Oscar Watch

Salon's critics consider the Oscar-nominated movies of 1999.

By tk

Published March 14, 2000 5:00PM (EST)



OSCAR NEWS

Warren
Beatty

The ambitious and radical star who crafted a
remarkable and uncompromising slate of
mainstream movies takes home an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Oscar on
Sunday.

By Stephanie Zacharek
03/20/00

Who in the world
watches the Oscars?

Oscar claims to have billions of viewers in hundreds of countries. The
truth is somewhat different.

By Lance Gould
03/22/00

Age and the
academy

A new study of Oscar nominees shows that older guys and younger women
get the stauettes.

By Jeff Stark
03/13/00

Scooping the
Oscars

Does the Wall Street Journal know who will win? Not if the academy can
help it.

By Joe Mader
03/14/00


Winners and losers

Why have so many actors who've won Oscars seen their careers tank?

By Donna Freydkin
03/22/00

- - - - - - - - - - - -

THIS YEAR'S BEST PICTURE NOMINEES

"American Beauty"

"American
Beauty"

Kevin Spacey keeps a biting suburban satire from eating itself alive.

By Andrew O'Hehir (09/15/99)

Kevin Spacey knows
our secrets

The enigmatic actor's roles embody manipulation and cunning.

By Michael Sragow
(09/10/99)

Laughter
after irony

Are new movies like "Holy Smoke" and "American
Beauty" reinventing screen comedy?

By Christopher Kelly
(01/18/00)

"The Insider"

"The
Insider"

An actionless thriller about a solved mystery somehow emerges as one of
the best films of the year.

By Andrew O'Hehir
(11/05/99)


All the corporations'
men

"The Insider" director Michael Mann talks about corporate morality,
muckraking and the drama of making real-life decisions.

By Michael Sragow
(11/04/99)

Not just blowing
smoke

"60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman reveals the real story behind "The
Insider."

By David Weir
(11/05/99)

"The Cider House Rules"

"The
Cider House Rules"

Driven by Tobey Maguire's marvelously layered performance, Lasse
Hallstrvm's old-fashioned cinematic yarn-spinning yields genuine emotion
without sentimentality.

By Stephanie Zacharek
(01/25/00)

The John Irving
rules

Oscar watch: The author of "The Cider House Rules" talks about his
Academy Award nomination, abortion and his strange fixation on oral sex.

By Jeff Stark
(03/08/00)

"The Sixth Sense"


"The Sixth Sense"

A clumsy supernatural thriller searches -- and searches and searches --
for the soul of a little boy, but finds only the edge of exploitation.

By Charles Taylor
(08/06/99)

"The Green Mile"

"The Green
Mile"

Tom Hanks and a sparkling cast squeeze Stephen King's story for
surprisingly effective Hollywood melodrama.

By Andrew O'Hehir
(12/10/99)


- - - - - - - - - - - -

REVIEWS AND FEATURES ON OTHER NOMINATED MOVIES

"Boys Don't
Cry"

The fictionalized account of the Brandon Teena story is sensationalistic
storytelling at its best.

By Stephanie Zacharek
(10/11/99)

The secret behind
"Boys Don't Cry"

Director Kimberly Peirce says it's fun -- until the bitter end.

By Michael Sragow
(03/09/00)

"The
Straight Story"

Forget the G rating -- this road movie is as weird as David Lynch gets.

By Charles Taylor
(10/15/99)

"I want a dream when
I go to a film"

David Lynch, the human tuning fork, talks about his most unusual movie
-- a G-rated adventure about a man, a lawnmower and an emotional
journey.

By Michael Sragow (10/28/99)

"Being John
Malkovich"

Director Spike Jonze puts his brilliantly offbeat twist on the "15
minutes of fame" theory.

By Andrew O'Hehir (10/29/99)

"The End of
the Affair"

Julianne Moore triumphs in Neil Jordan's latest crying game.

By Michael Sragow (12/03/99)

"Sweet and
Lowdown"

Rising star Samantha Morton shines in this charming,
finely crafted film from Woody Allen.

By Stephanie Zacharek
(12/03/99)


The roar of the
greasepaint, the smell of the crowd

Director Mike Leigh gives Gilbert and Sullivan the Dickens in
"Topsy-Turvy."

By Michael Sragow
(12/23/99)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

CAMILLE PAGLIA AND CINTRA WILSON WRITE ON LAST YEAR'S ACADEMY AWARDS

And the frumps
are ...

The 71st Academy Awards are a parade of pomaded pretty boys and
washed-out drag queens from lame movies. Where is the glamour?

By Camille Paglia
(03/22/99)

Not
abhorrent!

Just when you're ready to give up on awards shows altogether, the Oscars
turn out to be halfway entertaining.

By Cintra Wilson
(03/22/99)


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