The Associated Press From left, Dominic Monaghan,
Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin,
in a scene from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring."
By Kenny Chang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Vacuum the red carpets and start casting those glistening
gold/nickel-plated statuettes ““ the Academy Awards are
here.
Characterized by the glitz and glam, the stars and starlets, the
awards represent the best achievements in film for the past year.
This year is the 74th annual Academy Awards, and is apparently
another big year for big films.
“Lord of the Rings” led the amount of nominations
with 13, including Best Picture and a Best Supporting Actor
nomination for Ian McKellen as well.
“A Beautiful Mind” followed behind with eight
nominations, also contending for Best Picture, as well as Best
Actor (Russell Crowe).
“It seems like many nominations are for the blockbuster
films,” said Tim McCarthy, a first-year graduate film
student. “The blockbuster films obviously dominated the box
office and the Academy Awards.”
And with these Academy Awards comes everybody’s favorite
little $330 golden knight, Oscar.
Oscar nominations are made by those in the Academy that work in
the corresponding category of nomination. For example, film editors
will choose the nominations for Best Editing. The Best Picture
category is nominated by all voting members. In order to win,
everyone in the Academy votes for all the categories.
The nominations include independent films such as “Gosford
Park” and “In the Bedroom.” Though there are some
contentions that the independent films were underrepresented, they
were considered a welcome sight.
“Across the board, there is a variety of films,”
said Anthony Puente, a first-year graduate film student. “It
shows that at least we’re not going with the hype. Its a good
sign. Hopefully this trend will continue because that would be a
good sign for filmmakers like myself.”
There were also some records set this year with the nominations.
It is the first time in history that two African Americans are
nominated for Best Actor in the same year.
“I’m really happy that there were two black actors
up for the leading actor that both deserve it, especially Denzel
(Washington). He’s been snubbed in the past,” Puente
said.
Will Smith is nominated for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in
“Ali” as well, in his first nod for Best Actor.
Another distinctive feature that stands out this year is the
wide range of different genres of films that are nominated.
“Well they go the whole gamut,” said Myrl
Schreibman, adjunct associate professor of Film and TV. “For
Best Picture of the year nominations, we have a fantasy musical, a
fantasy action picture, and a picture about schizophrenia.
It’s nice to see such a wide diversity of themes nominated
this year ““ that’s very exciting.”
Given the wide range of movies, it seems that it will be
difficult to decide the winners. Although audiences may already
have their hearts set on which films they would like to see win,
votes have not yet been cast. While the decision is not in the
hands of the general public, it is nevertheless likely to be a
daunting task for the members of the Academy.
“I saw all five of these movies and I think its going to
be a tough decision,” Schreibman said. “Each stands out
for their own merit.”
With the wide thematic variety in the nominations this year,
there came films with very different styles.
“I believe it’s wonderful that filmmakers are making
movies where they’re taking chances,” Schreibman
said.
“They’re doing things new ““ they’re not
afraid to push the envelope in terms of style and structure and are
bold enough to go ahead,” she continued.