King Sweeps and Other Oscar Reactions

March 1, 2004

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of last nights Oscars was the lack of surprises. Even the sweep by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King wasn't that big of a shock.

Most of the winners last night were winners at previous award shows this year. Golden Globes, SAG, etc., all had similar results when it came to picking the winners.

Of the 23 awards, The Numbers Prediction Competition scored 19 hits, including successfully predicting Lord of the Rings: Return of the King clean sweep. That's almost 83% accurate. The biggest upset there was in the Animated Short category where the Oscar winner, Harvue Krumpet, was the least popular choice. And since most people won't have seen any of the nominees in that category, it is hardly surprising that it would be a difficult category to predict.

Johnny Depp, who was also picked to win by our readers, lost to Sean Penn. This is not a big surprise given the Oscar voters history. Firstly, they tend to overlook comedic performances. Secondly, they tend to try and fix past mistakes and Sean Penn lost out on an Oscar three times in his career.

There were a couple of personal disappointments this year. I was hoping Keisha Castle-Hughes or Diane Keaton would take the Oscar for Best Actress. And I would have preferred Patrica Clarkson win for best Supporting Actress. If either Bill Murray or Johnny Depp had won Best Actor I would have been happy, but Sean Penn was a deserving winner. The same can be said in the Best Original Screenplay had Finding Nemo won over Lost in Translation.


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Filed under: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Something's Gotta Give, Mystic River, Lost in Translation, Whale Rider, Pieces of April