The Oscars

are coming! The Oscars are coming!

The Academy

Awards are this Sunday and I have seen almost all of the films nominated

for Best Picture. The only one I'm missing is "Chocolat" and

from what I hear, I'm not missing much. I still plan to see it before

Sunday evening, but I doubt that my votes will be swayed.

In this column,

I will go through the major categories and tell you who will win and who

should win. in the case of sho should win, I may suggest someone that

wasn't nominated. That is my right.

Kate Hudson

will win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Almost

Famous" as Penny Lane. This is good because she was very good in

a movie that has been severely overlooked. The character of Penny must

convey the emotions of an entire generation that got lost in the music

and themselves and Hudson succeeded in doing this. If Frances McDormand

were to win this for her portrayal of the mother in "Almost Famous"

all would be right with the world, but put your money on Hudson.

Best Supprting

Actor is all but sewn up for Benicio Del Toro. He was enthralling as a

cop in Tijuana in the film, "Traffic" and with the majority

of his scenes being in Spanish in English subtitles that was a coup for

the film. Willem Dafoe may have been an early favorite for his role in

"Shadow Of The Vampire" but when a lot of people saw the whole

film, they were less than impressed. I was kind of hoping for Robert Smigel

to e niminated for his role as the talking dog n "Little Nicky."

Best Actor

is the closest race of the year, partially because none of the nominees

set themselves apart from the rest. Russell Crowe was good in "Gladiator",

but he was overpowered by the film itself and Ed Harris is great in "Pollock",

at least that's what I hear from the one guy I know who saw it, which

is what will hamper Harris' chances on Sunday. I think the winner will

be Tom Hanks for "Cast Away." He was the film and audiences

are still flocking to see it. That's pretty amazing in this day and age,

considering there's close to 45 minutes without dialogue.

Best Actress.

Julia Roberts. No contest.

The race for

Best Picture is hotly contested, in my opinion, between two films; "Crouching

Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and "Gladiator." I really enjoyed

both movies and I have flip-flopped several times about which one got

my support. I watched Gladiator again recently and decided to go with

"Crouching Tiger." I like the story better. It's not as much

of a downer, despite the death of Li Mu Bai, played so tenderly by Chow

Yun Fat. I love the fact that the women were strong and I especially love

the fact that a movie entirely in Mandarin has grossed over $100 million

in the U.S.

Some of you

may think "Traffic" is deserving but let me explain why it isn't.

It was beautifully filmed and the performances were excellent, but I'm

not sure that it had a point. There was a lot to talk about at the end

of the film, but the end felt like a cop-out. Michael Douglas is giving

his first speech as Drug Czar and then realizes how futile his argument

is and walks out. Had he given a stornger speech at the end, this would

have been an easy choice for Best Picture.

We'll know

next week how close I was. Stay tuned.

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