Well, as absolutely everyone predicted, THE
LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING completely dominated this year’s Oscar ceremony, proving Jan’s contention that awards for
RETURN OF THE KING were really intended to reward the entire RINGS TRILOGY & not just KING itself. (How else to explain a sweep that included every single nominee, including the sweet but totally inconsequential little song INTO THE WEST???)
We’re fine with it. As we said in the note on our Oscar Picks page, if you’ve seen the expanded DVD versions of both THE
FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and THE
TWO TOWERS, (which we have) you’re in a better position to appreciate the enormity of the collective accomplishment. But once Billy Crystal finished his hilarious opening number, it was a pretty boring night.
Even the fashion show was duller than usual, with some of Hollywood’s most stunning ladies (including Oscar winners Charlize Theron & Renee Zellweger as well as presenters Nicole Kidman & Julia Roberts) looking less than their best.
For the record, top candidates for FF2’s 2004 Best Dressed list were Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angelina Jolie, Diane Lane, & Naomi Watts, with top honors going to Jennifer Garner (a gorgeous goddess in her pumpkin-colored number from vintage
Valentino).
Special kudos too to Marcia Gay Harden (the very picture of maternal elegance) & Diane Keaton (always herself – completely unapologetic & totally inspirational).
The most exciting news this year came the day the nominations were announced. However, despite Jan’s best attempt to get the word out, almost no one noticed. (When the powers that be changed the date of the Oscars from March to February, they may have known they’d be bumping into the Presidential Primary season, but they could never have anticipated the media frenzy over Mel Gibson’s THE
PASSION OF THE CHRIST which completely eclipsed every other event on planet Earth.)
Nevertheless, this year’s news for women filmmakers was huge, & way beyond the Coppola header. Three of this year's Best Actress nominees were in films directed by women, & four were in films written by women. This was absolutely unprecedented.
Women's names appeared in twice in the Best Original Screenplay category & once in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, as well as behind-the-scenes in the Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress categories. Fully 50% of this year’s highest acting nominations went to roles written by women screenwriters (Castle-Hughes, Keaton, Morton, Murray, Theron).
Remember, it’s up to every one of us to make these numbers “a trend” rather than just “a fluke.”
With exciting new filmmakers like Patty Jenkins (director of MONSTER) on the scene, there’s reason for optimism!!!
Note: “Percent Impact” was determined by counting the number of nominations given to films in which women served “behind-the-scenes” as either director &/or screenwriter the 8 “major categories” (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay & Best Original
Screenplay).
