Category: Awards

Streep SAG snub caused by error
Meryl Streep’s acclaimed performances in both “Adaptation” and “The Hours” will go unrecognized by the Screen Actors Guild due to a mistake by Sony Pictures, reports the Los Angeles Times.
An unidentified Sony Pictures’ employee erroneously placed Streep’s name on the Best Actress ballot for what was in fact a supporting role in “Adaptation.” The mistake meant her name appeared twice in the same category – a second time for her part in “The Hours” – on the ballots sent to SAG voters.
Sony contends vote-splitting occurred and Streep was subsequentially not nominated for her performance in either film.
The studio offered to pay for the printing and mailing of new ballots in order to correct their slip up, but SAG declined the appeal over fear that it would set a bad precedent for a situation that has occurred before.
Last year a Universal employee wrongfully placed Jennifer Connelly’s name in the lead actress category for her supporting role in “A Beautiful Mind.” Connelly still received a nomination, but did not win. Although, she took home both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for the same performance categorized correctly.
Streep won the Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe earlier this month for “Adaptation”, and was also nominated in the Best Dramatic Actress category for her role in “The Hours.” The Academy Award ballots were due yesterday and it’s likely she will receive a nomination in both categories.
The Oscar nominees will be announced on February 11. The SAG awards will be handed out on March 9.

Actor Peter O’Toole Rebuffs Honorary Oscar
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – For all the accolades handed out in Hollywood, it’s rare to find a performer who is unwilling to accept one. But Peter O’Toole is no ordinary entertainer.
Academy Award organizers want to present the eccentric 70-year-old Irish actor with an honorary Oscar, but he says he won’t be ready to accept such an award for at least another decade.
In a brief, hand-written open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, O’Toole politely suggested that receiving an honorary Oscar might preclude him from eventually winning a competitive statuette.
O’Toole has earned seven Oscar nominations as best actor, starting with his 1962 title role in “Lawrence of Arabia,” but has never won.
Describing what he thought about an honorary Oscar being in the offing, he wrote: “I was enchanted but said that as I was still in the game and might yet win the lovely bugger outright, would the Academy please defer the honor until I am 80?”
Academy President Frank Pierson responded by saying the award was for “achievement and contribution to the art of the motion picture, not for retirement,” and that the academy’s Board of Governors had “unanimously and enthusiastically voted you the honorary because you’ve earned and deserve it.”
“It will be there for you at the awards ceremony March 23, and we hope you’ll be there with us,” Pierson wrote. “If not, it will be at the academy for you to pick up when you’re 80, or whenever you’re ready.”
Academy spokesman John Pavlik told Reuters on Thursday the academy chooses its award designees regardless of whether they plan to show up. And while winning actors such as Marlon Brando and George C. Scott have snubbed the Oscars, no one can remember an honorary recipient refusing to accept one.
Academy officials also noted that other movie greats, among them Henry Fonda and Paul Newman, have received an honorary award and gone on to win a statuette competitively.
“There’s an inaccurate perception out there that if you get one of these things, that your career is over, and we don’t feel that way at all,” Pavlik said.

SAG Gives ‘Chicago’ a Push in Oscar Race
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Looking more and more like the film to beat in this year’s Oscar race, musical “Chicago” scored the most nominations — five — for the prestigious Screen Actors Guild awards on Tuesday, including the top honor for best performing cast.
It was followed by dark drama “The Hours,” which also landed in the category for best performance by a cast and receiving four nominations overall, including one for its star Nicole Kidman in the best actress group.
The nominations come off big victories for both films at the Golden Globe Awards earlier this month where “The Hours” was named best drama and “Chicago” was named the best movie among musicals and comedies.
But the Screen Actors Guild, or SAG, nominations coupled with “Chicago” outpacing “The Hours” by far at U.S. box offices could just push the musical about a struggling actress who commits murder past the drama in the race for Oscars.
The Motion Picture Academy voting on the nominees ends on Wednesday, January 29.
Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger of “Chicago,” were nominated for best actor and best actress, respectively. Co-stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah were nominated for best female actor in a supporting role.
Along with nominations for best cast and Kidman, “The Hours” scored nominations for Ed Harris as best actor in a supporting role and Julianne Moore as best actress in a supporting role.
Moore, too, was nominated for best actress in a lead role for her performance in the drama “Far From Heaven,” in which she portrays a 1950’s housewife who is forced to deal with her husband’s homosexuality.
Joining Moore, Kidman and Zellweger as best actress nominees were Salma Hayek in “Frida” and Diane Lane in “Unfaithful.
TV PERFORMANCES ALSO SINGLED OUT
With Gere in the best actor group were Adrian Brody of “The Pianist,” Nicolas Cage for “Adaptation,” Daniel Day-Lewis in “Gangs of New York,” and Jack Nicholson for “About Schmidt.”
Rounding out the supporting actor group were Chris Cooper for “Adaptation,” Alfred Molina in “Frida,” Dennis Quaid in “Far From Heaven,” and Christopher Walken for “Catch Me If You Can.” Joining Zeta-Jones, Moore and Queen Latifah in the best supporting actress grouping were Kathy Bates in “About Schmidt,” Michelle Pfeiffer for “White Oleander.”
“Adaptation” scored three nominations overall to two apiece for “About Schmidt,” “Far From Heaven” and “Frida.”
SAG also singles out performances for television, and in that arena, the casts of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “24,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Sopranos” and “The West Wing” were nominated for top performers in a drama series.
The casts of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Frasier,” “Friends,” “Sex and the City,” and “Will & Grace” were nominated for best performances in a comedy series.
The 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will take place on March 9 and be broadcast by cable TV channel TNT starting at 8 p.m. EDT
Academy Award nominees will be named on Feb. 11 and the Oscar ceremony is set for March 23.

