What's What at the Oscars

The nominees have been announced, but who stands the best chance of success at the 75th Academy Awards - and who deserves it? We give our opinions...

On February 11, 2003, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 75th Annual Academy Awards. There weren't too many surprises, but who deserves success on the 75th anniversary of the awards? Here are our predictions, and opinions on who we think deserves the recognition the most.

The superb musical Chicago, adapted from the broadway stage show of the same name, will lead this year's oscar contenders with an astounding 13 nominations. The musical which follows the aspirations of femme fatale Roxie Hart (Renee Zellwegger) who's obsessed with capitalising on her notoriety, has been nominated for best picture as well as four acting gongs.

Others in the race for Best Picture at the 75th Academy Awards are: the fantasy action adventure "The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers"; the Holocaust drama "The Pianist"; the 19th century American vengeance epic "Gangs of New York"; and the Virginia Woolf based drama "The Hours".

The Best Actor category this year is absolutely top brass with some of the most notable performances we've seen in a while. Nominees include: Daniel Day Lewis as the ruthless crime leader in "Gangs of New York"; Adrien Brody for portraying one Jewish musician's war experience in "The Pianist", Nicolas Cage as a paranoid screenwriter in "Adaptation"; Michael Caine as a British journalist in the Vietnam tale "The Quiet American"; and last but not least Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt" for his performance as a self-realising widower. This is Nicholson's 12th oscar nomination so far (3 awards won in the past), making him one of the most-nominated actor in Academy award history and reiterating his place in Hollywood as one of the biggest screen legends of all time.

Aside from best picture, Chicago also brought home nominations for Renee Zellwegger (Best Actress) as well as Queen Latifah and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Best Supporting Actress). Julianne Moore grabs a double-bill for both her lead role in "The Hours" and her supporting role in "Far From Heaven", a 1950s melodrama wherein a woman loses her marriage after her husband's affair. Both movie veterans Kathy Bates (in "About Schmidt") and Meryl Streep ("The Hours") complete the Best Supporting Actress category, and if my oscar counting is correct... Streep tops the list for having the most oscar nominations in history at 13 and is in with a chance of winning 4 oscars - the most anyone has won in cinema history!

To round off the Best Actress category, nominations were also handed out to Salma Hayek for her portrayal in the Mexican biopic ("Frida"); Diane Lane as a cheating wife who pushes her husband to murder ("Unfaithful"); and finally for Nicole Kidman as Virgina Woolf in "The Hours".

John C. Reilly from Chicago is in great company in the Best Supporting Actor group with Ed Harris ("The Hours"), Chris Cooper ("Adaptation"), Paul Newman ("Road to Perdition") and Christopher Walken for his performance in "Catch Me If You Can".

We would say the Best Director spot is pretty much open and we're quite divided as to who they will give it to... In the running are: Martin Scoresese ("Gangs of New York"); Stephen Daldry ("The Hours"); Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"); Rob Marshall ("Chicago"); and Pedro Almodovar ("Talk to her").

Other oscar highlights include About a Boy (Best Adaptation), Lilo and Stitch (Best Animated Feature), Best Visual Effects (Spider-Man). We'll be drawing up our guide to who's hot on oscar night and predicting who'll be making their acceptance speeches or crying into their champagne.

Transistor Sister
Film critic, Kikizo Movies

The full list of nominees for the 75th Academy Awards ceremony:

Best Picture

• CHICAGO (Miramax)
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
• THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line)
• THE PIANIST (Focus Features)

  Best Director

• Rob Marshall for CHICAGO (Miramax)
• Martin Scorsese for GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
• Stephen Daldry for THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
• Roman Polanski for THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
• Pedro Almodóvar for TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics)

  Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Adrien Brody in THE PIANIST (Focus Features)
• Nicolas Cage in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Michael Caine in THE QUIET AMERICAN (Miramax and Intermedia)
• Daniel Day-Lewis in GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax)
• Jack Nicholson in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)

  Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Salma Hayek in FRIDA (Miramax)
• Nicole Kidman in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
• Diane Lane in UNFAITHFUL (20th Century Fox)
• Julianne Moore in FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features)
• Renée Zellweger in CHICAGO (Miramax)

  Best Supporting Actor

• Chris Cooper in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Ed Harris in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
• Paul Newman in ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)
• John C. Reilly in CHICAGO (Miramax)
• Christopher Walken in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (DreamWorks)

  Best Supporting Actress

• Kathy Bates in ABOUT SCHMIDT (New Line)
• Julianne Moore in THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax)
• Queen Latifah in CHICAGO (Miramax)
• Meryl Streep in ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Catherine Zeta-Jones in CHICAGO (Miramax)

  Best Animated Feature Film

• ICE AGE (20th Century Fox)
• LILO & STITCH (Buena Vista)
• SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (DreamWorks)
• SPIRITED AWAY (Buena Vista)
• TREASURE PLANET (Buena Vista)

