The Hot Button by David Poland

Tuesday, 9 February 1999

THE OSCARS®

It is the best of days, it is the worst of days.
Let's start with the dark side of the force. After all, I'd rather take the medicine first so I can enjoy the mint flavor of joy in my mouth as I head back to bed after writing this column. Life is Beautiful being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture is, frankly, an embarrassment. And, as a card-carrying bar mitzvah boy, I will admit, it's a Jew thang. Here is a film that most people agree is critically flawed. Audiences have not flocked to the film in any significant numbers, despite being given every opportunity. And, here it is, getting the first dueling nominations ever. If you love this film, don't be offended, but this is gross overkill. Additionally, the 13 nominations for Shakespeare in Love combined with the Life nods are another indication that the Oscar® nomination machine at Miramax is simply better than the machines at other studios. I enjoyed Shakespeare in Love even though I do think it's overrated, but having this film as the leading nominee is just stupid.
Equally stupid in the missing nomination category is Rushmore. I said it yesterday (THB 02/08) and I say it again. This film's lack of nomination success was completely Disney's fault, and they should be embarrassed. With all the negative and essentially meaningless (read: about nothing but the stock) hum over there these days, some nominations would have been lovely. And Rushmore was their one legit shot. And all this crap that John Travolta hurt himself by having A Civil Action and Primary Colors in play is, well, crap. A Civil Action just didn't fill the bill and the best shot that Primary Colors ever had was for Kathy Bates, and the critics came through for her. The nomination for Elaine May's screenplay is among the most deserved, even though she is an outside shot to win, place or show. The fact that Primary Colors was not an across-the-board nominee is a travesty, but an expected travesty. A financial failure and a March release secured that.
As seems to be a tradition now, there was one Best Picture nominee whose director got left out of the Best Directing nods. This year, the victim was Shekhar Kapur. And a victim he was. His directorial work in Elizabeth was far more impressive that the work of Begnini (even if you love that film, you must admit that it's an acting and writing film, not a work of directing genius, unlike Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator) and Peter Weir, one of my favorite directors, got a nomination for a movie where I still say his best work was left on the cutting room floor.
Now, let's run through the categories.
ACTRESS: Among supporting actresses here, the dubious nomination for me is Brenda Blethyn. Nice performance, wonderful actress, not a lot of shades. The glory nomination here is for Rachel Griffiths, who I think overcame the shadow of Emily Watson's more showy performance (not Emily's fault) to shine the brightest in that film. (She also has a wonderful turn in a romantic-comedy opposite Pete Postlethwaite in Among Giants coming soon.) The nominations for Lynn Redgrave and Kathy Bates are well deserved and I'm happy that Academy members came through with them. I love Judi Dench and her performance, but it's a cameo, not a supporting performance (See: Gloria Stuart).
In lead actress, I have no complaints. As you know, if you are a regular, I am not a Central Station lover, but as I say, no complaints. Nor do I have any surprise thrills. (Holly Hunter for Living Out Loud would have been a thrill. Cate Blanchett not getting nominated was beyond consideration, and she should win the award if there is a God, so no surprise.)
ACTOR: The supporting category was the most competitive and among the most disappointingly thoughtless of this year. Even though they were both great, Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Duvall got nominated on buzz. People are not humming about either film. Two great actors, two strong performances, two weak nominations. Notice there are no soldiers from Saving Private Ryan or The Thin Red Line, no David Kelly from Waking Ned Devine and, as noted before, no Bill Murray from Rushmore. Geoffrey Rush should have been nominated here, but not for Shakespeare in Love. His work in Elizabeth was the best of his career. On the other hand, I am thrilled that James Coburn got a nomination for Affliction and I hope that he wins. His is the only truly special nominated performance here.
Among the Best Actor nominees, Edward Norton surviving all the bad voodoo of American History X to get a deeply deserved nomination is wonderful. The other four nominees were quite expected and quite fine as choices. Special congrats to Sir Ian McKellen, who found out he was nominated by hanging around in the Net (at Oscar.com) and will return to the Net with us next week (Wednesday, 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT) for a live chat.
BEST PICTURE: The Thin Red Line. Need I say more? Yes. Wake up and smell the genius. The film's seven nominations are a couple short, but in the words of the nominated original song from Babe 2, "that'll do." I am also thrilled that Elizabeth made the cut. The best Elizabethan film of the year was a great antidote to all these people who were harping on The Truman Show as a mortal lock for Best Picture (Sorry, Mr. Carrey. You are a genius, but you didn't deserve the Golden Globe and you didn't deserve an Oscar® nomination. You'll get yours for Man on the Moon next year.). Ryan and Shakespeare were the two gimmes. More than enough said. And we started with Life is Beautiful.
MISC.: Coming out of Sundance, Regret to Inform is the feature documentary most likely to inspire Academy members to vote. The wonderful document of the personal losses of war, which is set around the Vietnam War in a non-political way, will be heard from in a big way in the next month, I suspect. The battle between Central Station and Life is Beautiful for Best Foreign Language Film will be fascinating. How will Miramax play it? Will they chase the Best Picture vote or will they try to shift the Best Picture vote to Shakespeare in Love and relegate Life is Beautiful to the secondary slot. A double win would be a mighty victory for the Brothers Weinstein. The screenplay categories are light on surprises as well. Rushmore out, Out of Sight in, life goes on.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of thoughtless nominations. I have someone to root for in pretty much every category. And someone to root against. And with the Oscars®, that's a good year. Now, I am likely to be disappointed. A lot. But what's new? If all goes well, Shakespeare in Love will go home with bupkiss. All in all, I'd rather remember Saving Private Ryan. Obviously, if I had my druthers, The Thin Red Line would win every award it's up for, except for best editing (Pvt. Ryan or Out of Sight) and sound (Pvt. Ryan).

E ME: I'm sure that this will percolate more as the day goes on. It's not even 7:00 a.m. yet here. Your takes are encouraged. To read the letters page that was up earlier in the day, click here. Let me hear it.
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