The Aviator Finding Neverland Million Dollar Baby Ray Sideways	The Winner: Million Dollar Baby My Prediction: Million Dollar Baby My Vote: Million Dollar Baby Unfairly Overlooked: Before Sunset
Best Director Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby Taylor Hackford, Ray Mike Leigh, Vera Drake Alexander Payne, Sideways Martin Scorsese, The Aviator	The Winner: Clint Eastwood My Prediction: Clint Eastwood My Vote: Clint Eastwood Unfairly Overlooked: Richard Linklater
Best Actor Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby Jamie Foxx, Ray	The Winner: Jamie Foxx My Prediction: Jamie Foxx My Vote: Clint Eastwood Unfairly Overlooked: Johnny Depp, Secret Window; Paul Giamatti, Sideways
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	The Winner: Hilary Swank My Prediction: Hilary Swank My Vote: Imelda Staunton Unfairly Overlooked: Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
Best Supporting Actor Alan Alda, The Aviator Thomas Haden Church, Sideways Jamie Foxx, Collateral Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby Clive Owen, Closer	The Winner: Morgan Freeman My Prediction: Morgan Freeman My Vote: Morgan Freeman Unfairly Overlooked: David Carradine, Kill Bill - Vol. 2
Best Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett, The Aviator Laura Linney, Kinsey Virginia Madsen, Sideways Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda Natalie Portman, Closer	The Winner: Cate Blanchett My Prediction: Cate Blanchett My Vote: Cate Blanchett Unfairly Overlooked: Natalie Portman, Garden State; Meryl Streep, The Manchurian Candidate; Sandra Oh, Sideways
Foreign Language Film The Chorus (Les Choristes) (France) Downfall (Germany) The Sea Inside (Spain) As in Heaven (Sweden) Yesterday (South Africa)	The Winner: The Sea Inside My Prediction: The Chorus (Les Choristes) My Vote: none Unfairly Overlooked: Moolaadé; Notre Musique
Adapted Screenplay Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Sunset David Magee, Finding Neverland Paul Haggis, Million Dollar Baby Jose Rivera, The Motorcycle Diaries Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, Sideways	The Winner: Sideways My Prediction: Sideways My Vote: Before Sunset Unfairly Overlooked: Alvin Sargent, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Michael Chabon, Spider-Man 2
Original Screenplay John Logan, The Aviator Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, Pierre Bismuth, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Terry George, Keir Pearson, Hotel Rwanda Brad Bird, The Incredibles Mike Leigh, Vera Drake	The Winner: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind My Prediction: The Aviator My Vote: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Unfairly Overlooked: Kill Bill - Vol. 2; Dogville
Animated Feature Film The Incredibles Shark Tale Shrek 2	The Winner: The Incredibles My Prediction: Shrek 2 My Vote: The Incredibles Unfairly Overlooked: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Art Direction The Aviator Finding Neverland Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events The Phantom of the Opera A Very Long Engagement	The Winner: The Aviator My Prediction: Finding Neverland My Vote: The Aviator Unfairly Overlooked: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Cinematography Robert Richardson, The Aviator Xiaoding Zhao, House of Flying Daggers Caleb Deschanel, The Passion of the Christ John Mathieson, The Phantom of the Opera Bruno Delbonnel, A Very Long Engagement	The Winner: The Aviator My Prediction: The Aviator My Vote: The Aviator Unfairly Overlooked: The Saddest Music in the World
Sound Mixing The Aviator The Incredibles The Polar Express Ray Spider-Man 2	The Winner: Ray My Prediction: Ray My Vote: Spider-Man 2 Unfairly Overlooked: Kill Bill - Vol. 2
Sound Editing The Incredibles The Polar Express Spider-Man 2	The Winner: The Incredibles My Prediction: Spider-Man 2 My Vote: Spider-Man 2 Unfairly Overlooked: Kill Bill - Vol. 2
Original Score Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Finding Neverland John Williams, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Thomas Newman, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events John Debney, The Passion of the Christ James Newton Howard, The Village	The Winner: Finding Neverland My Prediction: Finding Neverland My Vote: none Unfairly Overlooked: Alexandre Desplat, Birth
Original Song "Look to Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from The Chorus (Les Choristes), Bruno Coulais, Christophe Barratier "Al Otro Lado Del Río" from The Motorcycle Diaries, Jorge Drexler "Learn to Be Lonely" from The Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart "Believe" from The Polar Express, Glen Ballard, Alan Silvestri "Accidentally in Love" from Shrek 2, David Bryson, Adam Duritz, David Immerglück, Matthew Malley, Dan Vickrey, Charles Gillingham, Jim Bogios	The Winner: "Al Otro Lado Del Río" My Prediction: "Accidentally in Love" My Vote: none Unfairly Overlooked: "Vindicated" from Spider-Man 2, Dashboard Confessional
Costume The Aviator Finding Neverland Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Ray Troy	The Winner: The Aviator My Prediction: Finding Neverland My Vote: none Unfairly Overlooked: Kill Bill - Vol. 2
Documentary Feature Born Into Brothels The Story of the Weeping Camel Super Size Me Tupac: Resurrection Twist of Faith	The Winner: Born Into Brothels My Prediction: Born Into Brothels My Vote: none Unfairly Overlooked: Tarnation
Documentary Short Autism Is a World The Children of Leningradsky Hardwood Mighty Times: The Children's March Sister Rose's Passion	The Winner: Mighty Times: The Children's March My Prediction: n/a My Vote: n/a Unfairly Overlooked: n/a
Film Editing The Aviator Collateral Finding Neverland Million Dollar Baby Ray	The Winner: The Aviator My Prediction: Million Dollar Baby My Vote: Million Dollar Baby Unfairly Overlooked: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Makeup Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events The Passion of the Christ The Sea Inside	The Winner: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events My Prediction: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events My Vote: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Unfairly Overlooked: Million Dollar Baby
Animated Short Birthday Boy Gopher Broke Guard Dog (Bill Plympton) Lorenzo Ryan	The Winner: Ryan My Prediction: n/a My Vote: n/a Unfairly Overlooked: n/a
Live Action Short Everything in This Country Must Little Terrorist 7:35 de la mañana Two Cars, One Night Wasp	The Winner: Wasp My Prediction: n/a My Vote: n/a Unfairly Overlooked: n/a
Visual Effects Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban I, Robot Spider-Man 2	The Winner: Spider-Man 2 My Prediction: I, Robot My Vote: Spider-Man 2 Unfairly Overlooked: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind