In an extraordinary sweep of the 76th Annual Academy of Arts and Sciences Awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King — the last in a trilogy based on the epic fantasy by J. R. R. Tolkien — won all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated, including Best Director for Peter Jackson and Best Picture.
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Monthly Archives: February 2004
Massive Displacement, War and Neglect, Repression and Violence
The 10 Most Unreported Stories of 2003: From the ongoing repression of Chechen civilians to the unrelenting violence in Burundi, from the punishing cycles of violence in Somalia to the repression of North Korean refugees in China, and more terrible stories of hurt, when tens of thousands of people are uprooted by brutal wars, and you don’t read or hear a thing about it anywhere, and most certainly not in your local newspaper or on the nightly TV news, this Doctors Without Borders report puts into sad, ironic relief the ludicrous spectacle of Oscar night.
Coppola Film Tops Independent Awards
“Lost in Translation,” Sofia Coppola’s quirky tale of friendship in Tokyo, dominated Saturday’s Independent Spirit Awards, winning Best Picture and three other prizes.
Ms. Coppola won directing and screenplay honours and her star, Bill Murray, was named Best Actor for his role as a has-been movie star shooting whiskey ads in Japan.
First time nominee and Oscar contender Charlize Theron won the Best Actress award for playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster,” which also received the Best First Feature prize for director Patty Jenkins.
Best Supporting Actor honours went to Djimon Hounsou as an artist dying of AIDS, in the Jim Sheridan-directed film “In America,” while Shohreh Aghdashloo was named Best Supporting Actress, as a compassionate Iranian immigrant in one of 2003’s best films, “House of Sand and Fog.”
Other Indie Spirit Award winners:
– Best film shot for under $500,000: “The Station Agent.”
– Best début performance: Nikki Reed, “thirteen.”
– Best first screenplay: Thomas McCarthy, “The Station Agent.”
– Best foreign film: “Whale Rider.”
– Best documentary: “The Fog of War.”
– Best cinematography: Declan Quinn, “In America.”
At the Razzies, it’s a Bennifer sweep
In a virtual sweep of the awards that “honour” the worst of the very worst in Hollywood — a sort-of anti-Oscar, the Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck mob-comedy flop was accorded the Golden Raspberry “Razzie” on Saturday night as the most egregiously unwatchable film of 2003.
There was some small consolation for the “Gigli” crew, though, with worst supporting actor and actress nods going to Razzie king Sylvester Stallone and another veteran, Demi Moore. Stallone was cited for an unprecedented 10th Razzie for “Spy Kids 3D: Game Over,” while Moore’s work in “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” earned the Razzie’s cinematic condemnation award. ‘Angels’ was also cited as worst sequel.