2003 Academy Award Predictions…

Did The Return of the King really win all those awards or did I just fall asleep during the Oscars broadcast and merely dream that it did? I can’t believe this has happened. What will I rant and rave about now? Anyway, I have a couple of theories about what happened. The obvious one is the fact that the academy is notorious for making up for past oversights in strange ways, so a chunk of the eleven statuettes that The Return of the King got were actually ones that The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers should have gotten. (Contrary to a lot of other people’s opinion, I maintain that The Two Towers was actually the best of the three.) My other theory is that The Return of the King benefited from the accelerated Oscar schedule, which had the voting completed closer to the end of the calendar year than in years past. This allowed less time for second thoughts or second-guessing or for feuds and backlashes to develop. This is a good theory, in my opinion, because it suggests that the best movie actually got the bulk of the awards. Whatever the explanation, many thanks to the appropriate deity or deities!

Category

Most Likely to Win

Most Deserving to Win

The One I Didn’t See Coming

Best Picture

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Actor

Sean Penn (Mystic River)

Bill Murray (Lost in Translation)

Best Actress

Charlize Theron (Monster)

Charlize Theron (Monster)

Best Supporting Actor

Tim Robbins (Mystic River)

Djimon Hounsou (In America)

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April)

Holly Hunter (Thirteen)

Renée Zellweger (Cold Mountain)

Best Director

Clint Eastwood (Mystic River)

Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)

Best Original Screenplay

Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation)

Denys Arcand (Les Invasions barbares)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Brian Helgeland (Mystic River)

Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)

Best Animated Feature

Finding Nemo

Les Triplettes de Belleville

Best Foreign Language Film

De Tweeling (Netherlands)

Les Invasions barbares (Canada)

Total Scores

5 instances of predictability

5 triumphs of greatness

1 block of late votes for Chicago

Color Key to Actual Results:
And the Oscar goes to…
I’m just here to have a good time…