Wednesday, January 16, 2002
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Wednesday, January 16, 2002 |
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The most wonderful time of the year: Golden Globes and Oscar time By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
The Golden Globes will be presented Sunday night and soon afterward, Feb. 12, the Oscar nominations will be announced. This is a special time of the year for movie buffs, as they dash to theaters all around the metro area to see the films that are considered to be favorites for the awards. The Golden Globes are usually a good indicator for what will be nominated for an Academy Award. Of The nominees for Best Drama at the Golden Globes it is a toss-up between "Lord of the Rings," and "A Beautiful Mind." Ron Howard will most likely be rewarded this year for a stellar career as a director. He has made a number of excellent films, all very different, and his film this year, "A Beautiful Mind," is excellent. Russell Crowe gives yet another amazing performance as John Forbes Nash, Jr. and Howard's direction is nimble. He moves the story, which transcends several decades, along well. It is touching and sentimental in the some parts and intense and frightening in others. I prefer "Lord of the Rings" for Best Drama. It is a grand epic, reminiscent of "Gladiator." It feels like a "Best Picture." Every actor gives a great performance, the cinematography is amazing and the special effects are blended in perfectly. If "Lord of the Rings" wins here, it may steam-roll it's way through the Oscars. Director Peter Jackson will have to battle Howard in the Directing category and because of Howard's longevity in the biz, Jackson will most likely lose. In the comedy category, "Gosford Park" and "Bridget Jones' Diary" will battle for the award and "Gosford Park" will probably win. The critics love Robert Altman and his all-star cast is a who's who of British actors. "Bridget Jones' Diary" was cute and Renee Zellweger gave a great performance, but it came out too long ago and is probably out of the judges' minds by now. Russell Crowe will win Best Actor in a Drama for his performance in "A Beautiful Mind." He ages from a 20-something graduate student at Princeton to a 70-something professor, all the while struggling with schizophrenia. He is one of the best actors in Hollywood and will be rewarded with another Oscar nomination soon. Gene Hackman will win for his performance in "The Royal Tenenbaums." He is the heart of the movie as a man who crippled his family of geniuses by leaving them and now seeks redemption. In the Actress categories, Sissy Spacek is a shoo-in for her performance as a grieving mother in "In The Bedroom." She has already captured a number of awards and will continue winning through the Oscars. Renee Zellweger should win for "Bridget Jones' Diary," if for no other reason than because she was robbed last year for her performance in "Nurse Betty." You would think she is a one-note actress due to her voice and looks, but she has pulled off two very diverse roles in the past two years and is a definite up and comer. As respected as The Golden Globes are, Hollywood is anxiously awaiting what I have to say. Here are my choices for the best five films of the year and the worst five films of the year. The Best 1. "The Royal Tenenbaums" Director Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore) creates a beautiful movie about family and forgiveness. Throughout the film, Alec Baldwin narrates and pages of a book turn, making it appear that the story of the Tenenbaums comes from a novel. It doesn't but the film is as lush and descriptive as a novel, thanks to wonderful cinematography and a great score and sound track. The film takes place in New York City but it is a New York City that doesn't really exist. Anderson succeeds because the audience wishes it did exist. 2. "Lord of The Rings" Speaking of places that don't exist but audiences wish they did, this film based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic story is full of lush scenery, rousing action and heart. The world is eagerly anticipating the two sequels. 3. "A Beautiful Mind" Well acted and well directed, this film about a genius afflicted with schizophrenia is one of the year's best. 4. "Ocean's Eleven" Last year Stephen Soderbergh made two of the year's best films, "Erin Brockovich" and Traffic." This year he gave us a super cool film about 11 people robbing three casinos. There was limited violence and profanity and a gaggle of Hollywood's elite on the screen. 5. "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" As a fan of the books, I was very impressed with how true the film was to both the plot and the tone. The children gave great performances and Alan Rickman stole the show as Professor Snape. I think I am more excited for this sequel than any other. The Worst 1. "Tomcats" The last guy married out of a group of friends wins a lot of money. When one guy owes a big time gambler, he tries to get his other friend married off. This film was gross, insensitive and a waste of Horatio Sanz's talent. 2. "Freddy Got Fingered" Tom Green wastes the audience's time with this 90-minute mess. The plot is minimal and the gross-out jokes are absolutely nauseating. If someone you know claims this is their favorite movie of all time, beware. 3. "Cats and Dogs" Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to animals talking on screen. I really enjoyed "Babe" and I didn't hate "Dr. Doolittle." This film just fell short of my expectations. Way short. It wasted the talents of every actor offering their voices and the lone bright spot was Sean Hayes (Will and Grace) as the evil cat. This was just boring and too childish for most children. 4. "Scary Movie 2" I laughed when I saw it but in hindsight it was terrible. Where the first film succeeded in satirizing the cheesiness of recent horror films, the sequel failed, pandering to the lowest common denominator and satirizing nothing. As a series of sketches, "Scary Movie 2" would be fine, as a film it was a stinker. 5. "Joe Dirt" I was excited that David Spade was finally going to play a character other than old, snarky David Spade, but while watching the film I was wishing for the Spade from "Tommy Boy" or "Black Sheep." This was a bad movie with a silly plot and really disgusting jokes.
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