Springsteen, Jones to Goose Grammycast
NEW YORK (Variety) – The Recording Academy scored an early coup this week for its upcoming 45th annual Grammy broadcast by signing a group of big-name acts — including Grammy nominees Bruce Springsteen and Norah Jones — to perform at the kudofest.
Also scheduled to hit the stage during the Feb. 23 show at Madison Square Garden are Brit rockers Coldplay, country star Faith Hill and rapper Nelly (featuring Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland). All five of the acts confirmed to date are Grammy nominees.
That star power should give ratings for the Grammy broadcast on CBS a healthy shot in the arm. Nelly’s latest LP “Nellyville” (Universal) has sold more than 5 million units, while Jones’ “Come Away With Me” (Blue Note) has moved 3 million and Springsteen’s “The Rising” (Columbia) just under 2 million.
At the same time, an artist that puts on a good show at the Grammys will often see his or her sales numbers jump in the following week; a good live performance often has even more effect on sales than a victory at the podium.
Jones, Springsteen and Nelly have all received five nominations from the Academy, including one each for album of the year. Coldplay is up for two statuettes, while Hill got a nomination for female country vocal performance.

O’Toole to Get Honorary Academy Award
LOS ANGELES – Peter O’Toole, nominated seven times for an Oscar for films as diverse as the epic “Lawrence of Arabia” and the nostalgic comedy “My Favorite Year,” will receive an honorary Academy Award this year.
“O’Toole’s performances have ignited the screen for more than four decades,” Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Friday in announcing the award.
It will be presented during the 75th annual Oscars ceremony March 23 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Its citation will read: “Peter O’Toole √≥ whose remarkable talents have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters.”
O’Toole, 70, made his stage debut at 17 before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his film debut 10 years later with a bit part in the 1959 film “The Savage Innocents.”
The Irish-born actor shot to international fame three years later, portraying legendary British adventurer T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s landmark film “Lawrence of Arabia.” The performance brought him the first of his seven best actor Oscar nominations.
The others were for “Becket” (1964), “The Lion in Winter” (1968), “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” (1969), “The Ruling Class” (1972), “The Stunt Man” (1980) and “My Favorite Year” (1982).
“He’s seven times been nominated as best actor, which puts him in extremely rarified air for a performer,” Pierson said. “The Board of Governors felt it was time for him to hold his own Oscar in his hands.”

‘Chicago,’ ‘Hours’ Get Directors Guild Nominations
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The directors of “Chicago,” “The Hours,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Pianist” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” were nominated on Tuesday for the Directors Guild of America’s top award, one of the film industry’s most reliable barometers of Oscar gold.
It was the first time that British theater director Stephen Daldry (“The Hours) and American choreographer turned film director Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) have been nominated for the DGA’s outstanding directorial achievement award.
The award was established in 1949 and except on five occasions, it has gone to the director who later went on to win the Academy Award for best directing.
“The Hours”‘ and “Chicago”‘ were named best drama and best musical or comedy, respectively, at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.
Martin Scorsese, director of “Gangs of New York,” has been nominated four previous times even though he has never won. His nominations include “Taxi Driver” in 1976, “Raging Bull” in 19980, “Goodfellas” in 1990 and “The Age of Innocence” in 1993.
New Zealander Peter Jackson, director of “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” was nominated last year for the first film in his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
The nomination for Polanski, the Polish-born director of “The Pianist,” is his third but first since 1974 when he was nominated for “Chinatown.” He was also nominated in 1968 for “Rosemary’s Baby.”
In a statement he said, “Nothing can be more gratifying than recognition by one’s peers. My nomination by the DGA for ‘The Pianist” gives me the great pleasure . However, it would not have been possible without the collaboration of my magnificent crew. I am grateful to them and to the DGA.”
The winner of the DGA Award for 2002 will be announced at a gala dinner on March 1.

