The announcement of the Oscar nominations yesterday morning brought few jaw-dropping surprises. As predicted, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring led in number of nods, at 13--just one shy of the record, which is held by both All About Eve and Titanic. In the end, it was the sound editors who denied the film its 14th nomination; Peter Jackson's Tolkien epic was named in every other technical category.
It was also nominated for Best Picture, along with A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, and Moulin Rouge. Baz Luhrmann's hyperkinetic musical also did quite well in the design categories, though the director himself was snubbed.
Actually, the biggest surprise of the day, at least for us below-the-line category watchers, was the exclusion of Rick Baker's work on Planet of the Apes from the makeup category. Perhaps the Academy member makeup artists and hairstylists that vote on the nominations felt Baker already had been honored enough: he has six Oscars, the most recent of which he won last year, for Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Or perhaps his failure to receive a nomination reflects the general dislike felt for the film. In truth, despite the massive amount of work that went into the film's ape characters, the makeup itself got some mixed reviews. Maybe the branch felt a nomination for Baker would somehow dishonor the pioneering makeup artistry of John Chambers on the original Planet of the Apes, which received a special Oscar in 1969.
The lauded...
...and the snubbed
Following are the Oscar nominees in select categories. For a complete list, and for rules governing voting for the Academy Awards, visit the Oscar website.
Best Achievement in Art Direction:
Amelie
Art Direction: Aline Bonetto
Set Decoration: Marie-Laure Valla
Gosford Park
Art Direction: Stephen Altman
Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Art Direction: Stuart Craig
Set Decoration: Stephanie McMillan
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah
Moulin Rouge
Art Direction: Catherine Martin
Set Decoration: Brititte Broch
Amelie
Best Achievement in Cinematography:
Amelie
Bruno Delbonnel
Black Hawk Down
Slawomir Idziak
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Andrew Lesnie
The Man Who Wasn't There
Roger Deakins
Moulin Rouge
Donald M. McAlpine
The Man Who Wasn't There
Best Achievement in Costume Design:
The Affair of the Necklace
Milena Canonero
Gosford Park
Jenny Beavan
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Judianna Makovsky
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor
Moulin Rouge
Catherin Martin and Angus Strathie
Best Achievement in Makeup:
A Beautiful Mind
Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Peter Owen and Richard Taylor
Moulin Rouge
Maurizio Silvi and Aldo Signoretti
Best Achievement in Sound:
Amelie
Vincent Arnardi, Guillaume Leriche, and Jean Umansky
Black Hawk Down
Mike Minkler, Myron Nettinga, and Chris Munro
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh, and Hammond Peek
Moulin Rouge
Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Roger Savage, and Guntis Sics
Pearl Harbor
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Peter J. Devlin
Best Achievement in Sound Editing:
Monsters, Inc.
Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers
Pearl Harbor
George Watters II and Christopher Boyes
A.I.
Best Achievement in Visual Effects:
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston, and Michael Lantieri
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, and Mark Stetson
Pearl Harbor
Eric Brevig, John Frazier, Ed Hirsh, and Ben Snow
The Academy Awards will be telecast live on ABC, March 24 starting at 5:30pm PST/8:30pm EST. The venue is Hollywood's brand-new Kodak Theatre, which you can read about in the April issue of Entertainment Design.
Oscar, everybody loves an Oscar!