eveningsout

Here come the Oscars of politics and marketing

by Kaizaad Kotwal

It's time once again for that annual competition where merit has nothing to do with who wins, where the gowns are remembered long after the award winners are forgotten and where the politics are bigger than in Washington, D.C. This is, of course, the Academy Awards, set for Sunday, March 24.

This year is no different from the last several years and there will be some surprises and many sure things. This year is bittersweet for LGBT audiences. On the

up side, a few LGBT performers have been nominated and some queerthemed films have gotten a lot of attention. On the down side, not enough gaythemed films have been given the attention they deserved and A Beautiful Mind chose to completely ignore the bisexuality of John Nash, its central character.

film. It has been forty years since a black actor won this award (Sidney Poitier was the last) and so look for the Academy to make amends by giving the award to Washington, who in my opinion should not have been nominated, let alone win.

In the Best Actress category the race is a bit tight. In the Bedroom's Sissy Spacek seems the odds-on favorite to win for her quiet and detailed work as an overbearing mother. She has been winning awards all over the place for this "comeback" performance. Judi Dench has

Mulholland Drive, nominated for Best Director

Here is a handicapping of this year's major Oscar races. Pedigree and form don't always determine the winner

In the Best Supporting Actor category, Brian Cox should have been nominated for playing a pedophile in L.I.E. who plays on the heart strings of his victims and audiences alike by lending the character a sense of humanity and sympathy. He isn't even nominated.

Jim Broadbent is nominated for his work as the husband of legendary author Iris Murdoch. Ethan Hawke, this year's most surprising nomination, got a nod for playing the good cop in Training Day. Ben Kingsley turned in a stunning and brutal portrayal as a Limey gangster in Sexy Beast and his nomination is most deserved. John Voight in Ali is the only acting nomination from a film that has been maligned, critically and at the box-office. Finally, there is the inimitable, openly gay Ian McKellen as the sorcerer Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.

McKellen is great in his role, lending a dignity and grace to Gandalf that is beautiful to behold. He'll probably win, and deservingly so, especially if the film does a sweep at the ceremony. I would personally split the prize between McKellen and Kingsley, the latter for completely obliterating any connections we have between him and Gandhi by playing a foul-mouthed, brutal and animalistic con man.

In the Supporting Actress category, look for Jennifer Connelly to win for her moving portrayal as Nash's suffering wife in A Beautiful Mind. She is this year's most sure thing, although this category has provided a few surprises in years past. Marissa Tomei is nominated for her role as an abused mother who falls in love with a teenage boy in In the Bedroom. She is amazing to watch. Kate Winslet, one of the best of her generation, snagged a nomination for playing the young Iris Murdoch in Iris.

This year's best female supporting roles, though, came from Robert Altman's Gosford Park. Both Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith. are deservedly nominated and I would split the award between the two. Mirren might upset "sure-thing" Connelly.

In the Best Actor slot, Russell Crowe has been nominated for a third year in a row for his incomparable turn as the schizophrenic and Nobel Prize-winning John Nash. He is simply brilliant and deserves to win the award hands down. He will probably lose because he won for Gladiator and didn't deserve it.

Sean Penn is nominated for playing a mentally-challenged father in I Am Sam, and the Oscars just wouldn't be the same without some sort of disability being featured in the acting nominations. Tom Wilkinson was nomi, nated as the suffering husband and father in In the Bedroom.

This year two African-American actors have been nominated in this category: Will Smith for playing Ali and Denzel Washington for playing a bad cop in Training Day, a mediocre

in Monster's Ball.

been nominated for playing Iris Murdoch in her later years, the openly bisexual writer who died after battling Alzheimer's. (Did I mention that diseases do well at the Oscars?) Rene Zelwegger has been given a nod for playing the title character in Bridget Jones' Diary. Halle Berry has been nominated for her turn as the wife of a death row inmate who has an interracial affair with a white jailer

Finally, Nicole Kidman deserves to win for her amazingly brilliant work as the courtesan Satine in the inimitable Moulin Rouge. Kidman will probably be edged out by Spacek, although if the Academy is really looking to be in the good books of various race-related coalitions they may give the prize to Berry.

