In a Perfect World.... My Ideal 1999 Oscar Nominees


Siskel & Ebert used to have an annual special entitled "Memo to the Academy" in which they alerted Oscar voters during the first round of balloting to those performances and pictures which they feel deserve a second look. I am less constructive in my Memo; I prefer to whine and criticize after the balloting period is already over. Here, then, is my roster of who I thought deserved the nods that the Academy, as always, handed out to a noticeably different list of filmmakers. Of course, no list satisfies everyone, nor includes every filmmaker who deserves recognition . . . but to paraphrase Hippocrates, I say, "Critic, please thyself!"

As a disclaimer, I am at least honest enough not to second guess entirely the categories in which I have not seen
all of the Academy's nominees. As an admission of my own ignorance, I have highlighted in grey those AMPAS
nominees which I have not actually seen. Also, the categories of Best Original Song and the Foreign, Documentary, 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.

The Academy's Selections
BEST PICTURE
American Beauty
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Sixth Sense

BEST DIRECTOR
Lasse Hallström, The Cider House Rules
Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich
Michael Mann, The Insider
Sam Mendes, American Beauty
M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, American Beauty
Janet McTeer, Tumbleweeds
Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair
Meryl Streep, Music of the Heart
Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry

BEST ACTOR
Russell Crowe, The Insider
Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story
Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
Denzel Washington, The Hurricane

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense
Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted
Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich
Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown
Chloë Sevigny, Boys Don't Cry

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Caine, The Cider House Rules
Tom Cruise, Magnolia
Michael Clarke Duncan, The Green Mile
Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Beauty, Alan Ball
Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman
Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan
Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Cider House Rules, John Irving
Election, A.Payne & J.Taylor
The Green Mile, Frank Darabont
The Insider, E.Roth & M.Mann
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Anthony Minghella

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
American Beauty, Conrad L. Hall
The End of the Affair, Roger Pratt
The Insider, Dante Spinotti
Sleepy Hollow, Emmanuel Lubezki
Snow Falling on Cedars, Robert Richardson

ART DIRECTION
Anna and the King, Luciana Arrighi
The Cider House Rules, David Gropman
Sleepy Hollow, Rick Heinrichs
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Roy Walker
Topsy-Turvy, Eve Stewart

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna and the King, Jenny Beaven
Sleepy Hollow, Colleen Atwood
The Talented Mr. Ripley, A.Roth & G.Jones
Titus, Milena Canonero
Topsy-Turvy, Lindy Hemming


BEST EDITING
American Beauty, T.Anwar & C.Greenbury
The Cider House Rules, Lisa Zeno Churgin
The Insider, W.Goldenberg & P.Rubell
The Matrix, Zach Staenberg
The Sixth Sense, Andrew Monshein

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
American Beauty, Thomas Newman
Angela's Ashes, John Williams
The Cider House Rules, Rachel Portman
The Red Violin, John Corigliano
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gabriel Yared

BEST SOUND
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Matrix
The Mummy
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Fight Club
The Matrix
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Matrix
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace
Stuart Little

BEST MAKEUP
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Bicentennial Man
Life
Topsy-Turvy
My Own Selections

BEST PICTURE
Boys Don't Cry
Bringing Out the Dead
Eyes Wide Shut
Magnolia
Man on the Moon

BEST DIRECTOR
Miloš Forman, Man on the Moon
Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich
Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut
Kimberly Peirce, Boys Don't Cry
Martin Scorsese, Bringing Out the Dead

BEST ACTRESS
élodie Bouchez, The Dreamlife of Angels
Diane Lane, A Walk on the Moon
Janet McTeer, Tumbleweeds
Cecilia Roth, All About My Mother
Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry

BEST ACTOR
Jim Broadbent, Topsy-Turvy
Allan Corduner, Topsy-Turvy
Russell Crowe, The Insider
Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Shirley Henderson, Topsy-Turvy
Tina Holmes, Edge of Seventeen
Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut
Jessica Lange, Titus
Chloë Sevigny, Boys Don't Cry

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Cooper, American Beauty
John Malkovich, Being John Malkovich
Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
Peter Sarsgaard, Boys Don't Cry
Liev Schreiber, A Walk on the Moon

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Beauty, Alan Ball
Being John Malkovich, Charlie Kaufman
Boys Don't Cry, K.Peirce & A.Bienen
Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson
Man on the Moon, S.Alexander/L.Karaszewski

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Bringing Out the Dead, Paul Schrader
Election, Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
Eyes Wide Shut, F.Raphael & S. Kubrick
The Insider, Eric Roth & Michael Mann
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Anthony Minghella
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
American Beauty, Conrad L. Hall
Bringing Out the Dead, Robert Richardson
The End of the Affair, Roger Pratt
Eyes Wide Shut, Larry Smith
The Insider, Dante Spinotti

BEST ART DIRECTION
Being John Malkovich, K.K.Barrett & P.Andrus
Eyes Wide Shut, Les Tomkins
eXistenZ, Carol Spier
Topsy-Turvy, Eve Stewart
Toy Story 2, William Cone & Jim Pearson

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
American Beauty, Julie Weiss
Star Wars, Episode I:
The Phantom Menace
, Trisha Biggar
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ann Roth & Gary Jones
Titus, Milena Canonero
Topsy-Turvy, Lindy Hemming

BEST EDITING
The Blair Witch Project, D.Myrick & E.Sánchez
Bringing Out the Dead, Thelma Schoonmaker
Eyes Wide Shut, Nigel Galt
The Insider, W.Goldenberg & P.Rubell
Three Kings, Robert K. Lambert

BEST ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE
American Beauty, Thomas Newman
Besieged, Alessio Vlad
eXistenZ, Howard Shore
The Insider, L.Gerrard & P.Bourke
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gabriel Yared

BEST SOUND
Besieged
The Blair Witch Project
The Insider
The Matrix
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace
Three Kings
Toy Story 2

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Matrix
Sleepy Hollow
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace

BEST MAKEUP
Sleepy Hollow
Star Wars, Ep I: The Phantom Menace
Topsy-Turvy

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