His View - By David Reese

Best Picture

“Almost Famous”
The film about a young boy who goes on tour with a fictitious rock band during the 1970s garnered tremendous critical acclaim and many pre-Oscar awards like the Golden Globes and the Boston Critic’s Association fell short on nomination day. The film picked up nominations, including two Best Supporting Actress for Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand, along with Best Film Editing and Best Original Screenplay by Cameron Crowe.
What hurt the film’s chances? It did not make a lot of money at the box office: not necessarily the most important thing, but it helps. Plus, it is distributed by DreamWorks SKG, which more heavily promoted its other film, “Gladiator,” which snagged 12 nominations.

Best Director

Robert Zemeckis, “Cast Away”
Zemeckis previously won this award in 1994 for “Forrest Gump.” He did a beautiful job with his vision of a man stranded on a deserted island for four years. The use of the color and light on the island and during the plane crash was incredible. For those reasons, I felt he was more deserving of a nomination than Stephen Daldry for “Billy Elliot.”
What hurt his chances? Like I stated earlier, he has won this award before, and in the last 30 years only three others have won the award more than once (Steven Spielberg, Milos Forman and Oliver Stone). Plus, “Cast Away” was overlooked in almost every category except for Tom Hanks for Best Actor and a Best Sound nomination.

Best Actor

Michael Douglas, “Wonder Boys”
Douglas portrays a down-and-out eccentric college professor that smokes marijuana who impregnates the chancellor’s wife played by Frances McDormand. “LA Confidential” director and writer, Curtis Hanson, is the director of this small but eloquent piece of film. Douglas’ slot on the nomination went to Ed Harris for “Pollock” and although Harris is a great actor, Douglas should have had the nomination.
What hurt his chances? Overexposure from his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones and the birth of their child to the fact that he gave another incredible performance in “Traffic” might have split the votes.

Best Actress

Renee Zellweger, “Nurse Betty”
I just do not understand the Academy sometimes. I know they rarely nominate a comedic actress, but Zellweger was phenomenal. She even won the Golden Globe. I find it totally disrespectful that her nomination went to Juliette Binoche from “Chocolat.” The only reason Binoche made the final cut was because of the heavy promotion of the film by its production company, Miramax, which also led nominations and wins to “Shakespeare in Love” and “Life is Beautiful.”
What hurt her chances? Not a box office winner which tends to hurt.

Best Supporting Actor

Bruce Greenwood “13 Days”
Greenwood portrays the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s. His performance was the best portrayal of the assassinated president that I have ever seen and is well deserving of a nomination.
What hurt his chances? The fact that Jeff Bridges played a president in “The Contender.” Bridges is an established Hollywood favorite and a three-time nominee, which is the reason Greenwood was shut out.

Best Supporting Actress

Catherine Zeta-Jones, “Traffic”
Zeta-Jones has been known for her roles as the sexy sidekick in films like “The Mask of Zorro” or “Entrapment,” but her role as a the wife of a drug lord was the first time she actually demonstrated her acting ability. I felt she was incredible and much worthy of a nomination.
What hurt her chances? Much like her husband, Douglas, Zeta-Jones faced too much exposure over this past year. She sold pictures of her baby and her wedding, which might have left a bad taste in many Academy voters’ mouths.

Her View - By Emily Ward

Best Picture

“Wonder Boys”
“Billy Elliot”
Take away “Erin Brockovich” and “Chocolat,” replace them with “Wonder Boys” and “Billy Elliot,” and what do you get? A list of films unquestionably worthy of best picture nomination.
What hurt their chances? “Wonder Boys” was probably overlooked because time was against it. The film came out more than a year ago, and it is quite obvious that the Academy does not have a very good memory. As for “Billy Elliot,” the fact that it is produced by a British Broadcasting Corporation and not by Miramax Films or Universal Pictures may have had something to do with it.

Best Director

Curtis Hanson, “Wonder Boys”
I guess it’s quite obvious that I think “Wonder Boys” is an all-around superb film. And behind every great film is a great director. Hanson did too much of a paramount job with bringing together the prominent acting performances, editing techniques, screenplay adaptations and original song choice to be left out of this category.
What hurt his chances? The fact that the Academy did not see “Wonder Boys” as one of the year’s best pictures probably hindered Hanson’s ability to be nominated as best director. Why they picked “Billy Elliot” director Stephen Daldry as the exception to this rule over Hanson, I do not know.

Best Actor

Michael Douglas, “Wonder Boys”
Douglas’ character in this film is humorous, eccentric, romantic, dramatic and trusting all within a 112-minute time span. And Douglas gets the job done with nothing short of eloquence. I agree that the other nominees are very deserving, and although I am not sure which one I would replace, Douglas did a fabulous job in “Wonder Boys.” I can’t help but feel robbed when I don’t see his name in this category.
What hurt his chances? I think the Academy was not crazy about this movie. And perhaps they were focusing on his part in “Traffic,” rather than his performance in “Wonder Boys.” Who knows? This year had a lot of repeat actors in extraordinary films, so perhaps this was just something they either overlooked or were not impressed with.

Best Actress

Kate Winslet, “Quills”
I was extremely excited to see that “Quills” was not overlooked in the Oscars this year because it was one of the best movies I saw in 2000. I applaud the Academy for noting its superior art direction, costuming and acting performance on the part of Geoffrey Rush, but I am not pleased with its choice of Juliette Binoche and Joan Allenover Winslet. Her character in the film is mostly split between the intrigued and devious rule-breaker and the sweet and admirable object of affection. She has moments of guilt, pleasure, humor and gloom and Winslet pulls off these moments with utter beauty and talent.
What hurt her chances? Rush’s dynamic performance as the leading man in “Quills” probably overshadowed her role in the film. I also think the Academy is simply wearied of her great performances. But then again, they haven’t seem to tire of Tom Hanks yet.

Best Cinematography

Steven Soderbergh (as Peter Andrews), “Traffic”
This is by far the most obvious mistake I see with this year’s nominations. When I read that this extraordinary film was not listed among other great films in this category such as “Gladiator” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” I thought I was having a bad dream. After seeing “Traffic” I was not only sure it would be nominated, I was confident it would be the one taking home to the Oscar. Boy, was I mistaken ... and if you ask me, so was the Academy.
What hurt his chances? I think the fact that he used an alias could have been the reason he was not included in the nominees. But that is just a rumor. My theory is the Academy has been selectively brain dead since the 71st Academy Awards when “Shakespeare in Love” won best picture.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Doug Wright II, “Quills”
Once again, I am not happy with the “Chocolat” nomination in this category. Wright was more innovative and provocative in his writing than was Robert Nelson Jacobs for “Chocolat.” I was shocked, amused, saddened and impressed with the “Quills” screenplay, whereas with “Chocolat,” I thought the writing was a bit silly.
What hurt his chances? The nomination of “Chocolat” for best picture undoubtedly had an effect on its beating out “Quills” for best adapted screenplay.