Article: The Academy Award Nominations 1998

As you probably know the Oscar nominations came out last Tuesday. This years awards should be a good show with Billy Crystal hosting. The awards are always fun when he's involved. Last year, while mostly a tepid show had the funniest opening ever thanks to Crystals humor. This year I think that everyone will be rooting for Titanic. It tied for the most nominations ever and if it wins 12 it will beat Ben Hur and become the film with the most Oscars in history. Cool!

PICTURE:
As Good as It Gets
The Full Monty
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential
Titanic

I realize that many of my favorite films of the year are not the usual Oscar fare ( The 5th Element, Face/Off, Austin Powers ) so I'm not upset that they aren't nominated. The nominees don't surprise me, except for the inclusion of The Full Monty, which I think is not deserving even though it was a great movie. Wag the Dog and Boogie Nights I think are far more deserving.

I'm glad that neither Amistad nor The Sweet Hereafter were nominated since I found them both, but less the latter (which was simply a bore), overindulgent and empty. I have not seen LA Confidential yet but, as I'm sure it is a great movie, cannot sink the Titanic which will most DEFINITELY win. And I hope it does.

ACTOR:
Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting
Robert Duvall, The Apostle
Peter Fonda, Ulee's Gold
Dustin Hoffman, Wag the Dog
Jack Nicholson, As Good as It Gets

First of all I don't know why Leonardo DiCaprio isn't here. He was full of charisma in Titanic. If he would have been nominated Titanic would have been the most nominated film of all time. I am kind of stuck on this category. I'm torn between Nicholson and Fonda. Jack is soooo cool but Fonda deserves it for his stunning comeback. I hope one them wins, but if the Academy awards Matt Damon's good but bland performance I'll puke.

What is also definitely missing from the list is Djimon Honsou's star making performance in Amistad. He should be there in place of Damon.

ACTRESS:
Helena Bonham Carter, The Wings of the Dove
Julie Christie, Afterglow
Judi Dench, Mrs. Brown
Helen Hunt, As Good as It Gets
Kate Winslet, Titanic

The only surprise is Julie Christie, since her film Afterglow was so little seen ( it never even made it to my city, Vancouver ). Judi Dench is a fine actress as is Carter ( even though her movie was awful ). But I think the contest is between Hunt and Winslet. If I had to pick, I'd pick Hunt. Her performance was full of sophistication and grace. Missing from the list is Pam Grier; her performance in Jackie Brown was absorbing.

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Robert Forster, Jackie Brown
Anthony Hopkins, Amistad
Greg Kinnear, As Good as It Gets
Burt Reynolds, Boogie Nights
Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting

A nice surprise in this category is the inclusion of Rob Forster. His Jackie Brown performance was one of the best of the year. His eyes acted stronger than anyone else in the film. Also great were Kinnear and Willliams. Kinnears performance showed he could act if his roles were well written ( which they weren't in Dear God and Sabrina, his two other films ). Williams is a great actor and his role was awesome but it's the same performance as his Dead Poets Society one so...he won't get it. Whats missing is Sam L. Jackson for Jackie Brown. I think that the African-American community will be upset at this years nominations since none were nominated and 3 great performances ( Grier, Jackson and Hounsou ) were overlooked. Also missing is Kevin Klines hilarious part in In & Out, especially since Cusack was nominated ( see below ). I think that Forster will win, which will be a nice surprise.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Kim Basinger, LA Confidential
Joan Cusack, In & Out
Minnie Driver, Good Will Hunting
Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights
Gloria Stuart, Titanic

A good category, full of deserving actresses. The big surprise is Cusack. Her performance was good but was no better than any of her other performances ( especially that in the under-appreciated Toys ). Stuart might win because of all the press she's gotten. But I'd vote for Moore. She's definitely the underdog in the category but I thought she was great. Her performance was a lasting impression after the show was over. I'd bet, however on Basinger since she won the Globe.

