All right, yesterday we finished our look at all of the races of 2004 with the Oscars (check out links below to all of the past Oscar contests). As I stated last week, going forward we will be doing the My Oscar Ballots (where I pick who I would've nominated in every Oscar category) at the end of each season, and we just happened to perfectly land the end of our 2004 run with the My Ballots (this wasn't intentional, I actually thought there'd be a gap, but you gotta appreciate synergy when you can get it). We'll start our new Oscar Viewing Project next week, and then going forward we'll have a My Oscar Ballot at the end of each season as our finale, so this will be the last one for ten weeks, but don't worry-we'll have our twice weekly OVP articles every week, so keep coming back for Oscar obsessiveness. In the meantime, here is who I would've picked had I selected the nominees in 2004:
The Aviator
Bad Education
Before Sunset
Closer
Downfall
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Incredibles
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Kill Bill, Volume 2
Gold: Few films stir as much in me as Before Sunset, a sequel that is somehow significantly better than a predecessor that was also a landmark, wonderful romance. This movie has a tad more bitter, and it does something few sequels are able to achieve-build on the relationships of its leads, making them decidedly more complicated (even at the film's end).
Silver: Alfonso Cuaron's take on the Harry Potter universe invited a slew of naysayers who were startled by how it didn't take a more exact take on the books like Chris Columbus' films. Turns out, of course, that Cuaron was making the best film in the series, ingenious, creative, & spirited.
Bronze: The films of Zhang Yimou are always mesmerizing, visual feasts for the eyes and senses. House of Flying Daggers, though, remains my favorite-a colorful, sweeping, & forbidden love story that always transports me back to my formative film-watching years.
Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall)
Richard Linklater (Before Sunset)
Martin Scorsese (The Aviator)
Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers)
Gold: I'm going to switch this up a little bit and give this trophy to Cuaron, whose movie has the handicap of not necessarily following bad movies (I liked all of the HP films, something you've likely caught on to as we've continued this series since I've put them all in a lot of categories, including Best Picture), but because he totally upended a series, and did it successfully-no small feat.
Silver: Yimou is right behind him, though, as House of Flying Daggers is one of his greatest feats. This is beautifully shot, with grand-scale action scenes that slowly build on themselves, culminating in a crescendo finale that will stay with you always.
Bronze: Richard Linklater's films feel so organic that you rarely attribute them to the director but instead the writers & actors. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a firm lens on the film, making sure to implement a sort of ticking clock urgency over Celine & Jesse.
Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator)
Bruno Ganz (Downfall)
Gael Garcia Bernal (Bad Education)
Ethan Hawke (Before Sunset)
Gold: A close race for me again, but I'm going to tip the hat to Bruno Ganz, who had a gargantuan role to encompass with Downfall, trying to both maintain the true core of a monster while giving startling hints of the human in his performance, making him all the more terrifying.
Silver: A tight race here with Jim Carrey, whose Joel in Eternal Sunshine is such a hapless man, kind but deeply flawed, trying to make sense of a love story that he no longer has control over, and isn't sure how he wants it to end.
Bronze: Ethan Hawke's Jesse is a tough role to play-he becomes a successful writer in this film, but he's also at a crossroads in his failing marriage, in love with a ghost...who has just briefly entered his life again. Hawke plays him in this film as a man-on-a-mission, to where he doesn't know, but he wants to leave with answers this time.
Annette Bening (Being Julia)
Julie Delpy (Before Sunset)
Nicole Kidman (Birth)
Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake)
Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
Gold: As we profiled in the Best Actress contest (again, see below), this was a really challenging category for me, and one of the few times I might have wanted to play the "tie" card if I had it. That said, I think that Winslet's work here is not just the best but the most challenging, a wholly original creation that feels warm-but-prickly in her capable hands.
Silver: Seconds behind her is Bening, playing her Julia to the hilt, finding a way to combine more with better as an aging actress who is determined to get the final applause over her last curtain, and she's going to have a blast while doing it.
Bronze: Imelda Staunton's Vera Drake is so inward, so run-of-the-mill. That shouldn't be confused for being ordinary though, because there's nothing ordinary about making a woman that you pass by on the street into a fully-fledged human being, capable of secrets & beliefs that even her own family doesn't acknowledge.
