A bit more about my award picks.

BEST PICTURE: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
My vote is between this and Traffic. CTHD had a disconcerting jump when the story had the flashback to the desert which might lose it a few votes, but I think Academy members might split the Steven Soderbergh vote between Traffic and Erin Brockovich.

BEST DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh (Traffic)
This one might go to Ang Lee.

BEST ACTOR: Geoffrey Rush (Quills)
I had no idea who to vote for here.

BEST ACTRESS: Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
Oh wait, she wasn't nominated, was she? I haven't seen the other five actresses in their roles, so I went for the one who played a drug addict. Hollywood likes drug addicts.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Benicio Del Toro (Traffic)
Del Toro was fantastic in Traffic. I have heard that William Dafoe is fantastic in Shadow of the Vampire, but I haven't seen it -- yet. Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator? He was okay in the role, but there was nothing that screamed out "This is an Oscar-winning performance I'm watching!"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Frances McDormand (Almost Famous)
With Michelle Yeoh not nominated for Best Supporting Actress in CTHD, we've got a list of five actresses in movies I haven't seen. Everyone who saw Almost Famous says the movie should have been nominated for Best Picture. I think the Academy will throw AF a bone here.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Billy Elliot
I haven't seen any of these (save for Gladiator which, while a good movie to spend 155 minutes on, wasn't one of the best movies I've ever seen). I went for the happy movie about a kid who takes ballet. Somehow Billy Elliot received rated the same rating as a movie about a man who forces someone to eat their own body parts. Funny, that.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
I just loved that movie. Again, here is close to Traffic in my book. One wonders why O Brother, Where Art Thou? was nominated for this award. The Coen Brothers have stated publicly that it's not based on The Odessey, despite what it says in the movie. If O Brother, Where Art Thou? actually wins, I invite you all to join me in pointing our fingers at the Academy and laughing.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Is there any doubt? It's nominated for Best Picture.

BEST ART DIRECTION: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
This might go to Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas for making things look really weird. It's a wonder that The Cell wasn't nominated.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Wire fu. Complex fight scenes. CTHD all the way.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas might get a nod here for the cat suit Jim Carrey had to wear. Gladiator is another stong contender.

BEST FILM EDITING: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Gladiator's sped-up combat scenes were interesting. Traffic might get a nod here.

BEST MAKEUP: The Cell
I'm afraid that the voters will just look at the green cat suit and give this award to Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Why were there only three nominations for this award?

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Gladiator
Incredible music. Lisa Gerrard, ex-Cocteau Twin worked on the score for this film and it's amazing. CTHD is a close second.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "A Love Before Time" (from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
"My Funny Friend and Me" (from The Emperor's New Groove) might get it. Animated films usually grab the Best Song.

BEST SOUND: U-571
BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING: U-571
I stand by what I said last year. Because they don't have technical people voting for these, the awards will go to who has the biggest explosions. Cast Away? One big explosion, lost of surf noise. Gladiator just had people yelling and metal clanging. The Patriot had cannons. The Perfect Storm had lightning, rain, and the roar of the ocean. But only U-571 had a full half-hour of depth charges going off. Let me recreate the last half of the movie for you:

boom. boom. boom boom. boom boom boom. boom Boom. Boom. BOOM. BOOM. BOOMBOOMBOOM. BOOMBOOMBOOM. BOOM.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: The Perfect Storm
This award really should be renamed "Best Visual Effects That We Realize Were Generated On A Computer". I have the feeling that Gladiator was nominated because everyone knew they took the time to image map Oliver Reed's face onto a stand-in. Hollow Man was nothing but a special effects demo tape. Why wasn't Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon nominated for this? Because there were real actors in real trees instead of a CGI wonderland? The athleticism of the cast and the stunning fight scenes (with wires removed via computer graphics) were amazing. Why wasn't The Cell nominated? Why were there only three nominations for this award?

-Faux "Rooting for CTHD" Pas