Letters to the Editor
All the news to give me fits
Issue #2 (Vol.1) March 26 - April 1, 2000
Nolan's Newsstand
Oscar Night Reactions
And again just under the wire (4-1-00), is this hot item from the man in Massachusetts, Matt Drinnenberg.
Long-time movie fanboy, Kansas's own Mike Smith, leads off with this reaction from 3-29-00.
Nolan,
OK, so I didn't get them all right!  But neither did the Wall Street Journal, and they make a hell of a lot more money then I do! (But you still won our contest!--N)

My thoughts:

Happily, I hit on 11 of the winners.  And happier still, "Phantom Menace" got the big ZERO!  I understand that tho the script for "Episode 2" isn't finished, there is enough of the story to begin building sets.  I take that to mean that this segment will HAVE  a story. (Ouch!--N) Sorry that you and Matt got skunked on the "Sixth Sense."  I really hoped Haley Joel would win.  Also, as the show got longer, I kept hoping that M. Night Shyamalan would present so he could say, "Would you like a cherry squishee with your Oscar?"  Kudos to Trey Parker and Matt Stone for their incredible fashion sense!  Here we go:

BEST PICTURE:  American Beauty.  After so many years where the BEST film lost ("Dances with Wolves" over "GoodFellas," "Forrest Gump" over "Pulp Fiction," "Chariots of Fire" over "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Reds" , "On Golden Pond" and "Atlantic City") the Academy finally got one right.  It's clear that the new generation of voters is finally getting their voice heard.

BEST ACTOR:  Kevin Spacey.  To me, Kevin Spacey is this generations Robert Duvall.  What ever he does, he's great.  Let me take the time now to put in a plug for "The Apostle" which Duvall starred in, wrote and directed.  You won't be disappointed.

BEST ACTRESS:  Hillary Swank.  Poor Chad Lowe.  First he's known as Rob's brother.  Now he'll be known as Hillary Swank's husband.  Thought this race would be too close to call.  Like to think Annette Bening lost by one vote!  Who'd a thunk an Oscar winner would come out of "90210?"

SUPPORTING ACTOR:  Michael Caine.  Hey, I love this guy.  And apparently Matt does too, since he voted for him.  I guess you LOVE 'Jaws - the Revenge' too!   Dear Roy................

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  Angelina Jolie.  Stole the movie from Winona, and held her own against Denzel in "Bone Collector."  Lots of acting genes in the Voight family.  And hey, where the hell WAS Jon Voight?  Usually he's sitting down front with that stupid scarf around his neck, looking like Snoopy as the World War One Flying Ace.

DIRECTOR:  Sam Mendes.  all he needs is an Emmy and he will join Bob Fosse as the only director to win the big 3 directing awards in the same year.  Can't wait for his next film.

FOREIGN FILM:  All About My Mother.    Is it me, or does it seem like in the past few years, the Academy must have known who was going to win.  Last year, Sophia Loren gives the award to "Life Is Beautiful", then they get Almodovar's sister and Antonio Bandares to give the award to.......................Almodovar!  And what is it with just screaming the first name of the winners?  "ROBERTO"   "PEDRO"  Sounds like dinner time in the barrio!

SCREENPLAYS:  American Beauty.  Cider House Rules:  wtg John Irving........hope this makes up for the hatchet job Tony Richardson did on "The Hotel New Hampshire"

SONG:  You'll Be In My Heart from "Tarzan"  Congrats to Phil Collins.  Poor Randy Newman.............I think that ever since he said he was a cinch to win for his music score to "Ragtime" that the members of the music branch have decided to make him sweat.  But hey, it's been 20 years already!

SCORE:  The Red Violin.  I'm sure it's very pretty, but I ain't rushing out to buy the CD anytime soon.

The technical stuff was pretty much a lock in my mind for "The Matrix."  And Nolan, sorry if this hurts, but I thought the effects in "Star Wars" in 1977 were better then the ones in "Phantom Menace."  I think that the technology today is so great that you and I could probably do a movie and have decent looking special effects.  "Matrix" was so different that it had to win.  But now it has to go farther.  Even "Duece Bigalow" had a "Matrix" like scene in it.  But if If makes you happy, "Jar Jar Biggs" (that's Binks, trivia boy!) was voted worse supporting actor at the Golden Raspberries awards!

Well, all for now.