Brad Bird (The Incredibles)
David Carradine (Kill Bill, Volume 2)
Jim Carrey (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Clive Owen (Closer)
David Thewlis (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Gold: Of the whole splendid Closer cast, perhaps no one feels best-suited for the role than Clive Owen (at the time the least-known of the actors in the film). He plays his Larry as a man on the hunt, the only character in the film not capable of looking at his own feelings, even as he handles the rest of the cast's with a sledgehammer.
Silver: David Thewlis gets best-in-show for me of the Azkaban players, giving a subdued nature to a character who has madness brimming from within. I loved the way that he takes one of the least-defined major characters in Rowling's series & provides texture.
Bronze: David Carradine is given a gargantuan task in Kill Bill, living up to four hours worth of revenge fantasy as the movie unfolds. He lives up to it by underplaying Bill, someone who is obviously dangerous but whose danger doesn't need explanation-you can see it in the measured way he speaks & moves.
Cate Blanchett (The Aviator)
Darryl Hannah (Kill Bill, Volume 2)
Corinna Harfouch (Downfall)
Virginia Madsen (Sideways)
Natalie Portman (Closer)
Gold: Cate Blanchett comes storming into The Aviator, fully possessed of Katharine Hepburn. It's very difficult to play a famous actor like this, but she does it beautifully balancing Hepburn's onscreen persona with the glimpses of the real we get offscreen (the great actors never stop acting, and Blanchett understands this).
Silver: Virginia Madsen knows that Maya will appear inauthentic if it isn't a totally inhabited character...the "life of wine" monologue has too many risks to become cliche or pablum in lesser hands. But she commits-she knows this woman exists, and is real (rather than some male fantasy), and she shines as Sideways' best player.
Bronze: Natalie Portman emerged from her child stardom with this role, similar to Winslet playing a "complicated" manic-pixie-dream-girl. But while Winslet's Clementine is prickly, Portman's Jane is only sharp on the outside, far more vulnerable inside than she lets on as Jane exposes every layer of herself.
The Aviator
Bad Education
Birth
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Incredibles
Gold: Eternal Sunshine is the film that every other Charlie Kaufman film feels slightly down toward, mostly because the bar is just too high to ever achieve again. Terrific dialogue & a tough, dense, central romance, Kaufman's work has never been so elegant & well-captured.
Silver: Possibly the best-plotted superhero movie ever made, The Incredibles is full of wry humor (god bless Edna Mode-that Brad Bird nomination up-above is not a typo), and a look at the reality of superheroes is such a confident piece-of-work.
Bronze: Pedro Almodovar's films are captivating, always giving us a freshness that other filmmakers struggle to keep organic. That's particularly true in this neo-noir, with us continually guessing the shifting motives of all of the players.
Before Sunset
Closer
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Mean Girls
Sideways
Gold: Before Sunset is the perfect script. I love talk-y films like this, where we don't know what will be discovered in conversation & what secrets will pour out, and this is maybe the best of them, a movie where long-held truths emerge as two people confess the good (and the disappointing) of their youths.
Silver: Patrick Marber's Closer is also all talk, but while Before Sunset has a beating heart underneath it, Closer brings a dump truck of cement to encase anyone whose heart might try to sneak into this movie, his cold dialogue ready to trip up anyone daring to breathe.
Bronze: Adaptation isn't just about creating a great script, it's also about seeing the best you can in the source material & letting it transcribe to the cinema. Books aren't mean to be movies, they're meant to be books. Alfonso Cuaron knows this, plucking the best parts of Harry Potter and leaving the rest behind to create a movie that can stand apart from its daunting origin.
The Incredibles
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
Gold: This category was an AMPAS one in 2004, so we're sticking with it, but really, we should have just pronounced a coronation for The Incredibles, by far the best animated film of the year, and one that is an action-packed joy from start-to-finish.
Silver: Sky Captain is a questionable inclusion for animated feature, but honestly it involves so little in terms of actual real-life people, what else do you call this but animated, and I found the spirit of adventure running through it (and the technical prowess of the effects) enough to my liking that it deserves this citation.
Bronze: We'll finish off an (admittedly tepid) year for cinematic cartoons with Spongebob, which finds the absurdist joy of the TV series (which inspired an entire generation in the way Harry Potter and Star Wars before it) with a feature-length movie that is filled with ridiculous humor (there's a reason this series launched so many memes-it's a cartoon that knows how to make you laugh with your eyes).
