To be eligible for Academy Award nominations in the spring, a movie must open before midnight tonight in Los Angeles County and run for a minimum of seven consecutive days at a commercial theatre. Consequently, there has been a feverish rush of potential Oscar contenders into US cinemas over the past few weeks, with over 100 pictures jostling for audience attention and media coverage.
However, in what has been considered a wide-open year for Oscar possibilities, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, which opened in the US back in July, has begun to move ahead as the front-runner with the presentation of the end-of-year US critics' awards and the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations.
Following close behind are Peter Weir's The Truman Show; Shekar Kapur's Elizabeth; John Madden's Shakespeare In Love, in which Gwyneth Paltrow plays the young woman who brightens up The Bard (Joseph Fiennes) when he suffers from writer's block; and Bill Condon's Gods And Monsters, in which Brendan Fraser plays the young man who brightens up the gay English film-maker, James Whale, played by Ian McKellen, in the last year of his life.
Although no Irish actors or productions figured in the Golden Globe nominations, many fared well on the critics' lists. The Boston Society of Film Critics voted John Boorman Best Director for The General and named his film runner-up for Best Picture, behind Out Of Sight. And they named Brendan Gleeson Best Actor for both The General and I Went Down.
The General was also voted runner-up for best director and best cinematography (Seamus Deasy) by the Los Angeles Film Critics' Circle, who cited Elliott Goldenthal's music for The Butcher Boy as best original score. The National Board of Review placed two Irish films on its 10 best list - The Butcher Boy in sixth place and Dancing At Lughnasa in tenth. And Time magazine had Neil Jordan's film fourth on its top 10 of the year.
The LA critics gave Saving Private Ryan three awards - those for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography. They named Ian McKellen Best Actor for Gods And Monsters and split the Best Actress award between Fernanda Montenegro (for the Brazilian Central Station) and Ally Sheedy (High Art). Joan Allen was voted Best Supporting Actress for Pleasantville, with Bill Murray Best Supporting Actor for both Rushmore and Wild Things. Warren Beatty and Jeremy Pisker received the screenplay award for Bulworth, and Best Foreign-Language film went to Thomas Vinterberg's Danish drama, Festen (The Celebration).
The big surprise in the New York Film Critics' Circle awards came when Cameron Diaz was voted best actress for There's Something About Mary. They named Nick Nolte Best Actor for Paul Schrader's Russell Banks adaptation, Affliction. In supporting roles, they opted for Friends actress Lisa Kudrow in The Opposite Of Sex and agreed with their LA counterparts on Bill Murray.
While the New York critics named Private Ryan Best Picture, they gave two awards to the rival second World War drama, The Thin Red Line - Best Director (Terrence Malick) and Best Cinematography (John Toll). They voted Richard Kwietniowski's Love And Death In Long Island Best First Film and gave the award for best screenplay to Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman for Shakespeare In Love. Festen once again took the award for Best Foreign-language film.
Gods And Monsters was the surprise winner of Best Film from the National Board of Review, heading a top 10 that featured, in order of preference, Saving Private Ryan, Elizabeth, Happiness, Shakespeare In Love, The Butcher Boy, Lolita, The Thin Red Line, A Simple Plan and Dancing At Lughnasa.
The board voted Ian McKellen Best Actor, Fernanda Montenegro Best Actress and her film, Central Station, Best Foreign Film. They chose Shekhar Kapur as Best Director for Elizabeth and in supporting roles opted for Ed Harris for both The Truman Show and Stepmom, and Christina Ricci for The Opposite Of Sex, Buffalo 66 and Pecker.
Completing the awards from the Boston critics were Carine Adler as Best Actress for Under The Skin, Joan Allen, Supporting Actress for Pleasantville, and Billy Bob Thornton (A Simple Plan) who shared supporting actor with William H. Macy (Pleasantville, Psycho and A Civil Action).
Leading the way in the Golden Globes with six nominations each are The Truman Show and Shakespeare In Love, followed by Saving Private Ryan with five. But there were no nominations for the rival war movie, The Thin Red Line, nor for the heavily promoted Isle of Man-made, Oirish romp, Waking Ned Devine. While Meryl Streep picked up another Best Actress nomination, it was not for Dancing At Lughnasa but for One True Thing, in which she plays a woman dying of cancer. Presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes are regarded as a good indicator of the Academy Awards nominations which follow in the spring.
