BEST PICTURE

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Peter Jackson's epic is the entire package.  It is the perfect example of why I love movies and why the medium is set apart from other art forms.

DIRECTOR

Clint Eastwood: Eastwood's Mystic River is one of the most thoughtfully directed movies ever.  This man has created a masterpiece.

ACTOR

Bill Murray: It was a tough call between Sean Penn and Bill Murray, but Murray's performance pushed his talents while Penn was simply his same-old wonderful self.  Murray's freshness will win him the Oscar.

ACTRESS

Keisha Castle-Hughes: This talented teenager was snubbed at the Golden Globes with a Supporting Actress nomination—she "supported" no one.  Her performance was so real, so powerful; she carried one of the year's best movies.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Renee Zellweger: I have to admit that I haven't seen Cold Mountain, but my gut tells me that Renee Zellweger is going to win.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tim Robbins: One of the greatest actors ever, this was Tim Robbins greatest performance ever.  If he doesn't win this award, I will lose all faith in the Oscars.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Lost In Translation: I cannot believe Finding Nemo was actually nominated for this.  Lost In Translation is the clear winner.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Mystic River: The script was tight, well formed, gritty, and real—an urban epic.  Not even The Lord of the Rings stands a chance.

ANIMATED FEATURE

The Triplets of Belleville: A disappointing year for animation.  The two Disney offerings don't deserve it, so the art house feature will win.

ART DIRECTION

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: This film was beautifully crafted.  It has stunning visuals and powerful, thematic color schemes—a veritable work of art.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Seabiscuit: It's not easy to capture emotion on screen, let alone action that's traveling at breakneck speed around a racetrack.  Seasbisuct manages to do just that.

COSTUME DESIGN

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Oh come on, like there's even any competition.

MAKEUP      

The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King: See the above entry…

FILM EDITING

Seabiscuit: The horse race scenes—enough said.

ORIGINAL SCORE

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Howard Shore is a god of music.  His sweeping score is at once triumphant and intimate, full of heroics and love.

ORIGINAL SONG

"Into the West":  Did I mention that Howard Shore is a musical god?

SOUND

The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King: All those grunts, groans, squeals, screeches, clashing swords, rattling chain mail, haunting screams, and breathing beasts all had to be painstakingly created.

SOUND EDITING

Finding Nemo: Getting things to sound like they're underwater is not an easy task.

VISUAL EFFECTS

The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King: Another tough decision.  Disney's skeleton pirates were very impressive, but the sheer mass and extraordinary detail of the Lord of the Rings pushed it to the top of the list.

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