.4 Weeks: 2.27.03
.5 Weeks: 2.20.03
.6 Weeks: 2.13.03
.The Nominations
.Pre-Nominations
.7 Weeks: 2.06.03
.8 Weeks: 1.30.03
.9 Weeks: 1.23.03
.10 Weeks: 1.16.03
.11 Weeks: 1.9.03
.12 Weeks: 1.2.03
.13 Weeks:12.26.02
.14 Weeks: Part 2
.14 Weeks: Part I
.15 Weeks:12.12.02

..News
..Nominations
..Oscar Race Charts

..Gary Dretzka
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Ray Pride
..Patricia Vidal

..Scoreboard
..Charts

3 Weeks Away
March 6, 2003

Sometimes, you just fall in love…

On Wednesday night, I went to a screening of one of the five Oscar nominated documentaries, Spellbound.  The screening was the idea of a guy who has nothing to do with the production of Spellbound, no financial stake in Spellbound and no reason to invite his friends to a screening of Spellbound.  He just loves the film.  His name is Michael Eisner. 

And now I have something in common with Michael Eisner.

It’s hard to suggest that Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine is not the best documentary of this year.  In part, that’s because it is so much more (no pun intended) than a documentary.  The WGA nomination for the film as an original screenplay suggests as much.  And the same is true of filmmakers like Errol Morris, who happen to work in documentary, but are really in the business of creating remarkable hybrid films.

But if you want to support a film that really needs your help and will warm your heart in the same way B.F.C. chills it, you’ll want to throw your hat in the ring for Spellbound.

Jeff Blitz’ film, which he seems to actively share credit for with his producer Sean Welch, tells the story of eight children pursuing the goal of winning the National Spelling Bee.  And besides having good stories that are well told, the magic of the picture is that there is such variety in the tales.  The melting pot of Spellbound is in some ways the melting pot of America. 

There is also a weird magic to spelling bee itself.  One kid will survive a word that seems impossible to spell and the next one will be brought down by a word that seems all too obvious.   And it’s unfair… but it’s not.  Just like life.

This is a traditional piece of documentary filmmaking.  It doesn’t have the pathos of a Hoop Dreams or an On The Ropes, but it has all the love… all the dreams… all the potential.  And that’s one of the joys of Spellbound.  You know that these kids, win, lose or draw, are going to be okay… better than okay. 

I don’t mean to denigrate Winged Migration or Daughter From Danang or Prisoner of Paradise (which I haven’t seen and would love to).  But Bowling for Columbine seems to be the movie to vote for with your head and Spellbound is the one that wants your heart.  It will be an interesting moment when they open up that envelope.

STRATEGY SHIFT OF THE WEEK:  Miramax, our Oscar leader, made a significant shift in advertising strategy this last week, as the band wagon for The Pianist has built up a head of steam.  Of course, the safe money is still on Chicago.  But Miramax isn’t taking any chances.

All of a sudden there are these “What Is Chicago?” ads in which the studio tries to brainwash us into believing that Chicago is not only the most enjoyable of the Best Picture nominees… it is an important film.   They invoke Watergate as a major influence on the original creation of the show.  They attempt to give heavy meaning to the media bashing of the show, though it never bites any harder than, say, The Dick Van Dyke Show.  At least they stop short of mentioning Enron… or worse, Roxie’s rage over being “sexually abused” by an older man with an odd accent.

The target of these ads is clearly the Polanski film.  The tag line is “The One Film That Has It All,” which is to say, it seems, “We’re more fun, we’re as deep and, hell, we have women in prison if you were thinking about voting for The Hours!”

Meanwhile, they are still running a steady stream of Gangs of New York ads, even though the film is not doing enough business to support the expense.  Interestingly, many of those spots have now been reduced to being ads for Martin Scorsese, with “And 10 Academy Awards nominations… including Best Director.”  No mention of Best Picture.

To be fair, The Pianist team has taken a page from the Miramax book, doing ads that highlight the process of production and show Polanski directing on set. 

Like I said, the safe money is still, Chicago, Chicago, Chicago.  But who knows?  Maybe the best picture will win.

STORY OF THE WEEK:  If you are interested in the Martin Scorsese Oscar Wining World Tour, you have to read The New York Observer’s Frank Giacomo’s piece, “Harvey’s Big Gangs Bang.”

THIS WEEK’S TREND SETTER: This weekend, the SAG Awards get in last licks, trying to move the Oscar voters to last minute shifts before voting closes on the 18^th.  So far, the SAG Awards have not been a great basis for predictions.  But every year is a new opportunity. 

CURIOUS:  I would be perfectly happy to see Catherine Zeta Jones win the Oscar for her work in Chicago. But is pregnancy and an ugly court battle of who gets to profit from the photos of her wedding to Michael Douglas (crass and greedy, even before the “porno connections” of Hello! Magazine came up) going to put Academy trustee Kathy Bates in the driver’s seat? 

Email David Poland