Bad Education
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
The Incredibles
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Gold: A tight race between #1 & 2 (a recurring refrain in 2004, but my love for some of these films is well-matched to the others), I'm giving Newman's more original creation in Lemony Snicket the trophy, giving Daniel Handler's story a bit of mischief, throwing in electronica of all things to encourage the strange "what era is this?" feel of the tale.
Silver: John Williams' last sequel to genuinely stretch him (let's be real here, and I love the guy, but the Star Wars sequels are trading on old glory), with the Knight Bus sequence showing that he is still the inventive guy who can match a film's mood (it reminds me so much of his work with the Cantina Band).
Bronze: We're back with House of Flying Daggers again, here which uses the "Lovers" motif to great effect, but also adding a rumbling drum to the score that feels almost like it's part of the attack during the action sequence.
"Al Otro Lado Del Rio," (The Motorcycle Diaries)
"Double Trouble," (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
"Look to Your Path" (The Chorus)
"Lovers," (House of Flying Daggers)
"Old Habits Die Hard," (Alfie)
Gold: A weaker year overall for Best Original Song is disguised by a really great song as our gold medalist. "Lovers" may play in full over the end credits, but it is hinted at so often throughout the movie (similar to "My Heart Will Go On" in Titanic), that when you hear its melancholic ballad, it feels like a recap of the movie rather than something tacked on.
Silver: "Old Habits Die Hard" is not, its worth noting, a song that feels like it's hinted at throughout the rest of the movie (and not a great movie, at that), but its such a catchy Mick Jagger tune that I couldn't skip it here even if it's too good for this movie.
Bronze: John Williams has a bit of help from Shakespeare (only a few lines of this aren't from the bard), but I'm not as strict with rules like this as the Academy, and this is a great little (unexpected) treat nestled into Prisoner of Azkaban.
The Aviator
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
The Incredibles
Kill Bill, Volume 2
Gold: Few films understand how to use their score in the way that House of Flying Daggers does, serving almost as an echo for some of the sound mixing (look at the way they make the cascade of bamboo flying through the air almost musical). The Oscar snub here is baffling.
Silver: Cuaron knows how to ensure that John Williams' score never overwhelms but instead aids the film that it houses, and as a result we get a lot of the great dialogue moments that he's added (and the teen angst).
Bronze: The great score brings parts of it to light, but the entire roaring adventure of The Incredibles feels right-at-home, as the line readings are read with character & the dialogue is expertly over-layed with the additional car chase or action sequences.
Collateral
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
The Incredibles
Kill Bill, Volume 2
Gold: I'm going to sound like a broken record on the technical achievements of House of Flying Daggers but it's just impossible to deny. The way they create fight scenes almost as if they're blowing past your ears, and feel so organic to the weapons onscreen...it's a total triumph.
Silver: The roar of the giant drill might have been the best single sound effect of any movie in 2004, but The Incredibles is not a one-trick pony. It instead gives us a great set of superhero skills (each Parr family member has their own accompanying soundboard).
Bronze: The musical cues of course give Kill Bill its iconography, but the sword-fighting in Volume 2 is probably the ticket here. The second volume never matches the playfulness of the original, (it's two stories with a more somber second half), but the sound editors make sure you still hear the heightened changes in the fights as the Bride pushes to live up to the title.
The Aviator
Downfall
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Gold: A cascade of color & design, House of Flying Daggers totally paints the screen with its elaborate sets, and great use of dense bamboo forests. There's an overwhelming majesty to the film from the start, and then the movie just keeps it coming.
Silver: One of those cases of "most" and "best" colliding, The Aviator recreates a meticulous Hollywood glamour while giving in to the era's opulence. The best part, though, might be the way the team authentically constructs Hughes' arsenal of planes.
Bronze: While Harry Potter borrows to some degree from its predecessors, there's enough newness & expansion of the universe (specifically the Knight Bus & Hogsmeade) that I can't skip the great design that Stuart Craig is doing here.
The Aviator
Bad Education
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
The Passion of the Christ
Gold: The cinematographers play with House of Flying Daggers' shifting color palette, using the film's overwhelming shading (specifically with green), to inform the lighting decisions, elevating the movie to an almost mythical feel.
