Harvey’s Girls

Sasha Stone
Mirror film critic

   Usually I can smell an Oscar favorite from a mile away. Once I witnessed audiences spontaneously applauding throughout Miramax’s Chicago, it became clear to me that a big hit was upon us. That was an easy one to smell. Chicago continued to steamroll through all of the early awards, wracking up more guild nominations, Globes and BAFTAs than any other film in contention.
   And this past Tuesday, February 11, the film’s true  Oscar potential emerged. Chicago earned 13 nominations, one of just seven films in Oscar history to amass so many. It was followed by another Miramax-produced movie, Gangs of New York, which earned 10 nominations. The Hours, which is a joint Miramax and Paramount release, earned nine nominations, and New Line’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers earned six. Roman Polanski’s controversial entry, The Pianist, rounded out the top five with seven nominations, including director and screenplay.
   Miramax was the big winner, with the studio (if you count The Hours) reaping 38 nominations, give or take. In fact, no other studio came remotely close. This was the year Harvey Weinstein’s studio not only had all of the Oscar movies, it also had Weinstein’s publicity machine in overdrive, in part to clear his bad reputation, and in part to prove he was still a major player in the Oscar game.
   Who else but Weinstein could turn Gangs of New York, a $100 million film with the potential to ruin his studio (the comparison to Heaven’s Gate was made more than a few times), and one that still hasn’t earned back its budget, into Oscar gold? He did it by selling director Martin Scorsese’s veteran — long overdue for recognition — status.
   As for his reputation – in the past few years, since Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan, DreamWorks has cleaned Miramax’s clock every at bat. Miramax was becoming the token nomination – the studio with films that could make the top five best pictures cut, but could never be taken all that seriously – The Cider House Rules in 1999, Chocolat in 2000, In the Bedroom last year. And then came the Gangs debacle – a film that was famously pushed back one whole year after it was scheduled to be released. And then, a savage New Yorker piece unveiled the “true” Weinstein monster, and was supposed to have ruined his career. But the mogul emerged a Teflon god.
   This year, DreamWorks couldn’t get any of their films anywhere near Best Picture, and Miramax holds court in full, with one of the most popular Oscar movies in a long time: Chicago – four acting nominations, screenwriting, directing, song, score – you name it, it was nominated for it. But wait, that’s not all, Harvey’s Gangs, which was supposed to sink his ship, has redeemed its director and most importantly, its studio.
   The element of this year’s Oscar nominations that will likely be picked up on is that two of the frontrunners, Chicago and The Hours, are female-driven films. After so many actresses have complained that there aren’t great roles for women, the Academy has responded by honoring those films that are about them. There is also cultural diversity in the Best Actress race this year, with Salma Hayek being the first Mexican ever nominated in the lead actress category for her work in Frida. Hayek is joined by the favorite, Nicole Kidman (The Hours), and the critics’ favorite, Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), the comeback kid, Diane Lane (Unfaithful), and the possible upstart, Renee Zellweger for Chicago.
   There were two surprising and refreshing entries in the original screenplay category, with Y Tu Mama Tambien and Talk To Her earning nominations, while Talk to Her also earned a coveted Best Director nod. Both films were ineligible for the foreign language Oscar because they weren’t chosen by their own countries for submission.
   Y Tu Mama Tambien and Talk To Her both were well-deserving of nominations but it’s important to note that in the supposed “year of the woman” many of the year’s best scripts that were written by women were snubbed – most notably, Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely and Amazing and Jill Sprecher’s 13 Conversations About One Thing. Never let it be said that the original screenplay category was weak – it was only weak for the American men. American women had plenty to offer – but in the end, only Nia Vardalos wound up with a nomination — for My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
   The most glaring omission came, ironically, in the foreign film category, which failed to nominate City of God from Brazil, which is one of the best films of the year, was eligible for a foreign language Oscar, and was even distributed by Miramax.
   But the public had something to cheer about when the often-maligned documentary branch did, in fact, nominate the most successful documentary in film history, Bowling for Columbine. This perhaps marks a change in this category that has been long overdue. The documentaries the public responds to (Hoop Dreams, Startup.com) have not traditionally been recognized by the elitist documentary committee.
   What’s sparking the most debate post-noms is the question of Roman Polanski and his graceful, brilliant film, The Pianist. Only moments after the nominations were announced, headlines began to pop up on the web, “fugitive nominated for an Oscar,” “Polanski will get arrested if he tries to attend Oscars!” Indeed, Polanski’s past, and his conviction in absentia on statutory rape charges, will not be forgiven and will prevent the most deserving film from winning the big prize.
   As for the film’s star, Adrien Brody stands a good chance of using a potential split vote between Jack Nicholson for About Schmidt and Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York to his advantage.  There were great performances in the leading male category, especially by Michael Caine in The Quiet American and Nicolas Cage in Adaptation. But Brody, who lost 30 pounds from his already thin frame, and who carried the entire film on his shoulders, is the deserving winner. Will the Academy go for the most deserving or will they go for arguably the most popular actor in the history of the Academy, Mr. Nicholson? I suspect, when all is said and done, Brody will take home the prize, but there is an entire month ahead to watch where the buzz goes.
   What was missing this year was a big fat surprise somewhere in the Best Picture lineup – maybe it wouldn’t have been Greek Wedding, but perhaps Far From Heaven, the gorgeous Todd Haynes film, or About a Boy — another passed-over gem.
   Expect Chicago to sweep at the Oscars – any film that is this beloved usually does not go home empty handed. And Weinstein’s intentions are clear – he wants Scorsese to finally win a Best Director Oscar. But I would put all of my chips behind Rob Marshall, who stands the most to gain from the inevitable Gangs backlash.
   I can no longer complain about the Academy, not when it handed out seven nominations to The Pianist, despite the controversy that will likely follow. It did the right thing, even though it will undoubtedly take some serious heat for it. Academy voters probably weren’t even trying to make a statement; they just liked it, they really, really liked it.
   For more on the Oscar race, visit Sasha Stone’s website www.oscarwatch.com.

