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| Dear Maude, Hannibal just came out so all my friends and I have had a renewed interest in Silence of the Lambs. And with all this talk about the Oscars now, I had heard that Silence is the only movie ever to have truly swept all five top Oscars. [Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay] Is this true or have their been others? Honestly I find that kind of hard to believe. Michelle |
| Well Michelle, You have the right to be suspicious. Silence of the Lambs, which did in fact sweep the top 5 Oscars back in 1991, is actually one of only 3 pictures ever to have done this. Silence of the Lambs, of course, clinched statues for Best Picture, actor Anthony Hopkins, actress Jodie Foster, director Jonathan Demme, and screenwriter Ted Tally. The other two pictures were Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Award winners for those two pictures include: It Happened One Night: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Frank Capra, and Robert Riskin Cuckoo's Nest: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Milos Forman, Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben (Michael Douglas took home the Oscar for producing the film.) |
| Q&Archives |
| Dear Maude, So many great films are always overlooked during the awards season despite critical success. Who's responsible for the Oscar nominations and how is one film chosen while others are ignored? And who is this anonymous Academy that everybody always thanks? Ryan Cooper |
| Well Ryan, According to our friends at Oscar.com and Oscar.org, I can tell you. First of all, every film released within the year is potentially eligible for Oscar nominations in any of 24 categories. In fact there is a long catalog of films produced each year and distributed listing every film that was released. These ballots are mailed out in January and then members have upwards of a month to return them to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, whose job it is to tally the ballots and protect the secrecy of the nominations- and later the winners. In early February, the nominations are released to the press- up to 5 nominations are made in most categories, with balloting for these nominations restricted to the members of the Academy concerned with that particular award/discipline. Final ballots are mailed out based on the nominations and members have two weeks to return them. After that, only two members of PWC will know the results until the envelopes are opened on March 25th. "Membership in the Academy is limited to those who have acheived the highest level of distinction in the arts and sciences of motion pictures." As of 2001, members are divided amongst 14 branches based on creative discipline. There are approximately 5,700 members of the Academy. |
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| Dear Maude, I heard some nasty scuttlebutt that Paul Thomas Anderson, easily the greatest of the modern auteurs, is actually in production working on the next Adam Sandler movie?! Is that true? I really don't want to believe it and can't see how this would be possible. And if not, what is the deal with PTA these days? Andy |
| Well Andy, Yes, unfortunately for all of us PTA fans, this is very true. (I think.) While rumours float about the internet- even ptanderson.com seems confused by all of the contrasting evidence- the overwhelming majority of reports seems to reveal that, yes, PTA's "25 million dollar arthouse Adam Sandler film" is a go and has been shooting for some months now in Hawaii and New York. The film stars Sandler, Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Luis Guzman. Supposedly according to IMDB, the story is based on an SNL skit, The Denise Show," in which Sandler had starred. However, like everything else, including the title, everything's up in the air right now and the cast is mum on the details. Currently, The X-4 Project, as it is now being called, is in fact in production and plans to be a short (90-100 minutes, in stark contrast to PTA"s previous modern epics- see Boogie Nights review) romantic comedy. Who knows what will happen with this one in the end? Perhaps Adam Sandler will reach new levels of performance in working with the crazy-talented PTA or................ |
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| Dear Maude, I've been seeing a lot of publicity for this new movie Shrek, which is clearly hoping to score at the box office thanks to the use of celebrity voices. But, does this officially mark the end of Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers' careers or what? David |
| Well David, That's a very good question. I suppose it all really depends on the final Shrek box office take. Presuming that it's a hit, probably not. Then again, we're really just gauging career status by animated voice over, so perhaps this is just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Then again, let's not entirely forgive these talented comedians for their recent misgivings. Start with Murphy. Begininning with Mulan, Murphy's been on a steady track of ho-hum kiddie movies and now- kiddie sequels. (Witness: Nutty Professor 1,2,10; Dr. Doolittle 1,2.....and so on) One exception to this rule was Bowfinger, which I found refreshing thanks to a great Steve Martin script, but Murphy's signature multiple performances still fell flat with many. Personally, I think Murphy's more than made up for his infamous midnite cruising and should now go back to more R-rated work. As for Myers, he spent most of last year, it seems, being made a fool of by Ronnie Howard and his Imagine Entertainment over contracts for Dieter: the Movie. Other activities included pretending that he's still a hot commodity even though Austin Powers 2 went to video two years ago. Now we have Shrek and guess what, he's doing the Scottish voice...again. Yeah, like that isn't old hat with him by now... So, to answer your question, perhaps it's unwise to predict the path of one's career by a single recorded performance, but for argument's sake: Murphy- I hope not. Myers- Ay! He's looking a might tired after recycling those old routines...again. |