Silver: Say whatever you want about The Passion's controversies, Caleb Deschanel is hitting a home-run when it comes to the cinematography. The oil painting feel, as if he's almost ripping some of these scenes out of a bloodied Caravaggio work, comes across masterfully on the screen...Deschanel understands Gibson's vision even if there are times Gibson doesn't.
Bronze: The noir appeal of Bad Education is found in the way the camera treats Gael Garcia Bernal's "femme fatale," initially innocent but later more tactical we see as the camera lustily examines him, the way that he's seducing not just the protagonist, but the audience as well-Garcia Bernal owes a lot of his work here (his best) to the cameramen.
The Aviator
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Troy
Gold: Sandy Powell is a genius (duh), and of course she has great flare in The Aviator in recreating the looks of iconic stars like Katharine Hepburn & Ava Gardner, but she also knows how to get beyond the exteriors of these women-look at the way she makes Hepburn's pants feel like they're dominating Hughes by upending his expectation of women-Powell more than any other costume designer, knows how to add character touches to her work.
Silver: I'm running out of superlatives to throw at House of Flying Daggers, but it cannot be denied that the costume work is excellent here. The designers worked well with the art directors, ensuring that all of their clothes match the palettes behind them, each scene feeling like everything is perfectly choreographed.
Bronze: Colleen Atwood makes sure that everyone in Lemony Snicket looks like they're attending Queen Victoria's funeral by way of Hot Topic, which sounds like cattiness, but it's not...Handler's novels have such a strange motif, that the only way to go was well-regarded steampunk.
Collateral
Downfall
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Gold: Action sequences are often cited for this category by default with Oscar, which isn't fair (editing can be great across all genres). However, when it's done well, like we see with House of Flying Daggers, it's easy to see why this is such a default. The work here is so precise, a whirling symphony of goosebump-erupting chills.
Silver: A very worthy silver (and in a different field, a solid winner) is Eternal Sunshine. This is a hard film to edit, as we crash between what is real & what is being torn down...the editing comes center stage because we have to see the story of Joel & Clementine's relationship falling apart through the disappearing memories that the editors are pulling from us.
Bronze: The speed of Prisoner of Azkaban, giving us a story that needs to feel fresh to an audience that knows it by heart, is one of the film's greatest assets-the editors keep the story relentless & well-paced, so as to keep you guessing even if you know the conclusion.
The Aviator
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hellboy
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Passion of the Christ
Gold: Using its playful makeup to full effect, Lemony Snicket gives us totally transformed characters (Jim Carrey's Olaf springs from the pages), but the makeup artists aren't just going for the big. Look at Violet's slightly uneven bangs or Aunt Josephine's unmoving bun, the way they use these visual cues hint at the character's larger personality.
Silver: Before "X actor is unrecognizable" became a meme (and something of value in this category), The Aviator was doing it wonderfully, particularly Kate Beckinsale's glamorous Ava Gardner. Transforming a half dozen movie stars into cinematic icons is no easy task, and Scorsese's epic lives up to it.
Bronze: Hellboy wasn't hit in a general sense in 2004, but the extensive makeup work & graphic novel motif that it inspired would become omnipresent in movies for the next two decades, so it's hard not to give it a nod here even if the film isn't nearly as good as its technical effects.
The Aviator
The Day After Tomorrow
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
House of Flying Daggers
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Gold: The gigantic polar vortex effects of The Day After Tomorrow are extraordinary. The realism in this film, and the ingenuity in making weather such a daunting challenge for the audience...the movie may be stupid but the effects are stupid amazing.
Silver: Putting the werewolf aside, the rest of Prisoner of Azkaban is that rare combination of technically brilliant, genuinely beautiful, & story-building effects. The Knight Bus and the Buckbeak character both spring off the screen & dazzle.
Bronze: Sky Captain's effects are not for everyone, as they overwhelm and occasionally the realism is hurt by having a bit too much CGI (it's in animated feature for a reason, because that's how it oftentimes reads). That said, this type of green-screen acting was groundbreaking at the time, and the way that the visual effects artists combine its actors with so much retro (virtual) set design is extraordinary.
Also in 2004: Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2004
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