Selected Nominations

Best motion picture

Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Pianist

Actor in a leading role

Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation
Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt

Actor in a supporting role

Chris Cooper, Adaptation
Ed Harris, The Hours
Paul Newman, Road to Perdition
John C. Reilly, Chicago
Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can

Actress in a leading role

Salma Hayek, Frida
Nicole Kidman, The Hours
Diane Lane, Unfaithful
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Renée Zellweger, Chicago

Actress in a supporting role

Kathy Bates, About Schmidt
Julianne Moore, The Hours
Queen Latifah, Chicago
Meryl Streep, Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago

Achievement in directing

Chicago, Rob Marshall
Gangs of New York, Martin Scorsese
The Hours, Stephen Daldry
The Pianist, Roman Polanski
Talk to Her, Pedro Almodóvar

Adapted screenplay

About a Boy, Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman
Chicago, Bill Condon
The Hours, David Hare
The Pianist, Ronald Harwood

Original screenplay

Far from Heaven, Todd Haynes
Gangs of New York, Jay Cocks, Steve Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos
Talk to Her, Pedro Almodóvar
Y Tu Mamá También, Carlos and Alfonso Cuarón

Best animated feature film

Ice Age
Lilo & Stitch
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Spirited Away
Treasure Planet

Achievement in art direction

Chicago
Frida
Gangs of New York
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Road to Perdition

Achievement in cinematography

Chicago, Dion Beebe
Far from Heaven, Edward Lachman
Gangs of New York, Michael Ballhaus
The Pianist, Pawel Edelman
Road to Perdition, Conrad L. Hall

Best documentary feature

Bowling for Columbine
Daughter from Danang
Prisoner of Paradise
Spellbound
Winged Migration

Best foreign language film

El Crimen del Padre Amaro, Mexico
Hero, People’s Republic of China
The Man without a Past, Finland
Nowhere in Africa, Germany
Zus & Zo, The Netherlands