Comments on The 2005 Oscar Nominations

Here are my thoughts on the Oscar nominations. If you want to see all of them you can go to Oscars.org I found a nice PDF file with all the nominations in the press kit section.

-Similar to the Golden Globes, I don't think any African-American groups could complain about the nominations. In a year that had a number of strong black performances, the Academy nominated most of them (Go Sophie Okonedo! And Regina King...you'll get your chance, don't worry). As such, it's unreal that Jamie Foxx is competing against Don Cheadle for Best Actor and Morgan Freeman for Best Supporting Actor. I didn't really think that Jamie would get double nominations like he did at the Globes. I figured that he might get nominated for Ray because the other awards nominated him, but for both Ray and Collateral? Wow. Now, I hope Hollywood can keep finding strong roles for African-Americans (and just everyone in general).

-I'm kind of surprised that Paul Giamatti wasn't nominated for Sideways. What's interesting is that it didn't mean that the Academy shied away from comedy nominations, like they usually do. Kate Winslet was nominated for Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and Virgina Madsen and Thomas Haden Church were nominated for Sideways. I have felt that the Academy Awards should have had separate comedy and drama acting categories like the Golden Globes for a while. There are so many great comic actors that don't get any type of awards until they go dramatic. Jamie Foxx is pretty funny but if he had done a very funny film instead of Ray or Collateral, he wouldn't be the talk of the town. The Academy seems to hate Jim Carrey as even when he's very funny (Liar Liar), playing a real person (Man On The Moon), being semi-serious (The Truman Show) or even playing completely against type (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind), he can't get nominated. Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers are the best actors to pull off multiple roles since Peter Sellers, but they get no love from the award circuit. It's sad that despite the immense importance of acting to a good comedy (poorly acted comedy is not funny...it's excruciating), it's routinely dissed.

-Wow, Catalina Sandino Moreno got nominated for Maria Full of Grace. I think she is this year's Keisha Castle-Hughes (remember...the girl from Whale Rider). I don't think she will win, but I will say that her performance was very good. She truly carried the movie on her back without faltering.

-So, it's round two of the Bening vs. Swank battle as they are both nominated again for Best Actress. Swank won round one when she got an Oscar for Boys Don't Cry, so let's see if Swank can pull it out or if Bening will get her revenge.

-So Shark Tale gets nominated over The Polar Express for Best Animated Feature? The people who nominate the award must really hate Mo-Cap. The Polar Express is a much better movie than Shark Tale.

-Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Passion of The Christ are both passed over for Best Picture. I liked Fahrenheit 9/11, but Michael Moore should've known that a Best Picture nomination wasn't going to happen. As for The Passion of The Christ...well, Mel Gibson didn't campaign for it to get nominated. It was clear that he made this film because he really wanted to and not for any awards. In a lot of respects, it's quite commendable that he doesn't need the validation of an Oscar to be proud of his film. I think what did both films in was the fact that they were so polarizing. As many people loved the films as hated them. The Academy normally nominates films that have gotten a lot of universal acclaim, big box office or not.

In an interesting note, though, The Passion of The Christ did get nominated for several awards outside of writing, directing, or acting including Best Original Score, Best Makeup, and Best Cinematography.

-With no Fahrenheit 9/11, I am pulling for either Super Size Me or Tupac: Resurrection to win the Best Documentary Feature award. Those are the only two films I've seen of the nominees, but both of them are very good films. Tupac: Resurrection cleverly uses Tupac's own words to narrate his story. Super Size Me takes a Michael Moore-esque approach as Morgan Spurlock makes himself an integral part of the film. Both are more than worthy of winning an Oscar.

-I guess I wasn't the only one who thought John Williams's score for Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban was better than his work for the first two films. He got nominated for Best Score for it.