- Title: USA: REACTIONS TO 1999 FILM OSCAR AWARD NOMINATIONS
- Date: 12th February 1999
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 9, 1999) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (English) LYNN REDGRAVE LEAVING MESSAGE ON ANSWERING MACHINE FOR FELLOW NOMINEE SIR IAN MCKELLEN, SAYING "Please give this message to Ian McKellen and say first of all congratulations on the Oscar nomination."
- Embargoed: 27th February 1999 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAABDQEPSV5B3WLCC2LWRUGBKYV
- Story Text: Oscar nominees Lynn Redgrave, Nick Nolte, James Coburn and Geoffrey Rush are among the beneficiaries of Academy voters' temporal fascination with cheaply made independent and foreign-made films over big-budget Hollywood movies.
Unlike last year, where "Titanic's" wake left so many otherwise worthy films out at sea at awards time, small craft have returned to shore to seek their claim.Even the perceived front-runner "Saving Private Ryan" is modest by blockbuster standards, budgeting out at a mere $65 million (usd).
And continuing with Oscar's new-found modesty is a similarly understated reaction by several of its honorees.
"There's a bit of me that says it's really crass to be sitting here waiting...we shouldn't be anticipating anything, should we?" announced Lynn Redgrave upon her nomination as Best Supporting Actor.
In another sign of Oscar's diversity, only one American, Kathy Bates for "Primary Colors," was named in that category.
Bates must compete with four British stars: Redgrave, for her show-stopping performance in "Gods and Monsters," Brenda Blethyn as the loud, overbearing "mum" in "Little Voice," Dame Judi Dench for "Shakespeare in Love" and Rachel Griffiths as the "sane" sister in "Hilary and Jackie."
"Gods and Monsters" was made for a paltry $3 million but it received three Oscar nominations.Redgrave plays an over-the-top German housekeeper, a role she based on the Redgrave family nanny.
Hollywood veteran Nick Nolte received a nod for Best Actor for portraying a man nearing mental collapse in "Affliction."
Nolte was joined in the best-actor category by two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks for playing a platoon leader in "Private Ryan," British actor Ian McKellen for "Gods and Monsters," up-and-coming Edward Norton for his portrayal of a converted white racist in "American X," and Roberto Benigni, a popular Italian comedian, for his role in "Life Is Beautiful."
The supporting-actor category features Billy Bob Thornton for "A Simple Plan," a tale of greed, Australian Geoffrey Rush for "Shakespeare in Love," Ed Harris for "The Truman Show,"
and Hollywood veterans Robert Duvall for the legal drama "A Civil Action" and James Coburn for "Affliction."
"Its something you always hope but hope and fear are to things I've learned to mistrust," said Coburn, a star of such 1960s films as "The Magnificent Seven" and "Our Man Flynt" who is not letting senior citizen status slow his career.
When Geoffrey Rush said that "we knew we had a hot script and a very hot cast, but you don't think down the track about what's going to happen," he might have been speaking about either of the Elizabethan dramas he found himself acting in.
Besides being nominated for his portrayal of a hapless and untalented theatre manager in "Shakespeare," the Oscar winner for 1996's "Shine" also portrayed a murderous Machiavellian consort to Cate Blanchett's "Elizabeth." This unique perspective allowed Rush to comment on his two nominated co-stars, Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shakespeare," and Blanchett.
"What a great day for young, blonde, Elizabethan women.
They're both astonishing in their performances," declaimed Rush magnanimously.
Oscar winners may prove to be less selfless.For that one must wait until March 21 when the Oscars will be broadcast live from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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