2002 Academy Award Predictions…
A guy named David has been emailing me off and on since practically the first day I started doing this web page. A month ago, he told me I should see The Pianist, as I might want to change my Oscar predictions. I should have listened to him. But then, my predictions of the “most likely to win” are more based on my perception of the politics of the academy voting than of the quality of the competitors. For some reason, in these politically correct times, I didn’t think that Hollywood would want to appear to giving approval to fugitive sex criminal Roman Polanski. Silly me. I forgot that this is the same town that fell more in love with Bill Clinton with every new revelation of his non-too-private sex life. What’s more, even though Chicago was technically the big winner, the times really called for a serious look at the horrors of war to be recognized. At least I’ve maintained my record of getting about half the winners in either my “will” or “should” columns.
Category Most Likely to Win Most Deserving to Win Actual Winners I Missed Completely Best Picture Best Actor Jack Nicholson (About
Schmidt) Michael Caine (The Quiet American) Adrien Brody (The
Pianist) Best Actress Renée Zellweger (Chicago) Nicole Kidman (The Hours) Best Supporting Actor Paul Newman (Road to Perdition) Chris Cooper (Adaptation) Best Supporting Actress Julianne Moore (The Hours) Kathy Bates (About
Schmidt) Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago) Best Director Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New
York) Stephen Daldry (The Hours) Roman Polanski (The
Pianist) Best Original Screenplay Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian & Kenneth Lonergan (Gangs of New York) Alfonso Cuarón & Carlos Cuarón (Y tu mamá
también) Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her) Best Adapted Screenplay Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman (Adaptation) Bill Condon (Chicago) Ronald Harwood (The
Pianist) Best Animated Feature Lilo & Stitch Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi Best Foreign Language Film Nirgendwo in Afrika (Germany) Mies vailla menneisyyttä
(Finland) Total Scores 2 unexpectedly accurate predictions 3 unanticipated instances of justice in the universe 5 doses of reality
Color Key to Actual Results:
You really, really like me…
We’re all really winners…