'Ring' It On! ("LOTR: The Return of the King" and "Cold Mountain" will be Oscar frontrunners)

NY Post ^ | December 4, 2003 | LOU LUMENICK

[dead]

YES, it's true: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is the picture to beat at this year's Oscars.

Shown to the press this week in advance of its Dec. 17 opening, the 3 1/2-hour "Rings" exceeds its huge expectations with a more cleanly told, emotionally involving and better-acted story than its Oscar-nominated predecessors'; awesome, sweeping battle scenes; and sheer visual grandeur that could blow away the competition.

[Dead Dog]

YAH THATS IT! Saw it in 7th grade. Kinda made a geek out of myself by yelling out "WOOO HOOO, GRAPE SHOT!" during the escape scene. 7th graders in 1983 had no appreciation for anti-personel rounds.

That movie and Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land were the highlights of my public education.

[Dead Dog]

Ok, I'll by that. And the "Ikea Nesting Instinct" was pretty funny also. I guess I made the mistake of listening to the director whine about getting beat up in the Sierra Mts after complaining about his camp neighbors. I turned if off about the time that got to the testicular cancer meetings.

[Lee Heggy]

'Cold Mountain' made me want to buy a LeMat 9 shot 44 grapeshot revolver just to see what it was like to shoot one. Did so and wasn't disappointed even though it's heavy and the balance is weird..figure the movie will be the same way.

[Lady Heron]

I despised Minghella's previous film, "The English Patient" and I suspect in 20 years that will be one of those "what the hell was the academy THINKING?" films.

Isn't that par for the course for the Academy? I can not think of the last movie that the Academy thought was a winner, that I thought was ever worth seeing more than once, or maybe even worth seeing the first time.

"King" will still need to overcome a certain sense of déjà vu as well as the academy's historic resistance to fantasy/sci-fi films - "Star Wars," "E.T." and "The Wizard of Oz" were all nominated for Best Picture and lost.

Two out of those movies are seen by people over and over again. They have had staying power, unlike the movies probably picked those years. I have never been a big fan of "E.T.".

[John H K]

Did you see a commercial or a movie trailer?

A studio will make 3-5 TOTALLY different commericials for the same movie targeted at different audiences. On TV shows or channels watched by women, they'll show a commercial for a movie emphasizing the weepy chick-flick aspects. If the commericial is during a football game, they'll show combat scenes.

I saw the trailer in the theater, prior to "Master and Commander."

Most of the trailer was the Petersburg mine exploding, enormogigantic cloud of dirt and bodies flying around, then thousands of Union troops advancing, then they mill around in the big crater while the Confederates blaze away at them.....

[RicocheT]

"Master and Commander" is a great pic for guys that love sea dramas. Stop sitting on your wallets and go to this movie, instead of waiting for the rental video.

I don't need to tell you to go to the LOR III as we all will.

[dead]

"The Wizard of Oz" failed to win Best Picture in 1939.

So did "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

So did "Stagecoach."

So did "Wuthering Heights."

So did "Of Mice and Men."

So did "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."

The winner that year was "Gone with the Wind."

That's a hell of a year for movies.

[Hodar]

I saw the trailer, preceeding Disney's Haunted House, Bad Santa, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander and TimeLine. It was the same trailer (3 different theater chains). Wonder if the trailer is localized in this case. I'm in Austin, and each time I've seen it; it's been the same.

Now, the trailer for 'Troy' looks impressive.

[John H K]

Hmm....it's possible that different TRAILERS would be made for different movies it precedes, but you said you saw the weepy one prior to M & C.

I saw M & C twice (at a Crown Digital Projection Theater), same Cold Mountain trailer each time, begins with the Petersburg mine explosion/combat.

[1stFreedom]

>>3 1/2-hour "Rings

I love long movies!!!!!

Two hours simply isn't enough time for book which are turned into movies. (Dune was a perfect example)

[JebRudy2008]

Fight Club kicked arse!!

[namsman]

LOTR is not exactly a sequel. The whole thing was filmed at the same time, more-or-less. It's just chopped into 3 parts for release.

Can't wait for December 17. A high, holy day for Aerodynamics engineers and aviators and Return of The King!

PS: If you haven't seen Master and Commander yet, go immediately. It might be one of the most manly movies ever filmed.

[Hildy]

I don't know...HATED the first Lord of the Rings..wouldn't go to another if you paid me. I know there are many devotees here, but I hated it. And it's not a girl thing, because I LOVED Master and Commander.

[Lady Heron]

You are right. What about the year for "Star Wars"?

[baseballfanjm]

Hey y'all, tracking the Oscars is a hobby of mine. I can tell you now that I believe "Return of the King" has to be favored. It's fantasy, yes, but it's based on a beloved and cherished book trilogy. I was skeptical as to how they could make the first two simply because the three books are really one book, thus the first two lack proper "endings" that we usually have in movies. Peter Jackson has pulled that off brilliantly. I expect many an Oscar nod to go to "Return of the King"

Of course, there have to be 5 nominees. At this point, "Cold Mountain" is expected to get nominated. "Mystic River" is a big favorite as well. After that, it's a mess. "Master and Commander", "In America", "Big Fish", "House of Sand and Fog" and "The Last Samurai" are all considered big contenders for the award.

Personally, I'm supporting "Millennium Actress", hoping it'll get an Animated Feature nomination. I'm also supporting "Whale Rider", and its tremendous young lead actress Keisha Castle-Hughes. She was on Jay Leno the other night, so if anyone watches Leno, maybe you saw her.

Food for thought.

[dead]

You are right. What about the year for "Star Wars"?

Nothing like 1939. “Annie Hall” (blech) beat out Star Wars and three others I never even heard of - The Goodbye Girl, Julia, and The Turning Point.

I never was a Star Wars fan though. I think “Close Encounters” (also that year) was far more entertaining.

[Lady Heron]

What was it about "Lord of the Rings" you hated? I almost fell asleep during "Master and Commander",but I must admit I had not intrest to even see it. Out of the 6 people in my family who went to see that movie 3 loved it and 3 found it boring, and I was the only female.

[af_vet_rr]

The plot was already given, but I have to jump in and say that it is very depressing. I don't know how to describe it, other than I don't think it glorifies desertion (although the movie may) - at that point the war is pretty much over, and many Confederate units are a shambles (some units were down to less than 30% strength) and just going back home. I really can't blame the guy - the last few battles did nothing but grind up more Americans.

Heck, technically the last battle (in Texas no less) was a Confederate victory that took place after the surrender, but it did nothing.

Keep in mind, I don't judge the Civil War next to other wars our country has fought, because of who was involved. I can't really blame any Confederate for quitting after the middle of 1864.

[Lady Heron]

I do not even remember a movie named "Annie Hall". I think the academy has let their politics, intrest whatever.. come before picking movies with true staying power, true classics, in later years. Is it even worth being picked now? Whats the point if what they are picking will never be seen again.

[muleskinner]

...LeMat 9 shot .44 (cal)grapeshot revolver...it's heavy and the balance is weird..figure the movie will be the same way

I read Cold Mountain a few years ago...it's heavy and the balance is weird.

Hope it's not gonna' be a chick flick with a Civil War motiff. And what will the ending be? Heavy and weird?