DIRECTOR:
James Cameron, Titanic
Peter Cattaneo, The Full Monty
Atom Egoyan, The Sweet Hereafter
Curtis Hanson, LA Confidential
Gus Van Sant, Good Will Hunting

The big surprise here once again is The Full Monty though I'm not so sure that Cattaneo deserves the nod. Also not deserving is Egoyan which takes a place that I think should have been reserved for Amistad's Steven Spielberg; the film was not special but the directing was great. But Cameron MUST win. He WILL win. He poured his heart and sole along with his blood and sweat. He gave 20th century fox all his money to budget Titanic and for that he should be applauded. Let's give him the award.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Donnie Brasco - Paul Attanasio
LA Confidential - Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson
The Sweet Hereafter - Atom Egoyan
Wag the Dog - Hilary Henkin and David Mamet
The Wings of the Dove - Hossein Amini

I've only seen two of these films so I can't make a decision but I think Wag the Dog will win.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
As Good as It Gets - Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks
Boogie Nights - Paul Thomas Anderson
Deconstructing Harry - Woody Allen
The Full Monty - Simon Beaufoy
Good Will Hunting - Ben Affleck & Matt Damon

Where is Titanic. Cameron won the globe for it and it strange that it wasn't included. Also missing: Kevin Williamson's Scream 2 and Kevin Smiths Chasing Amy. Those Kevins wrote 2 great movies. Even more deserving are Christopher Guest's Waiting For Guffman and Mike Myers' Austin Powers; two of the funniest films of the year. One of those films should take up the space of Deconstructing Harry by Woody Allen. First of all, the movie can't be considered an original screenplay since it was all stole from Allen's other, and better, movies. Second of all, Woody married his daughter and we just can't award that! Yuck!

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Beyond Silence (Germany)
Character (Netherlands)
Four Days in September (Brazil)
Secrets of the Heart (Spain)
The Thief (Russia)

Huh? I saw Shall we Dance! That's it!

ART DIRECTION:
Gattaca
Kundun
LA Confidential
Men in Black
Titanic

The inventive work on display in The Devil's Advocate, The Fifth Element, and The Pillow Book were snubbed. Titanic will win.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Amistad
Kundun
LA Confidential
Titanic
The Wings of the Dove

The Edge and The Fifth Element were snubbed. Titanic will win.

COSTUME DESIGN:
Amistad
Kundun
Oscar and Lucinda
Titanic
The Wings of the Dove

Naturally, the Academy overlooked the best, most innovative costume design of the year-Jean-Paul Gaulthier's work in The Fifth Element. Titanic will win.

FILM EDITING
Air Force One
As Good as It Gets
Good Will Hunting
LA Confidential
Titanic

As Good as It Gets and Good Will Hunting when there should be Face/Off and The Fifth Element! Titanic will win. ( NOTE: Titanic will win all 4 last nominations.)

MAKEUP:
Men in Black
Mrs. Brown
Titanic

What! Mrs. Brown and Titanic! Memo to the academy - Stop nominating movies that just make people look older. MIB should and will win.

ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE:
Amistad - John Williams
Good Will Hunting - Danny Elfman
Kundun - Philip Glass
LA Confidential - Jerry Goldsmith
Titanic - James Horner

Titanic haunting flutes will rule the category.

ORIGINAL MUSICAL/COMEDY SCORE:
Anastasia - Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, David Newman
As Good As It Gets - Hans Zimmer
The Full Monty - Anne Dudley
Men In Black - Danny Elfman
My Best Friend's Wedding - James Newton Howard

MIB or Anastasia will win. Where is Hercules?

ORIGINAL SONG:
"Go The Distance," Hercules
"How Do I Live," Con Air
"Journey To The Past," Anastasia
"Miss Misery," Good Will Hunting
"My Heart Will Go On," Titanic

A curious category. I don't mind the Hercules film version of Go the Distance but In can't stand Bolton's. Now this means we'll have to suffer through a Michael Bolton performance during the awards ceremony (if the Academy wanted to honor a song from Hercules, the nod should have gone to "I Won't Say (I'm in Love or "The Gospel Truth"). "Journey to the Past" is a stirring number in Anastasia, but it paled in comparison to that film's best songs, the haunting "Once Upon a December" and "In the Dark Of The Night" the best bad guy song since "Be Prepared". Titanic's theme song "My Heart will Go On" is the most popular song of the new year and it will definitely win.

SOUND EFFECTS EDITING:
Face/Off
The Fifth Element
Titanic

Ditto. But it's nice to see Face/Off and Fifth Element nominated.

VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Starship Troopers
Titanic

How can they nominate The Lost World! How! It was just JP, again! Titanic's were good but not as mind blowing as Starship Troopers. Still, Titanic will win.

The Academy Awards will be handed out on Monday,
March 23 at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific on ABC...

After the awards I will revisit my predictions and recap the events. See Ya then!

Jeffery B Sanders

Note from webmaster: Sorry about the not-so-good design on this article, I'm in a hurry today, and this was all I had the time to do.