The 76th Annual Academy Awards—Renner’s Predictions

Prophet, seer, forecaster, mystic, and psychic. All of these titles refer to a person who has (or claims to have) the ability to predict future events. The past and present are filled with all sorts of meaningful, colorful, scary, humorous, and absurd predictors of the future. People like John The Baptist, Nostradamus, Oda Mae (Whoopi Goldberg’s character in the movie Ghost), Jimmy The Greek, and even our local meteorologist, Bob Shaw.

For this month’s column, I’ll throw my hat into the ring and attempt to see into the future, by predicting the winners in eight categories for the 76th Annual Academy Awards. This column is being written on February 18, 2004 (eleven days BEFORE the broadcast).

Actor in a Leading Role

The nominees are:

• Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog
• Jude Law – Cold Mountain s Bill Murray – Lost in Translation
• Sean Penn – Mystic River

And the Oscar goes to: Sean Penn – Mystic River: Sean’s career is full of Oscar-worthy performances, but his Mystic River role as the broken-hearted, vengeful father is his best to date. Bill Murray is a close second, but sadly, comedies are often the lesser sibling to drama in the Academy’s eyes.

Actor in a Supporting Role

The nominees are:

• Ken Watanabe – The Last Samurai
• Djimon Hounsou – In America
• Benicio Del Toro – 21 Grams
• Alec Baldwin – The Cooler
• Tim Robbins – Mystic River

And the Oscar goes to: Tim Robbins – Mystic River: Like Sean, Tim has had a great career, but the majority of his roles, although well acted, have been in films with a little less substance. Tim goes all out in Mystic River to show us how one event can scar the soul for the rest of lives.

Actress in a Leading Role

The nominees are:

• Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider
• Naomi Watts – 21 Grams
• Charlize Theron – Monster
• Diane Keaton – Something’s Gotta Give
• Samantha Morton – In America

And the Oscar goes to: Charlize Theron – Monster: My personal favorite in this category is Keisha Castle-Hughes, as the granddaughter of a Maori Chief. Her performance, at her age, is truly remarkable. But, I’m a realist and Charlize Theron put in a career performance in Monster. The sign of a great actor is one who can put on a character that is at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum from who they are and the roles they normally play. This is what Charlize did in Monster and she deserves the Oscar.

Actress in a Supporting Role

The nominees are:

• Marcia Gay Harden – Mystic River
• Patricia Clarkson – Pieces of April
• Shohreh Aghdashloo – House of Sand and Fog
• Holly Hunter – Thirteen s Renée Zellweger – Cold Mountain

And the Oscar goes to: Renée Zellweger – Cold Mountain: As soon as Renée stepped onto the screen and uttered her first words, I knew she was a shoe-in to win the Oscar. Actors rarely get the opportunity to steal the show from the likes of Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, but Renée pulled it off in her portrayal of the feisty, Ruby.

Writing – Screenplay – Adaptation

The nominees are:

• American Splendor – Written by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman
• City of God – Screenplay by Braulio Mantovani
• The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson
• Mystic River – Screenplay by Brian Helgeland
• Seabiscuit – Written for the screen by Gary Ross

And the Oscar goes to: American Splendor – Written by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman: American Splendor is a tough film to love. It’s not sure if it’s a documentary, an on-screen comic book, or a feature film; the main character isn’t a person you would typically root for; and the basic entertainment value is low. However, the quirks that make it tough to love are the same elements that make the screenplay such a winner. The mix of real life, film, and cartoon boards perfectly tell the story of Harvey Pekar’s life and rise to fame.

Writing – Screenplay – Original

The nominees are:

• Dirty Pretty Things – Written by Steven Knight
• Finding Nemo – Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds – Original story by Andrew Stanton
• Lost in Translation – Written by Sophia Coppola s The Barbarian Invasions – Written by Denys Arcand
• In America – Written by Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan, and Kirsten Sheridan

And the Oscar goes to: Lost in Translation – Written by Sophia Coppola: What makes Lost in Translation so special is what isn’t said and to achieve that in film writing is exceptionally difficult. Sophia makes it look easy. She took an every day experience and crafted a remarkable script to use as her blueprint for a wonderful film.

Directing

The nominees are:

• Peter Weir – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation
• Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
• Fernando Meirelles – City of God
• Clint Eastwood – Mystic River

And the Oscar goes to: Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: The sheer size and scope of bringing The Lord of the Rings trilogy to the big screen deserves an Oscar. And yet, Peter Jackson did far more than just, “bring it to the big screen.” He breathed visual life into a complex fantasy story and every character living in it. He also avoided the pitfalls that often come with directing a series of films. His vision was complete from start to finish and we are the benefactors.

Best Picture

The nominees are:

• Seabiscuit (Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Pictures/Spyglass Ent.)
• Mystic River (Warner Bros.)
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (20th Century Fox)
• Lost in Translation (Focus Features)
• The Lord of Rings: The Return of the King (New Line)

And the Oscar goes to: The Lord of Rings: The Return of the King (New Line): No question the Best Picture of the year, in a category stacked with tremendous films. Return of the King has it all and does it right. It’s a film that draws you in, plays on every emotion, and leaves you cheering when the credits role. We’ll be lucky to see a film (and luckier to see a series of films) in the future that are as complete a film experience as The Lord of the Rings.