The Best Adapted Screenplay nominees include A Beautiful Mind, Ghost World, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings and Shrek.

In the Bedroom, a highly overrated movie, shouldn't even be in the category. Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings should win the award because he has taken an unfilmable novel and turned it into a stunningly lavish and moving film. But Akiva Goldsman will win for A Beautiful Mind. The screenplay is well done but Goldsman should be denied the award for not telling the truth about Nash's bisexuality. By rendering this real character's sexual orientation invisible, Goldsman and the filmmakers have done a great disservice to LGBT audiences.

The Best Original Screenplay nominees include Amélie, Gosford Park, Memento, Monster's Ball and The Royal Tenenbaums. This year's award should be split between Memento for giving us an engrossing and unique movie puzzle and Gosford Park for creating a witty and satirical murder mystery that examines social strata among the British upper-crust and their myriad servants. Gosford Park will probably edge out Memento at the ceremony.

For Best Director, the academy has nominated David Lynch for Mulholland Drive, a lipstick-lesbian film-noir murder mystery, Ridley Scott for the patriotic Black Hawk Down, Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings, Robert Altman for Gosford Park and Ron Howard for A Beautiful Mind.

Of this group Howard will probably win. He doesn't deserve it. Robert Altman has made an exquisite film and should win this year. However, Peter Jackson could upset if indeed Lord sweeps the other categories.

Finally, A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, The Lord of the Rings, In the Bedroom and Moulin Rouge have been given Best Picture nominations. Once again A Beautiful Mind will probably win although it shouldn't. The Lord of the Rings has the second best chance, especially if the Academy feels like rewarding an epic film.

I would personally split the award between Gosford Park and Moulin Rouge and if I had to pick one it would be the latter. But neither has a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

So get ready to watch the most colorful horse race of the year as the Oscars once again show politics and marketing win out over talent and merit. The amazing Whoopi Goldberg is set to host and if nothing else she'll have a few surprises up her sleeves.

March 22, 2002 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 13

John R. O'Connor, LISW ACSW of D.L. Dunkle and Associates Practicing in Two Locations

5 S. Main Suite 204 Oberlin, Ohio 44074

216-229-2100

12417 Cedar Road

Suites 21-24

Cleveland Hts., Ohio 44106

800-938-9973

PRIMERICA J

Amember of tigroun

Life Doesn't Come With Directions. Primerica Can Help Your Write Your Own. To discuss your personal financial game plan, call your local Primerica Representative. Barbara White Lanni Lanterŷ 16101 Snow Rd. Ste. 101 BrookPark, Ohio 44142 (216) 932-8359 or Toll Free: (877) 775-7702 Visit us online at www.Primerica.com

BW Broestl S & Wallis

Creators of unique jewelry

14410 Madison, Lakewood 216.221.1434

heart... to heart

Do you feel like you are treading water through life's emotions?

There's help.

▼ Access Behavioral Care ▼

Individual & Couple Therapy Psychiatric Medication Management Preferred Providers for Most Health Plans

West

3 Locations to Serve You

(440) 777-7574 25221 Country Club Blvd. #201 North Olmsted

East

(216) 295-9295 20600 Chagrin Blvd. #950 Shaker Heights

Rely on Someone You Can Trust in Our Community

Full Time Agent Over 9 Years Top 10 Office Producer

I have the "411" on Over 6,000 Homes ▼Many Qualified Buyers

I'm on Your Side of the Negotiation Table

Century

Beyond 2000 Realty 1-800-219-9471 Office 1-216-389-6965 Voice Mail

Lake County

(440) 974-9974

7200 Center St #100

Mentor

Mark Snyder

Multi Million Dollar Producer Professional of the Year Award President's Sales Club Award

At Your Disposal "24/7"!! 216-533-6965