Category THE OSCARS

            ‘The Departed,’ is a 2006 American crime-thriller film and remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime-thriller ‘Infernal Affairs’. ‘The Departed’ was directed by Martin Scorsese, written by William Monahan, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nichoson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin.

             This tense action thriller is set in Boston, Massachusetts, where notorious Irish kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) takes neighbourhood boy Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) under his wing. He grooms him to be his informant within the Massachusetts State Police. Colin rises through the rank and file to get himself placed on an investigation unit that is working to bring down Costello. At the same time, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is seeking to become a cop, despite the fact that he comes from a family that has a very disreputable past, and numerous ties to organized crime. Considering his background, he is recruited to go undercover to infiltrate Costello’s crew.

             The film was nominated for five Academy Awards of which it won four; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

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            ‘Crash’ is a 2004 movie. This ensemble piece, directed by Paul Haggis, addresses racism affecting the lives of several Los Angelenos as they interact over several days time. The incident that begins it all is the carjacking of a couple, the Cabots, by two Afro-American carjackers, Anthony and Peter.

            ‘Crash’ was inspired by a real life incident, which was faced by the director himself. The story is narrated as two days in the life of its characters, and the stories are interwoven. The film deals with racism in a rather impartial way.

             The film features Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito and William Fichtner. ‘Crash’ was nominated for six awards at the 78th Academy Awards and won three, including the win for Best picture.

            ‘Crash’ was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and the other for Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco).

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              ‘Million Dollar Baby’ is an American sports-drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood. This 2004 film tells the story of Margaret Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) a down and out waitress, striving for a better life.

               She shows keen interest in learning boxing. The first portion of the movie deals with Margaret training herself at the Hit Pit, trying to get Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to train her into becoming a credible boxer. She eventually succeeds, and is able to get Frankie and another trainer, and former boxer Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman) to warm up to her. After a good deal of training, she enters into the world of professional women’s boxing and becomes a remarkable fighter. Eventually, the movie takes a turn for the worse.

             The movie received the award for Best Picture at the 77th Academy Awards. Clint Eastwood was awarded his second Best Director Oscar for the film. Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman received Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscars, respectively.

               Joel Cox, Eastwood’s editor for many years, was nominated for Best Film Editing, and Paul Haggis was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay award.

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            ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is an adaptation of J. R. R Tolkien’s extraordinary novel by the same name into three films (directed by Peter Jackson). The movies were filmed together, and released one year after the other, from 2001-2003.

            The films are subtitled ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001), ‘The Two Towers’ (2002) and ‘The Return of the King’ (2003). The films were remarkably faithful to the novel in many respects, though several changes were made, due to the many factors involved with adapting such a great work.

                The films were critically acclaimed and awarded widely, winning 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations. The final film in the series, ‘The Return of the King’, won all 11 of its Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, which also tied it with ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘Titanic’ for most Academy Awards received for a film. Peter Jackson also directed three films based on Tolkien’s earlier 1937 novel ‘The Hobbit’.

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     ‘Chicago’ is a 2002 film based musical. The movie was directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall and adapted by screenwriter Bill Concdon. The film stars Renee Zeliweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

       The movie is a satire of celebrity trials, the press, and show business in general. It is the story of Roxie Hart (Renee Zeliweger), a wannabe star in Chicago, who is sent to jail on murder charges. She builds a rivalry with the star Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in the jail, who is also there for killing her husband and own sister. Roxie, through bribing the prison warden, Mama Morton, gets the best lawyer in town, Billy Flynn.

      Billy is a smooth-talking trickster who has never lost a case. As tensions mount and the media make Roxie a star, fame begins to get to Roxie’s head.

     The music was composed by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. ‘Chicago’ won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress. The film was critically lauded, and was the first musical to win Best Picture since ‘Oliver!’ in 1968.

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       Academy Award winning movie, ‘A beautiful Mind’ was released in the year 2001.1t is a movie based on the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard. The story was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar.

      The movie tells the story of a genius mathematician called Nash whose mind, though of enormous service to humanity, turns him into a mentally ill person with frightening delusions at the same time. The movie stars Russell Crowe as Nash, and Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Alicia, who is pregnant with their child when the first symptoms of his disease become apparent.

     Crowe gave his best in portraying Nash, who descends into madness and then, unexpectedly, regains the ability to function in the academic world.

      This extraordinary movie won four Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.

            ‘Gladiator’, is an epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott. It was written by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson.

            The movie is about General Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), who is named heir to the ailing Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The story takes a turn as Meridius is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. Meridius is minimized into a mere slave. Later, the movie shows how Meridius fights for his life and freedom in order to avenge the murder of his family. The movie follows the events of Roman history in the latter half of the 2nd century AD.

           The film won multiple awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Russell Crowe, and three other Oscars at the 73rd Academy Awards.

          The film received favourable reviews from critics, and grossed 457 million US dollars worldwide, making it the second highest grossing film of 2000.

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            ‘American Beauty’ won in the Best Picture category at the 72nd Academy Awards. It is an American drama-comedy film. It was the breakout film for writer Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes.

            The movie was widely acclaimed by many, even though it got negative reviews too. Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham portrays the character of a 42 year old advertising executive who gets attracted to a teenager.

            The story concerns his midlife crisis, and efforts to find happiness. Kevin Spacey won his second Oscar for his performance in this movie.

            The film is described by academics as a satire on American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction. The movie follows a traditional narrative.

            ‘American Beauty’ won five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

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          ‘Shakespeare in Love’, is a 1998 fictional romantic comedy that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

          The movie directed by John Madden, was written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard.

         The story is about the fictional love affair between William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), an aspiring playwright who works for a theatre that badly needs money, and Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow).

         The story happens in the background of Shakespeare working on his famous piece ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

        ‘Shakespeare in Love’ is set in late Elizabethan England. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), and Best Original Screenplay.

         In 2005, the Writers Guild of America ranked its script the 28th greatest ever written.

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          The Award winning movie ‘Titanic’ was released in the year 1997. This gem of a movie was directed written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron

          The story is a fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Cameron’s inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks. For him, the RMS Titanic was the ‘Mount Everest of shipwrecks’.

         ‘Titanic’ tells the story, in flashback, of Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). They both belong to different social classes, and fall in love during their ill-fated Titanic voyage.

         This movie won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and boosted the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film was released in theatres on December 19th, 1997, and stayed in the theatre for nearly an entire, year, not ending its run in the cinemas until October 1st, 1998.

          ‘Titanic’ won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. 

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