   Well, you're feelings on "The Phantom Menace" have been made abundantly clear!  I know of NO ONE who is a fan of Jar Jar Binks, save for George Lucas, unfortunately.  I said the effects on The Matrix were great, I couldn't believe "Menace" came away with NOTHING and I wasn't a big fan of it either. Yet it's # 2 money-maker of all time!  Says something, doesn't it?
   I still think Haley Joel Osment was too precious to not win. Look how far he took a Bruce Willis movie!
   And once more, Hilary Swank has ONE "l".  "Hillary" is the lesbian in the White House.  ----Nolan.
Nolan.
Well, it's all said and done.  The winners have been announced and exclaimed
their belief in their greatness (with the exception of the remarkable
Michael Caine, of course), and some should be feeling like a thief in the
nite......

BEST PICTURE: AMERICAN BEAUTY  Quite certain Nolan will agree with me on
this one when I say, "BEST PICTURE honors should go the the movie that best
represents itself REGARDLESS of who is in it....it should be based SOLEY on
its own merits, and not those of the outstanding performances of the actors
involved.  SIXTH SENSE NOT BEST PICTURE??? GIVE ME A BREAK.

BEST ACTOR: KEVIN SPACEY  As I stated in my predictions, this guy is
just amazing. Truly deserving, as the BEST PICTURE Oscar nabbed by this film
was most certainly due to him.  Spacey is unrivaled.

BEST ACTRESS: HILARY SWANK  "MR.MYOGY, MR.MYOGY..I WON, I WON"  
How can someone go from the (the Next) Karate Kid to the Academy Award. Too bad
for Annette Bening, who should have taken this one...her performance was
much more diversified.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:  MICHAEL CAINE  Naturally I couldnt be happier, as I
picked Caine to win.  This guy isn't recognized enough for all he's
accomplished...and if you've never seen him in "Blame it on Rio" then you're
really cheating yourself.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  ANGELINA JOLIE  This was a hard category for me
because all of the performances were good enough to win, so I won't lose any
sleep over this.

BEST DIRECTOR:  SAM MENDES  This is another one that confuses me. Mendes
wasnt overwhelmingly better than Shyamalan...in fact, I STILL don't see how
he won out over my boy,,,,what was so excellent???  It's a conspiracy to
keep my boy Shyamalan down...that's what it is.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:  AMERICAN BEAUTY   "OVER SLEEPY HOLLOW??????" IT'S AN
OUTRAGE.  This is where I started losing interest in the broadcast because
this has no relevence in understanding. If I wasn't pulling so hard for
Spacey, I probably would have put in "JAWS" and enjoyed the rest of my
evening.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: AMERICAN BEAUTY  I can live with as the script  
was rather biting. Again, the performances were so believable, it's hard to
differenciate between performance and script, but okay.

BEST SCREENPLAY FROM PREVIOUS MATERIAL:  CIDER HOUSE RULES. THANK GOD IT
WASNT "ELECTION"..."MIKE,,,,WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING". Nolan,
shame on you for not voting.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART  I'm very happy for Phil
Collins,,,,I almost picked this to win, but went with the one more complex
and original in sound.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: THE RED VIOLIN    "HELLO....ACADEMY.............
WHATSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUP."

BEST ART DIRECTION:  SLEEPY HOLLOW   How can you win Art Direction and NOT
Cinematography????  HMMMMM.  A virtual slam dunk by three rock and roll
icons of "The Hats", though. (Hey! I know them!--N)

BEST VISUAL: THE MATRIX  Credibility was restored when, not only did the
Matrix win,,,but Phantom Menace did not...proving that sometimes, the better
film does win. (OK, you guys. If George gets dumped on any more, he may refuse to make "Episode 2"---then again, he's already got Jar-Jar confirmed to return, so maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.---N)

Well that's about it. I look forward to next year when Roy "the boy"
Scheider ends his long draught and takes the trophy home....till then, see  
ya.
Matt.

The Sixth Sense should have taken more, I agree. Haley's got a great future.
 But, gosh, Don't you think poor George Lucas is miserable at his shit-upon movie being the SECOND HIGHEST GROSSING FILM OF ALL TIME? I can see him in his office: "nobody loves me.....one hundred million one...those damned fanzines are all out to get me.....one hundred million two.....the VHS tape will do gangbusters!....one hundred million three...."      ----Nolan.
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