2000 Academy Awards: List of Eligible Films
The Academy has a whole bevy of rules stipulating what movies are eligible for nominations in any given "year" of Oscar balloting. For the 2000 Academy Awards—already things get confusing, because the "2000" Oscars are awarded in the year 2001—a film must open commercially at a theater in Los Angeles at some point between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2000. Seems simple enough, unless you realize that several films that seem new to moviegoers around the country (for example, The House of Mirth, The Gift, or Shadow of the Vampire) in fact opened in Los Angeles to attain Awards eligibility, subsequently closed, and have since reopened to play nationwide in the traditionally fallow late-winter movie season. The studios adopt these staggered release-date tactics because they want their strongest contenders to be playing in theaters while voters—they of the notoriously short memories—are filing their nomination and winner ballots. Also, with drivel like Valentine and Double Take clogging up the cineplex, the distributors think an artsy or offbeat offering like Mirth or Vampire might look more attractive than it would during the crowded, Grinch-dominated holidays.
Every year, a few wrinkles in the Academy rulebook mean that certain films, performances, or other individual accomplishments are "unfairly" left out. This year's highest profile case of ineligibility is the surprisingly popular (overrated!) film Croupier, which voided its chances by having premiered on television before opening stateside—another Academy no-no. (The same rule has disqualified past coulda-beens such as The Last Seduction in 1994.) My two cents on these kinds of disputes is that the rules are well-known, the Academy could not possibly include every film released in the world in its eligibility forum (and does not claim to do so!), and if the worst thing that ever happens to Croupier—which had to fight to be released at all, only to gross an astonishing $6 million—is that it can't win an Oscar nomination . . . I think the folks at the Shooting Gallery should count their blessings. Probably the easiest way to clarify all this gobbledygook is to provide an alphabetical list of the 245 films that did qualify as Oscar candidates for 2000...and yes, they include Dude, Where's My Car? and Urban Legend: Final Cut. Maybe that's why the Croupier crowd is so miffed? . . . .
A
THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE
AN AFFAIR OF LOVE
ALL THE PRETTY HORSES
ALMOST FAMOUS
THE AMATI GIRLS
AMERICAN PSYCHO
ANATOMY
THE ART OF WAR
AUTUMN IN NEW YORK
B
BAIT
BAMBOOZLED
BARENAKED IN AMERICA
THE BASKET
BATTLEFIELD EARTH
THE BEACH
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
BEDAZZLED
BEFORE NIGHT FALLS
BEST IN SHOW
THE BIG KAHUNA
BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE
THE BIG TEASE
BILLY ELLIOT
BLACK AND WHITE
BLESS THE CHILD
BLUE MOON
BOESMAN & LENA
BOILER ROOM
BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2
BOSSA NOVA
BOUNCE
BOYS AND GIRLS
BRING IT ON
THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB - A ROMANTIC COMEDY
BUDDY BOY
BURLESK KING
C
CAST AWAY
CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
CECIL B. DeMENTED
THE CELL
CENTER STAGE
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
CHICKEN RUN
CHOCOLAT
CHUCK & BUCK
CIRCUS
THE CLAIM
THE COLOR OF PARADISE
COMMITTED
THE CONTENDER
COTTON MARY
COYOTE UGLY
THE CREW
CRIME + PUNISHMENT IN SUBURBIA
CRIMINAL LOVERS
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
D
DANCER IN THE DARK
DETERRENCE
DIGIMON: THE MOVIE
DINOSAUR
DISNEY'S THE KID
DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
DR. T & THE WOMEN
DOWN TO YOU
DRACULA 2000
DROWNING MONA
DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR?
