Oscars nominations may climb “Brokeback Mountain”

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – This year, the big ape doesn’t seem
to stand much of a chance.

The Academy of Motion picture Arts and Sciences announces
its Oscar nominations on Tuesday, and the betting is that small
is beautiful in a year in which a spare, bleak film about a
pair of gay cowboys, “Brokeback Mountain,” has stirred more
movie talk than the $200 million return of “King Kong” or other
costly epics.

In stark contrast to some Academy Award years, small films
made by independent filmmakers who spent years fighting for
financing are expected to dominate Hollywood’s most closely
watched awards list, instead of big budget movies by Hollywood
studios that have money to burn.

After all, nobody asked President Bush if he had seen the
critically acclaimed remake of “King Kong,” but he was asked if
he saw “Brokeback Mountain.” He found himself awkwardly ducking
the question, although he offered to talk about ranching.

“Brokeback,” with its challenge to one of America’s most
masculine preserves, Marlboro Country, has achieved a much
sought after status in America — it has become the subject for
much talk around office water coolers.

But whether it can win the Oscar for best picture when the
Academy Awards are handed out on March 5 is another question.
No film with a theme of gay love has won the prize, which is a
symbol of mainstream success.

“Brokeback” has won many early critics and press group
awards, but “Crash,” a racially charged drama full of
unexpected twists and turns, stole the top prize at the Screen
Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night. Its win put a temporary
halt to the “Brokeback” bandwagon and suggested to some that
there might be an Oscar contest this year, after all.

However, only one night before, Ang Lee, the Taiwanese
director of “Brokeback,” was named the year’s best director by
the Directors Guild of America, and winners of the DGA have a
long history of winning Oscars.

BUCKING “BROKEBACK”

“Brokeback’s” competition may come from “Crash,” “Walk the
Line,” a bio drama of the stormy love affair between June
Carter and Johnny Cash, and “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the
story of newsman Edward R. Morrow’s fight against McCarthyism.

The big question for Oscar watchers is which film will
round out the top five for best picture — will it be “The
Constant Gardener,” a tale of drug company chicanery in Africa,
“Syriana,” a complicated tale of oil politics, Steven
Spielberg’s “Munich,” about the aftermath of the murder of
Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, or maybe even longshot
“King Kong,” Oscar winner Peter Jackson’s affectionate look at
the big ape.

Many Oscar experts say the fight for best actor could come
down to two men, Philip Seymour Hoffman for his performance as
writer Truman Capote in “Capote,” and Heath Ledger for his
performance as one of the cowboy lovers in “Brokeback.”

Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel says that
Hoffman’s performance is the kind “that Oscar voters like. It
is visible acting and very much against type, whereas Ledger’s
is naturalistic and effective.”

Other possible contenders are David Strathairn for his
pitch-perfect performance as broadcaster Murrow in George
Clooney’s film on the McCarthy era; Joaquin Phoenix for playing
Johnny Cash, warts, warbles and all; and the so far overlooked
Ralph Fiennes, whose portrayal of a meek British diplomat in
“The Constant Gardener” was overshadowed by his co-star Rachel
Weisz, a possible candidate for best supporting actress.

Reese Witherspoon, who played June Carter Cash in “Walk the
Line,” and Felicity Huffman, who plays a man waiting for a sex
change operation in “Transamerica” are both considered shoo-ins
for the best actress nomination. Other possible nominees are
Dame Judi Dench for “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” a comedy set in
wartime London, and Ziyi Zhang, the Chinese star of “Memoirs of
a Geisha.”