FAR FROM HEAVEN, TWO TOWERS LEAD NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2003 CINEMARATI AWARDS
‘Public Showdowns’ mix front-runners and surprises in one-of-a-kind awards experience
(New York City) — Cinemarati, a select organization founded to gather premiere online critics from across the globe, announced its nominations today for the third annual Cinemarati Awards. Unlike any other professional awards, the Cinemarati Award Nominees – eight each in twenty-seven categories, recognizing the best cinematic efforts of 2002 – will now enter Cinemarati’s signature, one-of-a-kind ‘showdown’ process, where nominees go head-to-head in matchups voted on by its Member Critics and held in full public view at Cinemarati’s international home on the internet (http://www.cinemarati.org).
“Cinemarati fosters a relationship between film journalists and film audiences,” said founding member MaryAnn Johanson, of FlickFilosopher.com, “and our Internet presence gives us a unique opportunity to conduct our awards processes out in the open. Over the next three weeks, we’ll whittle down our nominees in a series of playoff-style votes. No other critics’ group opens their award discussions to the moviegoing public, but we at Cinemarati find that it invigorates the dialogue between film audiences and film critics. It’s an exciting experience.”
Todd Haynes’ elegant melodrama Far From Heaven figured strongly in this year’s Cinemarati Awards, including nods for Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, and Best Film of the Year. But surprises, however, were the order of the day: double nominees Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher) and Samantha Morton (Morvern Callar) share the lead category but will go head-to-head in the first role of the Supporting Actress category, where they are nominated for 8 Women and Minority Report, respectively. A strong year for world cinema, Cinemarati nominations included strong showings by Talk To Her, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Late Marriage, and Spirited Away. Hollywood was well represented with the multiple nominations for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Chicago, and Adaptation, among others.
Critical favorites Adrien Brody and Daniel Day-Lewis sat alongside lesser-known performers Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People) and Aurelien Recoing (Time Out); while newcomers populated the directing and writing categories, including strong showings for Dylan Kidd’s Roger Dodger, Burr Steers’ Igby Goes Down, and Steven Shainberg’s Secretary.
The 2003 Cinemarati Award Nominations, as announced on Friday, January 31st, are listed below. (You can also find the nominations at http://www.cinemarati.org/awards2003.html; the ‘playoff showdowns’ are held in the Cinemarati Roundtable at http://www.cinemarati.org/roundtable.)
2003 CINEMARATI AWARD NOMINATIONS (Available Online Friday, January 31st, 8:00AM at http://www.cinemarati.org/awards/2003nominations.html)
BEST FILM
#1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#2. Far From Heaven
#3. Y Tu Mama Tambien
#4. Bowling For Columbine
#5. Adaptation
#6. 25th Hour
#7. Spirited Away
#8. Talk To Her
BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM
#1. Y Tu Mama Tambien vs. #8. Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
#2. Monsoon Wedding
#3. Talk To Her
#4. Spirited Away
#5. Late Marriage
#6. Russian Ark
#7. Time Out
BEST ANIMATED FILM
#1. Spirited Away
#2. Ice Age
#3. The Powerpuff Girls
#4. Lilo and Stitch
#5. Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones
#6. Treasure Planet
#7. Metropolis
#8. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
#1. Bowling For Columbine
#2. Standing in the Shadows of Motown
#3. Biggie and Tupac
#4. Home Movie
#5. The Cockettes
#6. To Be and To Have
#7. Scratch
#8. The Trials of Henry Kissinger
WORST FILM OF THE YEAR
#1. Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones vs.
#2. Pinocchio
#3. Rollerball
#4. Unfaithful
#5. XXX
#6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
#7. Scooby-Doo
#8. The Rules of Attraction
BEST DVD AWARD
#1. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Extended Edition)
#2. In The Mood For Love (Criterion Collection) vs.
#3. The Royal Tenenbaums vs.
#4. Sunset Boulevard: Collector’s Edition
#5. 8 _ (Criterion Collection)
#6. Brotherhood of the Wolf
#7. Blade II
#8. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (Special Edition)
THE JOHN WATERS AWARD for the Year’s Guiltiest Pleasure
#1. Undercover Brother
#8. Blade 2
#2. The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
#7. Reign of Fire
#3. Jackass: The Movie
#6. Femme Fatale
#4. XXX
#5. The Bourne Identity
THE JAR-JAR BINKS AWARD for the Year’s Most Inexplicable Cinematic Creation
#1. Fifty-year-old Roberto Benigni as Pinocchio
#2. “You’re Not Like Sand”: Lucas’ Attack of the Bad Romantic Dialogue
#3. Scooby-Don’t
#4. Lady Bracknell, the Dance Hall Wench in The Importance of Being Earnest vs.
#5. Jeremy Irons’ David Bowie Jedi Master Uber Warlock in The Time Machine
#6. Olivier Martinez as French Sex God in Unfaithful
#7. Look Out: The Mothman!
