..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Que la Fete Commence
… and Why I Won't Invoke the Scottish Play

No title invokes the announcements of nominees for this year's award season better than The Barbarian Invasions.

Earlier this week MCN unveiled a national critic's poll comprised of about 50 U.S. reviewers in which Mystic River, Lost in Translation and American Splendor emerged as the top vote getters. Wednesday the National Board of Review's dozen or so panel members chimed in with Mystic River as the best of 2003 followed by The Last Samurai and The Station Agent. And the Independent Spirit Awards nominating group of 11 - also unveiled Wednesday - cited 15 movies in best picture categories with In America, American Splendor and Raising Victor Vargas receiving the greatest number of overall nominations.

The first wave of approvals lacks the sort of spark that enlivens the season or celebrates the true glories of a year in cinema. The selections are not unusual or controversial nor do they provide a second wind for a film released early in the year. Also, there's no true presence on any list for a film waiting in the wings to be crowned. In the past week, there had been a level of anticipation awaiting both Cold Mountain and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King that is best described as a hope that the two films might essentially redeem 12 months of mediocrity and artistic disappointment. While each had supporters and detractors following their initial screenings, neither fired up the sort of passion that indicates either will be thrust into the front line of the kudos wars.

The eerie aspect of it all is that a preponderance of the titles and performances cited this week are in films that do not see a world where there's room for redemption. Mystic River is the quintessence of that perspective and Elephant, 21 Grams, Lost in Translation, Monster and The House of Sand and Fog are able cohorts. Death and sacrifice, generally ironic; rarely glorious, despair and such are the zeitgeist of the moment and these and other recent films reflect literally or in an allegory the mood of a nation and perhaps the world.

It's also worth noting that the movies that center on beating the odds and are generally life affirming, such as In America and Seabiscuit, aren't set in contemporary times. The closest one gets to a latter day Rocky is The Station Agent. For the makers of serious pictures, hope is not part of the current vocabulary. There's unquestionably a sea of movies that offer escape, from Pirates of the Caribbean to The School of Rock, but they aren't the type of movies that win awards. They are very much of the moment, albeit one that lists more decidedly toward commercial interests.

There truly isn't that galvanizing movie experience in this year's awards scenario and we all feel a little let down by that realization. The soul withering fact is that for the next three months people will be well paid to convince us that black is white. The bitterness of the pill is heightened by the fact that for the past two months we have been exposed to the increasingly rancorous nature of the filmmaking community.

As announcements of the Spirit nominees were being read in Los Angeles, testimony was being heard in Manhattan in a suit prompted by the Motion Picture Association of America's screener ban and filed by the Independent Feature Project and several maverick production companies. Whether Judge Michael Mukasey finds merit in the filing or tosses it unceremoniously from his courtroom, the bickering over the removal of video screeners from the holiday stocking created an adversarial environment that only worsened when the MPAA relented by allowing their distribution to members of the film academy. The initial move was made in the name of curbing piracy but different quarters insisted that was merely the tip of the iceberg and conspiracy theories took root and spread.

The compromise didn't appear to placate more than a sliver of the industry. To the myriad organizations, guilds and review panels accustomed to the courtesy, being left out was irksome. Discussions with MPAA president Jack Valenti to devise a comparable arrangement to the one hammered out with AMPAS proved fruitless (hence the suit). However, individual Academy members were also unhappy. Part of the agreement called for the signing of a binding legal document and the compliance of the Academy to provide the studios with the names of members willing to put themselves at risk. Some members reacted by stating they would penalize MPAA member films when it came time to cast their vote.

It's been a total mess and its timing couldn't have been more inauspicious. The Oscar's first time abbreviated schedule essentially left no wiggle room. Several titles had already been duplicated a thousand times on DVD in for your consideration versions and sit in warehouses awaiting their official execution order.

In such an environment, the award winners and nominees threaten to take a back seat.

At the NBR, there was apparently a significant enough faction for Mystic River to sweep it in as best picture. However, curiously the group did not accord the picture awards for its direction or screenplay. Ed Zwick was cited for helming The Last Samurai while screenplay awards were doled out to the adaptation of Cold Mountain and the original work of In America.

The National Board cited The Barbarian Invasions as the best-foreign language film, gave the Robert McNamara profile The Fog of War best documentary and named Finding Nemo best animated production. Acting honors went to Sean Penn for his performances in Mystic and 21 Grams and Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give in lead categories while Alec Baldwin (The Cooler) and Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April; The Station Agent) won for supporting performances. It also cited the ensemble of The Lord of the Rings and gave breakthrough citations to Paul Giamatti and Charlize Theron for, respectively, American Splendor and Monster portraying real life characters Harvey Pekar and Aileen Woronos.

A member of the panel said that it was able to view all of the remaining 2003 releases with the exceptions of Peter Pan, Paycheck, Stuck On You and Cheaper by the Dozen. He was doubtful any of the quartet would have figured into the prize giving.

The NBR award selections were dominated by smaller productions and had a mix of major studio releases, movies from Hollywood specialized divisions and independently produced movies acquired by both studio affiliates and smaller companies. One could argue its choices but the balance seemed somehow appropriate and reflective of the current scene.

In contrast, the ballot for the Spirit Awards seemed more akilter. The organization has too many awards, particular its three best picture categories that tend to tilt the remainder of the annual slate. In addition to best picture, it awards a best first film and a prize to the best production budgeted at less than $500,000. However, films in the latter two categories are first considered for the top prize and three first features - American Splendor, Shattered Glass and Raising Victor Vargas - shifted to that category. The remaining nominations went to In America and Lost in Translation.

Best first feature nominees ranged from the comparatively pricey DreamWorks' production The House of Sand and Fog to Thirteen, acquired by Searchlight at Sundance and Monster bought by Newmarket Films and no-budgeters Bomb the System and Quattro Noza. The official low budget bests included the highly visible The Station Agent, Pieces of April and Better Luck Tomorrow, and the still looking Virgin and Anne B. Real.

From that point, the pictures are wedged into two screenplay categories (including first produced) and a single directing award. So, it's very top heavy, and when Gus Van Sant is nominated for directing Elephant, one wonders why that picture - the top prize at Cannes - was overlooked in either of the top best picture categories it might have been placed. The ballot invariably displays signs of compromise particularly when one sees accomplished work such as The Secret Lives of Dentists or A Mighty Wind garnering a single nomination - and it's never clear whether films including The Cooler and The Girl with a Pearl Earring were eligible, submitted or disqualified.

Submission requirements are meant to be as inclusive as possible and at times it blurs rather than defines the award. In the past Much Ado About Nothing and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have won the top prize because they met minimal technically requirements. However, neither film was reflective nor indicative of the American alternative production scene and both were filmed internationally with foreign talent and financial support.

However, there are still other factors that account for a quality of lopsidedness to selections. The nominating committee awarded a special prize to 21 Grams but disqualified it on the basis of its "economy of means" qualifier and okayed the comparably budgeted House of Sand and Fog. Defining where films will be slotted on the basis of cost is tricky because unless a certified budget is submitted, human nature gravitates toward the best possible competing ground.

Films that have yet to find distribution should not be competing against pictures that have attained a commercial profile. They are disadvantaged and potentially harmed because the IFP membership that determines the winners has historically selected the "popular" choice. While the organization has made significant strides in establishing a screen program for films that qualified by dint of festival exposure, talent that has been cited for work in such films as Blue Car, All the Real Girls and Soldier's Girl is severely disadvantaged when pitted against Lost in Translation, The Station Agent and American Splendor.

- by Leonard Klady