OSCAR OVERSIGHTS

The Oscars are almost upon us. So expect the usual grumbling about the broadcast. The ratings will probably go down again. Let’s face it. In this age of infinite home entertainment options, that’s what network TV ratings do. This year they’re promising a face-lift of sorts for the program. But, inevitably, what excites some will have others snoozing. My idea of "something special" at the Oscars would be watching Joan Fontaine and Olivia deHavilland smoke a peace pipe, then follow it up with a celebratory jig. Others may want the broadcast retooled as a mega-segment of the Jerry Springer Show, with tables and four letter words hurtlng through trailer-park windows. But whether they turn it into a hip-hop summit meeting, a Star Trek convention or a UFC cage match between Star Jones and Gordon Ramsay, I’ll be glued to my set. ‘Cause it’s the Oscars. And they’re still going to be handing out those lasciviously coveted trophies . Still celebrating some kind of continuity – a glamorously moss- encrusted through-line - between Hollywood’s past and cinema’s future. For this year’s shindig they’ve enlisted dapper Broadway and film charmer Hugh Jackman to host, with movie-musical veteran Bill Condon co-producing. So I’m expecting a kind of Earl Carroll Vanities of 2009. Which – while it may have some grasping for their remotes - is just fine and dandy with me.
As for who gets the acting awards – which, of course, are the big ones – well, the results never please everybody. That’s the nature of elections. And the Academy’s convoluted multi-tier nominating system, a kind of unholy mix of advanced trigonometry and pick-up sticks – inevitably leaves out some worthy contenders. After all, there are only five spots per category – and usually a surfeit of deserving performances. Which brings me to the main order of business:

CONSPICUOUS OSCAR OMISSIONS OF THE 2000’s (my choice, of course)

Here are 40 names and performances from the past decade that – IMHO – ought to have had Oscar nominations attached to them . They didn’t quite make it to the party but all of them – I think – still deserve a retroactive round of Oscar season love.

2000
Actress:

GILLIAN ANDERSON "The House of Mirth"
ASHLEY JUDD "Eye of the Beholder"
Supporting Actress:

LUPE ONTIVEROS "Chuck and Buck"

2001
Actor:

EWAN MacGREGOR "Moulin Rouge"
Actress:

AUDREY TAUTOU "Amelie"
Supporting Actor:

JUDE LAW "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"
Supporting Actress:

MARY McDONNELL "Donnie Darko"
EMILY WATSON "Gosford Park"

2002
Actor:

RICHARD GERE "Unfaithful"
Actress:

JENNIFER ANISTON "The Good Girl"
CATHERINE KEENER "Lovely and Amazing"
Supporting Actor:

VIGGO MORTENSEN "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
DENNIS QUAID "Far From Heaven"

2003
Actress:

MEG RYAN "In the Cut"
Supporting Actor:

PRASHANT NARAYAN "Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II"
GEOFFREY RUSH "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"

2004
Actor:

CHRISTIAN BALE "The Machinist"
GAEL GARCIA BERNAL "Bad Education"
COLIN FARRELL "A Home at the End of the World"
Supporting Actress:

KATE BOSWORTH "Beyond the Sea"
SISSY SPACECK "A Home at the End of the World"

2005
Actress:

GRETCHEN MOL "The Notorious Bettie Page"
Supporting Actor:

TERRENCE HOWARD "Crash"
MICKEY ROURKE "Sin City"
Supporting Actress:

GONG LI "Memoirs of a Geisha"

TARAJI P.HENSON "Hustle and Flow"

2006
Supporting Actor:

GAEL GARCIA BERNAL "Babel"
Supporting Actress:

SEEMA BISWAS "Water"

2007
Actor:

EMILE HIRSCH "Into the Wild"
JOSH BROLIN "No Country for Old Men"
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN "The Savages"
JAMES McAVOY "Atonement"
Supporting Actor:

PHILIP BOSCO "The Savages"
ED HARRIS "Gone Baby Gone"
Supporting Actress:

PATRICIA CLARKSON "Lars and the Real Girl"
JENNIFER GARNER "Juno"

2008
Actor: JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME "JCVD"
Actress: KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS "I’ve Loved You So Long"
Supporting Actor: JAVIER BARDEM "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Supporting Actress: DEBRA WINGER "Rachel Getting Married"