#8. www.feardotcom.com
BEST LEAD ACTOR
#1. Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
#2. Nicolas Cage, Adaptation vs.
#3. Campbell Scott, Roger Dodger
#4. Adrien Brody, The Pianist
#5. Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
#6. Aurelien Rocoing, Time Out
#7. Steve Coogan, 24 Hour Party People
#8. Gael Garcia Bernal, Y Tu Mama Tambien
BEST LEAD ACTRESS
#1. Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven
#2. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher
#3. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary
#4. Cate Blanchett, Heaven
#5. Samantha Morton, Morvern Callar
#6. Maribel Verdu, Y Tu Mama Tambien
#7. Nicole Kidman, The Hours
#8. Diane Lane, Unfaithful
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
#1. Chris Cooper, Adaptation
#2. Andy Serkis, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#3. Dennis Quaid, Far From Heaven
#4. Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can
#5. Barry Pepper, 25th Hour
#6. Jesse Eisenberg, Roger Dodger
#7. Jude Law, Road To Perdition
#8. Vijay Raaz, Monsoon Wedding
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
#1. Meryl Streep, Adaptation
#2. Samantha Morton, Minority Report
#3. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
#4. Patricia Clarkson, Far From Heaven
#5. Edie Falco, Sunshine State
#6. Viola Davis, Solaris
#7. Isabelle Huppert, 8 Women
#8. Bebe Neuwirth, Tadpole
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
#1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#2. 8 Women
#3. Monsoon Wedding
#4. Far From Heaven
#5. 25th Hour
#6. Adaptation
#7. Lovely and Amazing
#8. Chicago
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE AWARD
#1. Raven Goodwin, Lovely and Amazing
#2. Eminem, 8 Mile
#3. Everlyn Sampi, Rabbit-Proof Fence
#4. Kathleen McDermott, Morvern Callar
#5. Shefali Shetty, Monsoon Wedding
#6. Derek Luke, Antwone Fisher
#7. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary
#8. Jesse Eisenberg, Roger Dodger
BEST DIRECTOR
#1. Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#2. Todd Haynes, Far From Heaven
#3. Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York
#4. Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away
#5. Pedro Almodovar, Talk To Her
#6. Alfonso Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien
#7. Spike Jonze, Adaptation
#8. Spike Lee, 25th Hour
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
#1. Todd Haynes, Far From Heaven
#2. Dylan Kidd, Roger Dodger
#3. Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien
#4. Pedro Almodovar, Talk To Her
#5. Paul Thomas Anderson, Punch-Drunk Love
#6. Sabrina Dhawan, Monsoon Wedding
#7. Hayao Miyazaki, Donald and Cindy Hewitt, Spirited Away
#8. Dover Koshashvili, Late Marriage
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
#1. Charlie and Donald Kaufman, Adaptation
#2. Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair and Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#3. Bill Condon, Chicago
#4. David Benioff, 25th Hour
#5. Steven Soderbergh, Solaris
#6. Erin Cressida Wilson, Secretary
#7. Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, About Schmidt
#8. David Hare, The Hours
THE ORSON WELLES AWARD for the Year’s Best Directorial Debut
#1. Rob Marshall, Chicago
#2. Dylan Kidd, Roger Dodger
#3. Dover Koshashvili, Late Marriage
#4. George Clooney, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
#5. Zacharias Kunuk, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
#6. Burr Steers, Igby Goes Down
#7. Roman Coppola, CQ
#8. Mark Romanek, One Hour Photo
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
#1. Dylan Kidd, Roger Dodger
#2. Sabrina Dhawan, Monsoon Wedding
#3. Erin Cressida Wilson, Secretary
#4. Dover Koshashvili, Late Marriage
#5. Chap Taylor, Changing Lanes
#6. David Benioff, 25th Hour
#7. Burr Steers, Igby Goes Down
#8. Roman Coppola, CQ
BEST SONG (Original or Adapted)
#1. “He Needs Me”, Punch-Drunk Love
#2. “Cell Block Tango”, Chicago
#3. “Lose Yourself”, 8 Mile vs.
