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By STEVE PERSALL
Published January 28, 2005
Tuesday's nominations for the 77th annual Academy Awards contained their share of sure things and surprises sure to be discussed until the Oscars are presented Feb. 27.
But they may also end a few controversies that have dogged the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for months, even years.
Academy members won't need to blush and stammer about Martin Scorsese -- one of the greatest American filmmakers -- never having won a best director Oscar. Scorsese's statuette destiny was practically sealed Tuesday when The Aviator earned 11 nominations to lead all films.
Clint Eastwood's boxing drama Million Dollar Baby , opening locally Friday (1/28), resulted in seven nominations, including best picture, to tie Finding Neverland 's total.
What would the academy do about Michael Moore's antiwar film Fahrenheit 9/11 ? Nothing, it turns out, except snub it completely. How would Oscar voters respond to Mel Gibson's equally controversial The Passion of the Christ ? By recognizing only its beautiful cinematography, music and expertly grotesque makeup.
But the most important debate that may finally be put to rest is whether the academy is racially biased. Complaints from civil rights leaders reached a zenith in 1996 with only one black nominee, short-film director Dianne Houston.
This year, a record five acting nominations went to black performers. Jamie Foxx landed two, one for best actor, playing musician Ray Charles in Ray, and the other for his supporting role as a hijacked cab driver in Collateral.
A best actor nomination also went to Don Cheadle for his role as a compassionate resort manager in Hotel Rwanda , and his co-star Sophie Okonedo earned a best supporting actress nomination. In the best supporting actor balloting, Foxx will compete against Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby ).
That leaves moviegoers with only the fun stuff to debate: the omissions of such touted contenders as actors Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Javier Bardem (The Sea Inside ) and David Carradine (Kill Bill, Volume 2 ), and Finding Neverland 's Marc Forster, the only director of a best picture candidate not nominated.
We'll be puzzled by the academy's continued fascination with Mike Leigh's downbeat cinema (Vera Drake ) and pleased that popular long shots such as Alan Alda (The Aviator ) made the cut.
- Steve Persall persall@tampabay.com
Play along
Go to www.oscars.com for a printable list of nominees, and to play "Predict the Winners."
[Last modified January 27, 2005, 16:54:31]
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