LUMINO'S OSCAR PREVIEW

By ALEX MECHLIN

The Oscars will be handed out on Feb. 29. Most of the nominations were well deserved, but following are few improvements that could have been made in the major categories. Unlike the real Oscars, this column will not trip on the red carpet, be interrupted by orchestral music, or stop to thank its agent.

Best Picture
Lord of the Rings, Lost in Translation, Seabiscuit, Mystic River, Master and Commander, Far Side of the World.

Predicted Winner - Lord of the Rings - Unless Miramax can spend enough money to get the rules amended and get Cold Mountain to win without being nominated, Lord of the Rings will take home the prize.

Deserved Winner - Lost in translation - This film celebrates the connection between human beings on a small scale. It is an art movie on one level, but one able to reach anyone who has ever found themselves lost in a strange land, or questioning the meaning of their own lives.

Least Deserved Nomination - Seabiscuit - This was more like a Ken Burns documentary than a film. In between the black and white photographs and narration with no sense of humor, there was an interesting story to be told. Unfortunately, it never was able to come out until the second half of the film.

Overlooked for a Nomination - 21 Grams - Too raw for the academy, this picture plumbs the depths human beings will go after great loss. The editing tricks it uses to piece the story together are probably looked at too often, while the pure emotion it churns up is the real accomplishment.

Best Director
Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Clint Eastwood (Mystic River), Peter Weir (Master and Commander: Far Side of the World), Fernando Meirelles (City of God).

Predicted Winner - Peter Jackson - hopefully his award acceptance speech won't be filmed in extreme slow motion, and Jar Jar Binks (I mean Golemn) won't try to steal his Oscar.

Deserved Winner - Fernando Meirelles - this is the flashiest directing job of those nominated, but also the hardest. He used non actors in all the roles, basically setting up an acting school to get the actors naturalism ready for the cameras. Meirelles uses all the tricks in the book, from split screen to different stocks of film, but never loses the story throughout all the jumps in time.

Least Deserved Nomination - Peter Weir – He actually think he did a good solid job, just not as good as the other four. Master and Commander is basically trying to entertain the audience, while the other four movies at least attempt to transcend their basic stories.

Overlooked for a Nomination - Tim Burton - Big Fish is a superbly crafted movie, one that flows smoothly even though half the story is told in flashback scenes. Burton brings his astounding visual sense, as well as his sympathetic eye for characters who love to perform.

Best Actor
Johnny Depp(Pirates of the Caribbean), Ben Kingsley(House of Sand and Fog), Jude Law(Could Mountain), Bill Murray(Lost in Translation), Sean Penn(Mystic River).

Predicted Winner - Sean Penn - I may have to eat my words if Penn punches any extras or remarries Madonna, but otherwise he will probably win.

Deserved Winner - Bill Murray - anyone who can effectively imitate Frank Sinatra and Roger Moore in the same movie, all while being truthfully romantic should win the Oscar.

Least Deserved Nomination - Jude Law - Law has given many fine performances, but isn't quite a leading man yet. By burrowing so deep into his character in Cold Mountain, he never allows the audience in, leaving them without a rooting interest.

Overlooked for a Nomination – It really wasn’t that strong of a category this year, so I’ll go with Jack Black in School of Rock. If Johnny Depp can be praised for wearing mascara, why can't Black get some recognition for "raising the goblet of rock."

Best Actress
Keisha Castle-Hughes(Whale Rider), Diane Keaton(Something's Gotta Give), Samantha Morton(In America), Charlize Theron(Monster), Naomi Watts(21 Grams).

Predicted Winner - Charlize Theron - The academy seems to love it when beautiful people make themselves ugly for a role, and Theron completed the transformation by exhibiting the raw emotions of her character.

Deserved Winner - Noami Watts - Watts goes through so many changes in 21 Grams: from drug addict to happy mother to grieving empty soul to revenge obsessed lover and on and on. She is able to make all these emotions part of the same character.

Least Deserved Nomination - Diane Keaton - She gives a very funny performance in the horribly titled Something's Gotta Give, but it is the most unoriginal of the nominees. It’s nice to see her in a lead again, but she’s done this role before in better movies like Manhattan Murder Mystery.

Overlooked for a Nomination - Scarlett Johansson - She easily conveys a woman who is wondering what to do with her life, but also a little stuck-up at the same time. Her chemistry with Murray in Lost in Translation is very endearing, and she lets the relationship build without ever really defining itself.

Best Supporting Actor
Alex Baldwin (The Cooler), Benecio Del Toro(21 Grams), Djimon Hounsou(In America), Tim Robbins(Mystic River), Ken Watanbe(The Last Samurai).

Predicted Winner - Tim Robbins - Mystic River will probably only win major awards in the acting categories, and Robbins is well respected as an actor and director.

Deserved Winner - Tim Robbins - He vividly brings to life his character, but his greatest achievement is allowing the audience to see inside him, even identify with him without knowing his true actions.

Least Deserved Nomination - Ken Watanbe - He was good but not great in The Last Samurai because not enough time was given to his character. I would have preferred to see the whole movie based around him, instead of Tom Cruise's drunken ex-military man.

Overlooked for a Nomination - Paul Bettany - He convincingly stands up to Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, all while performing surgery on himself and doing battle against the French. He is the heart of this movie, standing strong while the storms rage around him.

Best Supporting Actress
Shohreh Aghdashloo(House of Sand and Fog), Patricia Clarkson(Pieces of April), Marcia Gay Harden(Mystic River), Holly Hunter(Thirteen), Renee Zellweger(Cold Mountain).

Predicted Winner - Shohreh Aghdashloo - She has been gaining momentum as more people have seen her film and I hope the academy will not be fooled by Zellweger's stand up comedy routine in Cold Mountain.

Deserved Winner - Patricia Clarkson. She gave two other good performances this year in All the Real Girls and The Station Agent, and showed in this performance how a dieing person is able to find humor in the most depressing situations.

Least Deserved Nomination - Renee Zellweger - Her acting is a performance piece of the worst kind. Comedy is usually funnier when it’s based in some reality, and in this case Zellweger is so unreal in contrast to the rest of the actors that it upsets the balance of the movie.

Overlooked for a Nomination - Catherine O'Hara - In A Mighty Wind, her understanding and love for her old music partner lets real emotional moments come through, all while doing her part to make a very funny comedy.