http://www.suntimes.com/output/roep...nws-roep01.html

Richard Roeper
Oscar nods about as imaginative as a B movie

February 1, 2006

BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST


Joan Allen? Robbed.

"Syriana"? Should have had the most nominations.

Russell Crowe? His name should have been called.

Comedies? Ignored, as always.

Every year when they reveal the Oscar nominations, the presentation is the same as the year before. It might as well be 1983 for all the innovations we (didn't) see when the names of the 2005 nominees were announced at the crack of dawn Tuesday in L.A., the better to get exposure on all the East Coast morning talk shows.

(Technically, it was before the crack of dawn. Sunrise in L.A. yesterday was at 6:42 a.m., a full hour after the nominations.)

The nominations are read by the Academy president, i.e., a guy in a suit nobody knows, and a former Best Supporting Actress winner who is at the point in her career where she'll get up at 3 a.m. for an insanely early call time.

This year it was the lovely Mira Sorvino, who graciously wished all the nominees the best of luck. But you know that somewhere deep down in the recesses of her actress soul, she's thinking that SHE could have played the Michelle Williams role in "Brokeback Mountain" or the Rachel Weisz part in "The Constant Gardener."

So The Guy in the Suit and The Best Supporting Actress Winner From a Long Time Ago stand on stage, framed by giant Oscars, as they address the assembled press.

The photographers snap photo after photo of the suit guy and the actress, thus creating an annoying strobe effect for the viewers at home. You half-expect Mira to start dancing, as long as there's a light show and she's wearing the dress and heels for it.

The names of the nominees in the major categories are read in rapid-fire fashion. Some of the hackier hacks in the press let out a whoop when one of their favorites is announced. You can almost hear them: "You know, I'm pretty good friends with Clooney. Every time I do a junket with him, he remembers my name and asks how the wife is doing. And you can tell he really means it!"

Sure he does. He's going to have you over to the villa in Italy any summer now.

More envelopes, please

As for the nominations, there has never been a less surprising year. Even if you haven't seen "Brokeback Mountain," "Walk the Line," "Capote" or "Crash," you knew those films were favored to capture multiple nominations. These days there are so many awards prior to the Oscars -- and so much more publicity about those awards -- that by the time the nominations are announced, it's like Selection Sunday for the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. We already know who's going to capture about 90 percent of the slots.

You can peruse the list of nominees elsewhere in today's Sun-Times. I understand most of the choices, though I'd argue against Judi Dench (she's played variations on that part a dozen times), and it's just nuts that the best documentary of the year, "Grizzly Man," wasn't even on the short list of nominations.

But instead of dwelling too much on the undeserving, here's my list of films and performances that were equal to or better than the actual nominees.


Best Picture

"Syriana"

"The New World"

"Nine Lives"

"Walk the Line"

"A History of Violence"


Best Actor

Russell Crowe, "Cinderella Man"

Viggo Mortensen, "A History of Violence"

Eric Bana, "Munich"

Ralph Fiennes, "The Constant Gardener"

Colin Farrell, "A New World"


Best Actress

Q'Orianka Kilcher, "A New World"

Joan Allen, "The Upside of Anger"

Ziyi Zhang, "Memoirs of a Geisha"

Naomi Watts, "King Kong"

Radha Mitchell, "Melinda and Melinda"


Supporting Actor

Don Cheadle, "Crash"

Matt Damon, "Syriana"

Ed Harris, "A History of Violence"

Kevin Costner, "Upside of Anger" or "Rumor Has It"

Christian Bale, "A New World"


Supporting Actress

Robin Wright Penn, "Nine Lives"

Sandra Bullock, "Crash"

Maria Bello, "A History of Violence"

Shirley MacLaine, "In Her Shoes"

Thandie Newton, "Crash"

***

The coolest thing about the 2005 nominations: George Clooney getting nominated as an actor, director and screenwriter.

Didn't see that coming when Clooney was on "The Facts of Life," did ya? Me neither.

* Why do the Oscars suck? Cause they don´t agree with ME!!!! *

Roeper is a tool

* Yawns *

EDIT: 4 of the five movies that Roeper would want to nominate were in his top five for the year. Double yawn.

I like Roeper's nominations for the most part actually.

A History of Violence!!

The above list by Roeper would have more weight if he mentioned that movies / performances that these missed / better nominations should have beaten, IMO.

I really like Roeper, he and EBert have a great back and forth. I was skeptical at first, but I wa thinking he is this guy, but he is a good reviewr and he works very well with EBert especialyl when he calls EBert on giving bad films positive reviews.

With films like A History of Violence being left out (especially when Crash gets a nomination) and Grizzly Man not even being a choice is just ridiculous.

I don't mind Roeper just sometimes he is alittle TOO STUFFY.

and when he really bashes a movie that he doesn't like but never points out that he isn't the intended viewer.

Mostly movies like horror or kids movies > I just funny it funny when he, a 50 year old white guy, is complaining that a animated movie geared towards a 10 year old wasn't holding his interest..............

Why is he attacking how the nominations are announced? This article is completely amateurish. I appreciate his love for The New World, but Farrell and Bale didn't deserve a damn thing, that movie was Kilcher's.

ndeed.

roeper is a hak. :down

Yeah, probably.






Not from what I've heard.



Is that a joke? Yea, right.



For what? Another cheese period piece with nothing to offer other than a forced accent and some tears? Cinderella Man- perhaps the most mediocre Oscar baiting film since... A Beautiful Mind...



Not really. Pride & Prejudice was a great comedy. But I guess it doesn't count, since there aren't any lame bathroom jokes?



So what makes Syriana any better than, for example, Traffic? The Upside of Anger better than Story of Us? 40 Year Old Virgin over There's Something About Mary? Right. Nothing. A bunch of rehashed concepts with mediocre or only above average execution. Contrast those with this year's selections - all noteworthy for bringing something *different* to the table- something a bit more fresh. An unafraid gay romance? A stylish political period piece? A riveting drama/action classic on vengeance? An *urban* movie- 'nuff said? A very controversial movie about racism?

About this year's nominations -we have great diversity - especially in comparison to the conservative, most generic, or disappointing (critically) slew of movies Roeper is throwing around. He's whiney and absurd - Colin Farrell for *THE* New World? Um, no.

Blech.

Bana for actor but no best picture for Munich huh? Instead we got Syriana

I like that Bale nod though. His HOV supporting actor nod makes much more sense then what the Academy has, I mean atleast Harris is in a few scenes, Hurt is in one freakin scene.

His nominations consisted only of movies/actors who weren't actually nominated.

I like Roeper a lot, but I do think it's rather stupid of him for rolling his eyes at the Acadmey for not doing stuff like recognizing comedy when only one comedy made his top-ten list for last year. At it was at number ten.