Having My Say: My Ideal Oscar 2002 Ballot


Since no Oscar season is complete without some personal gripes and public second-guessing, I like each year to post a ballot of what I would have nominated if the choices had all been left up to me—and, speaking honestly, don't we all kind of think we'd do a better job of this than the Academy membership does? Having seen ALL their nominees, I feel qualified to say there was better work out there in 2002!

Secretly, I think my own ceremony would also be more fun. Instead of hearing tiresome speeches about film being "the universal language," I think I might actually nominate foreign-language artists in more than a category or two! Presenters wouldn't have to say all that crazy crap about "art direction is the aorta of moviegoing experience," blah blah blah, because everybody at my Oscars would already believe those things—and we could save the time for the speeches, because I for one think those are great. Amazing craftspeople like Sandy Powell and Terence Blanchard and Alwin Küchler could sit up front with the other nominees. Debbie Allen wouldn't choreograph anything, but Björk might dress everyone, at least the presenters. People could win in the year they excelled, rather than the year in which their constant past omissions became embarrassing. There could even be ties! Wouldn't you come to an event like this?

Anyway: the actual nominees are listed to the left, with my own choices to the right. The category of Best Original Song and those for Documentary, Animation, and Short films are all excluded, on the basis that I have not seen or heard a wide enough array of the eligible contenders.

The nominees highlighted in yellow in my column are those to which I would eventually give the Award; those in the left column, after March 23rd, will denote the actual Academy recipients.

Oscar's Nominees
BEST PICTURE
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist

BEST DIRECTOR
Pedro Almodóvar, Talk to Her
Stephen Daldry, The Hours
Rob Marshall, Chicago
Roman Polanski, The Pianist
Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York

BEST ACTRESS
Salma Hayek, Frida
Nicole Kidman, The Hours
Diane Lane, Unfaithful
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Renée Zellweger, Chicago

BEST ACTOR
Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation
Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kathy Bates, About Schmidt
Queen Latifah, Chicago
Julianne Moore, The Hours
Meryl Streep, Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Cooper, Adaptation
Ed Harris, The Hours
Paul Newman, Road to Perdition
John C. Reilly, Chicago
Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Far from Heaven, Todd Haynes
Gangs of New York, Cocks/Zaillian/Lonergan
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos
Talk to Her, Pedro Almodóvar
Y tu mamá también, Alfonso & Carlos Cuarón

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
About a Boy, Hedges/Weitz/Weitz
Adaptation, Charlie & Donald Kaufman
Chicago, Bill Condon
The Hours, David Hare
The Pianist, Ron Harwood

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Chicago, Dion Beebe
Far from Heaven, Ed Lachman
Gangs of New York, Michael Ballhaus
The Pianist, Pawel Edelman
Road to Perdition, Conrad L. Hall

BEST ART DIRECTION
Chicago, John Myhre
Frida, Felipe Fernández del Paso
Gangs of New York, Dante Ferretti
LOTR: The Two Towers, Grant Major
Road to Perdition, Dennis Gassner

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Chicago, Colleen Atwood
Frida, Julie Weiss
Gangs of New York, Sandy Powell
The Hours, Ann Roth
The Pianist, Anna Sheppard

BEST EDITING
Chicago, Martin Walsh
Gangs of New York, Thelma Schoonmaker
The Hours, Peter Boyle
LOTR: The Two Towers, Horton/Olssen
The Pianist, Hervé de Luze

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Catch Me If You Can, John Williams
Far from Heaven, Elmer Bernstein
Frida, Elliott Goldenthal
The Hours, Philip Glass
Road to Perdition, Thomas Newman

BEST SOUND
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Road to Perdition
Spider-Man

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Road to Perdition

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Spider-Man
Star Wars, Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

BEST MAKEUP
Frida
The Time Machine
My Nominees

BEST PICTURE
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
Late Marriage
Morvern Callar
Russian Ark
Talk to Her

BEST DIRECTOR
Pedro Almodóvar, Talk to Her
Dover Kosashvili, Late Marriage
Zacharias Kunuk, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
Lynne Ramsay, Morvern Callar
Aleksandr Sokurov, Russian Ark

BEST ACTRESS
Emmanuelle Devos, Read My Lips
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary
Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Samantha Morton, Morvern Callar

BEST ACTOR
Lior Louie Ashkenazi, Late Marriage
Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Dario Grandinetti, Talk to Her

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Clarkson, Far from Heaven
Isabelle Huppert, 8 Women
Lili Kosashvili, Late Marriage
Kim Staunton, Changing Lanes
Meryl Streep, Adaptation

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Brian Cox, Adaptation
Sergei Dreiden, Russian Ark
Barry Pepper, 25th Hour
Dennis Quaid, Far from Heaven
Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Blackboards, Samira & Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Far from Heaven, Todd Haynes
Late Marriage, Dover Kosashvili
Read My Lips, Benacquista/Audiard
Talk to Her, Pedro Almodóvar

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), Paul Apak Angilirq
Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Stockwell/Petroni
Morvern Callar, Lynne Ramsay & Liana Dognini
The Piano Teacher, Michael Haneke
Secretary, E.C.Wilson/S.Shainberg

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Far from Heaven, Ed Lachman
Morvern Callar, Alwin Küchler
Russian Ark, Tilman Büttner
Talk to Her, Javier Aguirresarobe
Y tu mamá también, Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST ART DIRECTION
Far from Heaven, Mark Friedberg
The Pianist, Allan Starski
Secretary, Amy Danger
Spirited Away, Norobu Yoshida
Talk to Her, Antxón Gómez

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Cat's Meow, Caroline de Vivaise
Far from Heaven, Sandy Powell
Late Marriage, Maya Barsky
LOTR: The Two Towers, N.Dickson/R.Taylor
Punch-Drunk Love, Mark Bridges

BEST EDITING
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), Cohn/Kunuk/Sarda
Blackboards, Mohsen Makhmalbaf
The Piano Teacher, N.Muse/M.Willi
Spirited Away, Takeshi Sayama
Talk to Her, José Salcedo

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Far from Heaven, Elmer Bernstein
The Hours, Philip Glass
Punch-Drunk Love, Jon Brion
Talk to Her, Alberto Iglesias
25th Hour, Terence Blanchard

BEST SOUND
Chicago
Morvern Callar
The Pianist
Solaris
Talk to Her

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Chicago
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
We Were Soldiers

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Star Wars, Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

BEST MAKEUP
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Russian Ark
MOST OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Chicago - 13
Gangs of New York - 10
The Hours - 9
Frida - 6
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - 6
The Pianist - 6
Road to Perdition - 6
MOST NICKSFLICKPICKS NODS
Talk to Her - 9
Far from Heaven - 8
Late Marriage - 6
Morvern Callar - 6
Russian Ark - 5
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) - 4
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - 4
MOST OSCAR WINS
Chicago - 6
The Pianist - 3
Frida - 2
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - 2
MOST NICKSFLICKPICKS WINS
Morvern Callar - 4
Russian Ark - 3
Late Marriage - 2

Home 2002 the Oscars E-Mail