#4. “Cucurrucucu Paloma”, Talk To Her
#5. “Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa”, Monsoon Wedding
#6. “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, 24 Hour Party People
#7. “The Hands That Built America”, Gangs of New York
#8. “Papa T’es Plus Dans Le Coup”, 8 Women
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
#1. Elmer Bernstein, Far From Heaven
#2. Jon Brion, Punch-Drunk Love
#3. Mychael Danna, Monsoon Wedding
#4. Howard Shore, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#5. Terence Blanchard, 25th Hour
#6. John Williams, Catch Me If You Can
#7. Jo Hisaishi, Spirited Away
#8. Wojciech Kilar and Frederic Chopin, The Pianist
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
#1. Edward Lachman, Far From Heaven
#2. Janusz Kaminski, Minority Report
#3. Andrew Lesnie, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#4. Christopher Doyle, Rabbit-Proof Fence
#5. Conrad L. Hall, Road To Perdition
#6. Declan Quinn, Monsoon Wedding
#7. Steven Soderbergh, Solaris
#8. Michael Ballhaus, Gangs of New York
BEST FILM EDITING
#1. D. Michael Horton and Jabez Olssen, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#2. Michael Kahn, Minority Report
#3. Barry Alexander Brown, 25th Hour
#4. James Lyons, Far From Heaven
#5. Leslie Jones, Punch-Drunk Love
#6. Kurt Engfehr, Bowling For Columbine
#7. Trevor Waite and Michael Winterbottom, 24 Hour Party People
#8. James Haygood and Angus Wall, Panic Room
OUTSTANDING DESIGN
#1. Far From Heaven
#2. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#3. Gangs of New York
#4. Minority Report
#5. Road To Perdition
#6. Catch Me If You Can
#7. 8 Women
#8. Chicago
BEST FILM WEB SITE
#1. Bright Lights Film Journal (http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/)
#2. Video ETA (http://www.videoeta.com/)
#3. Saul Bass Online (http://www.saulbass.net/)
#4. The Hot Button (http://www.thehotbutton.com/)
#5. Slant Magazine (http://www.slantmagazine.com/)
#6. Film Threat (http://www.filmthreat.com/)
#7. indieWIRE (http://www.indiewire.com/)
#8. The Onion AV Club (http://www.theonionavclub.com/)
BEST OFFICIAL FILM SITE
#1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (http://www.lordoftherings.net/)
#2. Full Frontal (http://www.fullfrontal.com/)
#3. Minority Report (http://www.precrime.org/)
#4. Russian Ark (http://www.russianark.spb.ru/)
#5. S1m0ne (http://www.realsimone.com/)
#6. Y Tu Mama Tambien (http://www.ytumamatambien.com/)
#7. Gangs of New York (http://www.gangsofnewyork.com/)
#8. Bowling For Columbine (http://www.bowlingforcolumbine.com/)
EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN CRITICISM
#1. Anthony Lane, Nobody’s Perfect (Knopf) vs. #8. Amy Taubin, Film
Comment (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-288/)
#2. Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
(http://www.chireader.com/movies/)
#3. Charles Taylor, Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/ent/index.html)
#4. Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/ent/index.html)
#5. Michael Ondaatje, The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film
#6. David Denby, The New Yorker (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-148/)
#7. Scott Tobias, The Onion AV Club (http://www.theonionavclub.com/)
ROUNDTABLE FILM OF THE YEAR (chosen by visitors to
http://www.cinemarati.org/roundtable/)
#1. Punch-Drunk Love
#2. Far From Heaven
#3. 25th Hour
#4. Spider-Man
#5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
#6. Chicago
#7. Bowling For Columbine
#8. Minority Report
END NOMINATIONS
The 2003 roster of Cinemarati critics features widely-read writers from across the United States, Australia, and Canada, representing some of the most heavily-trafficked film sites on the World Wide Web, including Netflix, The Flick Filosopher, Film Threat, and Apollo Guide. The
Cinemarati member critics are:
Acquarello, Strictly Film School (http://www.filmref.com/)
Catherine Cantieri, Hole City (http://holecity.com/asp/frontpage.asp)
Shay Casey, Daily Reviews (http://www.daily-reviews.com/)
Jill Cozzi, Cozzi Fan Tutti/Mixed Reviews (http://www.cozzifantutti.com/)
Nick Davis, Flick Picks (http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/)
Michael Dequina, Film Threat/Movie Poop Shoot
(http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/flimflam/)
Bryant Frazer, Deep Focus (http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/)
Mark Freeman, Critical Eye (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~freeman/)
Stephen Himes, Filmsnobs (http://www.filmsnobs.com/)
Andrew Howe, E-FilmCritic (http://www.efilmcritic.com/)
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide/Netflix (http://www.apolloguide.com/)
MaryAnn Johanson, The Flick Filosopher (http://www.flickfilosopher.com/)
Jeremiah Kipp, Culture Dose/Matinee Magazine (http://www.culturedose.com/)
Nathaniel Rogers, The Film Experience (http://www.thefilmexperience.net/)
Gabriel Shanks, Cozzi Fan Tutti/Mixed Reviews
(http://www.cozzifantutti.com/)
Vern, Then F*** You, Jack: The Life and Art of Vern
(http://www.geocities.com/outlawvern/)
Jeff Vorndam, About Film (http://www.aboutfilm.com/)
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide/Netflix (http://www.apolloguide.com/)
For further information about Cinemarati or the 2003 Cinemarati Awards, please email gabrielshanks@cinemarati.org, or call (201) 686-9131. http://www.cinemarati.org