DUETS
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
E
EAST IS EAST
THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE
ERIN BROCKOVICH
AN EVERLASTING PIECE
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
F
THE FAMILY MAN
FANTASIA/2000
THE FANTASTICKS
FINAL DESTINATION
FINDING FORRESTER
THE FIVE SENSES
THE FLINTSTONES IN VIVA ROCK VEGAS
FREQUENCY
G
GET CARTER
GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI
THE GIFT
GIRL ON THE BRIDGE
GIRLFIGHT
GLADIATOR
GOD'S ARMY
GODZILLA 2000
GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS
GOSSIP
GOYA IN BORDEAUX
GROOVE
GUN SHY
H
HAMLET
HANGING UP
HELD UP
HERE ON EARTH
HIGH FIDELITY
HIGHLANDER ENDGAME
HOLLOW MAN
HOOVER
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH
HUMAN TRAFFIC
I
I DREAMED OF AFRICA
I'M THE ONE THAT I WANT
THE IN CROWD
ISN'T SHE GREAT
J
JESUS' SON
JOE GOULD'S SECRET
JUDY BERLIN
JUST LOOKING
K
KEEPING THE FAITH
KIKUJIRO
L
LA BUCHE
THE LADIES MAN
THE LAST SEPTEMBER
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HANK GREENBERG
LITTLE NICKY
THE LITTLE VAMPIRE
LOSER
LOST SOULS
LOVE AND BASKETBALL
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST
LUCKY NUMBERS
LUMINARIAS
M
MALENA
ME, MYSELF & IRENE
ME MYSELF I
MEET THE PARENTS
MEN OF HONOR
MIFUNE
MISS CONGENIALITY
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II
MISSION TO MARS
MY DOG SKIP
N
THE NEXT BEST THING
NEXT FRIDAY
THE NINTH GATE
NOT ONE LESS
NURSE BETTY
NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS
O
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
ONE
102 DALMATIANS
THE OPPORTUNISTS
THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY
P
PASSION OF MIND
THE PATRIOT
PAY IT FORWARD
PERFECT FIT
THE PERFECT STORM
PITCH BLACK
POKEMON THE MOVIE 2000
POLLOCK
POOR WHITE TRASH
PRICE OF GLORY
PROOF OF LIFE
PSYCHO BEACH PARTY
Q
QUILLS
R
RATCATCHER
READY TO RUMBLE
RED PLANET
REINDEER GAMES
REMEMBER THE TITANS
THE REPLACEMENTS
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
RETURN TO ME
THE ROAD TO EL DORADO
ROAD TRIP
ROMEO MUST DIE
A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS
RUGRATS IN PARIS: THE MOVIE
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
RUNNING FREE
S
SAVING GRACE
SCARY MOVIE
SCREAM 3
SCREWED
SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE
SHAFT
SHANGHAI NOON
SHOWER
THE SIMIAN LINE
THE 6TH DAY
THE SKULLS
SMALL TIME CROOKS
SNATCH
SNOW DAY
SORTED
SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL
SPACE COWBOYS
SPRING FORWARD
STATE AND MAIN
SUNSET STRIP
SUNSHINE
SUPERNOVA
SUZHOU RIVER
T
THE TAO OF STEVE
THIRTEEN DAYS
THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD
3 STRIKES
TIGERLAND
THE TIGGER MOVIE
TIME CODE
A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES
TITAN A.E.
TITANIC TOWN
TRAFFIC
TRIXIE
TURN IT UP
28 DAYS
TWO FAMILY HOUSE
U
U-571
UNBREAKABLE
UP AT THE VILLA
URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT
V
VATEL
VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE
VERTICAL LIMIT
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
THE VISIT
W
WAKING THE DEAD
THE WATCHER
THE WAY OF THE GUN
THE WEEKEND
WHAT LIES BENEATH
WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM?
WHAT WOMEN WANT
WHATEVER IT TAKES
WHERE THE HEART IS
WHERE THE MONEY IS
WHIPPED
THE WHOLE NINE YARDS
WOMAN ON TOP
WONDER BOYS
WONDERLAND
X
X-MEN
Y
THE YARDS
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME