Best Original Screenplay, 2003
(Click on the linked film titles for reviews of the corresponding films.)
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Nominee Denys Arcand The Barbarian Invasions 30:1 |
Cannes cheered, and Arcandites wept with joy, but none of that matters here. |
By far the lowest-grossing movie of all the major nominees, and given over to abstruse ruminations on socialism, chauvinism, and death. In French. |
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Steven Knight Dirty Pretty Things 30:1 |
The UK cheered, and Frears fans smacked their lips, but none of that matters here.
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The film was never the crossover hit that Miramax surely wanted. Whatever spotlight this film ever attracted on American shores has been dim for many months.
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Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds Finding Nemo 15:1 |
America cheered, and many countries in the world have followed suit. It's Pixar's world, really, the rest of us merely live in it.
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Of course, with all that cash pouring in, nobody feels the need to further compensate the most thriving studio in town. Or rather, they do, but only in the Animated Film category that was deliberately christened to take care of occasions like this.
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Jim, Naomi, and Kirsten Sheridan In America 10:1 |
Fox Searchlight has shown such aplomb in advertising this film, I wouldn't be stunned if studio delegates personally visited each Academy voter to tell them the heartwarming story of how fêted British director Jim Sheridan wrote this poignant script with his own lovely daughters. And then, the film is a heartwarming tale all its own.
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But no one cheered! In America had all the trappings of a bonafide audience hit except for one: the audiences. Without a larger core of devotées, the Sheridans are no match for that other movie about global dislocation...
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Sofia Coppola Lost in Translation 1:1 |
Do these even need rehearsing? A cherished film bound to be overshadowed for Best Picture has a wide-open lead here. Sofia Coppola, destined to lose Best Director but possessing a talent and a gender that Oscar will rush to celebrate, can still take a home a prize. And in the grand tradition of The Piano, Fargo, and last year's Talk to Her, independent vision is a tremendous plus. |
Durn it, I can't think of a one.
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