Oscar Season Is Upon Us
The race for the Oscars is under way.
"The Hours," starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman, is the year's best movie, according to the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Based on Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the film follows three women in three eras who are all tied to Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway."
The board's awards represent the first step in anticipating Academy Award winners, though they're usually not in step with what Oscar voters prefer. The next event in the Oscar race is the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards on Dec. 14.
The Academy Awards will be handed out on March 23.
Julianne Moore also won the board's best-actress award for "Far From Heaven," in which she plays a 1950s New England housewife who learns her husband is gay, then begins a relationship with her black gardener.
Campbell Scott was named the best actor for "Roger Dodger," in which he stars as a shallow womanizer who teaches his nephew about dating during an eventful night in Manhattan.
The group's supporting actor prize went to Chris Cooper for "Adaptation." Cooper co-stars as an eccentric orchid breeder in search of a rare, perfect flower.
Kathy Bates won best supporting actress for "About Schmidt," in which she plays a bohemian divorcee.
Philip Noyce was the group's director of the year for two films: "The Quiet American" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence."
The documentary honor went to "Bowling for Columbine," Michael Moore's examination of America's gun culture.
Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to Her" was the board's choice for best foreign film of the year. The Spanish film follows two men who are in love with women in comas in the same hospital.
"The Hours" wasn't exactly a surprise pick for best movie, said Tom O'Neil, an author of several awards books.
"It's very consistent with their historical taste," said O'Neil, who also runs the Web site Goldderby.com. "They tend to prefer things that are literary, romantic, historical."
What was a surprise, he said, was the choice of Scott, George C. Scott's son, as best actor.
"The board prides itself on advancing Oscar rivals," he said, adding that if Scott were to take home an Oscar for "Roger Dodger," he'd match one of his father's accomplishments — and then some. Four-time Oscar nominee George C. Scott won the best-actor Oscar for 1970's "Patton," but refused to accept it because he thought it was meaningless.
They'd also become only the second father-son Oscar winners. Walter and John Huston won for 1948's "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" — as supporting actor and director-screenwriter, respectively.
Completing the list of the board's top 10 movies for 2002: "Chicago," "Gangs of New York," "The Quiet American," "Adaptation," "Rabbit-Proof Fence," "The Pianist," "Far From Heaven," "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing" and "Frida."
Last year, board members chose Baz Luhrmann's revisionist musical "Moulin Rouge" as the best movie; the Academy Award for best picture went to Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind," a far more traditional pick for its inspirational themes.
And in 2000, "Quills," starring Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade, was the board's top choice; the best-picture winner was "Gladiator," starring Russell Crowe.
The National Board of Review, made up of teachers, writers, actors and movie production workers, will award the winners at a ceremony Jan. 14 in New York.