‘The Hours,’ ‘Chicago’ Take Top Golden Globes
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In one of the tightest races in recent years, “The Hours” won the Golden Globe award for best drama while musical “Chicago” swept two top acting categories and took the trophy for best musical or comedy.
Jack Nicholson won his sixth Golden Globe for best dramatic actor as a retired and lonely insurance actuary wondering whether his life was wasted in “About Schmidt,” and Nicole Kidman claimed her third Golden Globe for best actress playing suicidal British writer Virginia Woolfe as she sits down to pen her classic novel, “Mrs. Dalloway.”
To play the part, Kidman wore a prosthetic nose that gave even her most ardent fans a hard time recognizing the Australian-raised beauty.
Accepting his award onstage, a joking Nicholson took note of the difference in Kidman, who had just introduced him:
“Doesn’t Nicole look lovely with her own nose,” he said.
As for his own award, Nicholson said, “I don’t know whether to be happy or ashamed because I thought we made a comedy.”
Richard Gere, who plays a slick lawyer tap dancing around a jury to help Renee Zellweger’s character beat a murder rap, won the trophy for best actor in a musical or comedy and Zellweger took the honor for best actress in a musical or comedy.
“I don’t win anything. I never win,” said an apparently astonished Gere after taking the stage to accept his award. “And I didn’t even want to do this movie. That’s what I know.”
In television awards, cop show “The Shield” won the Golden Globe award for best drama, Beverly Hills satire “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was favorite comedy and “The Gathering Storm,” a drama of Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership, was named best TV movie or mini-series.
OSCAR RACE NARROWS
The movie categories, however, enjoy the spotlight at the Golden Globe Awards because they come at the start of a long awards-show season in Hollywood and are often a strong indicator of who will win Oscars, the film industry’s top honors handed out in March.
Their victories, therefore, catapulted “Hours” and “Chicago” to the top of the Oscar list.
Comedy “Adaptation” took two early Golden Globes for Meryl Streep as best supporting actress and her co-star Chris Cooper as best supporting actor, and legendary director Martin Scorsese was given his due with a best director trophy for his epic “Gangs of New York.”
Streep, who has won three Golden Globes and been nominated many times before, also appeared to be genuinely surprised at winning a best supporting actress Golden Globe.
“Oh my God, I have just been nominated 789 times,” she said on stage. “And I was getting settled over there for a long winter’s nap.”
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s quirky drama “Talk to Her” was named best foreign language film.
TV’S “SHIELD” HAS BIG NIGHT
In television, cable TV shows nearly knocked the broadcast networks out of the show. “The Shield,” on FX, claimed the award for best drama and HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” won the Golden Globe for best drama.
The wins immediately put “The Shield” on the list of shows to watch, because as much as the Golden Globes indicate Oscar choices for movies, they also serve as a strong promotional platform for relatively new shows.
The program’s star Michael Chiklis was named best actor in a drama, marking his second major victory after claiming an Emmy last September. Edie Falco, of HBO’s “The Sopranos” took the award for best actress in a TV drama, but whispered her acceptance speech because of a bad case of laryngitis.
“Friends” star Jennifer Aniston was named best actress in a TV comedy, and she took the stage walking with a cane due to a broken toe. Tony Shalhoub was named best actor in a TV comedy for his role as the frantic private detective in “Monk.”
Kim Cattrall was named best supporting actress in a TV series for her role as the sexpot in “Sex and the City.” She said, “You have no idea how many men I’ve had to sleep with to get this award.”

