In a Perfect World: My Ideal Oscar 2001 Ballot


Siskel & Ebert used to have an annual special entitled "Memo to the Academy" in which they alerted Oscar voters during the first round of balloting to those performances and pictures which they feel deserve a second look. I am less constructive in my Memo; I prefer to whine and criticize after the balloting period is already over.

Here, then, is my roster of who I thought deserved those nominations which the Academy, as ever, handed out instead to a noticeably different list of filmmakers. Of course, no list satisfies everyone, nor includes every filmmaker who deserves recognition . . . but to paraphrase Hippocrates, I say, "Critic, please thyself!" (This is also why I'm allowed to dispense with all those ridiculous Academy bylaws and include "ineligible" films like In the Mood for Love. It's my party, and I'll nominate if I want to!)

As a disclaimer, I am at least honest enough not to second guess entirely the categories in which I have not seen all of the Academy's nominees. As an admission of my own ignorance, I have highlighted in grey those AMPAS nominees which I have not actually seen. Also, the categories of Best Original Song and the Foreign, Documentary, Animated Feature, and Short films are all excluded on the basis that I have not seen or heard a wide enough array of the eligible contenders.

The nominees highlighted in yellow in my column are those to which I would eventually give the Award; those in the left column were the Academy recipients.

Oscar's Nominees
BEST PICTURE
A Beautiful Mind
Gosford Park
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge

BEST DIRECTOR
Robert Altman, Gosford Park
Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
Peter Jackson, Lord...: Fellowship
David Lynch, Mulholland Drive
Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down

BEST ACTRESS
Halle Berry, Monster's Ball
Judi Dench, Iris
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge
Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom
Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones's Diary

BEST ACTOR
Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
Sean Penn, I Am Sam
Will Smith, Ali
Denzel Washington, Training Day
Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind
Helen Mirren, Gosford Park
Maggie Smith, Gosford Park
Marisa Tomei, In the Bedroom
Kate Winslet, Iris

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jim Broadbent, Iris
Ethan Hawke, Training Day
Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Ian McKellen, Lord...: Fellowship
Jon Voight, Ali

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Amélie, G.Laurant/J.-P.Jeunet
Gosford Park, Julian Fellowes
Memento, Christopher & Jonah Nolan
Monster's Ball, Milo Addica/Will Rokos
The Royal Tenenbaums, W.Anderson/O.Wilson

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A Beautiful Mind, Akiva Goldsman
Ghost World, D.Clowes & T.Zwigoff
In the Bedroom, R.Festinger & T.Field
Lord...: Fellowship, Walsh/Boyens/Jackson
Shrek, Elliott/Rossio/Stillman/Schulman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Amélie, Bruno Delbonnel
Black Hawk Down, Slawomir Idziak
Lord...: Fellowship, Andrew Lesnie
The Man Who Wasn't There, Roger Deakins
Moulin Rouge, Donald McAlpine

ART DIRECTION
Amélie, Aline Bonetto
Gosford Park, Stephen Altman
Harry Potter...Sorcerer's Stone, Stuart Craig
Lord...: Fellowship, Grant Major
Moulin Rouge, Catherine Martin

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Affair of the Necklace, Milena Canonero
Gosford Park, Jenny Beavan
Harry Potter...Sorcerer's Stone, Judianna Makovsky
Lord...: Fellowship, N.Dickson & R.Taylor
Moulin Rouge, C.Martin & A.Strathie

BEST EDITING
A Beautiful Mind, M.Hill & D.Hanley
Black Hawk Down, Pietro Scalia
Lord...: Fellowship, John Gilbert
Memento, Dody Dorn
Moulin Rouge, Jill Bilcock

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
A.I. Artificial Intelligence, John Williams
A Beautiful Mind, James Horner
Harry Potter....Sorcerer's Stone, John Williams
Lord...: Fellowship, Howard Shore
Monsters, Inc., Randy Newman

BEST SOUND
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Pearl Harbor

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Monsters, Inc.
Pearl Harbor

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Pearl Harbor

BEST MAKEUP
A Beautiful Mind
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
My Nominees

BEST PICTURE
Amores Perros
The Circle
Gosford Park
In the Mood for Love
Mulholland Drive

BEST DIRECTOR
Robert Altman, Gosford Park
Peter Jackson, Lord...: Fellowship
David Lynch, Mulholland Drive
Steven Soderbergh, Ocean's Eleven
Wong Kar-Wai, In the Mood for Love

BEST ACTRESS
Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love
Judi Dench, Iris
Charlotte Rampling, Under the Sand
Tilda Swinton, The Deep End
Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive

BEST ACTOR
Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums
John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Guy Pearce, Memento
Denzel Washington, Training Day

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Elena Harring, Mulholland Drive
Helen Mirren, Gosford Park
Maggie Smith, Gosford Park
Goya Toledo, Amores Perros
Kate Winslet, Iris

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Steve Buscemi, Ghost World
Brian Cox, L.I.E.
Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Ian McKellen, Lord...: Fellowship
Carl Reiner, Ocean's Eleven

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Amores Perros, Alejandro González Iñárritu
The Circle, Kambuzia Partovi
Gosford Park, Julian Fellowes
Memento, Christopher & Jonah Nolan
Mulholland Drive, David Lynch

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Ali, E.Roth/M.Mann/S.J.Rivele/C.Wilkinson
A Beautiful Mind, Akiva Goldsman
The Deep End, Scott McGehee & David Siegel
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell
Lord...: Fellowship, Walsh/Boyens/Jackson

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Janusz Kaminski
The Deep End, Giles Nuttgens
In the Mood for Love, C.Doyle/M.Ping-Bin
The Man Who Wasn't There, Roger Deakins
Mulholland Drive, Peter Deming

ART DIRECTION
A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Rick Carter
Gosford Park, Stephen Altman
Lord...: Fellowship, Grant Major
Moulin Rouge, Catherine Martin
The Royal Tenenbaums, David Wasco

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Gosford Park, Jenny Beavan
In the Mood for Love, William Chang
Lord...: Fellowship, N.Dickson & R.Taylor
Moulin Rouge, C.Martin & A.Strathie
The Royal Tenenbaums, Karen Patch

BEST EDITING
Gosford Park, Tim Squyres
Lord...: Fellowship, John Gilbert
Moulin Rouge, Jill Bilcock
Mulholland Drive, Mary Sweeney
Ocean's Eleven, Stephen Mirrione

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Ali, Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke
Gosford Park, Patrick Doyle
In the Mood for Love, U.Shigeru/M.Galasso
Lord...: Fellowship, Howard Shore
Mulholland Drive, Angelo Badalamenti

BEST SOUND
Black Hawk Down
In the Mood for Love
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Mulholland Drive

BEST SOUND EFFECTS
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

BEST MAKEUP
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Planet of the Apes
MOST OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - 13
A Beautiful Mind - 8
Moulin Rouge - 8
Gosford Park - 7
Amélie - 5
In the Bedroom - 5
MOST NICKSFLICKPICKS NODS
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - 11
Gosford Park - 9
Mulholland Drive - 9
In the Mood for Love - 7
Moulin Rouge - 5
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