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 Analysis: When money talks, Oscar listens Wednesday, February 14, 2001 By Ron Weiskind, Post-Gazette Movie Editor
Art has its place in the Academy Awards, and that place was more conspicuous than usual in the nominations announced yesterday. A foreign-language film got 10 nominations, including one for best picture. And half of the acting nominees starred in movies from smaller distributors that were released in limited runs.
Enter post-gazette.com's Academy Awards Contest.
The Oscars also resemble a popularity contest, which may explain why third-time nominees Joan Allen ("The Contender") and Judi Dench ("Chocolat") got nods for performances that don't measure up to their best work.
But the race for Hollywood's most coveted prize is always about commerce, especially in the best picture race. Two of the five nominees, the Roman epic "Gladiator" and the blue-collar crowd-pleaser "Erin Brockovich," ranked among the 10 top-grossing films in the year 2000. The martial-arts romance "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" last week set the box-office record for foreign-language movies. And the drug-war drama "Traffic" has grossed a robust $70 million and counting.
Then there's the most disappointing (but not surprising) omission from the best picture list. "Almost Famous," Cameron Crowe's smart, wistfully funny movie about rock 'n' roll, inexplicably bombed at the box office. It has grossed only half of its reported $60 million cost, resulting in a substantial loss for the producing studio, DreamWorks. In a town where the bottom line comes first, you don't usually get an Oscar nomination for bleeding red ink no matter how good the movie may be.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much if the fifth nominee had been something almost as worthy, such as the jaunty British dance film "Billy Elliot" or even the comedy-drama "Wonder Boys," which was set and filmed in Pittsburgh.
The nomination for "Chocolat," a tasty but hardly substantial diversion, engenders only cynicism and more talk about money. The movie was distributed by Miramax, which has been a major Oscar player of late (in the past five years, "The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love" both won best picture awards). But the company had no other serious contender this year.
Studio boss Harvey Weinstein is famous (or infamous) for lavishing funds on his Oscar advertising campaigns. Thus, "Chocolat" comes off looking like a nomination that was purchased rather than earned -- especially because director Lasse Hallstrom wasn't nominated in his category. His slot went to "Billy Elliot" director Stephen Daldry, bolstering the argument that Daldry's film deserved recognition instead.
"Almost Famous" did receive four nominations, including original screenplay, editing and two for supporting actress (Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand). "Gladiator" got the most nominations, 12, which hardly comes as a shock -- at this point, it is probably the favorite for best picture. Surprisingly, the desert-island drama "Cast Away" received just two nominations, for sound and for best actor (Tom Hanks).
The biggest upset in the performance categories may have been the two acting nominations for the (so far) little-seen movie "Pollock," about the life of artist Jackson Pollock. Ed Harris, another frequent nominee, joins the best actor race for his performance in the title role. Marcia Gay Harden got a supporting actress nod for her work in the film. "Pollock" is slated to open March 9 in Pittsburgh.
Other acting nominations for limited-release movies went to Javier Bardem ("Before Night Falls," which opens Feb. 23 in Pittsburgh), Geoffrey Rush ("Quills"), Dench and Juliette Binoche ("Chocolat"), Ellen Burstyn ("Requiem for a Dream"), Willem Dafoe ("Shadow of the Vampire"), Julie Walters ("Billy Elliot") and Laura Linney ("You Can Count on Me"), who is currently in Pittsburgh shooting "The Mothman Prophecies."
Familiarity does not breed contempt when it comes to Oscar -- Rush, Dench, Binoche, Burstyn and Hanks are all previous winners. Fourteen of the 20 acting hopefuls have been nominated at least once before. Albert Finney's nomination for "Erin Brockovich" is his fifth, but he has yet to win the big prize.
One former Oscar winner didn't get a nomination -- Michael Douglas, a Golden Globe nominee for "Wonder Boys." His wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, considered a possible nominee for "Traffic," also was passed over.
Other notable omissions include Golden Globe winner Renee Zellweger ("Nurse Betty") and Screen Actors Guild nominees Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot"), Gary Oldman ("The Contender") and Kate Winslet ("Quills"). Also passed over was Gillian Anderson ("House of Mirth").
No African-Americans received nominations in the major categories, but several Hispanics and Asians were chosen, including best actor nominee Bardem, supporting actor contender Benicio Del Toro ("Traffic") and best director candidate Ang Lee. However, the two superb actresses in Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi, were ignored.
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