Friday, March 23, 2001

Oscars 2001: Preserving the Secrecy of the Ballot

As Hollywood prepares for another ceremony in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors the year’s best in cinema, countless industry experts (most notably journalists) continue in a long and frustrating attempt to do what so far no one has been able to thus far: unveil the results of winners before the envelopes are torn open on stage.

It is a temptation that the industry has had for more than 50 years, and now, with the threat of things like Internet site hacking and academy member polling looming large over the event, keeping those well-guarded secrets hidden until the annual telecast becomes even more difficult.

Oscars 2001: Winner Predictions

In less than two days, Hollywood will be buzzing over the many celebrated victories at this year’s Academy Awards. Perhaps the anticipation preceding the ceremony may be much greater than what follows it, though.

Creeping anxiously towards Oscar night 2001, we as moviegoers are seeing one of the biggest debates among industry insiders, critics, and audiences of the past ten years: who exactly are the front-runners among this year’s nominees, and who’s to say that they won’t be upset by other highly-observed contenders? Part of the calm atmosphere that has swirled around the ceremony in the past is the fact that the majority of the winners were usually imperative; this year, almost nothing can be ruled out as a sure thing, especially since the year’s top three picture contenders (Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator,” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic”) each appear to have a large voter following behind them.

Friday, March 16, 2001

Oscars 2001: Nominee Reactions

In contrast to everything that the masses had embraced at the movie theater last year, the final nominees for this year's Academy Awards ceremony were not much of a surprise. Too bad that doesn't make most of them deserved. With movies like "How The Grinch Stole Christmas," "The Perfect Storm," and even "102 Dalmatians" turning up nominations for the 73rd year, one wonders exactly how many of the contending movies Academy voters saw throughout the past year.