2008 Woodie Awards
COMMENTARY: Snubs, surprises in Oscar race
Kaitlyn Edsall & Chenel Josaphat, The Hoya (Georgetown U.)
Issue date: 1/31/05 Section: Opinion
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(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON - Last summer, movie critics frequently commented on the barren wasteland of upcoming movies. They wondered in agony how they would ever find any Oscar worthy flicks in the absence of the ambitious movie phenomenon that was "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Buzz-worthy epics "Troy" and "Alexander" opened up to audiences and critics alike as epic failures. Surprisingly, however, Hollywood has been able to reverse the trend in the past few months. Theaters are now packed with fabulous films deserving of Oscar gold.
And keeping with Hollywood tradition, there have been more films than the Academy could possibly accommodate with nominations. This year, as the calendar enters into February, the talk takes a familiar shift to the films that have been nominated -- and everyone that has been snubbed.
BEST PICTURE
In this category, those expected to be the top contenders ("The Aviator," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Sideways") easily made the cut. "Ray" also received a nomination from the Academy, and Tinkerbell used a little fairy dust to get a surprise nomination for "Finding Neverland." In this category, some of the other controversial and mold-breaking films of the past year were overlooked. Oscar obviously felt like pulling an FCC this year as sexually forward films Closer and Kinsey didn't make the cut. Gibson's strategy not to campaign for a nomination obviously worked -- his politically divisive Passion of the Christ failed to get noted. Politically divisive for a completely different reason, fiery filmmaker Michael Moore campaigned vigorously for "Fahrenheit 9/11." That didn't work either.
Fans of Pixar also have reason to be angry due to the Academy's continual oversight of their near-to-perfect animated film, "The Incredibles."
BEST ACTOR
The best actor category is the site of another shocking snub. Sideways' Paul Giamatti was left out the race. While the race will eventually boil down to Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Aviator") and Jamie Foxx ("Ray"), the oversight of Giamatti is surprising none-the-less.
Buzz-worthy epics "Troy" and "Alexander" opened up to audiences and critics alike as epic failures. Surprisingly, however, Hollywood has been able to reverse the trend in the past few months. Theaters are now packed with fabulous films deserving of Oscar gold.
And keeping with Hollywood tradition, there have been more films than the Academy could possibly accommodate with nominations. This year, as the calendar enters into February, the talk takes a familiar shift to the films that have been nominated -- and everyone that has been snubbed.
BEST PICTURE
In this category, those expected to be the top contenders ("The Aviator," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Sideways") easily made the cut. "Ray" also received a nomination from the Academy, and Tinkerbell used a little fairy dust to get a surprise nomination for "Finding Neverland." In this category, some of the other controversial and mold-breaking films of the past year were overlooked. Oscar obviously felt like pulling an FCC this year as sexually forward films Closer and Kinsey didn't make the cut. Gibson's strategy not to campaign for a nomination obviously worked -- his politically divisive Passion of the Christ failed to get noted. Politically divisive for a completely different reason, fiery filmmaker Michael Moore campaigned vigorously for "Fahrenheit 9/11." That didn't work either.
Fans of Pixar also have reason to be angry due to the Academy's continual oversight of their near-to-perfect animated film, "The Incredibles."
BEST ACTOR
The best actor category is the site of another shocking snub. Sideways' Paul Giamatti was left out the race. While the race will eventually boil down to Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Aviator") and Jamie Foxx ("Ray"), the oversight of Giamatti is surprising none-the-less.