  Best Adapted Screenplay

• ABOUT A BOY (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
• ADAPTATION (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman
• CHICAGO (Miramax) Screenplay by Bill Condon
• THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Screenplay by David Hare
• THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

  Best Original Screenplay

• FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Written by Todd Haynes
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan Story by Jay Cocks
• MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (IFC/Gold Circle Films) Written by Nia Vardalos
• TALK TO HER (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Pedro Almodóvar
• Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (IFC Films) Written by Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón

  Best Foreign-Language Film

• EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO - Mexico
• HERO - People's Republic of China
• THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST - Finland
• NOWHERE IN AFRICA - Germany
• ZUS & ZO - The Netherlands

  Achievement in Art Direction

• CHICAGO (Miramax) Art Direction: John Myhre (Set Decoration: Gord Sim)
• FRIDA (Miramax) Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso (Set Decoration: Hannia Robledo)
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Art Direction: Dante Ferretti (Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo)
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Art Direction: Grant Major (Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee)
• ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Dennis Gassner (Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh )

  Achievement in Cinematography

• CHICAGO (Miramax) Dion Beebe
• FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Edward Lachman
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Michael Ballhaus
• THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Pawel Edelman
• ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Conrad L. Hall

  Achievement in Costume Design

• CHICAGO (Miramax) Colleen Atwood
• FRIDA (Miramax) Julie Weiss
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Sandy Powell
• THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Ann Roth
• THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Anna Sheppard

  Best Documentary Feature

• BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (United Artists and Alliance Atlantis)
• DAUGHTER FROM DANANG (Balcony Releasing in association with Cowboy Pictures)
• PRISONER OF PARADISE (Alliance Atlantis)
• SPELLBOUND (THINKFilm)
• WINGED MIGRATION (Sony Pictures Classics)

  Documentary Short Subject

• THE COLLECTOR OF BEDFORD STREET (An Alice Elliott Production)
• MIGHTY TIMES: THE LEGACY OF ROSA PARKS (A Tell the Truth Pictures Production)
• TWIN TOWERS (A Wolf Films/Shape Pictures/Universal/Mopo Entertainment Production)
• WHY CAN'T WE BE A FAMILY AGAIN? (A Public Policy Production)

  Best Film Editing

• CHICAGO (Miramax) Martin Walsh
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Thelma Schoonmaker
• THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Peter Boyle
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Michael Horton
• THE PIANIST (Focus Features) Hervé de Luze

  Achievement in Makeup

• FRIDA (Miramax) John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba
• THE TIME MACHINE (DreamWorks and Warner Bros.) John M. Elliott, Jr. and Barbara Lorenz

  Best Original Score

• CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (DreamWorks) John Williams
• FAR FROM HEAVEN (Focus Features) Elmer Bernstein
• FRIDA (Miramax) Elliot Goldenthal
• THE HOURS (Paramount and Miramax) Philip Glass
• ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Thomas Newman

  Original Song

• "Burn It Blue" from FRIDA (Miramax) Music by Elliot Goldenthal, Lyrics by Julie Taymor
• "Father and Daughter" from THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE (Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies) Music and Lyrics by Paul Simon
• "The Hands That Built America" from GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Music and Lyrics by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
• "I Move On" from CHICAGO (Miramax) Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb
• "Lose Yourself" from 8 MILE (Universal) Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto, Lyrics by Eminem

  Best Animated Short Film

• THE CATHEDRAL A Platige Image Production
• THE CHUBBCHUBBS! (Columbia) A Sony Pictures Imageworks Production
• DAS RAD A Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH Production
• MIKE'S NEW CAR (Buena Vista) A Pixar Animation Studios Production
• MT. HEAD A Yamamura Animation Production

  Live-Action Short Film

• FAIT D'HIVER An Another Dimension of an Idea Production
• I'LL WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE (J'ATTENDRAI LE SUIVANT) A La Boîte Production
• INJA (DOG) An Australian Film TV & Radio School (AFTRS) Production
• JOHNNY FLYNTON A Red Corner Production
• THIS CHARMING MAN (DER ER EN YNDIG MAND) An M&M Productions for Novellefilm Production

  Achievement in Sound

• CHICAGO (Miramax) Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
• GANGS OF NEW YORK (Miramax) Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty and Ivan Sharrock
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
• ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott Millan, Bob Beemer and John Patrick Pritchett
• SPIDER-MAN (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick

  Achievement in Sound Editing

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins
• MINORITY REPORT (20th Century Fox and DreamWorks) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
• ROAD TO PERDITION (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott A. Hecker

  Best Visual Effects

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (New Line) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke
• SPIDER-MAN (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier
• STAR WARS EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES (20th Century Fox) Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow