ALT OSCARS: 2003
For this week's entry, we look at 2003, the official crowning Oscar for Peter Jackson's epic trilogy and the birth of some of this century's greatest crowd-pleasing blockbusters.
by Nate Lemann
AND THE WINNERS ARE....
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Robbins rightfully won the real Oscar for a truly dark role of a surviving child abuse victim, reckoning with the potential monster deep inside. Robbins plays the part haunted but also guilt ridden, a man we can tell is suffering immensely inside. His final scenes are so gut-wrenching, it's a difficult movie to revisit for his performance alone. As for the other nominees, Rush is having a hell of a good time as the iconic Captain Barbossa. Nolte is very underrated in Ang Lee's "Hulk" (his fake tantrum scene lives in my head rent-free). Ferrell announced himself as a major movie star in "Old School" (much-needed for him after "Anchorman" underperformed in theaters). Watanabe is the epitome of grace and gravitas in "The Last Samurai". I'll never forget his final scene in this film for as long as I live.
Best Supporting Actress: Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
I love Renee Zellweger but "Cold Mountain" is not what she should've won the Oscar for. This Oscar belonged to Harden (who herself won an Oscar for a movie she probably shouldn't have won for). Harden has to juggle so much in this tragic role and her final haunted moments are so emotionally gruesome; she sells the living hell out of her horror. Apart from those two, Otto is very underrated in "The Lord of the Rings" series and her best moments truly come in that final act. Holly Hunter is always great and "Thirteen" was a rare project that was worthy of her immense talent. Linney was actually quite great as a Lady Macbeth-type but I actually like her more in her brief role in "Love Actually": her scene with her brother is real lived-in and she makes it feel very believed.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, & Phillippa Boyens, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
You have to be impressed how good a movie and story the first "Pirates" movie has for being based off of a novelty theme park ride. Billy Ray's "Shattered Glass" is a very underrated newspaper film. "Whale Rider" served as a powerful adaptation of the acclaimed novel. Helgeland did a hell of job condensing down Dennis Lehane's acclaimed story for the screen. All that said, this award belongs to the Jackson and team for the monumental undertaking of adapting quite possibly the most epic trio of novels ever written into arguably the cinematic event of the century thus far. There is a reason the final act of the trilogy swept the Oscars in historic fashion.
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Some really great original stories this year: Garland's "28 Days Later" script reinvented the Zombie genre in terrifying fashion. The Pixar team crafted a beautiful tale about parenthood in the face of immense tragedy and made it also a fun joyride in the oceans. "The Last Samurai" was a truly epic tale, told with great care. Coppola really announced herself as her own unique artist with the beautiful, melancholy script for "Lost in Translation". I do think this has to go to Tarantino, though, who really fully comes into his own as the great remixer of genres with his epic tale of vengeance, with some of the best and most iconic one-liners in film history. No one, and I mean no one, could've done what he accomplished with this and his sequel film. One of a damn kind that man is.
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Mystic River
This has got to be one of the my most favorite line-ups we'll have in this series: Black is a force of nature in "School of Rock", propelling that movie to heights it wouldn't have achieved without him. I love Murray's more serious turn in "Lost in Translation", showing a gear we'd never really seen from him before. Cruise is very underrated in "The Last Samurai", at a time when it still felt like he was trying to test his limits as an actor. Depp is absolutely iconic in this first film, and I believe most people forget that considering the numerous sequels we've had to endure. Penn, though, rightfully won the Oscar for his role in "Mystic River", a well of raw emotion and hatred. His decent into the darkness is brutal and utterly tragic. It's a shame we don't get more nuanced and intimate films like this anymore.
Best Actress: Charlize Theron, Monster
Castle-Hughes, Morton, and Johansson really were revelations this year (even though Morton already stole the show for me in last year's "Minority Report"). Thurman would've gotten the award if not for the powerhouse performance by Theron...though, let's just say she'll get her due in no time. Theron was unrecognizable in both appearance and cadence, really embodying her horrific subject, while showing us her layers of humanity underneath the violence. To be candid, at this time, it was shocking to learn Theron had this gear in her (something we'd soon learn was just a preview of what was to come). The Academy rightfully recognized her this year.
Best Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The late, great Andrew Lesnie's work on this trilogy will stand far beyond the test of time. It is maybe as close as we've come to the pinnacle of filmmaking before CGI hit that uncanny valley. His camera work was sweeping and epic in ways no one could've imagined to capture on camera. He rightfully swept this award for all three films, again finding new ways to evolve and raise the stakes of this glorious franchise. He is no longer with us but his work will outlast us all.
Best Director: Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
To just take a moment and think of the accomplishment Jackson achieved over two decades ago now, it just boggles the mind that he was able to successfully land the plane after his first two blockbusters overtook Hollywood. There have been many imitators trying to capture that same grand epic scale (and ironically, the closest we've come was a little TV show by the name of "Game of Thrones"), but none had the same sense for the balance between the grand sweeping epic and the intimate human moments like Jackson had. It was an earth-shattering achievement and one that still stuns me in his vision and acumen to get those oh-so-precious novels translated so perfectly to the screen.
Best Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
It's no surprise our winner is the culmination of one cinemas landmark trilogies. This award is not just for an outstanding final act but for a trilogy that redefined the blockbuster and (for good and bad) ushered in the acceptance of "nerd" culture into the mainstream, opening eyes to the often looked down upon stories and fables that contain so much humanity and ingenuity of the narrative form.
Side Note: I want to shoutout one movie we have't discussed yet from this year: "City of God", a heartbreaking examination of life in Brazilian slums as we chart the lives of two friends, one looking to become a photographer, and one destined to rule the crime-ridden streets. One of the best non-English language movies ever filmed.
NEXT WEEK: 2004 and the year of the incredible sequels...
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