Queen, Phil Collins, Van Morrison & Little Richard In Songwriters Hall Of Fame?
The Songwriters Hall Of Fame hasn’t made an official announcement of its 2003 inductees, but the word might have been leaked by a nominee. This year’s list of possibilities includes David Bowie, Tom Petty, Queen, Pete Townshend, John Fogerty, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Phil Collins, Little Richard and the ’70s-era Fleetwood Mac (Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie)
Queen appears to have been the artist that let the news slip about who the new honorees could be. A post on the band’s official website reads: “As previously announced, Queen have been elected for induction into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. When Brian (May) and Roger (Taylor) attend the 34th Annual Awards Dinner on June 12, 2003, they will also be joined by other 2003 honorees including Phil Collins, Van Morrison, Little Richard, and Jimmy Webb.”
Webb–famous for “MacArthur Park,” “Wichita Lineman,” “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” and “Up, Up And Away,” among others–was actually inducted into the Hall in 1986.
A spokesperson for the Songwriters Hall Of Fame could not confirm the report.
Others up for induction include Billy Sherrill (“The Most Beautiful Girl In The World,” “Stand By Your Man”), Charles Fox (“I Got A Name,” “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” and the themes for the TV shows Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley), Henry Cosby & Sylvia Moy (“My Cherie Amour,” “Tears Of A Clown,” “Love Child”), Barrett Strong & Norman Whitfield (“I Can’t Get Next To You,” “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” “I Know I’m Losing You,” “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”), Robert Wright & George Forrest (“Stranger In Paradise,” “Sands Of Time”), Joe South (“Hush,” “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden”), Mac Davis (“In The Ghetto,” “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked On Me”), Michael Masser (“Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “Saving All My Love For You,” “Touch Me In The Morning,” “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love for You,” “(The) Greatest Love Of All”), Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones (The Fantasticks, “Try To Remember”), Stephen Schwartz (“Day By Day,” “Godspell”), and Sunny Skylar (“Besame Mucho,” “It Must Be Jelly Cause Jam Don’t Shake Like That”).

Oscar Watchers Foresee Golden Globes for ‘Chicago’ and ‘The Hours’
Oscar could be headed to Chicago, but first it will get a Golden Globe.
Though Golden Globes voters ó they are the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association ó and Academy Award voters do not overlap, the Globes are a major influence.
Tom O’Neil, author of Movie Awards, calls the Globes “an uncanny Oscar crystal ball. In the past 59 years, 43 of Oscar’s best pictures had previously won one of those two best picture awards at the Globes. That’s a remarkable overlap, and no mere coincidence.”
Up for best drama Globes are: About Schmidt, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Pianist. The best musical or comedy nominees are About A Boy, Adaptation, Chicago, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Nicholas Nickleby.
“Chicago is the clear front-runner,” for the Oscar, says Damien Bona, author of Inside Oscar 2.
Especially if the musical, starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, wins the Golden Globe Sunday (8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC).
“It’s vastly entertaining,” explains Jim Piazza, co-writer with Gail Kinn of The Academy Awards: The Complete History of Oscar. “And it’s the first musical in many years to grab a huge popular base at the box office.”
O’Neil adds: “It’s got mega-buzz. It’s got the box office potential to break $100 million, which is often a key component. It’s packed with stars. And the Oscar voters will like the message: ‘The musical is back.’ ”
But there’s at least one Chicago bear among the experts. Though agreeing that it is a front-runner, Emanuel Levy, author of All About Oscar, says that The Hours has a slight edge over Chicago for the Academy Award.
“The Hours is the prestige movie that will become the must-see film,” predicts Levy, who believes that this drama starring the triple-threat Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep is likely to win best drama at the Globes. “The Hours has some pluses that Chicago does not have. It has a literary cachet because it is based on a Pulitzer Prize (winning) novel by Michael Cunningham. (And) it may win more nominations because it will also get supporting awards and writing awards.
“And Nicole Kidman,” he concludes, “is the hottest actress in Hollywood.”
O’Neil concedes, “No musical has won best picture since 1968,” when Oliver! won. “Even though Chicago seems to be out front, it’s very vulnerable. Keep your eye on the best drama category at the Globes Sunday. It will probably decide the chief rival to Chicago.”
At his award-tracking Web site, goldderby.com, O’Neil predicts that The Hours will win best drama.
Not Bona. “I have a sneaking feeling that The Pianist will win best drama,” he says. The Pianist is a story about the Holocaust from director Roman Polanski.
All agree that the Globes are likely to exert more influence on the Oscars this year than in the past. Early awards from critics’ groups have been all over the map, indicating a lack of consensus.
The Globes’ unusual practice of giving out two best picture awards means that it can propel two films to the forefront. The Oscars tend to overlook comedies and musicals, but not this year.
The musical and comedy nominees include not only Chicago but critics’ favorite Adaptation and the record-breaking crowd pleaser My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

GANG LEADER
Martin Scorsese to receive the Directors Guild of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award on March 1, it was announced Thursday. He becomes just the 29th recipient of the guild’s most prestigious honor.